European Champion Clubs' Cup

Lore & Background

There have been several official incarnations of this trophy, as a club was entitled to keep the cup after five wins or three consecutive wins, with a new cup having to be forged for the following season. During the first years of the competition, up until 1966–67 season, the trophy had a distinctly different design. The original European Cup trophy was donated by L'Équipe, a French sports newspaper. This trophy was awarded permanently to Real Madrid in March 1967.

At the time, they were the reigning champions, and had won six titles altogether, including the first five competitions from 1956 to 1960. Celtic therefore became the first club to win the cup in its current design in 1967. The replacement trophy, with a somewhat different design from the original, was commissioned by UEFA from Jörg Stadelmann, a jeweller from Bern, Switzerland. At a cost of 10,000 Swiss francs, it was silver, 74 cm high, weighing 11 kg.

Subsequent replacement trophies have replicated this design. The shape of the handles have earned it the nickname of 'big ears' in multiple languages. Between 1967 and 1994, the trophy bore the title 'Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens' in sentence case; AC Milan were the last team to win this type of trophy. Since then, the trophy bears the title fully in capital letters, although the size is increased in the subsequent and current trophy.

The trophy that currently is awarded is the sixth and has been in use since 2006, after Liverpool won their fifth European Cup in 2005. Since 2009, Champions League winners have not kept the real trophy, which remains in UEFA's custody at all times. A full-size replica trophy, the Champions League winners trophy, is awarded to the winning club with their name engraved on it. Winning clubs are permitted to make replicas of their own, which must be clearly marked as such and can be a maximum of eighty percent the size of the actual trophy.

Reader's Guide

A rule introduced before the 1968–69 season allowed a club to keep the original trophy after five wins or three consecutive wins. At that point, Real Madrid was the only club meeting either qualification, and indeed met both. Once a club had been awarded the trophy, their count would be reset to zero. Such clubs also earned the right to wear the 'multiple-winner badge' that was introduced for the 2000-01 season.

Five clubs have been permanently awarded the real trophy under the old rules, from the 1968–69 to 2008–09 seasons: Real Madrid after their sixth title in 1966; Ajax after their third consecutive title in 1973; Bayern Munich after their third consecutive title in 1976; Milan after their fifth title in 1994; Liverpool after their fifth title in 2005. Prior to 2008-09, a club whose Champions League title was not a fifth overall or third consecutive win kept the real trophy for ten months after their victory and received a scaled-down replica to keep permanently.

Since 2009, the real trophy remains in UEFA's custody at all times. The winning club receives a full-size replica trophy, the Champions League winners trophy, with their name engraved on it.