Cup Winners' Cup Competition Detail

Competition History

The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions as well as the previous season's holders. It was launched in 1960, with the UEFA Executive Committee taking responsibility for its organisation the following season, when it was decided that the competition would be run parallel to the European Champion Clubs' Cup. If the cup-winners were identical to the winners of the national championship, who would then be competing in the European Champions Clubs' Cup (or UEFA Champions League), the runners-up in the cup competition would take part. The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was regarded as UEFA's third most important club competition. The first competition was held in the 1960-61 season, and the last in 1998-99. Tottenham Hotspur became the first British club to win a major European trophy when they beat Atletico Madrid in the 1963 Final. The competition was then abolished after the 1998/99 season to make way for a further expansion to the UEFA Champions League, with domestic cup winners gaining entry into the UEFA Cup (later, the Europa League).