When did the Europa League start?
It’s the UEFA competition which has changed the most! In the beginning, it wasn’t even a UEFA competition, starting out as the Inter-city Fairs Cup in 1958. It was used to promote international trade fairs and ran until 1971 when UEFA took over and gave it the original name of “UEFA Cup”. Generally believed to be the hardest of the club competitions to win, the arrival of the Champions League saw interest in the UEFA Cup wane and in 1999 was merged with the European Cup Winners Cup. In 2009 UEFA ended the Intertoto Cup and merged that with the UEFA Cup and renamed the competition the Europa League
First Winner
The first final of the Inter-city Fairs Cup was a two-legged affair. A London XI met Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on 5th March 1958, drawing 2 – 2. The return, at the Camp Nou, ended with Barcelona winning 6 – 0 on the night and 8 – 2 on aggregate. The last final was in 1971 when Leeds United beat Juventus on the away goals rule after the two sides had drawn 3 – 3 on aggregate. A play-off game was held between Leeds and Barcelona on 22nd September 1971 with the Catalans winning 2 – 1 and permanently keeping the Fairs Cup trophy. The first UEFA Cup final was an all-English affair with Tottenham Hotspur beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 – 2 on aggregate. Including the Fairs Cup, English clubs won the trophy from 1968 until 1973. The first winners of the Europa League were Atletico Madrid who beat Fulham 2 – 1 in Hamburg on 12th May 2010.
Most Champions League Wins
Spanish club Sevilla has almost made the Europa League their personal property, winning it 5 times:
- 2005/06 v Middlesbrough, 4 – 0
- 2006/07 v Espanyol, 2 – 2 (3 – 1 on penalties)
- 2013/14 v Benfica, 0 – 0 (4 – 2 on penalties)
- 2014/15 v Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, 3 – 2
- 2015/16 v Liverpool, 3 – 1 Liverpool, Internazionale Milan and Juventus have all won the trophy 3 times.
Most Memorable Moment in the Europa League
On 16th May 2001, Liverpool and Spanish club, CD Alaves met in Dortmund and produced the most incredible final yet. Liverpool were overwhelming favourites and had been Roma, Porto and Barcelona en route to meeting Alaves. The Spaniards won 2 – 0 in the San Siro against Inter but had been relatively untested to reach this stage. Nobody expected the Merseysiders to have many problems winning the trophy. Marcus Babbel gave them the lead inside 3 minutes, Steven Gerrard doubled that on 16 minutes. Whilst early substitute Ivan Alonso pulled one back, a Gary McAllister penalty gave Liverpool a 3 – 1 half-time advantage. Within 5 minutes of the restart, it was gone. Two goals in two minutes from Javi Moreno pulled Alaves level before Robbie Fowler scored Liverpool’s fourth. With just two minutes remaining, Jordi Cruyff sent us into extra-time with a header. The drama was just beginning. It was next goal wins with UEFA using the ‘Golden Goal’ in extra-time to decide the winners. Ivan Alonso had a goal disallowed for offside within three minutes of the restart and a minute later, Magno was sent off and the Spaniards were down to ten men. Fowler thought he had won the final but like Alonso, was ruled offside before in the cruelest of fashion, Delfi Geli headed the ball into his own net with four minutes remaining.
Europa League Dates
After four qualifying rounds which begin in June, the group stage begins in September and finishes in December. The first knockout round is held in February with the Europa League Final played in May.
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