ERC, the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup organisers, have released the fixture dates for both 2009/10 tournaments, with the European Challenge Cup again set to include Thursday matches.
The fixtures are the first year of a confirmed three-year schedule for European weekends that has been agreed by all European rugby stakeholders.
The pool stages will again be played in three blocks of two rounds with the knock-out stages starting a week after the Easter weekend.
Tickets for the Paris 2010 final go on sale this coming Monday (May 25). See www.ercrugby.com for further details.
2009/10 HEINEKEN CUP AND EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CUP WEEKENDS:
(Please note that the dates are the Saturday of the relevant weekend)
2009:
ROUND 1 - October 9/10/11
ROUND 2 - October 16/17/18
ROUND 3 - December 11/12/13
ROUND 4 - December 18/19/20
2010:
ROUND 5 - January 15/16/17
ROUND 6 - January 22/23/24
QUARTER-FINALS - April 9/10/11
SEMI-FINALS - May 1/2
Paris 2010 Heineken Cup Final - May 22
European Challenge Cup Final - May 21/22/23