Last Updated: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:36
Chairman John Boyle was happy Motherwell were drawn against Welsh side Llanelli in the Europa League to avoid huge travelling costs.
The managerless Steelmen were desperate to avoid the possibility of a 5200-mile round trip against the likes of Inter Baku of Azerbaijan in the first qualifying round which could have cost around £100,000. Instead they will face the Welsh minnows at Airdrie in the first leg on Thursday, July 2, due to the fact a new pitch is being laid at Fir Park, while the away tie at Llanelli's tiny Stebonheath Park is a week later.
Boyle said: "It would certainly have been far more expensive to travel to say Azerbaijan and there was even a Kazakhstan team we could have been paired with. It was going to be a logistical nightmare.
"We would have chartered a plane which isn't a massive problem in itself but we would be flying out in the Glasgow Fair fortnight which brings its own issues.
"Also, in the current financial climate we were looking for a draw close to home. So we were very happy to get Llanelli and I'm sure they were happy to get ourselves."