From European history to star players and much more: Everything you need to know about the Irish League club's Champions League and Conference League first round opponents

Larne were drawn against Latvian champions RFS while David Healy’s Blues face a trip to Icelandic outfit Stjarnan and the Crues have a tie closer to home against Welsh team Caernarfon Town.

Here’s everything you need to know about each of the three.

RFS (Latvia)

How did they get here?

Having only been formed in 2016, RFS won their second Virsliga title last season after finishing one point ahead of FC Riga. They scored 96 goals in 36 league matches and only conceded 18 times.

What’s their European record like?

As Linfield fans will unfortunately know, RFS have previously qualified for the Conference League group stages after beating the Blues in a dramatic play-off round penalty shootout at Windsor Park in 2022. They went on to finish bottom of a group which included İstanbul Başakşehir, Fiorentina and Hearts.

When it comes to the Champions League, their only previous run in the competition was ended at the first round qualifying stage by HJK Helsinki – a team Larne fans will know all about after facing them last season.

Where do they play?

RFS played their two home European matches last season at the Sloka Stadium in Jūrmala which has a capacity of 2,500, but played against Linfield – and all of their Conference League group stage matches – at the Skonto Stadions in Riga. Official confirmation of venue will follow in the coming days.

Who is their star player?

Attacking midfielder Jānis Ikaunieks has made 52 international appearances for Latvia and having previously played for the likes of Metz, scored 15 league goals in his first season for RFS in 2023. He recently extended his stay with the club until 2026.

Is this a good or bad draw for Larne?

Overall, this is probably the best draw Larne could possibly have received with RFS’ UEFA club coefficient rating (8.0) the lowest of their five potential opponents, while they also received the bonus of going straight into the Conference League third qualifying round if beaten.

Stjarnan (Iceland)

How did they get here?

Stjarnan booked their spot in the Conference League first round qualifiers after finishing third in the Icelandic top-flight (Besta deild karla) last season – 20 points behind champions Vikingur.

What’s their European record like?

They’ve enjoyed some stellar European ties against the likes of Italian giants Inter, Celtic, Copenhagen and Espanyol with the highlight being a run to the Europa League play-off round in 2014.

In their last European campaign in 2021, Stjarnan were beaten in the Conference League’s first qualifying round by League of Ireland outfit Bohemians.

Where do they play?

Their home ground is listed as the Stjörnuvöllur, which is a stadium in Garðabær that has a capacity of just under 1,300.

Who is their star player?

Former Iceland U21 international Emil Atlason is the club’s main attacking threat and scored nine league goals last season. He has netted four times in 10 league matches so far during this campaign.

Is this a good or bad draw for Linfield?

When looking at the Euro Club Index, which ranks every top-flight European team on their relative playing strengths at a given point in time, this is one of the better draws Linfield could have been handed with Stjarnan sitting 1,006 on that list – only Finland’s VPS were worse off (1,306) from the Blues’ potential opponents.

Stjarnan currently sit seventh in their league, collecting 13 points from 10 matches, but did progress to the Icelandic Cup semi-finals last weekend.

Caernarfon Town (Wales)

How did they get here?

Just like Crusaders, Caernarfon Town navigated their way through the league play-offs after finishing fifth – a whopping 51 points behind champions The New Saints.

What’s their European record like?

This summer marks Caernarfon’s first-ever step onto the European stage with Stephen Baxter’s side the maiden continental visitors next month.

Where do they play?

Caernarfon’s home ground is The Oval and has a capacity of 3,000 with 600 seats.

Who is their star player?

Striker Adam Davies scored 14 league goals in his first season with Caernarfon in 2023/24. One of their star players from recent times, Sion Bradley, left for The New Saints this summer.

Is this a good or bad draw for Crusaders?

Caernarfon are travelling to Northern Ireland later this month for a pre-season friendly against Cliftonville (June 29) so the Crues will be able to get an early close look at July’s opponents.

Going off UEFA coefficient ratings, this was the best case scenario for Crusaders with Caernarfon the lowest ranked, but they are positioned second-highest of the five potential opponents when it comes to the Euro Club Index.

With this being Caernarfon’s first European outing and Crusaders winning three consecutive first round ties, it’s likely a decent outcome.