The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions – the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
The competition’s official name was originally the European Super Cup. It was renamed the UEFA Super Cup in 1995, following a policy of rebranding by UEFA. It is not recognised as one of UEFA’s major competitions.
From 1972 to 1999, the UEFA Super Cup was contested between the winners of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League and the winners of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
After the discontinuation of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, it has been contested by the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the winners of the UEFA Cup, which was renamed the UEFA Europa League in 2009.
The most successful teams in the competition are Barcelona and AC Milan, who have won the trophy five times each.
History
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 at a time when Dutch total football was Europe’s finest and Dutch football clubs were enjoying their golden era (especially Ajax).
Witkamp was looking for something new to definitely decide which was the best team in Europe and also to further test Ajax’s legendary team, led by their star player Johan Cruyff. It was then proposed that the winner of the European Cup would face the winner 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 UEFA 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 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 or political problems in 1984, 1986, and 1991.
In 1974, 1981 and 1985, the Super Cup was not played at all. 1974’s competition was abandoned because Bayern Munich and 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. The 1999 Super Cup was the last one contested by the winners of the Cup Winners’ Cup.
Lazio, winners of the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, defeated Manchester United, winners of the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League, 1–0.
Since then, the UEFA Super Cup was contested between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and the winners of the UEFA Cup.
The 2000 Super Cup was the first one contested by the winners of the UEFA Cup. Galatasaray, winners of the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup, defeated Real Madrid, winners of the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League, 2–1.
In the 2009–10 season, the UEFA Cup was renamed the UEFA Europa League and the winners of this competition would continue to face the winners of the Champions League in the UEFA Super Cup.
In 2013, Chelsea became the first club to contest the Super Cup as holders of all three UEFA club honours, having entered as holders of the Cup Winners’ Cup (1998), Champions League (2012), and Europa League (2013).
Manchester United shared this honour in 2017 after their Europa League win, having qualified as Cup Winners’ Cup holders in 1991.
After 15 consecutive Super Cups being played at Stade Louis II in Monaco between 1998 and 2012, the Super Cup is now played at various stadiums (similar to the finals of the Champions League and the Europa League).
It was started with the 2013 edition, which was played at Eden Stadium in Prague, Czech Republic.
Starting in 2014, the date of the UEFA Super Cup was moved from Friday in late August, to Tuesday in mid-August, following the removal of the August international friendly date in the new FIFA International Match Calendar.
In 2020, the Super Cup final was originally scheduled to be played at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal, on 12 August 2020. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe caused the postponements of the previous season’s club finals, the UEFA Executive Committee chose to award the rescheduled Champions League final to Portugal, and postponed the match for 24th September 2020 and relocated the stadium to Puskás Aréna, Budapest.
Following discussions with its 55 member associations on 19 August 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee decided on 25th August 2020 to use the final as a pilot match for which a reduced number of spectators, up to 30% of the capacity of the stadium, can be allowed in, and it became the first official UEFA match to have spectators since their competitions were resumed in August 2020.