كأس الكؤوس الأوروبية

The earliest events where cup holders from different countries met were the friendly games nicknamed "world championships" at the end of the 19th century between English and Scottish cup holders. The respective leagues were yet established, and therefore, the first two editions involved meetings between cup holders – the fourth edition involved cup holders as well (won by Aston Villa, Renton, and Heart of Midlothian, respectively) – exception being the 1895 edition, where English champions Sunderland beat Scottish champions Heart of Midlothian.^[2][3]

على غرار الظروف التي أدت إلى إنشاء كأس أوروبا قبل خمس سنوات، انبثقت فكرة بطولة كأس أوروبية شاملة يتنافس فيها جميع الفائزين بالكؤوس المحلية في أوروبا من صحفيين رياضيين أوروبيين بارزين. وقد حققت كأس أوروبا نجاحًا باهرًا، كما لاقت كأس المعارض شعبية واسعة، مما دفع إلى طرح أفكار أخرى لبطولات كرة قدم أوروبية جديدة. وكان من بين المقترحات إقامة بطولة تعتمد على نظام كأس أوروبا، ولكن بمشاركة الفائزين بالكؤوس المحلية بدلًا من أبطال الدوري، على أن تُقام بالتزامن مع تلك البطولة.

أُقيمت النسخة الأولى من بطولة كأس الكؤوس الأوروبية في موسم 1960-1961، وكانت بمثابة بطولة تجريبية شبه رسمية. إلا أن ردة الفعل الأولية تجاه إنشاء البطولة كانت فاترة من جانب العديد من أندية النخبة الأوروبية، إذ لم تكن العديد من الاتحادات الأوروبية تُقيم بطولات كأس محلية آنذاك، وفي الدول التي كانت تُقيمها، لم تكن بطولة الكأس تحظى بتقدير كبير، ولم تأخذها الأندية الكبرى على محمل الجد. واقتصرت المكانة المرموقة للكأس المحلية بشكل أساسي على إنجلترا واسكتلندا، وبدرجة أقل ألمانيا وإسبانيا. وقد شكك الكثيرون في جدوى إقامة بطولة أوروبية للفائزين بالكأس، ورفضت العديد من الأندية الكبرى المؤهلة للمشاركة في النسخة الأولى من كأس الكؤوس الأوروبية فرصة الانضمام ، مثل أتلتيكو مدريد الإسباني وموناكو الفرنسي .

في نهاية المطاف ، اقتصرت النسخة الأولى من كأس العالم للكريكيت على عشرة أندية فقط (حيث فاز فيورنتينا الإيطالي بالمباراة النهائية التي أقيمت بنظام الذهاب والإياب ضد فريق رينجرز الاسكتلندي )، إلا أن المباريات حظيت بحضور جماهيري جيد عموماً، وكان رد فعل الجمهور ووسائل الإعلام إيجابياً وحماسياً تجاه البطولة الجديدة. وفي الموسم الثاني للبطولة في 1961-1962، تولى الاتحاد الأوروبي لكرة القدم (UEFA) إدارة جميع جوانب المنافسة، وفي هذه المرة قبلت جميع الأندية المؤهلة للمشاركة الفرصة.

By 1968, all UEFA member nations had set up domestic cup competitions due to the success of the Cup Winners' Cup. UEFA regarded it as the second most prestigious competition, behind the European Cup (later the UEFA Champions League) and ahead of the Fairs Cup (later the UEFA Cup). Therefore, a team qualified for both the European Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup would play in the European Cup, whereas a team qualified for both the UEFA Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup would play in the Cup Winners' Cup. Nevertheless, many commentators and fans regarded the Cup Winners' Cup as weaker than the UEFA Cup, which had more and better teams from the stronger European leagues.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

In the 1985–86 season, English clubs were banned from European competition as a result of Heysel Stadium disaster. Consequently, Manchester United, Everton, Coventry City, Wimbledon and Liverpool were prevented from competing in the Cup Winners' Cup until the beginning of the 1990–91 season.^[10]

No club managed to retain the Cup Winners' Cup, although eight times a winning side followed up their victories with a losing appearance in the following season's final.

After the establishment of the UEFA Champions League (formerly called the European Champion Clubs' Cup) in the early 1990s, the standing and prestige of the Cup Winners' Cup began to decline. With the expansion of the Champions League in 1997 to allow more than one team from the highest-ranked member associations to enter, the Cup Winners' Cup began to look noticeably inferior. Many of the bigger teams who would previously have entered the Cup Winners' Cup were now gaining entry to the Champions League instead by finishing second in their domestic league – such as Cup Winners' Cup holders Barcelona in 1997–98 and Bayern Munich and PSV Eindhoven in 1998–99 – and this greatly weakened the Cup Winners' Cup.^[11]

At the time of the Champions League expansion, UEFA also considered expanding the Cup Winners' Cup from 32 teams to 64 by allowing a second team to enter from many countries, although by what qualification criteria the second entrants would be determined were never settled upon – ultimately UEFA did not make any of these changes to the Cup Winners' Cup.

By the late 1990s, the Cup Winners' Cup had come to be seen as a second-rate competition with only one or two big name teams available to enter each year and the interest in the tournament from both major clubs and the public dropped. Finally, with the further expansion of the UEFA Champions League to include as many as three or four teams from the top footballing nations, the decision was taken to abolish the competition after the end of the 1998–99 tournament and merge it into the UEFA Cup (now the UEFA Europa League). Since then, domestic cup winners who do not otherwise qualify for the Champions League are given a place in the Europa League.^[12]

The Cup Winners' Cup trophy itself is a property of UEFA and it is not assigned to any club, though clubs were allowed to have replicas made.^[13] There were various versions of the trophy awarded throughout its history. The first was only awarded in its maiden season to Fiorentina. The appearance of the second trophy differed significantly from the successor versions. The third and the fourth trophy differed only in the type of base. The wooden-based trophy was awarded to the winners during the 1990s, with exception of 1993 when the special version with a metal base was awarded to Parma.

Performance in finals by nation

Nation	Titles	Runners-up	Total
England	8	5	13
Spain	7	7	14
Italy	7	4	11
Germany[a]	4	4	8
Belgium	3	4	7
Soviet Union[b]	3	1	4
Scotland	2	2	4
France	1	2	3
East Germany	1	2	3
Netherlands	1	1	2
Portugal	1	1	2
Czechoslovakia[c]	1	0	1
Austria	0	3	3
Hungary	0	2	2
Poland	0	1	1

Notes

• Four managers hold the record of winning the competition on two occasions:
  • Nereo Rocco: 1968 and 1973 (Milan)
  • Valeriy Lobanovskyi in 1975 and 1986 (Dynamo Kyiv)
  • Johan Cruyff: 1987 (Ajax) and 1989 (Barcelona)
  • Alex Ferguson: 1983 (Aberdeen) and 1991 (Manchester United)

• Most UEFA Cup Winners' Cup titles: Lobo Carrasco (3)
  • Barcelona (3): (1978–79, 1981–82, 1988–89)^[14]