Fair-play pays off as Motherwell land Euro place

Motherwell will play in next season’s Europa League after being awarded a Fair Play place by the Scottish Football Association on Tuesday.

Mark McGhee’s side finished seventh in the Scottish Premier League – two places and five points outside the Europa League spots.

But Motherwell will join Hearts, Aberdeen and Scottish Cup finalists Falkirk in the revamped and renamed UEFA Cup thanks to their discplinary record.

The Steelmen finished second in the Scottish Fair Play League behind Celtic, but as the Glasgow club had already qualified for Europe through their league position, the Europa League prize went to the next best placed team.

Motherwell will enter the Europa League at the First Qualifying Round – which is scheduled to take place July 2 and 9.

Scottish FA Chief Executive Gordon Smith said: “Getting into Europe shows what can be achieved when the game is played in the right manner. It is a lesson to everyone who plays the game and the whole country can be proud of this achievement.”

There are six criteria applied to the calculation of the Fair Play League. Red and yellow Cards, positive play, respect towards opponents, respect towards match officials, behaviour of team officials and behaviour of fans.