MONACO (AFP) - Shamrock Rovers have been rewarded for becoming the first Irish club to reach the group stage of a UEFA competition by being drawn alongside Tottenham Hotspur in Group A of the Europa League. The Dublin club stunned former European Cup finalists Partizan Belgrade with an extra-time victory in the play-off round, and as well as facing the Premier League giants, they will come up against Rubin Kazan and PAOK Salonika. Russians Kazan reached the Champions League group stage in each of the last two seasons but their bid to return to Europe's elite club competition this year ended in defeat by Lyon in the play-offs. "We would have taken anybody, it's a great draw for our fans," said the Shamrock chairman Jonathan Roche. "Tottenham are so close to us. Last night was an historic occasion for us and to top it off like this, it hasn't quite soaked in. "It's been an unbelievable two days. Five years ago we were relegated, then the fans took over the club. We won the league for the first time in 16 years last season. "Hopefully now this shows people that we play a good style of football. It's not really about the money but it's the whole razzmatazz and the whole profile on the football club. Hopefully we can do ourselves justice." It remains to be seen whether Shamrock's compact 6,000-seater Tallaght stadium will be used or whether their games will be moved to the much larger Aviva Stadium, where international matches are staged. Tottenham are one of four English sides in the group stage and it is Stoke City that appear to have the toughest draw. Among their opponents in Group E are Dynamo Kyiv of Ukraine and Turkey's Besiktas, both clubs with considerable Champions League experience. Fulham will face three teams who dropped out of the Champions League qualifiers in the shape of Steve McClaren's former charges FC Twente, Odense of Denmark and Polish champions Wisla Krakow. Birmingham City will play last season's Europa League runners-up Braga as well as Club Brugge and Rangers' conquerors Maribor in Group H. There are mouth-watering draws elsewhere, with Paris Saint-Germain -- Europe's biggest-spending club alongside Manchester City this summer -- set to meet Spanish giants Athletic Bilbao in Group F. Athletic made it through to the group stage after their play-off round opponents Trabzonspor were promoted to the Champions League as the result of a match-fixing investigation in Turkey. However, Athletic are a formidable side, with Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa able to call upon the likes of World Cup winners Fernando Llorente and Javi Martinez. Group I is arguably the pick of the groups as Atletico Madrid, who won the inaugural Europa League in 2010, meet Udinese, Rennes and FC Sion. A cloud hangs over Sion's future in the competition, however, with UEFA investigating claims that the Swiss side fielded ineligible players in their play-off win over Celtic. That could mean a reprieve for Celtic, and for Scottish clubs in general, after Rangers, Hearts and Dundee United also failed in their bids to make the group phase. Europa League group stage draw: Group A: Tottenham Hotspur (ENG); Rubin Kazan (RUS); PAOK Salonika (GRE); Shamrock Rovers (IRL). Group B:Copenhagen (DEN); Standard Liege (BEL); Hannover (GER); Vorskla Poltava (UKR). Group C: PSV Eindhoven (NED); Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR); Rapid Bucharest (ROM); Legia Warsaw (POL). Group D: Sporting Lisbon (POR); Lazio (ITA); FC Zurich (SUI); Vaslui (ROM) Group E: Dynamo Kyiv (UKR); Besiktas (TUR); Stoke City (ENG); Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR). Group F: Paris Saint Germain (FRA); Athletic Bilbao (ESP); Salzburg (AUT); Slovan Bratislava (SVK). Group G: AZ Alkmaar (NED); Metalist Kharkiv (UKR); Austria Vienna (AUT); Malmo (SWE) Group H: Braga (POR); Club Brugge (BEL); Birmingham City (ENG); Maribor (SLO). Group I: Atletico Madrid (ESP); Udinese (ITA); Rennes (FRA); Sion (SUI). Group J: Schalke (GER); Steaua Bucharest (ROM); Maccabi Haifa (ISR); AEK Larnaca (CYP). Group K: FC Twente (NED); Fulham (ENG); OB Odense (DEN); Wisla Krakow (NED). Group L: Anderlecht (BEL); AEK Athens (GRE); Lokomotiv Moscow (RUS); Sturm Graz (AUT).