UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

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"Cup Winners' Cup" redirects here. For the Asian competition, see Asian Cup Winners Cup.

The Cup held by Gianfranco Zola (left) and Gianluca Vialli after winning the competition in 1998 with Chelsea.

No club managed to retain the Cup Winners' Cup (the so-called "CWC jinx"), although FC Barcelona won it on four occasions (1979, 82, 89, 97) and finished runners up twice (1969, 91). R.S.C. Anderlecht won it twice (1976, 78), and finished runners up twice (1977, 90); in addition, four finals over five years between 1993 and 1997 saw the holder reach the final the next year only to lose (Parma F.C. 1993 and 1994, Arsenal F.C. 1994 and 1995, Paris Saint Germain 1996 and 1997).

During its existence, the cup was regarded as the second most important European club competition out of three; behind the UEFA Champions League and ahead of the UEFA Cup. The winner of the tournament would go on to play the winner of the European Cup (later the UEFA Champions league) in the European Super Cup. The Cup Winners' Cup was eventually scrapped however, as in many new European countries the domestic cup competition was seen to be of little value compared to the prestigious, old tournaments of Western Europe, such as the FA Cup. In addition, these cups were often won by the domestic league winners who would then qualify for the Champions' League leaving only the runner-up to participate.

Cup Winners' Cup finals

Performance by nation

England

Spain

Italy

Germany

Belgium

USSR

Scotland

France

Netherlands

Portugal

Czechoslovakia

Austria

Hungary

Poland

Trivia and Records

• The Cup Winners' Cup was not contested by Cup Winners only, and the Cup Winners' Cup was several times won by a team that hadn't won its domestic cup (or the Cup Winners' Cup) the previous season. It happened five times, and five more such teams reached the CWC final.
• * The best "non-Cup winners" performances in the European Cup Winners' Cup:
• ** Fiorentina won the inaugural edition of the "Cup Winners' Cup" in 1960/61 in spite of having lost the Coppa Italia Final in 1960 to double winners Juventus.
• ** Rangers were the second team to achieve this, winning the 1971/72 edition after having lost the 1970/71 Scottish Cup Final to champions Celtic after a replay.
• ** Likewise, Anderlecht won the 1977/78 edition of the "Cup Winners' Cup" for which they qualified by virtue of losing the Belgian Cup Final in 1977 to champions Club Brugge. That was, by the way, the third time in succession that Anderlecht made the final of the CWC: they also won it in 1976, and in 1977 they fell to the CWC jinx.
• ** Then, Dynamo Tbilisi won the 1980/81 edition although they had lost the Soviet Union Cup Final of 1979/80 to Shakhtar Donetsk. The reason here: the final was played after the deadline UEFA had set for registration; since both clubs were eligible for the UEFA Cup (based on the final table of the 1979 season, in which Shakhter had come 2nd and Dynamo Tbilisi 4th), they were simply "distributed" over the two cups before the final had been played; in the end, the final result (Shakhter 2-1 Dynamo) belied that distribution.
• ** Finally, Barcelona won the 1996/97 edition after losing the 1996 Copa del Rey against Atlético de Madrid, who took the Spanish double that season.

• The "CWC jinx": no team ever managed to defend the trophy, although the previous winners reached the next final on no fewer than 8 occasions - and the teams that failed include some of the most prestigious of the continent, as the following list shows:
• * Fiorentina: winners in 1960/61, lost 1961/62 final to Atlético Madrid;
• * Atlético Madrid: winners in 1961/62, lost 1962/63 final to Tottenham Hotspur;
• * Milan: winners in 1972/73, lost 1973/74 final to 1.FC Magdeburg;
• * Anderlecht: winners in 1975/76, lost 1976/77 final to Hamburger SV;
• * Ajax: winners in 1986/87, lost 1987/88 final to KV Mechelen;
• * Parma: winners in 1992/93, lost 1993/94 final to Arsenal;
• * Arsenal: winners in 1993/94, lost 1994/95 final to Real Zaragoza;
• * Paris St-Germain: winners in 1995/96, lost 1996/97 final to Barcelona.

• The Cup Winners' Cup rarely saw teams qualifying more than three times in a row. Below are all the teams to have participated in 3 or more consecutive CWCs
• * 5
• ** Cardiff City (1967/68-1971/72)
• ** Reipas Lahti (1973/74-1977/78)
• * 4
• ** Shamrock Rovers (1966/67-1969/70)
• ** Anderlecht (1975/76-1978/79)
• ** Barcelona (1981/82-1984/85)
• ** Dinamo Bucureşti (1986/87-1989/90)
• ** Dinamo Batumi (1995/96-1998/99)
• * 3
• ** Olympiakos Piraeus (1961/62-1963/64) [withdrew from 1962/63 competition]
• ** Dinamo Zagreb (1963/64-1965/66)
• ** Galatasaray (1965/65-1966/67)
• ** Floriana (1965/66-1967/68)
• ** Standard Liège (1965/66-1967/68)
• ** Raba ETO Györ (1966/67-1968/69)
• ** Levski-Spartak Sofia (1967/68-1969/70)
• ** Górnik Zabrze (1968/69-1970/71)
• ** Steaua Bucureşti (1969/70-1971/72)
• ** Sporting (Lisboa) (1971/72-1973/74)
• ** PAOK Saloniki (1972/73-1974/75)
• ** Fortuna Düsseldorf (1978/79-1980/81)
• ** Swansea City (1981/82-1983/84)
• ** Rapid Wien (1984/85-1986/87)
• ** Glentoran (1985/86-1987/88)
• ** Barcelona (1988/89-1990/91)
• ** Valur (Reykjavik) (1991/92-1993/94)
• ** Žalgiris (Vilnius) (1993/94-1995/96)
• ** AEK (Athinai) (1995/96-1997/98)
• ** Lokomotiv Moskva (1996/97-1998/99)
• *** Dinamo Batumi and Lokomotiv Moskva had their series cut off because of the discontinuation of the CWC in 1999, but would not have qualified for the 1999/2000 CWC anyway.

• The worst finish a Cup Winners' Cup winner ever achieved in their domestic league in their winning season was 10th, by Manchester City in 1969/70:
• * In the same season, Arsenal set the corresponding record for the Fairs' Cup.
• * The second-worst finish, and the only one with a record under 50%, is that of Werder Bremen in 1991/92:
• * West Ham United also finished 9th in the English league in 1964/65

• Only 5 clubs have won the Cup Winners' Cup in the same season as their domestic league:
• * Dynamo Kiev 1975, 1986
• * Milan 1968
• * 1.FC Magdeburg 1974
• * Juventus 1984
• * Everton 1985

• If the winner of the Cup Winners' Cup didn't win its domestic league, the country in question usually got two representatives in the CWC, and this occasionally led to meeting between clubs from the same country.
• * 1963/64 England Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United [2nd round, 2-0 and 1-4]
• * 1970/71 England Chelsea v Manchester City [semif., 1-0 and 1-0]
• * 1979/80 Spain Barcelona v Valencia [quarterf., 0-1 and 3-4]
• * 1988/89 Belgium KV Mechelen v Anderlecht [2nd round, 1-0 and 2-0]
• * 1992/93 Germany Werder Bremen v Hannover 96 [1st round, 3-1 and 1-2]
• * 1995/96 Spain Deportivo La Coruña v Zaragoza [quarterf., 1-0 and 1-1]

• 1962/63, Tottenham Hotspur F.C 5-1 Atletico Madrid

• 1963/64, 2nd round: Sporting CP (Lisbon) 16-1 APOEL Nicosia

Highest aggregate win:

• 1971/72, 1st round:
• * Jeunesse Hautcharage 0-8 Chelsea
• * Chelsea 13-0 Jeunesse Hautcharage
• * Chelsea win 21-0 on aggregate

Most goals in game

• 1963/64, 2nd round: Sporting CP (Lisbon) 16-1 APOEL Nicosia, total 17 goals

Most goals in tie

• 1976/77, 1st round:
• * Levski-Spartak (Sofia) 12-2 Reipas (Lahti)
• * Reipas (Lahti) 1-7 Levski-Spartak (Sofia)
• * Levski-Spartak (Sofia) win 19-3 on aggregate, total 22 goals

Best come-backs

• 1961/62, 1st round:
• * FC La Chaux-de-Fonds 6-2 Leixoes (Porto)
• * Leixões (Porto) 5-0 FC La Chaux-de-Fonds
• * Leixoes win 7-6 on aggregate

• 1984/85, 1st round:
• * FC Metz 2-4 Barcelona
• * Barcelona 1-4 FC Metz [after 1-0 at 33']
• * Metz win 6-5 on aggregate

• 1985/86, quarterf.:
• * Dynamo Dresden 2-0 Bayer Uerdingen
• * Bayer Uerdingen 7-3 Dynamo Dresden [after 1-3 halftime]
• * Uerdingen win 7-5 on aggregate

• 1996/96, 2nd round
• * Halmstad B.K. 3-0 Parma F.C.
• * Parma F.C. 4-0 Halmstad B.K.
• * Parma win 4-3 on aggregate

See also

• UEFA Champions League
• UEFA Cup
• List of sporting events

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