All six teams we will meet before Christmas provide fresh opposition in competitive senior football, including the Belgian side we drew from Pot 1.

We will play Gent at Stamford Bridge on Thursday 3 October and you can see the rest of Chelsea's Conference League fixtures here.

Factfile

Full name: Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (KAA Gent)

Country: Belgium

City: Ghent

Formation: 1900

Major honours: Belgian First Division winners (2015), Belgian Cup winners (1964, 1984, 2010, 2022)

Head coach: Wouter Vrancken

2023/24 league finish: 7th

Stadium: Planet Group Arena, Ghent

Colours: Blue and white

Nickname: The Buffalos

Rivals: Club Brugge

European record

Champions League: Gent have qualified for the group stage once, in 2015/16, after winning the Belgian League. They finished second in a group containing Lyon, Valencia and Zenit St Petersburg, qualifying for the round of 16 where they beaten 4-2 on aggregate by Wolfsburg.

UEFA Cup/Europa League: Have featured regularly in this competition, notably making the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1991/92 when they lost 3-0 on aggregate to Ajax.

Conference League: This is their fourth consecutive Conference League group stage appearance. Their best performance so far is making the quarter-finals in 2022/23, when they were beaten 5-2 on aggregate by eventual winners West Ham United.

2024/25 so far…

Gent lie in third place in the Belgian Pro League with five wins and a draw from their opening nine games. They have won three of their last four, including an eye-catching 4-2 away win at Club Bruges. In qualification for the Conference League, they defeated Partizan Belgrade, Vikingur of Iceland and Denmark’s Silkeborg.

Current squad

The most notable face in Gent’s squad from a Chelsea perspective is Andri Gudjohnsen, son of Blues legend Eidur. The 22-year-old striker joined from Danish club Lyngby this summer.

Gent also have a couple of young English players on their books. Striker Max Dean joined from MK Dons this summer having scored 16 League Two goals last season. He netted on his Gent debut against Vikingur.

Defender Archie Brown, meanwhile, came through the ranks at Derby but has played all his senior football abroad. He is an England Under-20 international.

Notable former players

Chelsea Academy winger Mbark Boussoufa joined Gent from Chelsea in 2004, winning several individual awards for his performances in northwest Belgium. He played 70 times for Morocco, including at the 2018 World Cup.

Former Tottenham and Middlesbrough striker Mido took his first steps in European football with Gent in the 2000/01 season. Dries Mertens came through at Gent but was sold before he played for their first team.

Current Nottingham Forest pair Matz Sels and Taiwo Awoniyi both played for Gent, as did ex-Fulham playmaker Bryan Ruiz and Ukraine forward Roman Yaremchuk.