European Champion Clubs' Cup

The European Champion Clubs' Cup, or simply the European Cup, is a trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Champions League. Prior to 1992, the competition in its older format shared its name with the trophy, being also known as the European Cup. The trophy is often, although erroneously, referred to as the Champions League Trophy.

Several different physical trophies have had the name, as a club is entitled to keep the cup after five wins or three consecutive wins, with a new cup having to be forged for the following season. The UEFA badge of honour is a badge awarded by UEFA to such clubs.

The trophy

Champions League winners keep the real trophy for ten months after their victory, and receive a scaled-down replica to keep forever. Winning clubs are also permitted to make replicas of their own, however they must be clearly marked as such and can be a maximum of eighty percent the size of the actual trophy.

The original European Cup trophy was donated by L'Équipe, a French sports newspaper. This trophy was awarded permanently to Real Madrid in March 1967. At the time, they were the reigning champions, and had won six titles altogether, including the first five competitions from 1956 to 1960.

The replacement trophy, with a somewhat different design from the original, was commissioned by UEFA from Jörg Stadelmann, a jeweller from Berne in Switzerland. At a cost of 10,000 Swiss Francs, it was silver, 74 cm high, weighing 8 kg. Subsequent replacement trophies have replicated this design. In Spanish, it is nicknamed La Orejona ("big-ears") because of the shape of the handles and for this reason Luis Omar Tapia a long time ESPN ´S UCL announcer made the name "la Orejona" popular on the American continents.

The rule to allow a club to keep the trophy after five wins or three consecutive wins was introduced before the 1968-69 season. At that point, Real Madrid were the only club meeting either qualification, and indeed met both. Once a club has been awarded the trophy, its count is reset to zero. For example, a club with no prior titles which won six titles in a row would be permanently awarded trophies after the third and sixth wins (each for three-in-a-row) but not after their fifth win.

UEFA badge of honour

The UEFA badge of honour was introduced for the start of the 2000-01 competition. The badge itself adorns the left sleeve of the team's shirt during Champions League and UEFA Cup matches. It is a navy blue oval on which is an outline of the current trophy in white, overlaid with part of the Champions League starball logo. Above the trophy is the total number of titles held by the club.

Honoured clubs

Five clubs have kept the actual trophy, and so have been awarded the badge of honour:

• Real Madrid CF after six wins, 1956-60 and 1966. They have since won it three more times, in 1998, 2000, and 2002.
• AFC Ajax after their third consecutive win in 1973. They won a fourth in 1995.
• FC Bayern München, after their third consecutive win in 1976. They won a fourth in 2001.
• AC Milan, after their fifth title in 1994. They have since won it twice more, in 2003 and 2007.
• Liverpool FC, after their fifth title in 2005.

Title-holder logo

A separate "title-holder logo" is worn by the reigning Champions League champions in the following season's competition. The distinction between the title-holder logo and the badge of honour can be compared to the distinction between the scudetto (shield) worn by the reigning Serie A champions in Italy, and the stella (star) worn by teams with over 10 Serie A titles in total. However, whereas Juventus sport 2 stars as they have won over 20 titles, there is no provision for multiple UEFA badges of honour, as the count within the badge can be incremented indefinitely.

UEFA Cup

The rules for the UEFA Cup also state that a club gets to keep the existing trophy upon their third consecutive win or fifth overall. There is also a title-holder logo, but no badge of honour. However, as of 2006, no club has won the UEFA Cup more than three times in total (see UEFA Cup: top teams). Two have won it twice in a row: Real Madrid in 1986, and Sevilla in 2007. Madrid did not have the chance to win a third successive UEFA Cup, as they qualified for the 1986-87 European Cup. Similarly, Sevilla had reached the last 16 of the Champions League 2007-08, so could not defend their UEFA Cup title.

Victories in the discontinued UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, held 1960-99, and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, held 1955-71 outside the auspices of UEFA, are not counted for any current UEFA award. FC Barcelona won the Fairs Cup trophy permanently in a playoff match against Leeds United after the last tournament.

References

External links

• Picture of the original trophy held by Alfredo Di Stefano after the 1956 European Cup Final. From Getty images.
• Picture of the badge of honour posted on imagebucket.