The 1971–72 UEFA Cup was the inaugural season of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, now known as the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, which became the third club

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

competition organised by

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

. The tournament retained the structure and format of the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

, which ran from 1955 to 1971 and had been held independently of UEFA by an organizing committee composed mostly of FIFA executives. The

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

was played in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

over two legs, at Molineux Stadium,

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

, and at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The first UEFA Cup was won by Tottenham Hotspur, who defeated

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

by an aggregate result of 3–2. English clubs had won the last four editions of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. This was the first ever European final between two clubs from England, a feat that would not be repeated until the 2008 UEFA Champions League final. This was Wolverhampton's lone appearance in a European final, and Tottenham's second European title, nine years after their success in the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Background and changes

The

was created in 1955,having actually started a few months earlier than the

-organised European Cup during the summer. The 'Fairs Cup', as it came to be known, was intended to provide a competitive background for matches between the representative teams of cities that hosted international trade fairs, which were being held in the previous years. As such, its calendar was highly irregular, with the first two editions being played over a five-year span. The tournament had the backing of several influential football officials. This included

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

Executive Committee members

Ernst Thommen Ernst B. Thommen (23 January 1899 – 14 May 1967) was the acting (interim) FIFA president from March 1961 to 28 September 1961. He spent 6 months in office, succeeding Arthur Drewry who died in office. Thommen contested for the president pos ...

, who was the president of the

Swiss Football Association The Swiss Football Association (, , , ) is the governing body of football in Switzerland. It organizes the football league, the Swiss Football League and the Switzerland national football team. It is based in Bern. It was formed in 1895, was a ...

, as well as Sir Stanley Rous and Ottorino Barassi. With no further need for international governance, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was internally regulated, from the referees to the disciplinary measures, and no coordination at all with the European Cup. At first,

gave no further attention to the concept, as it was also inmersed from 1957 onwards in taking over the International Youth Tournament (nowadays, the UEFA European Under-19 Championship) thad had been initiated by

. This approach changed at the start of the 60's as UEFA structures consolidated, being tasked by the FIFA statues to bring order to European competitions. In 1961, UEFA took over the European Cup Winners Cup after its inaugural edition, and in 1962 devised a plan to streamline the continental calendars and its competitions. A new ruling stated that "competitions open to the clubs of all National Associations affiliated to UEFA may only be organized by UEFA itself". However, this wasn't initially enforced with the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, due to its good reputation and the influence held by its organisers. In the meantime, the competition had adjusted to an annual schedule, while club teams quickly replaced city teams. By 1964, the belief within the UEFA Executive Committee was that the competition "should be governed and organised by UEFA itself", to ensure consistency over the rules, refereeing and disciplinary matters. An initial proposal by the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

for UEFA to take over the tournament fell through by 15 votes to 5, due to the opposition of Sir Stanley Rous in his new role as FIFA president, and the support of the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

. However, when Scotland submitted a new proposal in 1966, the English association did agree that time, and the motion was narrowly passed by 11 votes to 10 despite the efforts of Rous to prevent it. Owing to the minimal margin between both positions, UEFA agreed to enter a negotiation period with the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup organizers. The terms were finally approved in 1968, and UEFA was due to take over for the 1969–70 edition. However, just a few months prior, most of the member association presidents agreed to extend the 'transitional period', which lasted for two further years. The tournament was then renamed as the UEFA Cup. The main changes came with the entry criteria. Teams would no longer be bound to their city being host to an international trade fair, and multiple teams from the same city could be entered. Qualification for the UEFA Cup was devised purely on sporting merits, either by the highest-placed European teams that had not qualified for the European Cup or

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

, or by winning a secondary cup competition, such as a league cup. Initially, the lone exception to the rule came from

, which still applied the 'one city, one team' rule until UEFA imposed the standard qualification procedure in 1975. Otherwise, the UEFA Cup retained the same 64-team, five knock-out rounds format for a two-legged final, with multiple teams from Europe's strongest leagues.

Association team allocation

A total of 64 teams from 32

member associations were entered in the 1971–72 UEFA Cup. As the 'trade fair' requirement was abolished, teams from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

were admitted for the first time, which required further modifications into the allocation scheme previously set up by the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. * 4 associations have four teams qualify. * 5 associations have three teams qualify. * 10 associations have two teams qualify. * 13 associations have one team qualify. Due to the newly entered associations,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

lost the fourth berth they had gained the previous season, while

went back from five to four teams as the 'title holders' extra berth was not needed.

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

also lost their second UEFA Cup berth, and

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

regained their second berth, while

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

were also granted a second berth.

Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for competition: * TH: Title holders * CW: Cup winners * CR: Cup runners-up * LC: League Cup winners * 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position * P-W: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners Notes

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows. Matches were primarily scheduled for Wednesdays, though some matches took place on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Bracket

First round

Teams from the same nation could not be drawn against one another.

Summary

¹ Vllaznia withdrew after Albanian authorities banned the team from international competition, due to its volleyball team coming back from abroad with gifts and items that were deemed forbidden.
² This match was played in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

.
³ Chemie Halle withdrew after the first leg following the Hotel 't Silveren Seepaerd fire.

Matches

''Vllaznia withdrew after Albanian authorities banned the team from international competition, due to its volleyball team coming back from abroad with gifts and items that were deemed forbidden; Rapid Wien were awarded a walkover.'' ---- ''Ferencváros won 4–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''ADO Den Haag won 7–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Tottenham Hotspur won 15–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Eintracht Braunschweig won 7–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''2–2 on aggregate. Vitória de Setúbal won on away goals.'' ---- ''Carl Zeiss Jena won 4–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''UTA Arad won 5–4 on aggregate.'' ---- ''OFK Beograd won 6–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Juventus won 11–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Vasas won 2–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Zaglebie Walbrzych won 4–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Spartak Moscow won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Željezničar won 4–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Dinamo Zagreb won 8–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''St Johnstone won 4–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Hertha BSC won 7–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Rosenborg won 4–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Real Madrid won 4–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Chemie Halle withdrew ahead of the return leg due to the Eindhoven hotel fire that claimed the life of Halle's 21-year-old midfielder Wolfgang Hoffmann one day before the match. PSV Eindhoven were awarded a walkover.'' ---- ''Lierse won 4–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Aberdeen won 3–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''1. FC Köln won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Dundee won 5–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Legia Warsaw won 3–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Athletic Bilbao won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Wolverhampton Wanderers won 7–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Rapid București won 2–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Bologna won 3–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Nantes won 3–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''2–2 on aggregate. Panionios won on away goals.'' ---- ''Milan won 7–0 on aggregate.''

Second round

Teams from the same nation could not be drawn against one another.

Summary

¹ After the final whistle in the first leg, visiting Panionios fans invaded the pitch and attacked

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

players, match officials, and Hungarian police. Panionios were ejected from the competition.
² This match was played in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

Matches

''Rapid București won 4–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Dundee won 5–4 on aggregate.'' ---- ''UTA Arad won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Carl Zeiss Jena won 5–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''2–2 on aggregate. Rapid Wien won on away goals.'' ---- ''3–3 on aggregate. Željezničar won on away goals.'' ---- ''After the final whistle in the first leg, visiting Panionios fans invaded the pitch and attacked Ferencváros players, match officials, and Hungarian police. Panionios were ejected from the competition. Ferencváros were awarded a walkover.'' ---- ''Eintracht Braunschweig won 4–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''4–4 on aggregate. Lierse won on away goals.'' ---- ''Wolverhampton Wanderers won 7–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Tottenham Hotspur won 1–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''St Johnstone won 2–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Milan won 5–4 on aggregate.'' ---- ''3–3 on aggregate. PSV Eindhoven won on away goals.'' ---- ''Vitória de Setúbal won 4–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Juventus won 3–1 on aggregate.''

Third round

Teams from the same nation could not be drawn against one another.

Summary

Matches

''Wolverhampton Wanderers won 4–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''UTA Arad won 3–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Juventus won 5–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Ferencváros won 6–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Lierse won 4–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Željezničar won 5–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Milan won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Tottenham Hotspur won 5–0 on aggregate.''

Quarter-finals

Summary

Matches

''Milan won 3–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Tottenham Hotspur won 3–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Wolverhampton Wanderers won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''3–3 on aggregate. Ferencváros won 5–4 on penalties.''

Semi-finals

Summary

Matches

''Wolverhampton Wanderers won 4–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Tottenham Hotspur won 3–2 on aggregate.''

Final

Matches

''Tottenham Hotspur won 3–2 on aggregate.''

References

External links

Season Overview – UEFA.com1971–72 All matches UEFA Cup – season at UEFA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:1971-72 UEFA Cup UEFA Europa League seasons 2 2

Background and changes

Association team allocation

Teams

Schedule

Bracket

First round

Summary

Matches

Second round

Summary

Matches

Third round

Summary

Matches

Quarter-finals

Summary

Matches

Semi-finals

Summary

Matches

Final

Matches

See also

References

External links