Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham will be England's representatives in the inaugural season of the Europa League, having finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively in the 2008/09 Barclays Premier League season.

The trio will compete in Europe's second most prestigious club tournament, all hoping to be crowned the first winners of the overhauled competition, writes Claire Harmer.

The tournament, which will feature an incredible 193 teams taking part in 205 matches, has replaced both the UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup.

The two cups have been merged together and rebranded in a bid to enhance the profile of UEFA's second club football competition, which has slipped somewhat in recent years due to the success of the UEFA Champions League.

The UEFA Cup replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1971, with Tottenham Hotspur claiming the trophy in its first year.

In 1975, Everton were barred from entering the competition, due to a rule that stated only one club per city may take part, with Liverpool having qualified ahead of their Merseyside neighbours. The Toffees appealed, stating the rule was unfair. UEFA agreed and the rule was subsequently dropped.

In 1999, the former Cup Winners' Cup contest was also merged with the UEFA Cup.

Of all the clubs to have represented the Premier League since its inception in 1992 only Liverpool managed to win the tournament, beating Alaves 5-4 in the 2001 final. Former Premier League side Middlesbrough did however make it to the final in 2006, enduring a disappointing 4-0 defeat against Sevilla.

Ukranian side Shakhtar Donetsk became the last ever winners of the UEFA CUP in May 2009 and will enter the new Europa League as the cup's current holders, playing their first match at the group stage.

Europa League matches will take place on a Thursday night in a week where Champions League matches take place on a Tuesday and Wednesday. In weeks where only the Europa League is in action, matches will take place on a Wednesday night. Kick-off times will be either 18:00 GMT or 20:00 GMT.

After finishing in seventh place last season, in the lowest of the three Barclays Premier League places that qualify for the tournament, Fulham will be the first side to take part in the Europa League. The Cottagers will enter the competition in the third of four qualifying rounds, which takes place over two legs.

Should Roy Hodgson's side be successful, they and the 34 other teams who won their third round qualifier, will join the likes of Aston Villa and Everton in the final qualifying round, called the 'play-off.' The 15 clubs who lost their Champions League third round qualifier will also enter the competition at this stage.

The title holders (UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk for this season) and the 10 clubs eliminated from the Champions League play-off round automatically qualify for the group stage, joining the 37 sides who won their 'play-off' match.

The group stage, which begins in September, will see 12 groups of four teams, with each side playing the other three in their group home and away. The top two teams from each of the groups will progress to the Round of 32 stage.

February will see the Round 32 stage take place, where teams will face the prospect of being knocked out automatically should they lose over the two legs. Taking part in this stage are the 24 teams who finished top or second in their group and the eight teams who have been eliminated form the Champions League by finishing third in their group.

The winners of the Round of 32 ties, will proceed to the Round of 16, followed by the quarter finals and then the semis, all of which take place over two legs.

The 2010 final will be played on Wednesday 12th May in the Arena Hamburg, kick off 19:45 GMT.

FIFA have announced that next season's Europa League matches will be played with two additional assistant referees situated behind the goal-lines, with all five match officials communicating with each other via headsets.

This experiment is taking place as FIFA look to alternatives to goal-line technology, providing a compromise to the current system in which vital incidents of goal-mouth action can occasionally be misinterpreted.

The idea is the invention of UEFA president Michel Platini and has previously been tested in some European under-19 championship matches.

2009/10 UEFA Europa League remaining draw schedule
07.08.2009 Play-off round (Aston Villa and Everton enter the draw)
28.08.2009 Group stage
18.12.2009 Round of 32 and Round of 16
19.03.2010 Quarter-finals, semi-finals and final

2009/10 UEFA Europa League remaining match calendar
30.07.2009 Third qualifying round, 1st leg (FK Vektra 0-3 Fulham)
06.08.2009 Third qualifying round, 2nd leg (Fulham v FK Vektra, 20.00)
20.08.2009 Play-off round, 1st leg (Aston Villa and Everton enter the competition)
27.08.2009 Play-off round, 2nd leg
17.09.2009 Group stage, Matchday 1
01.10.2009 Group stage, Matchday 2
22.10.2009 Group stage, Matchday 3
05.11.2009 Group stage, Matchday 4
02/03.12.2009 Group stage, Matchday 5
16/17.12.2009 Group stage, Matchday 6
18.02.2010 Round of 32, first leg
25.02.2010 Round of 32, second leg
11.03.2010 Round of 16, first leg
18.03.2010 Round of 16, second leg
01.04.2010 Quarter-finals, first leg
08.04.2010 Quarter-finals, second leg
22.04.2010 Semi-finals, first leg
29.04.2010 Semi-finals, second leg
12.05.2010 Final (Arena Hamburg, Germany)