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, 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; 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 European Cup Winners' Cup was renamed the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The following season, the Super Cup also renamed the UEFA Super Cup. After the 1998–99 season, the Cup Winners' Cup was discontinued by UEFA.

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 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 of extra time were played before the penalty shoot-out.

Did You Know?

• The first official Super Cup trophy was won by Ajax in January 1974.
• The Super Cup trophy has undergone several changes; the 1987 version weighed 5 kg and measured 42.5 cm in height, while the model introduced in 2006 weighs 12.2 kg and measures 58 cm 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.
• 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.