UEFA Super Cup

Lore & Background

The European Super Cup was created in 1971 by Anton Witkamp, a reporter and later sports editor of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. The idea came to him in a time when Dutch total football was Europe's finest and Dutch football clubs were enjoying their golden era, especially Ajax, who had won three European Cup titles in a row. Witkamp was looking for something new to definitely decide which was the best team in Europe and also to further test Ajax's team, led by their star player Johan Cruyff. It was then proposed that the winners of the European Cup would face the winners of the European Cup Winners' Cup. All was set for a new competition to be born. However, when Witkamp tried to get an official endorsement to his competition, the UEFA president turned it down. The 1972 final between Ajax and Scotland's Rangers is considered unofficial by UEFA, as Rangers were banned from European competition due to the behaviour of their fans during the 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup final. As a result, UEFA refused to endorse the competition until the following season. It was played in two legs and was financially supported by De Telegraaf. Ajax defeated Rangers 6–3 on aggregate and won the first (albeit unofficial) European Super Cup. The 1973 final, in which Ajax defeated AC Milan 6–1 on aggregate, was the first Super Cup officially recognised and supported by UEFA. Although the two-legged format was kept until 1997, the Super Cup was decided in one single match because of schedule issues (1984 and 1986) or political problems (1991). In 1974, 1975, 1981 and 1985, the Super Cup was not played at all: 1974's competition was abandoned because Bayern Munich and 1. FC Magdeburg could not find a mutually convenient date; 1975's was not held due to scheduling conflicts; 1981's was abandoned when Liverpool could not make space to meet Dinamo Tbilisi; while 1985's was abandoned due to a ban on English clubs' participation preventing Everton from playing Juventus. In the 1992–93 season, the European Cup was renamed the UEFA Champions League and the winners of this competition would face the winners of the Cup Winners' Cup in the European Super Cup. In the 1994–1995 season, the Europea

In Their Own Story

The rain in Monaco was light but persistent, turning the Stade Louis II into a slick stage for destiny. Sir Alex Ferguson paced the technical area, his eyes scanning the pitch where the Champions League trophy still felt warm from Moscow. The team had arrived as kings of Europe, yet the atmosphere shifted the moment Zenit's first goal struck the net. It was a silence that fell over the Old Trafford faithful in the stands, a realization that European nights are never guaranteed. As the final whistle blew on a 2-1 loss, the players trudged off not with the silverware of a Super Cup winner, but with the bitter taste of a near-miss, a solitary footnote in a dynasty otherwise defined by conquest.

Reader's Guide

The competition was originally played over two legs, one at the stadium of each participating club, except in exceptional circumstances. For instance, in 1991, when Red Star Belgrade were not allowed to play a match in their native Yugoslavia due to the war at the time, only a home match of Manchester United was played instead. Since 1998, the Super Cup has been played as a single match at a neutral venue. Between 1998 and 2012, the Super Cup was played at the Stade Louis II in Monaco. Since 2013, it has been played in various stadiums. The UEFA Super Cup trophy is retained by UEFA at all times. A full-size replica trophy is awarded to the winning club. Forty gold medals are presented to the winning club and forty silver medals to the runners-up. The Super Cup trophy has undergone several changes in its history. The first trophy was presented to Ajax in 1973. In 1977, the original trophy was replaced by a plaque with a gold UEFA emblem. In 1987, the next trophy was the smallest and lightest of all the European club trophies, weighing 5 kg (11 lb) and measuring 42.5 cm (16.7 in) in height. The UEFA Champions League trophy weighs 8 kg (18 lb) and the UEFA Europa League trophy 15 kg (33 lb). It was designed and manufactured at the Bertoni workshop in Milan. The new model, which is a larger version of the previous trophy, was introduced in 2006 and weighs 12.2 kg (27 lb) and measures 58 cm (23 in) in height. Until 2008, a team which won three times in a row or five in total received an original copy of the trophy and a special mark of recognition. Since then, the original trophy has been kept exclusively by UEFA. AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid have achieved this honour, winning a total of five times each, but the Italian team is the only one which was awarded the official trophy permanently in 2007. Barcelona and Real Madrid won their fifth title in 2015 and 2022, respectively, when the policy was no longer in place. As of 2024, the fixed amount of prize money paid to the clubs is €5 million for the winners and €4 million for the runners-up. The UEFA Super Cup is contested as a single match at a neutral venue. The match consists of two periods of 45 minutes each, known as halves. If the scores are level at the end of 90 minutes, the match goes straight to a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners. Before the 2023 edition, two additional 15-minute periods

Did You Know?

• The 1972 final between Ajax and Rangers is considered unofficial by UEFA because Rangers were banned from European competition due to fan behaviour.
• The Super Cup was not played at all in 1974, 1981, and 1985 for various reasons including scheduling conflicts and a ban on English clubs.
• Manchester United lost the 1999 Super Cup 1–0 to Lazio, the last edition contested by Cup Winners' Cup winners.
• The Super Cup trophy introduced in 2006 weighs 12.2 kg and measures 58 cm in height.