From Mitropa Cup to UEFA Cup: the role of UEFA in the establishment of a European scale in football, 1927–1972

ABSTRACT

Since the 1920s, many European exchanges began to exist in the domain of football. However, it was during the 1950s that a European scale was established primarily due to the creation of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) in 1954, which quickly organized the first European tournament in the game’s history– The European Champions Clubs’ Cup. The present essay argues that Europeanization of the game has to be understood in a long-term perspective. The papers examines the creation and development of three competitions as key defining events, which represented different stages of the Europeanization of the game: Mitropa Cup (created in 1927), European Champion Clubs’ Cup (created in 1955) and UEFA Cup (created in 1971). Thus, afocus on these cases can help us better understand the background of the Europeanization of the game which happened during the 1990s.

Acknowledgments

The author wants to thank the experts for their helpful comments; Shani D’Cruze for her proofreading of the text; and Souvik Naha for his strong support. This study was made during the author’s postdoctoral research in Paris (LabEx Ehne) funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Quoted in Gasparini, ‘Sport et football “européens”’, 253.

2. Quin, ‘La Coupe de l’Europe Centrale (1927–1938)’.

3. Mourlane, ‘A Brief Moment of Latinity?’.

4. Breuil and Constantin, ‘The Balkan Cups as a Vector of European Integration’.

5. See notbaly Vonnard, La Genèse de la Coupe des clubs champions. And for a summary: Vonnard, ‘A Competition that Shook European Football’.

6. Kevin Tallec Marston has written several papers on this competition, see notably: ‘“Sincere camaraderie”’.

7. Mittag and Legrand, ‘Towards a Europeanization of Football?’; Dietschy, ‘L’euro de l’européisme à la commercialisation de la nation’.

8. Mittag, ‘Europa und der Fussball’. Anthony King has also proposed a brief history of the Champions League (from the 1950s to the 1990s): King, The European Ritual, particularly the chapter 1.

9. Vonnard, ‘How did UEFA Govern the European Turning Point in Football?’.

10. See for instance, Lanfranchi, ‘Football, cosmopolitisme et nationalisme’.

11. Dietschy, ‘Football during the Belle-Epoque’, 40.

12. Ibid.

13. For an overview, see Macon, ‘The Politicization of Football’; and Koller, ‘Einlatung’.

14. Delépine, ‘The Racing Clubs vs. Arsenal Matches, 1930–1962ʹ.

15. Lanfranchi, ‘Bologna’.

16. Dietschy, ‘French Sport’.

17. Minutes of FIFA General Assembly of May 15 & 26, 1928. Fédération Internationale de Football AssociationArchives (FIFAA), box: 12^th – 19^th Ordinary Congress, 1923–1930, Activity Report Minutes. On the Creation of the World Cup, see Wahl, Histoire de la Coupe du monde de football.

18. Dietschy, ‘Did a “Europe of Football” Exist in the 1930’s ?’, 521.

19. It is more an hypothesis than a real explanation and it would be necessary to conduct investigations on this change and more generally on the participation, or not, of the national associations in these two competitions.

20. Vonnard and Quin, ‘Elément pour une histoire de la mise en place du professionnalisme dans le football suisse’.

21. Marschick, ‘Mitropa’. If we follow the statistics furnished in the journal Libero (no. 34), the average per game for the year 1934 (when Mitropa was at this top level) was around 16ʹ000. However, to understand what does this number mean, it would be necessary to compare it with the attendance in the Autrian, Czech, Italian and Hungarian leagues.

22. Even when Swiss teams did not participate, Le Sport Suisse covered this event extensively. The competition was also covered in the Kicker. Furthermore, papers could be found in Belgian and Dutch sports journals (thanks to Xavier Breuil for this information).

23. Agenda of the Swiss National Football Association Executive Committee Meeting of November 14–15, 1936. Swiss National Football Association Archives (SNFAA), box (BD 79): Protokolle Fussball-Comité 1929–1937.

24. Quin, ‘Central Europe Rules European Football’.

25. Mittag, ‘Europa und der Fussball’.

26. From mid-1948 to mid-1952, no games between the Western and Eastern blocs were organized. Indeed, only Yugoslavia – which had a special status in the Soviet bloc after the Tito-Stalin split – played Western opponents during this period. On this point, see Mills, ‘Cold War Football’.

27. Mourlane, ‘A Brief Moment of Latinity?’.

28. ‘La Coupe internationale des Grasshopper amorce d’un championnat d’Europe’, France football, February 5, 1952.

29. ‘Une Coupe européenne de football inter-clubs. V- La Mitropa Cup (ressuscitée) et le “Tournoi des foires” (envisagé) ne sont pas des obstacles à une compétition plus large’, L’Equipe, March 12 & 13, 1955.

30. Dietschy, ‘The Superga Disaster and the Death of the “Great Torino”’.

31. See notably articles published in the Kicker (July 13, 1949) and in France Football (January 11, 1949 and July 1, 1952).

32. Vonnard, L’Europe dans le monde du football, 265–81.

33. ‘La Coupe internationale a-t-elle vécu ? L’Italie n’aura pas terminé son programme l’an prochain’, France football, April 19, 1949. See also a letter written by Barassi to the European national association before a meeting held in Zurich to discuss the reorganization of FIFA. Letter from O. Barassi to R. Seeldrayers, undated. FIFAA, box: Réorganisation 50–53. 1. Commission d’étude et bureau, folder: réorganisation 50/52.

34. Vonnard, La Genèse de la Coupe des clubs champions.

35. L’Equipe, December 15, 1954.

36. Montérémal, ‘L’Equipe’.

37. During the 1955 General Assembly, the project of the European Championship for Nations was also rejected by the delegates.

38. Agenda of the UEFA Emergency Committee Meeting of May 8, 1955. Union of European Union Associations Archives (UEFAA), box (RM00000749): Executive Committee Meetings 1954–9.

39. Minutes of the UEFA Executive Committee Meeting of June 21, 1955. UEFAA, box (RM00000749): Executive Committee Meetings 1954–9.

40. General and Financial Report of the Secretary 1954–5. UEFAA, box (RM00000917): Reports of the Secretary 1954–89.

41. Finally, due to the lack of time, UEFA did not accept this request, but from the second European Champion Clubs’ Cup these countries were invited to send their national champions.

42. General and Financial Report of the Secretary 1964–5. UEFAA, box (RM00000917): Reports of the Secretary 1954–89.

43. Marston, ‘Sincere camaraderie’.

44. A situation that could create some trouble between the two bodies. On this problem, see Vonnard, L’Europe dans le monde du football (see 298–304 and 327–33).

45. EEEC Regulations 1956–7. UEFAA, box (RM00005391): Publication Department. European Champion Clubs’ Cup. Règlements.

46. UEFA General Assembly Minutes of June 28–29, 1957. UEFAA, box (RM0005986): Founding Congress, 1954. I-III. Ordinary Congress, 1955–7.

47. Meyer, ‘La fondation du “Grand Stade”’.

48. ‘Le réseau européen de télévision’, Bulletin de l’UER, January–February 35, no. 7 (1955), 172.

49. Minutes of the UEFA Executive Committee meetings of March 19, 1956. UEFAA, box (RM00000749): Executive Committee Meeting 1954–9.

50. ‘Apothéose de la première Coupe d’Europe des clubs, ce soir, au Parc (20h30) devant 40.000 spectateurs et … deux millions de téléspectateurs. Reims et Kopa sont plus alertes mais le Real Madrid a di Stefano!’, L’Equipe, June 13, 1956.

51. On these negotiations, see Vonnard, ‘Inventing a “European space of discussions”’.

52. EEEC Regulations 1968–9. UEFAA, box (RM00005391): Publication Department. European Champion Clubs’ Cup. Règlements.

53. This percentage has been approximately calculated after a general reading of UEFA financial reports and budgets for the 1960s. However, it needs to be confirmed by further investigation.

54. The first European Champion Clubs’ Cup gave a strong example of this possibility to bypass the Iron Curtain through football when UEFA managed to organize successfully a game between Real Madrid and Partizan Belgrade. In fact, the two countries had no diplomatic relations at that time (since 22 years previously), and the symbolic aspect of the game was clearly reinforced by the fact that these two clubs were the flagship football teams of their respective political regimes. Throughout the Cold War, around 30 per cent of all games were East-West matches. For a first reflection on this topic, Vonnard and Marston, ‘Building Bridges between Separated Europeans’.

55. On this policy, see Mittag and Vonnard, ‘The Role of Societal Actors in Shaping a Pan-European Consciousness’.

56. On these points, see Vonnard, ‘Populariser davantage l’idée européenne par l’aide des sports’.

57. ‘À la table ronde de Monaco. Lois du jeu et compétitions grands sujets de discussion’, L’Equipe, March 11 & 12, 1967.

58. Thommen was FIFA’s vice-president while Barrasi was a member of the Executive Committee. As for Stanley Rous – who would become FIFA president in 1961 – he did not hold a position on the Executive Committee, yet he participated actively in the FIFA reorganization in the years between 1950 and 1953.

59. Rous, Football Worlds, 145–54.

60. ‘Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. 1955–65ʹ. UEFA, box (RM00003071): Fairs Cup, 1966–71.

61. However, the rules of the competition had to be sent each year to UEFA’s Executive Committee in order to be approved.

62. Minutes of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Committee meetings on August 9, 1959. German State Archives (GSA), DY 12, Box (2.085): Zusammenarbeit mit der UEFA.

63. The competition was played in two distinct phases: a group stage (composed of three or four teams) and then the knock-out stage, i.e. semi-final and the final.

64. Ferran, ‘La création’, 22.

65. General and Financial Report of the Secretary 1966–7. UEFAA, box (RM00000917): Reports of the Secretary 1954–89.

66. Rules of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1963/1964, art. 6. UEFAA, box (RM00002666): Regulations, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, 1961–71.

67. In 1969, the delegates of the club of Basel requested the assembly to change the statutes so as to secure the presence of the founding members – like Basel – in the competition. Letter from P. Joris to the delegates of the clubs, June 5, 1969. UEFAA, box (RM00002666): Regulations, Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, 1961–71.

68. Minutes of the UEFA General Assembly Minutes of June 6, 1966. UEFAA, box (RM00000984): UEFA Congress, minutes, 1954–94.

69. Vonnard, ‘Populariser davantage l’idée européenne par l’aide des sports’; Vonnard, ‘Une ligue des champions avant l’heure?’.

70. Vonnard, ‘Un grand match européen’.

71. England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.