The History of the Champions League
The champions league or as it was known then the European cup was first introduced back in 1955 when a prominent editor of an extremely successful French sports magazine set off a petition to European footballs governing body UEFA to create a tournament that would showcase only the finest teams in European football.
Once UEFA had looked over the proposal they decided to hold a meeting with all of Europe’s biggest football clubs to see if they would favor a competition of this type and once they did the rules and regulations were put in place and the tournament has never looked back. The first ever football match of this type was played between FK Partizan and Sporting Lisbon and Lisbon had the honor of winning 2-1 and creating history. The first creation of this tournament was not limited to domestic cup holders but this fact changed when UEFA decided to only allow domestic champions into the competition as to increase the quality of the football and also give clubs an extra incentive to compete successfully within their own domestic leagues and so on.
This all new tournament format held its own up until 1992 when UEFA decided to broaden the competition to allow more deserving teams the chance to compete within the tournament and with this the Champions League was formed. Learn more about the History of the Champions League on the official website.
The first ever club champions cup was successfully won by the now leading tournament winners Real Madrid who up to now have won the competition a record nine times to date. Once Real Madrid had one the first title they had over a decade of dominating the competition by successfully demolishing all competition that was put before them. By the time 1960 had arrived Real Madrid had found themselves winning their fifth title when they defeated Frankfurt in a game which saw one of the highest ever attendances of any football match when 135,000 people crammed into the Scottish national stadium Hampden Park. This attendance still remains the highest today and now due to the all seated and health and safety regulations looks like it will remain that for a very long time.
When Real Madrid finally lost their grip on the title it was another Spanish club that prized their hands away from it when Barcelona beat them in the first round but the other Spanish giants did not win the competition as they were beaten by the then Portuguese champions Benfica. The trend of Central European teams dominating this tournament continued until in 1966 their grip on the tournament was loosened as Celtic went all the way to the final and beat Inter Milan which made them the first team from the British Isles to win a major football competition. Since these dates the format of the Champions Cup continued the same until in 1992 the competition was again expanded as to allow more teams entry into the competition in an attempt to generate even more revenue for those clubs involved. Why not take a look at the previous winners of The Champions League with our Data.
Ever since its first incorporation, the champions league has been one of the most successful and talked about competitions in world club football and continues to be the most sought after cup for any player in the modern era and has created many of today’s biggest and best known football stars.