• Fulham likely to enter first qualifying round
• Norway and Sweden also granted extra places
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/16/england-extra-europa-league-fair-playEngland has been granted an additional place in next season's Europa League via the Uefa Respect Fair Play ranking, Uefa have confirmed this morning.
As expected, an extra English team will appear in the competition's first qualifying round next season, with Fulham seeming the likely beneficiaries with one game of the Premier League season remaining.
The Uefa ranking was headed by Norway, with England and third-placed Sweden also gaining additional spots.
Premier League Fair Play table
1) Fulham Y50 R0 Pts50
2) Blackpool Y46 R2 Pts52
3) Tottenham Y51 R2 Pts57
4) Chelsea Y57 R1 Pts60 (qualified for Champions League)
5) West Ham Y58 R1 Pts61
6) Birmingham Y54 R3 Pts63 (qualified for Europa League through Carling Cup)
7) Manchester Utd Y56 R3 Pts65 (qualified for Champions League)
Everton Y54 R4 Pts66
9) Wolves Y60 R2 Pts66
10) Liverpool Y62 R2 Pts68A couple of red cards in Fulham's final game of the season could open the door to others in the Premier League, although Blackpool are the only side realistically close enough to challenge and the Cottagers have not had a player sent off in the Premier League this season.
The Seasiders have received 46 yellow cards and two reds giving them 52 disciplinary points for the season - just two outside the total amassed by the Cottagers' half-century of bookings.
The Tangerines belatedly applied for a Uefa licence to play in European football, though manager Ian Holloway was not enthusiastic about the prospect when made aware of it.
"If this Europe thing does happen then all I'll be thinking about is how short our summer is going to be because the qualifying stages for the Europa League begin at the start of July," he said last month. "The season doesn't end until 22 May so we will get about a month off, tops. When you consider we didn't really have much of a break last year because of the play-offs that really isn't good."