EURO cup qualification problem?

So i just finished my first season with Aston Villa, finished 6th.
the qualification rules states i should have gone straight into 3rd qualifying round, yet i had to go into 1st qualifying round.
this means i had to start my season on the 5th of july! rather a big bug if you ask me, has anyone else had this problem?

There are only 5 European qualification places for league finish in the English premier league if the winners of the FA and League cup do not finish in the top 5. It seems the rules in FM don't clearly state that 6th place qualification is dependent on the winner of the FA cup.

Its likely that you qualified through the fair play league which means you do enter in the first qualifying round.