While the iconic Champions League dominates UEFA competition, it’s not the only European trophy up for grabs on the continent. There’s a second tier competition too, with this now known as the UEFA Europa League.
However, this has experienced several different reboots during its 70-year history, starting out life as the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup before evolving into the UEFA Cup in 1971.
The Europa League was first contested in 2009/10, with this now accessible to domestic cup winners and teams that finish fifth or sixth in Europe’s big five Leagues. In this post, we’ll take a more detailed look at the tournament’s heritage, while asking which clubs have been the most successful.
Charting the History of European Football
Although England launched Europe’s first professional domestic league in 1888/89, no other nation followed suit until 1898 (Italy). Despite this, pan-European games were contested as early as 1895, when then-English champions Sunderland beat Scottish title holders Hearts in the so-called ‘World Championship’.
As professional and amateur leagues continued to launch throughout Europe in the early 1900s, various pan-European competitions emerged too. These included the Challenge Cup in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the ‘Coupe Van der Straeten Ponthoz’, which featured the respective league winners from Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Despite these competitions, it wasn’t until the aftermath of the Second World War that L’Équipe editor Gabriel Hanot successfully proposed the idea of a single, standalone competition for the best clubs in Europe.
This reflected the intense desire for peace and collaboration that gripped Europe post-war, with the European Champion Clubs’ Cup (European Cup) finally launched in 1955.
The Origins of the Europa League
At the same time, FIFA trio Ernst Thommen, Ottorino Barassi and Stanley Rous conceived a second-tier European tournament. This was primarily created to promote International Trade Fairs throughout Europe, with the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup also approved and first contested in 1955.
Only sides from cities that hosted trade fairs were initially eligible to participate, which is why just 11 clubs took part in the first iteration of the competition. This was held over two seasons to avoid fixture congestion, with Barcelona defeating a London composite XI 8-2 on aggregate in the final.
By the final iteration in 1970/71, the number of competing teams had increased to 64 as the qualifying criteria was relaxed. By this time, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was hosted every season too, helping to popularise the tournament throughout the continent.
Interestingly, the final four editions of the tournament were all won by English sides, with Leeds the last to prevail after overcoming Juventus in another two-legged final.
Introducing the UEFA Cup
The UEFA Cup was first played during the 1971/72 season, when a total of 63 teams took part. This straight knockout tournament produced an enthralling all-English final, with Spurs overcoming Wolves 3-2 on aggregate after two hard-fought legs.
Almost immediately after the tournament’s inception, it began to gain significant prestige among both fans and teams alike. It was certainly more highly thought of than the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, with prominent early winners also including Liverpool, Juventus and Real Madrid.
Italian sides became particularly dominant during the late 80s and 1990s, with Serie A established as Europe’s premier domestic league at the time. In fact, Italian top-flight teams won seven UEFA Cups in 10 seasons between 1988 and 1999, with Napoli, Juventus, Inter and Parma all successful during this period.
Ahead of the 2004/05 iteration, the UEFA Cup format was adapted and extended, to incorporate an additional qualifying round and initial group phase. This followed the earlier adaptation of the Champions League, which first introduced a single group stage back in 1992/93.
The Evolution of the Europa League
Since 2009/10, Europe’s second tier competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League. This competition combined a much longer group stage with 40 competing teams, with 24 progressing to a subsequent knockout phase.
They were joined by the eight teams who had finished third in their group during the UCL group phase, which was central to the knockout stage draw until further structural changes were made in 2024.
As a result, last season’s winners (Atalanta) had to win 15 matches to lift the trophy (excluding qualifying), whereas inaugural tournament winners Tottenham were required to contest just 12. This number included a two-legged final, as well.
La Liga regulars Sevilla have won the most titles since the formation of the UEFA Cup, lifting the competition on seven occasions in total. Incredibly, the team didn’t win their first such title until 2006, but have triumphed in six of the subsequent 18 seasons (including a run of three successive victories between 2013 and 2016).
Thanks to Sevilla’s heroics, Spain has now produced the most winners of this competition, with La Liga teams prevailing on 14 occasions in total. The aforementioned Italian top flight has produced a total of 10 winners and eight losing finalists.
England has produced 17 finalists and nine winners in total, but just four EPL sides have lifted the trophy since the turn of the century. These include Chelsea (twice), Liverpool and Manchester United, who triumphed under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho back in 2017.
