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The UEFA Cup History

History of the UEFA Cup Competition

The UEFA Cup was formerly known as the Inter-City Fairs Cup and was launched in 1955. Football teams from Barcelona, Basle, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Lausanne, Leipzig, London, Milan and Zagreb were all involved.

The original format lasted for three seasons, and was designed to coincide with trade fairs held around Europe. Football teams had to consist of players from these trade venues. A Barcelona football team beat a London trade football team in the first final.

After a couple of years the format changed, allowing club teams to participate, but they still had to come from trade cities to take part in the tournament. The first tournament had 16 entrants. Now there are over 100 teams taking part in the UEFA Cup.

The Fairs Cup was particularly fruitful for Barcelona and Valencia, who won it 5 times between them, and English football teams won the trophy six seasons in a row from 1968.

In 1972, one of the biggest changes in the history of the competition took place as it changed from being known as the Fairs Cup to its current name of the UEFA Cup. UEFA were now running the competition, and the link to trade fairs was no longer relevant.

The UEFA Cup was seen as a prestigious tournament, with few entrants and a high level of quality from the football teams taking part in the tournament. In the history of the UEFA Cup some of the best known football teams in Europe have lifted the trophy.

With the growing influence of the Champions League during the 1990s, changes to the UEFA Cup were inevitable. The Cup Winners Cup was disbanded, and now football teams who win a domestic trophy or one of the three Inter-Toto cup places and the European Fair Play award winners are invited to play in the UEFA Cup. Teams that are knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers are placed in the first round pot of the UEFA Cup, and teams who come 3^rd in their Champions League group are allowed to join the UEFA Cup in the knockout stages.

Many believe that this has devalued a once great competition due to the number of lacklustre teams who are taking part and because Champions League ‘rejects' are now also involved. However, all this is put to one side, as increased revenue for the clubs involved is deemed the most important factor, and while qualification is easier than before, some of the big football names in Europe have won the trophy in recent UEFA Cup history.

History of the UEFA Cup – Previous Winners

The UEFA Cup was first won by Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 after a two-legged final in 1972. Tottenham won the trophy for a second time beating Anderlecht on penalties in a final marred by crowd trouble in Rotterdam in 1984.

In the mid 80s Real Madrid made UEFA Cup history by becoming the only football team to win the trophy in back-to-back years. They beat Videoton of Hungary and then Germany's FC Köln to complete a historic double.

In the 1990s, Italian football teams took a stranglehold on the tournament winning the trophy 8 times from Napoli in 1989 to Parma in 1999, with only Ajax, Bayern Munich and Schalke breaking the Italian dominance.

1998 was a key year in the history of the UEFA Cup as it was the year that the competition finally changed its format to include a one match final. Inter Milan became the first football team to benefit of this format, beating Lazio 3-0 in Paris.

Liverpool triumphed in 2001, and made UEFA Cup history by becoming the first team to win by the Golden Goal format, beating Alavés 5-4 in extra-time. This method of deciding the winner didn't last for long, and two years later Porto beat Celtic after extra-time 3-2.

Juventus, Liverpool, and Inter Milan share the record with three UEFA Cup successes each.

If you are new to betting and want to place a bet on the UEFA Cup be sure to check out our Football - How To Bet section for some betting hints and tips. You can also find some UEFA Cup betting strategies on our UEFA Cup page.

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