Bruno's Magpies Sporting Director discusses Derry City ticket allocation, kick-off times and stadium

​The Magpies' 2,000 capacity Uefa registered Victoria Stadium is undergoing renovations to a stand and therefore the smaller Europa Point venue has been given the green light to host European ties for the three clubs representing the British overseas territory in the Champions League and Conference League qualifiers.

The match which takes place on July 11th next is expected to kick-off at the earlier time of either 5pm or 6pm due to the absence of a floodlight generator at the ground.

And while ticket allocation and official kick-off time has yet to be confirmed by Uefa, Magpies sporting director Jansen Dalli insists a later kick-off simply isn't an option.

"It's always going to be the early kick-off," Dalli told the 'Journal'. "One of the reasons, statistically proven, an early-kick-off is very doable for us.

"Also I'm being realistic and we would have to buy a generator as well in case there was an issue with the lights. As the stadium is not ours and belongs to the league, the FA don't have a generator therefore we would have to provide one.

"Generators for those lights would cost £90,000 which we are not going to pay. We would never have a 7pm kick-off! So it is likely to be 5pm or 6pm.”

Permission to use Europa Point Stadium for European club matches was granted by UEFA last month. It's a small but scenic and unique multi-purpose ground which overlooks the Strait at the southernmost tip of Gibraltar.

"Basically the stadium itself has changed," confirmed Dalli. "Due to the refurbishment of the stadium (Victoria Stadium) we have a problem.

"Uefa has approved a place called Europa Point where there's only 770 seats. Out of that we have to give 5% to away fans but I think that's 5% of the original stadium which is obviously Victoria Stadium. That is the registered stadium but we will play our games in Europa Point which is FIFA approved until round three. “So it just changes a little bit. Our fans will probably have 15 or 20 people go to Derry and Derry will probably have up to 200 come here I believe."

The soaring summer temperatures will be an issue for Derry City but the Brandywell club's Chief Executive Sean Barrett is otherwise pleased with the outcome of Tuesday's Conference League draw.

"Logistically it's a great draw for us," he said. "Obviously our preference would've been to go to Wales, purely from a logistics standpoint but to get to Gibraltar you fly into Malaga.

"We're hoping to charter a plane but it's a peak time as always this time of year in July and it's difficult. So we're working our way through that.

"The game could be earlier because I don't think the floodlights reach the standards and the plus side of that is you can get back quickly after the match but the downside is of course the heat. You could be playing in hot temperatures at 4pm or 5pm.

"Overall we're delighted. It's a good draw for us. We've never been there before. Irish clubs have a good record against the Magpies so hopefully we can get a result out there to bring back to Brandywell. We're pretty confident. We're happy enough with the draw and the fact it's not the most difficult place in the world to get to so let's see where it takes us.”