The History Of English Clubs In European Cup Finals - Goal.com The History Of English Clubs In European Cup Finals Featured 0 May 19, 2008 11:32:11 Graham Lister looks back at the previous occasions on which English teams have contested the final of Europe's leading competition.... 1 - Busby's Mission Wednesday will see the first Champions League final between two English clubs, but one of them was also the first English club to appear in the final of Europe's premier club competition, then known as the European Champions' Cup. Indeed, Manchester United were England's pioneers in Europe, the first club to represent the country on that prestigious stage, and the ones who, in their second campaign, were decimated at Munich on their way home from a tie in Belgrade. United had entered the European Cup in defiance of their own short-sighted Football League. Ironically, their opponents this week in Moscow, Chelsea, had been the first English team to qualify for the European Cup when they won the League title in 1954-55. But the insular Football League asked the Blues to "reconsider" their participation because it claimed the extra fixtures might be difficult to fulfil.

Chelsea bowed to the unsubtle pressure and withdrew. When Manchester United won the domestic title in 1955-56 and 1956-57, their manager, Matt Busby, had no intention of missing out on the new continental adventure. The League continued to whinge that United's participation in the fledgling competition was "not in the best interests of the League," but the Red Devils would not be bullied. Busby declared: "Prestige alone demanded that the continental challenge should be met, not avoided." United initially reached the semi-finals, where they were defeated by all-conquering Real Madrid; but the following season the Busby Babes were destroyed in their prime on 6th February, 1958, having just reached the semi-finals again. Busby, who miraculously survived the air crash at Munich, would not rest until the new side that he built had won the European Cup and honoured the memory of those who had died trying. It would take exactly ten years for the dream to be realised...

1968: MANCHESTER UNITED 4-1 Benfica (aet, London) Celtic had stolen a march on all their English rivals by becoming the first British club to reach the final, in 1967 - when they made it count by defeating mighty Inter Milan in Lisbon. But the following season United laid the ghosts of Munich to rest - and they did so at Wembley, England's national stadium. They had to come from behind against Real at the Bernabeu in the semis to get there, but after Bobby Charlton gave them the lead against Benfica in the final with a rare headed goal, Graca's equaliser nine minutes from the end transformed the Portuguese champions, who looked set to win when Eusebio burst through in the final minute one-on-one with Alex Stepney. Yet the United keeper made a reflex save to keep out the great man's thunderbolt and force the final into extra-time. George Best scored a stunning individual goal three minutes into the extra period after a mazy dribble, and a minute later Brian Kidd, on his 19th birthday, added United's third.

Kidd passed to skipper Charlton - a Munich survivor - who lashed home the fourth, and United were champions of Europe at last. An emotional Busby said: "The moment when Bobby took the Cup it cleansed me. It eased the guilt of going into Europe. It was my justification." 2 - The Era Of English Domination United's victory was a one-off: Busby's team seemed to lose some of their drive and break up soon afterwards, while the Dutch took over at Europe's top table, one of their big clubs appearing in each of the next five finals. Then there was a hat-trick of German triumphs from Bayern Munich, the second of which saw them beat English champions Leeds United on an infamous night in Paris. 1975: Bayern Munich 2-0 LEEDS UNITED (Paris) Under Don Revie, Leeds United had become England's most formidable side, if hardly the best loved. Revie had left to take over the England team after guiding Leeds to their second League title in 1974, and after a turbulent 44 days under Brian Clough, the Yorkshire Whites appointed gentlemanly Jimmy Armfield as manager.

He steered them all the way to the European Cup final, something Revie had never achieved, and they had high hopes of beating holders Bayern at the Parc des Princes. Typically, it was a physically robust affair, Bayern's Andersson being carried off after four minutes after a clash with Terry Yorath, and Uli Hoeness also having to limp off before the break. With Bayern forced to reorganise, Leeds dominated for most of the match. Their fans were convinced they should have had two penalties for infringements by Franz Beckenbauer, and when Peter Lorimer had a goal ruled out for offside on 66 minutes, all hell broke loose on the terraces. Off the pitch French riot police sought unsuccessfully to restore order, while on it Bayern scored through first Roth and then Gerd Muller, each goal igniting further unrest. Uefa responded by banning Leeds from Europe for four years (reduced to two on appeal) in an eerie portent of what would happen ten years later. But two years after the Paris debacle, Bob Paisley's Liverpool were involved in the first of six consecutive triumphs by English clubs...

1977: LIVERPOOL 3-1 Borussia Moenchengladbach (Rome) Liverpool clinched a second successive domestic League title with a game to spare and looked on course for an unprecedented treble until arch-rivals Manchester United beat them in the FA Cup final. But they responded to that set-back just four days later, in Rome, with an outstanding performance that earned them their first European Cup triumph. Liverpool took a deserved lead with a goal from Terry McDermott, but Allan Simonsen equalised for Borussia early in the second half and the Germans began to dominate. However, after a superb save by Ray Clemence, doubts crept into the German side and Liverpool roared back. A Steve Heighway corner was headed emphatically into the net by the unlikeliest of scorers, Tommy Smith, in his farewell appearance before retiring. Suddenly Borussia had no answer to Kevin Keegan, also playing his final game for the Reds before joining Hamburg. Berti Vogts tripped Keegan in the area on 83 minutes and Phil Neal coolly convered the resulting penalty. Footballer of the Year Emlyn Hughes lifted the trophy to spark a Roman night of prolonged partying.

Liverpool fans later found the team's hideaway and a few of the players were thrown into the hotel pool in celebration, though nobody seemed to mind. 1978: LIVERPOOL 1-0 Bruges (London) Bob Paisley had brought in Scots Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen, but while Liverpool endured an indifferent domestic season by their standards at that time, in Europe everything went like clockwork as they progressed inexorably to a second successive final. It was staged on home soil at Wembley, giving the Reds a psychological advantage over Belgian opponents Bruges, whom Liverpool had beaten in the Uefa Cup final two years earlier. Bruges went for an ultra-defensive approach, sitting back and absorbing Liverpool pressure. But in the 66th minute, Dalglish was allowed too much space to attack the Bruges defence. As Jensen advanced, he deftly chipped the ball over the keeper from close range for the game's only goal, and Liverpool became the first English club to retain Europe's top prize.

1979: NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1-0 Malmo (Munich) The next season Liverpool, the holders, were seeded in the competition; but Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest - impressive winners of the league title the previous term, were making their European debut and were unseeded. They were duly paired in the first round. And Forest won 2-0 on aggregate after two enthralling encounters. It was the springboard for a stirring campaign that included a memorable 4-3 semi-final success over Cologne, the second leg of which Clough described as his "finest hour." For the final against Swedish side Malmo, managed by Englishman Bob Houghton, Forest were without midfielders Archie Gemmill and Martin O'Neill, but their record signing Trevor Francis, British football's first £1million pound player, could play. Clough had signed Francis in February but the ex-Birmingham striker would only be eligible for one match in the European Cup - the final. That was enough for both manager and player. After a nervy start, Forest began to put some incisive moves together, with Francis the creative fulcrum.

And just before half-time he timed a long run from midfield to perfection to meet John Robertson's cross at the far post and head the only goal from a tight angle. With Robertson, Francis and captain John McGovern maintaining Forest's grip on the game, the East Midlands side, whom Clough and his assistant Peter Taylor had rescued from the lower reaches of England's Second Division, were now the kings of Europe. 1980: NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1-0 SV Hamburg (Madrid) Forest made a successful defence of their crown despite a campaign of increasingly difficult ties that included Dynamo Berlin, Ajax and, in the final, Kevin Keegan's Hamburg. They were handicapped by the loss of Francis, who had torn an Achilles tendon and could not play, while goalkeeper Peter Shilton had to hobble through the game with a pain-killing injection in a pulled calf muscle. As well, Stan Bowles had unhelpfully walked out on Forest before the final. In response, Clough and Taylor erred on the side of caution, packing the midfield in the hope of nullifying Keegan, and hitting the Germans on the break.

After 20 minutes, the tactics bore fruit when Robertson climaxed a swift counter-attack with a shot that went in off the post. Shilton stood firm as Forest pulled the shutters down, and afterwards Clough beamed: "The odds were stacked against us but it was the best 90 minutes we ever had. It was absolutely marvellous." 1981: LIVERPOOL 1-0 Real Madrid (Paris) In 1980-81, Paisley's side finished fifth in the First Division - their lowest placing for 16 years - but compensated by winning the League Cup for the first time and saving their best performances for the European Cup. They got past Bayern Munich on away goals in the semi-final, to set up a clash with (then) six-time winners Real Madrid in the Paris final. The game was something of a let-down after having been keenly anticipated, littered with fouls and lacking in rhythm. But Liverpool gradually got on top, and with eight minutes to go, a throw by Ray Kennedy released his namesake, Alan Kennedy, who took the ball past a weak Cortes challenge and beat keeper Agustin from the tightest of angles at the near-post.

Liverpool had become the fourth team to win the European Cup three times - and Paisley the first manager to complete a hat-trick of triumphs. 1982: ASTON VILLA 1-0 Bayern Munich (Rotterdam) In 1980-81, Ron Saunders led Villa to their first League title success since the Edwardian era, but walked out in February 1982 over a contractual dispute, leaving his assistant, Tony Barton, to take up the reins. To his credit Barton guided the club against the odds to the European Cup final, where they would meet the last non-English club to win the tournament - Bayern Munich, who boasted the experienced Paul Breitner, Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in their ranks. If Barton was a novice, so were his team: their only previous European experience was two undistinguished Uefa Cup campaigns, the most recent of them four years earlier. And after just nine minutes of the final, goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer had to go off with a neck injury. His replacement, Nigel Spink, had previously played just one first-team game for Villa, and that was back in 1979.

But the young keeper pulled off a series of outstanding saves when Bayern threatened to overrun Villa. And in the 67th minute, Gary Shaw fed Tony Morley on the left wing and his trickery allowed him to get to the by-line and cross low for Peter Withe to knock it in off the post and make it a record six wins in a row for English clubs in European Cup finals. 1984: LIVERPOOL 1-1 AS Roma (aet; Liverpool won 4-2 on penalties) (Rome) The sequence had been broken by Hamburg against Juventus in 1983, but he following year Liverpool, now managed by Joe Fagan - another veteran of the Anfield Boot Room - were back in the final of the European Cup. They were also back in Rome, scene of their first triumph in 1977; and their opponents were the local team, the Giallorossi. Fagan had led the Reds to the League title and League Cup - their third and fourth successive triumphs, respectively, in those competitions. Now they were bidding for their fourth European crown.

Phil Neal put them ahead a little fortuitously on 15 minutes before Pruzzo headed an equaliser just before half-time. But there were no more goals, either in the regulation 90 minutes or the extra 30, so the game went to penalties, which were to be taken at the end where the Roma fans were thronged. Steve Nicol began the shoot-out by blazing over, and Di Bartolomei put Roma ahead. Neal got the Reds off the mark, and Conti fired over. Graeme Souness and Righetti both scored before Ian Rush reliably despatched his kick. With Liverpool keeper Bruce Grobbelaar doing his off-putting 'wobbly legs' routine, Graziani went for power but to his horror the ball clipped the bar and flew over. Then Alan Kennedy tucked his kick just inside the post and Liverpool were champions again, having won the first of 28 finals to be settled by a shoot-out. Kennedy explained afterwards: "I was really confident. I took a penalty in training and put it in the same spot.

Just like that!" 1985 Juventus 1-0 LIVERPOOL (Brussels) The football was incidental, almost an obscene irrelevance, the long-delayed kick-off at the Heysel Stadium coming only after the criminal disaster that unfolded on its crumbling terraces when Liverpool fans charged for a third time at Juventus fans, who stampeded in panic as they attempted to flee the rampaging mob, causing an old wall to collapse. Italian supporters were crushed to death as a result - 38 were killed there and then, one more died later in hospital, and more than 400 were injured. The carnage was watched by a horrified global television audience. Violent English hooliganism, the scourge of football at home and almost everywhere English teams played in Europe during the 1970s and early 1980s, appeared to take stadium officials and the Belgian police completely by surprise. When the game started an hour and 25 minutes later, the decision being taken to avoid an escalation of the trouble, Juventus won it with a disputed penalty converted by Michel Platini, but the result lacked any real meaning in the circumstances.

In the aftermath, which also saw the downfall of the Belgian government, Uefa banned all English clubs from European competition indefinitely, with Liverpool receiving an extra three-year ban to apply when English clubs were allowed back. 3 - United Lead The Way Out Of The Wilderness 1999: Manchester United 2-1 Bayern Munich (Barcelona) English clubs' exile from Europe ended in 1990, but European football had moved on in their absence, and now there was a yawning tactical gulf to be bridged. It took almost the entire decade before an English side - now representing the Premiership - reached the final of what was now the Champions League. And, in line with the changed format, the club that did so had not won the domestic League the previous season. But Manchester United travelled to Barcelona looking to complete an unprecedented treble of Premier League title, FA Cup and European Champions League. And they succeeded, in dramatic fashion. Yet United were outplayed for most of the match, on what would have been Sir Matt Busby's 90th birthday.

Mario Basler's fifth-minute goal for Bayern had looked like being enough, and the Bavarians had hit the woodwork twice in the second half as Alex Ferguson's side were tactically out-thought by their impressive German opponents. But despite missing Paul Scholes and captain Roy Keane, suspended, United refused to give up - and in stoppage time they staged on of the great smash-and-grabs of European history. In the first minute of added time, David Beckham took a corner and, with goalkeeper-captain Peter Schmeichel pressuring the Bayern defence in desperation, the ball was headed back by Dwight Yorke for Ryan Giggs' scuffed shot to be hooked in by substitute Teddy Sheringham to equalise. Extra-time beckoned, but within a minute Gary Neville forced another corner. Beckham sent over another perfect delivery, Sheringham glanced it on and fellow substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer pounced at close range to volley home. Two set-pieces at the death had seen United snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and Schmeichel, in his last match for them, hoisted high a trophy that had already been adorned with Bayern's ribbons which had to be hastily replaced by stunned Uefa officials.

4 - Premier League To The Fore 2005: LIVERPOOL 3-3 AC Milan (aet; Liverpool won 3-2 on penalties) (Istanbul) There would be an all-Spanish and an all-Italian final - and a compensatory win for Bayern Munich - before an English club reached the final again. But if United's 1999 triumph had been an unlikely sensation, Liverpool's victory in 2005 was little short of miraculous. Milan were imperious and Rafael Benitez's side had no answer as the Rossoneri swept into an emphatic 3-0 first half lead. There were only 52 seconds on the clock when Paolo Maldini opened the scoring by volleying Andrea Pirlo's free-kick past Jerzy Dudek to punish Djimi Traore's foul. In the 29th minute, Milan had the ball in the net again, but Andriy Shevchenko's effort was disallowed for offside. It was only a stay of execution.

For although the Italians survived a penalty shout against Alessandro Nesta for a suspicion of handball, Shevchenko on the counter-attack found Hernan Crespo (on loan from Chelsea), whose first-time finish made it 2–0 to Milan. And five minutes later, a through-ball from Kaka found Crespo who made it three. The Cup was seemingly headed for Italy, the only question being by how many Milan would win. Benitez sent on Dietmar Hamann for the injured Steve Finnan for the second-half, and switched to a three-man defence, which freed up influential captain Steven Gerrard to attack from midfield. The skipper was inspirational, heading home John Arne Riise's second attempt at a cross in the 54th minute. The goal gave Liverpool hope and Gerrard, full of belief, was driving his team-mates on. Two minutes later Hamann passed to Vladimír Smicer, who, 20 yards from goal, hit a low shot that flew past Dida into the bottom corner of the goal.

Before Hamann received the ball, a linesman had been flagging for an earlier Liverpool offside, but the referee decided against giving a free kick to Milan as they had initially regained possession and the advantage had been played. Liverpool's tails were most certainly up, and a back-heel from Milan Baros was collected by Gerrard bearing down on goal, and he went down in the area. The Reds were awarded a penalty and although Dida dived low to push out Xabi Alonso's spot-kick, the Spaniard smashed the rebound into the roof of the net to haul Liverpool level, unbelievably, at 3–3. Both teams then created but couldn't convert further opportunities, and it went to extra-time. With Liverpool tiring after their remarkable endeavours, Milan were the better team in the extra period. And in the 116th minute, they nearly won the game when Shevchenko's goal-bound header was saved by Dudek, who then somehow saved the Ukraine striker's volley from the rebound with an outstretched hand at point-blank range. So it went to penalties. Liverpool had won that way against Roma in 1984; Milan had beaten Juventus in a shoot-out two years earlier.

Serginho blazed over, Hamann scored (despite having a fractured bone in his foot), and Pirlo's kick was saved by the dancing Dudek. Djibril Cisse extended Liverpool's lead before Jon Dahl Tomasson got Milan off the mark. Dida then saved from Riise, and Kaka scored for Milan, levelling the score at 2–2. But Smicer, in his last kick as a Liverpool player, converted his effort. So Shevchenko had to score with Milan's fifth kick. He'd succeeded against Juventus two years before, but this time he fired down the middle of the goal, and although Dudek dived to his right, he managed to beat the ball out, winning the trophy for Liverpool. 2006: Barcelona 2-1 ARSENAL (Paris) Signs that the Premier League's riches were underpinning a revival in English clubs' dominance were confirmed when Arsenal reached their first final in the competition the following season. The Gunners, wearing yellow shirts against the Blaugrana, had become London's first representatives in the final, which was staged at the Stade de France in Paris.

Arsenal had two chances to score in the opening minutes, Thierry Henry getting on the end of Emmanuel Eboue's cross, but seeing his shot blocked by Víctor Valdes. From the corner the Barca keeper again had to push away Henry's effort. But after Jens Lehmann had saved from Ludovic Giuly and Deco, the German keeper's game ended in the 18th minute when he brought down Samuel Eto'o on the edge of the penalty area and became the first player sent off in a final. Giuly had followed up and knocked the ball into the empty net, but the goal was disallowed because of Lehmann's foul. Manager Arsene Wenger sacrificed Robert Pires in what proved to be his last Arsenal game, as substitute keeper Manuel Almunia came on. Yet Arsenal scored first, on 37 minutes, after Eboue was brought down by Carles Puyol and Sol Campbell - also in his lat Arsenal game - headed home Thierry Henry's free kick.

Almunia pushed Ronaldinho's shot onto the bar, and Deco and substitute Andres Iniesta also forced saves from the Spanish keeper, but Henry should have doubled Arsenal's lead when he shot straight at Valdes, and the Gunners were made to pay in the 76th minute, when Eto'o levelled, played in by substitute Henrik Larsson and breaking through on the left side to beat Almunia from close range. Another sub, Brazilian defender Juliano Belletti, put the Catalans ahead in the 81st minute when he collected another Larsson pass and shot in off Almunia's right leg at the near post from a narrow angle. Barca held on to record their second triumph in the competition. 2007: AC Milan 2 - 1 LIVERPOOL (Athens) An English club reached the final for the third year running to set up a re-match of the Istanbul epic of two years earlier. Milan fielded the oldest starting eleven ever in a Champions League final, with an average age of 31 years, 34 days, and in Paolo Maldini had the oldest outfield player ever in a final at 38 years and 331 days.

Liverpool fielded five of the players who'd started the 2005 final - Xabi Alonso, Jamie Carragher, Steve Finnan, Steven Gerrard and John Arne Riise. Unlike the first half in Istanbul, Liverpool dominated - but Milan scored against the run of play in the 45th minute when Filippo Inzaghi deflected in Andrea Pirlo's free-kick, awarded when Kaka was brought down by Alonso. Replays showed that the ball was deflected in by Inzaghi's upper arm, but the referee did not judge it to have been a handling offence. Inzaghi later said that although the deflection was intended, he did not mean to hit the ball with his arm. Liverpool continued to dominate possession but in his search for an equaliser, Benitez sent on Peter Crouch for Javier Mascherano, who had been shackling Kaka. Suddenly freed, the Brazilian played Inzaghi in with a pass that beat the offside trap, and he made it 2-0. Dirk Kuyt gave the Reds late hope with a header from Daniel Agger's flick-on at a corner, but Milan held on to win.

Graham Lister European Cup & Champions League History 1955-2017 2015-16 Real Madrid The UEFA Champions League now dominates European football in a manner never seen before. Finishing in a domestic league position that qualifies a team for Europe�s pre-eminent competition appears to be as important as winning the league title itself, and winning a domestic cup competition is very much small beer in comparison. Where there were once three European club competitions that were considered prestigious in their own right, there are now only two and the Europa League is a mere shadow of its former incarnation, the UEFA Cup. It has now become clear that a place in the Champions League is the first priority for the elite clubs every season. The money and the prestige that comes the way of those teams, merely by qualifying to take part in Europe�s premier club competition, is so important that failure to achieve one of those elusive spots can lead to the sort of financial ruin that has been experienced in recent times by the likes of Fiorentina and Leeds United. How has a competition that only began in 1955 managed to become so all consuming, taking on a level of prestige that now far outweighs much older and, previously, more famous tournaments?

Well, there was certainly no sign of any such eventuality when the European Cup was first introduced. Television was still in its infancy, sponsorship and advertising provided nothing like the money that now pours into the game and some had grave doubts about the wisdom of any type of international club competition. The main objectors came from Great Britain, although that came as no surprise to anyone in the game. The powers that be in British football have a history of being suspicious about international football � none of the home teams entered the World Cup until 20 years after its inception � and their reaction to international club tournaments was typical. Elsewhere on the continent, however, moves towards a European tournament between the top clubs of each country had been going on for some time. International club tournaments of one sort or another had, in fact, been going on long before the European Cup was born. The first of these was the Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz, named after the Belgian count who offered the cup to the winners of a tournament held in Brussels featuring six teams that included the champions of Belgium, Holland and Switzerland in 1900. As these were the only existing leagues on mainland Europe, the local newspapers dubbed the tournament the club championship of the continent.

The final took place on April 16, 1900 between R.A.P. of Amsterdam and H.V.V. of The Hague, and it was the Amsterdam team that emerged as 2-1 winners. It is possible to say, therefore, that R.A.P. of Amsterdam were the first ever champions of Europe, although as British football was then considered to be on a much higher level than anywhere else, Aston Villa and Rangers, the 1900 champions in England and Scotland respectively, might have something to say about that. The Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz did take place once more, the following year, and was won by H.B.S. of The Hague when they beat Racing of Brussels 1-0 in the final. Another team that might argue with R.A.P.�s claims to be the first ever European champions is the Vienna Cricket and Football Club, better known as �Cricketer.� They were the winners of the first Austria/Habsburg Monarchy-Challenge Cup in 1897.

This tournament was open to all clubs in the Habsburg Monarchy and would eventually be contested by Austrian, Hungarian and Czech teams, but up until the 1900/01 season it featured only teams from Vienna, so the 7-0 win by �Cricketer� over FC 98 on November 21, 1897 may not be regarded as the first ever truly international club final. The Austria/Habsburg Monarchy-Challenge Cup continued on until 1911, but was won exclusively by Viennese teams, except for the 1908/09 tournament when Ferencvaros of Hungary ran out winners. At around the time that the Austria/Habsburg Monarchy-Challenge Cup was wound down, the Coupe des Pyrenees was about to make a brief appearance. Begun in 1910 between the best teams of southern France and those of the Basque and Catalonian regions of Spain, it was won on the first four occasions by Barcelona and, in the fifth and final tournament, by their local rivals FC Espanya.

The first major international cup tournament for club teams, however, was the Mitropa Cup, the brainchild of Austrian Hugo Meisl. As head of the Austrian FA, Meisl was one of the most influential football administrators in the games history. Amongst his achievements were the arranging of the first ever international match on the continent when Austria played Hungary in 1902, the introduction of professionalism in Austria, the invitation to Englishman Jimmy Hogan, future coach of the Hungarian team, to work in Vienna, and the Mitropa Cup. The Mitropa Cup was, in its� early days, an extension of the Austria/Habsburg Monarchy-Challenge Cup, with teams from the now professional leagues of Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia being joined by those from Yugoslavia. The decision to organise the competition was made in Venice in July 1927 with the first matches played the following month. During the course of the next decade, teams from Italy, Romania and Switzerland also took part, and so, up until the outbreak of World War II, despite the refusal of the English to accept Meisl�s invitation to compete, the Mitropa Cup was considered to be as prestigious as the European Cup would later become.

It also introduced the idea of teams playing each other home and away to produce a winner on aggregate score. Having beaten Rapid Vienna 6-2 at home and lost 2-1 away, the first winners of the tournament were Sparta Prague. Rapid did exact revenge in the Final of 1930 which they won 4-3 on aggregate and, before 1939, they were joined as Mitropa Cup winners by the likes of Ferencvaros, Ujpest, First Vienna, Bologna and FK Austria. The Mitropa Cup was renowned for its attacking football � 153 goals were scored in 32 Mitropa matches played in 1935, an average of almost five per game � and this drew large crowds such as the 60,000 who watched Sparta draw with FK Austria in Prague in 1936. The competition of 1940 was begun, but was abandoned with the onset of the Second World War and the golden age of the Mitropa Cup effectively ended at that point.

With post-war central Europe now split in two by the Iron Curtain, the cup was not officially resumed again until 1955, and with the advent of the European Cup, it never regained its old importance. The competition did continue for nearly 40 years with lesser teams taking part, but it has not been played since 1992 � the present Mitropa Cup holders are Borac Banja Luka. In 1930, Geneva hosted a tournament that did give a flavour of what was to come 25 years later when the league champions and cup holders of ten different countries were invited to take part. In the end, a dozen clubs competed, from Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, with Ujpest of Budapest beating Slavia Prague in the final. A similar tournament in Paris in 1937 saw the rare appearance in international competition of an English club team. The Football League was represented by Chelsea who, despite an indifferent season at home, still managed to reach the final before losing to the Italians of Bologna.

Between the end of the War and the onset of the European Cup, the one international club tournament of any note was the Latin Cup, played for by the champions of France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Unlike the Mitropa Cup, the Latin Cup was a tournament played over a few days in one country, much like the World Cup. The inaugural tournament took place in Spain in June and July of 1949. The semi-finals saw Sporting Lisbon beat Torino 3-1 and Barcelona overcome Stade de Reims 5-0, with Barcelona running out 2-1 winners in the final. Wins for Benfica, Milan and Stade de Reims followed before the tournament of 1955 which saw a new winner. The 1955 games were held in Paris and the semi-finals saw Real Madrid, making their debut appearance having just won their first championship since the War, beat Belenenses of Portugal 2-0, with Stade de Reims defeating Milan 3-2 thanks to a sudden death winning goal with just two minutes of extra time remaining. The final was played on June 26 at the Parc des Princes, something that would be repeated just under a year later.

On this occasion, two goals from Rial gave the Spaniards a 2-0 win. The introduction of the European Cup inevitably meant the death knell for the Latin Cup and it continued for only two more years, with Milan winning in 1956 and Real Madrid beating Benfica 1-0 in the 1957 final in their own Bernabeu Stadium where, less than a month earlier they had also won their second European Cup title. The success of such tournaments as the Mitropa Cup and the Latin Cup increased the demand for a Europe wide club competition, but it took the perseverance and vision of a man named Gabriel Hanot to bring the idea to fruition. Hanot was a former French international whose career had been ended by a flying accident. Hanot had gone on to be first a coach and then a sports journalist on the magazine �Miroir des Sports.� In 1934, he proposed that certain teams take part in foreign leagues for a period of time, as a forerunner to a European League. His proposals met with some interest from continental clubs, but no one was prepared to put his plan into action, and the Second World War soon intervened.

By the start of the 1950�s, however, conditions were ripe for some kind of European competition. The onset of regular air travel and the increasing popularity of floodlit games made such a concept a real possibility. Even in England, the most insular footballing country of all, people were taking an interest in seeing sides from beyond their shores. Tours by foreign sides, particularly those from Eastern Europe, attracted huge crowds throughout England under the newly installed towering floodlights. One such game, in December 1954, saw league champions Wolverhampton Wanderers take on the Hungarians of Honved. Interest was particularly high in this game as Wolves had already beaten Moscow Dynamo 2-1 and Spartak Moscow 4-0 in the lead up to the match, while the Honved line-up contained five members of the Hungarian national team that had humiliated England 7-1 in Budapest just six months earlier. On the day of the game, Desmond Hackett wrote in the �Daily Express:� How long will these glamour teams continue to draw the crowds for non-title matches? How much more sensible and absorbing in this jet plane age to organise a European Cup series under the lights that may not always be so golden.

Let the league champions of each nation go into the hat for a quick knockout competition. It should be a soccer best seller: Wolves, Celtic, Honved, Dynamo, FC Austria, Milan, Kaiserslautern, Racing Club de Paris and so excitedly on and on. Until such an organised occasion, the winner of tonight�s test between Billy Wright�s superbly trained Wolves and Ferenc Puskas� soccer science squad get my label of European champions.

And so it was that when Wolves came from being two goals behind after 14 minutes to win 3-2, the �Daily Express� duly proclaimed that �Wolverhampton Wanderers became Wolverhampton Wanderers club champions of Europe, heroes of fighting football when they outfought and finally outplayed the star-spangled Hungarians at Molineux last night.� Gabriel Hanot�s response to the English headlines was to say: �we better wait until the Wolves travel to Moscow and Budapest to proclaim their invincibility; but if the English are so sure about their hegemony in football, then this is the time to create a European tournament.� Hanot was far from being the only continental European to be offended by this perceived English arrogance, but the attitude that prevailed on the other side of the English Channel gave an extra boost to the idea of a club competition to decide who really was the best team in Europe. Hanot now published his latest ideas in L�Equipe, where he proposed that one team from each national association be entered into a knockout competition over home and away legs in midweek under floodlights, with a one-off final taking place in Paris.

Strenuous efforts were made to get television interested in the project after the success of the 1954 World Cup having been broadcast to millions around the continent. There was widespread support from leading clubs, particularly one of Spain�s top teams. In a letter to L�Equipe in January 1955, Juan Touzon, the president of the Spanish Football Association, wrote: �This project appeals to me enormously and to my friend Santiago Bernabeu, the president of Real Madrid. We are ready to receive, in his stadium which has room for over 100,000 spectators, all the top teams in Europe.� But the problem was that no one seemed willing to run the competition. FIFA made encouraging noises, but they were only authorised to deal with international games between nations rather than clubs. The fledgling European football body, UEFA, which had only been formed a few months earlier, pleaded a similar case. Hanot, however, refused to be put off at this stage and so he responded by proclaiming that if football�s governing bodies would not organise the tournament, then L�Equipe would do so itself, and rather than going through the national associations, it would approach the clubs themselves.

Then, in April 1955, L�Equipe invited 18 clubs to a meeting in Paris to discuss the new competition. Not all of the clubs were national champions, but with the likes of Real Madrid, AC Milan, Reims, Honved and Chelsea involved, there was no lack of quality. At the meeting it was agreed that a European Cup should be inaugurated and that the first round should begin in the autumn of 1955. FIFA now became worried. In the face of a new body over which they had no control running a competition that could become one of great stature they called an Emergency Committee that met in London just a month later. At that meeting they decided to authorise the European Cup, provided that the clubs taking part had the approval of their national associations and that UEFA would assume responsibility for the organisation. The newly formed UEFA did as it was told and a new competition was born. In Paris on 21 June 1955, UEFA�s Executive Committee took over the organisation of the newly named �European Champions Clubs� Cup,� keeping the rules and the cup that L�Equipe had already provided.

Under pressure from the Football League, English champions Chelsea withdrew, citing incompatibilities with their league calendar, but such an attitude form the �home of football� was not unexpected and was not going to overshadow such a ground breaking moment. The European Cup was finally a reality. Famous Moments

Question: Which was the first English football club to be beaten in a European Cup Final ?
Answer: LEEDS UTD