BALA TOWN Football Club will travel to Malta in the first qualifying round of the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League.

Following the draw in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday, it has been confirmed that Colin Caton's men will face Maltese Premier League side Valletta FC.

Traditionally, both the Europa League and Champions League rounds would feature a home and an away leg, but due to the situation surrounding the coronavirus, the upcoming qualifiers will feature just the one leg, adding to the excitement of the competition.

Bala's tie against Valletta will be played at the Centenary Stadium in Ta'Qali on August 27.

The Lakesiders' opponents are a semi-professional side who reside in the capital city of Malta, and were established in 1943.

They compete in the Maltese Premier League and are regarded as one of the most successful clubs in the country having won 25 league titles, 14 FA Trophies and a record 13 Super Cups.

Their most recent league title triumph came in the 2018-2019 season as they beat Hibernians to the title on goal difference. Last season, they finished runners-up to Floriana who beat them to the title by three points.

Valletta have had a long history in European competitions, which has seen them play clubs such as Inter Milan, Leeds United, Juventus and Rangers.

They have also faced Welsh opposition before and have a record of one win, one draw and two losses. In 1999, they faced Barry Town in the Uefa Champions League, which saw them win the home leg 3-2, and draw the away leg 0-0, as they progressed to the next round.

However, two losses followed years later against another Welsh club, Newtown, in 2015, as the latter toppled the-then Maltese League Champions 2-1 in both legs, to advance with a 4-2 aggregate.

But, Valletta's most successful run in Europe came just last season, as they qualified for the Uefa Champions League after being crowned the Maltese Premier League Champions in the year previous.

In the First Qualifying Round, they scraped through on away goals having drew both games 1-1 and 2-2 against F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg.

In the Second Qualifying Round, they faced off against Hungarian League Champions Ferencváros, where they slumped to a 4-2 aggregate defeat. This meant they qualified for the Third Qualifying Round of the Uefa Europa League, as they were drawn against the Kazakhstan League Champions in Astana, though this time their opponents were much greater, as they crashed to a 9-1 aggregate loss.