UEFA Intertoto Cup

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UEFA Intertoto Cup

Founded 1961 (taken over by UEFA in 1995)
Region Europe (UEFA)
Number of teams 50
Current champions Hamburger SV
Website UEFA Intertoto Cup
UEFA Intertoto Cup 2008

The UEFA Intertoto Cup, also abbreviated as UI Cup and originally entitled the International Football Cup, is a summer football competition for European clubs that have not qualified for one of the two major UEFA competitions, the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The competition will be discontinued in 2009.[1] Teams who originally would have entered the Intertoto cup will be directly entered in the Qualifying stages of the UEFA cup from this point.

The tournament was founded in 1961-62, but was only taken over by UEFA in 1995.

Any club which wishes to participate must apply for entry, with the highest placed club (by league position in their domestic league) at the end of the season entering the competition. The club does not necessarily have to be ranked directly below the clubs which have qualified for another UEFA competition; if the club which is in this position did not apply, they will not be eligible to compete, with the place instead going to the club which did apply.

The cup bills itself as providing both an opportunity for clubs who otherwise would not get the chance to enter the UEFA Cup and as an opportunity for sports lotteries (or pools) to continue during the summer.[2] This reflects its background, which was as a tournament solely for football pools. In 1995 the tournament came under official UEFA sanctioning[3] and UEFA Cup qualification places were granted. Initially two were provided; this was increased to three after one year; but in 2006 it was again increased to the current total of eleven.

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[edit] History

The Intertoto Cup was the idea of the later FIFA vice president and founder of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Ernst B. Thommen, and the Austrian coach, Karl Rappan, who coached the Swiss national team at the 1938 World Cup and the Austrian national team at the 1954 World Cup.[2] The "cup for the cupless" was also heavily promoted by the Swiss newspaper Sport. It derived its name from "Toto", the German term for Football pools.

Thommen, who had set up football betting pools in Switzerland in 1932, had a major interest in having purposeful matches played in the summer break. UEFA were initially disinclined to the tournament, finding its betting background distasteful; nevertheless they permitted the new tournament but refrained from getting officially involved.[2] Clubs which qualified for one of the official continental competitions, such as the European Champions Cups and Cup Winners Cup, were not allowed to participate.

The first tournament was held in 1961 as the International Football Cup (IFC). Initially the Cup had a group stage, which led to knock-out matches culminating in a final. By 1967 it had became difficult to organize the games,[3] and so the knock-out rounds and the final were scrapped, leaving the tournament without a single winner. Instead, group winners received prizes of CHF10,000-15,000.

By 1995 UEFA had reconsidered its opinion, took official control of the tournament and changed its format. Initially, two winners were given a place in the UEFA Cup. The success of one of the first winners FC Girondins de Bordeaux in reaching the final of the 1995-96 UEFA Cup encouraged UEFA to add a third UEFA Cup place in 1996.[3]

Many clubs dislike the competition and see it as disruptive in the preparation for the new season. As a consequence they do not nominate themselves for participation even if entitled. In particular, following its 1995 relaunch, clubs in England and Scotland were skeptical about the competition; after initially being offered three places in the cup, all English top division teams rejected the chance to take part.[4] Following the threat of bans of English and Scottish teams from all UEFA competitions[4] the situation was eventually resolved with three English and one Scottish club entering weakened teams, and none of them qualifying.

In following years UEFA made it possible for nations to forfeit Intertoto places. For example, in 1998 Scotland, San Marino and Moldova forfeited their places, and England, Portugal and Greece forfeited one of their two, Crystal Palace being the sole English entrant despite finishing bottom of the Premiership.[5] Other clubs have built upon their success in the UI Cup, following it up with great campaigns in the UEFA Cup. Furthermore UEFA reject this assertion that the tournament is disruptive. They point out that in the 2004-05 season two of the three 2004 Intertoto Cup winners went on to qualify for the Champions League.[3]

In December 2007, following the election of new UEFA president Michel Platini, it was announced that the Intertoto cup would be abolished as of 2009. This was a part of a range of changes that were to be made to the UEFA Cup/Champions League System. Instead of teams qualifying for the Intertoto Cup they will now qualify directly for the Qualifying Stages of the UEFA Cup, which will be expanded to four rounds to accommodate them.

[edit] Format

When the competition was taken over by UEFA in 1995, the format was both a group stage and a knock-out stage; 60 teams were split into 12 groups of five with the 16 best teams then contesting the knock-out stage with two-legged ties at each stage, the two winning finalists qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In 1996 and 1997 just the 12 group winners entered the knock-out round, with now three finalists advancing. Nations were allocated places according to their UEFA coefficients, much as with other UEFA tournaments.

The group stage was scrapped for the 1998 tournament, which became a straight knock-out tournament, with clubs from more successful nations entering at a later stage. This arrangement lasted until 2005.

From the 2006 tournament the format for the Cup changed. There are three rounds instead of the previous five, and the eleven winning teams from the third round went through to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.[6] For the first time since the 1960s, there is provision for an actual trophy — whichever sides go furthest in the UEFA Cup will each be awarded a trophy.[7] The first winners were Newcastle United, who won the 2006 tournament outright by going further in the 2006-07 UEFA Cup than the other ten qualifiers.[8]

Only one team from each national association will be allowed to enter. However, should one or more nations not take up their place, the possibility has been left open for nations to have a second entrant. Seedings and entry are determined by each association. [6] Teams from the weakest federations enter at the first round stage, while those from mid-level federations enter in the second round, and those from the strongest federations enter in the third round.

[edit] Winners

[edit] 2006-2007

Listed are all eleven teams that won the third round matches, qualifying them for the UEFA Cup. The outright winners (determined by their UEFA Cup performance) are in bold.

Year Winners
2007 Flag of Spain Atlético Madrid Flag of England Blackburn Rovers Flag of France Lens Flag of Romania Oţelul Galaţi
Flag of Italy Sampdoria Flag of Germany Hamburger SV Flag of Sweden Hammarby IF Flag of Austria Rapid Vienna
Flag of Denmark Aalborg BK Flag of Kazakhstan Tobol Kostanay Flag of Portugal UD Leiria
2006 Flag of England Newcastle United Flag of the Netherlands FC Twente Flag of Denmark Odense Flag of Cyprus Ethnikos Achna FC
Flag of France Auxerre Flag of Turkey Kayserispor Flag of Switzerland Grasshoppers Flag of France Marseille
Flag of Germany Hertha Berlin Flag of Austria Ried Flag of Slovenia NK Maribor

[edit] 1995-2005

The results shown are the aggregate total over two legs.

Year Winners Runners-Up Result
2005 Flag of Germany Hamburger SV Flag of Spain Valencia CF 1-0
Flag of France RC Lens Flag of Romania CFR Cluj 4-2
Flag of France Olympique de Marseille Flag of Spain Deportivo de La Coruña 5-3
2004 Flag of France Lille OSC Flag of Portugal UD Leiria 2-0
Flag of Germany FC Schalke 04 Flag of the Czech Republic FC Slovan Liberec 3-1
Flag of Spain Villarreal CF Flag of Spain Atlético Madrid 2-2 (3-1 on penalties)
2003 Flag of Germany FC Schalke 04 Flag of Austria SV Pasching 2-0
Flag of Spain Villarreal CF Flag of the Netherlands SC Heerenveen 2-1
Flag of Italy AC Perugia Flag of Germany VfL Wolfsburg 3-0
2002 Flag of Spain Málaga CF Flag of Spain Villarreal CF 2-1
Flag of England Fulham FC Flag of Italy Bologna FC 5-3
Flag of Germany VfB Stuttgart Flag of France Lille OSC 2-1
2001 Flag of England Aston Villa FC Flag of Switzerland FC Basel 5-2
Flag of France Paris Saint-Germain FC Flag of Italy Brescia Calcio 1-1 (away goals)
Flag of France Troyes AC Flag of England Newcastle United FC 4-4 (away goals)
2000 Flag of Italy Udinese Calcio Flag of the Czech Republic SK Sigma Olomouc 6-4
Flag of Spain Celta de Vigo Flag of Russia FC Zenit Saint Petersburg 4-3
Flag of Germany VfB Stuttgart Flag of France Auxerre 3-1
1999 Flag of France Montpellier HSC Flag of Germany Hamburger SV 2-2 (3-0 on penalties)
Flag of Italy Juventus FC Flag of France Stade Rennais FC 4-2
Flag of England West Ham United FC Flag of France FC Metz 3-2
1998 Flag of Spain Valencia CF Flag of Austria SV Salzburg 4-1
Flag of Germany Werder Bremen Flag of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FK Vojvodina 2-1
Flag of Italy Bologna FC Flag of Poland Ruch Chorzów 3-0
1997 Flag of France SC Bastia Flag of Sweden Halmstads BK 2-1
Flag of France Olympique Lyonnais Flag of France Montpellier HSC 4-2
Flag of France Auxerre Flag of Germany Duisburg 2-0
1996 Flag of Germany Karlsruher SC Flag of Belgium Standard Liège 3-2
Flag of France En Avant Guingamp Flag of Russia SC Rotor Volgograd 2-2 (away goals)
Flag of Denmark Silkeborg IF Flag of Croatia HNK Segesta 2-2 (away goals)
1995 Flag of France RC Strasbourg Flag of Austria FC Tirol Innsbruck 7-2
Flag of France FC Girondins de Bordeaux Flag of Germany Karlsruher SC 4-2

[edit] 1967-94

During this time there were no competition winners, as only group stages were contested.

1960s 1967-68 1968-69 1969-70
1970s 1970-71 1971-72 1972-73 1973-74 1974-75 1975-76 1976-77 1977-78 1978-79 1979-80
1980s 1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90
1990s 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95

[edit] 1961-67

The results shown are the aggregate total over two legs unless otherwise noted.

Season Winners Runner-Up Results
1966–67 Flag of Germany Eintracht Frankfurt Flag of Czechoslovakia Inter Bratislava 4-3
1965–66 Flag of the German Democratic Republic Lokomotive Leipzig Flag of Sweden IFK Norrköping 4-1
1964–65 Flag of Poland Polonia Bytom Flag of the German Democratic Republic SC Leipzig 5-4
1963–64 Flag of Czechoslovakia Slovnaft Bratislava Flag of Poland Polonia Bytom 1-0*
1962–63 Flag of Czechoslovakia Slovnaft Bratislava Flag of Italy Calcio Padova 1-0*
1961–62 Flag of the Netherlands Ajax Amsterdam Flag of the Netherlands Feijenoord Rotterdam 4-2*
* - Single match finals (although 1962-63 has been unofficially reported as over two legs)

Slovnaft Bratislava is the same club as Inter Bratislava (renamed), while SC Leipzig were renamed Lokomotive Leipzig.

[edit] Winners by nation

From 2006 onwards, the final round was no longer termed as the 'Final', but instead simply as the 'Third Round'. In addition, there were eleven winners compared to three under the old system. The club which progressed furthest in the UEFA Cup were declared overall winners. The Third Round winners and losers from 2006 are included in this table.

Nation Winners Runners-Up Winning Clubs Runner-Up Clubs
Flag of France France 15 5 Auxerre (2), Bastia, Bordeaux, Guingamp, Lens (2), Lille, Lyon, Marseille (2), Montpellier, PSG, Strasbourg, Troyes Auxerre, Lille, Metz, Montpellier, Rennes
Flag of Germany Germany 10 4 Frankfurt, Hamburg (2), Hertha, Karlsruhe, Schalke 04 (2), Stuttgart (2), Werder Bremen Duisburg, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Wolfsburg
Flag of Spain Spain 6 5 Celta Vigo, Malaga, Valencia, Villarreal (2), Atlético de Madrid Atlético de Madrid, Deportivo, Valencia, Villarreal (2)
Flag of Italy Italy 5 3 Bologna, Juventus, Perugia, Udinese, Sampdoria Bologna, Brescia, Padova
Flag of England England 5 1 Aston Villa, Fulham, Newcastle, West Ham, Blackburn Newcastle
Flag of Denmark Denmark 3 Aalborg, Odense, Silkeborg
Flag of Austria Austria 2 3 Rapid Vienna, SV Ried FC Wacker, Pasching, Salzburg
Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 2 3 Ajax, Twente Feyenoord, Heerenveen, Utrecht
Flag of the Czech Republic Czechoslovakia 2 1 Inter Bratislava (2) Inter Bratislava
Flag of Romania Romania 1 3 Oţelul Galaţi CFR Cluj, Farul Constanţa, Gloria Bistriţa
Flag of Sweden Sweden 1 3 Hammarby Halmstads, IFK Norrköping, Kalmar FF
Flag of Poland Poland 1 2 Polonia Bytom Polonia Bytom, Ruch Chorzów
Flag of the German Democratic Republic East Germany 1 1 Lokomotive Leipzig Lokomotive Leipzig
Flag of Portugal Portugal 1 1 Leiria Leiria
Flag of Switzerland Switzerland 1 1 Grasshopper-Club Zürich Basel
Flag of Turkey Turkey 1 1 Kayserispor Trabzonspor
Flag of Cyprus Cyprus 1 Ethnikos Achna FC
Flag of Kazakhstan Kazakhstan 1 Tobol Kostanay
Flag of Slovenia Slovenia 1 NK Maribor
Flag of Russia Russia 4 FC Moskva, Rotor Volgograd, Rubin Kazan, Zenit Petersburg
Flag of Belgium Belgium 3 Gent (2), Standard Liége
Flag of Serbia Serbia 2 Vojvodina, Hajduk Kula
Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic 2 Sigma Olomouc, Slovan Liberec
Flag of Greece Greece 2 Larisa, OFI Crete
Flag of Moldova Moldova 2 Dacia Chişinău, FC Tiraspol
Flag of Ukraine Ukraine 2 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Chornomorets Odessa
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria 1 Cherno More Varna
Flag of Croatia Croatia 1 Segesta
Flag of Israel Israel 1 Maccabi Petah Tikva
Flag of Lithuania Lithuania 1 FK Vėtra
Flag of Norway Norway 1 Lillestrøm
Flag of Scotland Scotland 1 Hibernian

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chaplin, Mark (2007-12-01). Champions League changes agreed. uefa.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
  2. ^ a b c Elbech, Søren Florin. Background on the Intertoto Cup. Retrieved on 2006-06-07.
  3. ^ a b c d UEFA Intertoto Cup history. UEFA.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-07.
  4. ^ a b Intertoto Cup: English Joy. Retrieved on 2006-06-07.
  5. ^ 1998 Intertoto Cup Draw. EuroFutbal Archive. Retrieved on 2006-06-07.
  6. ^ a b New look for Intertoto Cup. UEFA.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.
  7. ^ Regulations of the Intertoto Cup 2006 (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved on 2007-04-15. “The clubs which qualify for ... the UEFA Cup and which subsequently go furthest in the competition each receive a UEFA Intertoto Cup trophy”
  8. ^ "Newcastle to lift Intertoto Cup", BBC Sport, 2006-12-16. Retrieved on 2007-02-20. 

[edit] External links