Bolton begin Uefa Cup march towards sound of gunfire

Only three seasons previously, Bolton Wanderers were accustomed to living dangerously as they fought off relegation to finish 17th in the Premiership, but in their first ever Uefa Cup draw yesterday they found themselves paired with a team for whom survival has become a good deal more perilous.

Bolton's first-round Uefa Cup draw is against Lokomotiv Plovdiv from Bulgaria whose owner Georgi Iliev, a 39-year-old businessman, was killed by shot in the chest from a sniper armed with a rifle as he celebrated his team's victory over OFK Belgrade on Thursday. Iliev, whose brother was murdered five years ago, was reported to be involved in organised crime and was under police investigation.

The Bolton chairman, Phil Gartside, admitted that Plovdiv would not have been the place he would have chosen for his club to visit after their sixth place finish last season. He said: "It sounds unbelievable that something like that could happen and we appreciate it must be difficult for the club at this point. We don't know much about them as a side. We looked at the list of five teams we could play and which we favoured and I think Plovdiv was bottom of the list. But so what? It's a great honour to be representing Bolton Wanderers in a European draw for the first time and whoever it is it doesn't matter.

After their defeat to Villarreal in this week's Champions' League qualifier, Everton will face Dinamo Bucharest in the Uefa Cup - the same Romanian side that Manchester United had to beat to qualify for the Champions' League last season. Keith Wyness, the Everton chief executive, said: "They are probably the toughest of the sides we could have drawn but you have to take what you are given.

"We are of course disappointed not to have made it to the Champions' League," he added, "but after being out of Europe for so long and seeing other clubs in the neighbourhood doing well in Europe we have to be focused on going a long way in the Uefa Cup.

Middlesbrough will face their former midfielder Emerson who plays for the Greek side Xanthi. The Middlesbrough chief executive, Keith Lamb, said: "It will be good to have a reunion with Emerson and with four Brazilians in the side it will not be easy - they don't produce bad footballers in Brazil, that's for sure.

"The senior international players want to play on the European stage, we have added a few more and hope we don't get hit by the injuries which damaged us in the later stages last season when we lost to Sporting Lisbon."

The Boro manager, Steve McClaren, said: "We've had a year's experience in Europe and we loved it, and we look forward to it again. It creates an extra buzz on a day like this when most other teams are just training, we've something to look forward to

"I'm sure the talking point of the game when it comes up will be the return of Emerson. He was a good signing for Boro. I played against him when I was at Derby quite a few times, so I know all about him. He is a very good player and very dangerous on his day."

The only Scottish team in the Uefa Cup are Hibernian, who face Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk from Ukraine. Ireland's Cork City face powerful opponents in Slavia Prague of the Czech Republic. The two legs are played on 15 and 29 September and the winners go into the group stage.

British and Irish club ties

Slavia Prague (Cz Rep) v Cork City (Irl)

Dinamo Bucharest (Rom) v Everton (Eng)

Middlesbrough (Eng) v Xanthi (Gre)

Bolton (Eng) v Lokomotiv Plovdiv (Bul)

Hibs (Sco) v Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukr)