Cup Winners' Cup

The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (also referred to as the European Cup Winners' Cup), the tournament between the domestic cup winners, existed from 1960 to 1999. The structure was a knock-out tournament in which the matches were decided by two-legged ties except the final that was played as one game on neutral ground (the final was actually decided by two matches once, in the first 1960-1961 edition). After the UEFA Champions League was established in successful terms and started to include more teams, the status of the Cup Winners' Cup was steadily declining. Therefore, the decision was taken to bring the Cup to an end after the 1998-1999 season and instead merge it with the UEFA Cup in the sense that domestic Cup winners would be included in that tournament.

Winners and runners-up

All the winners and runners-up trough the years of the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup.

Season	Winner	Runner-up
1998-1999	Lazio	Mallorca
1997-1998	Chelsea	Stuttgart
1996-1997	Barcelona	PSG
1995-1996	PSG	Rapid Wien
1994-1995	Real Zaragoza	Arsenal
1993-1994	Arsenal	Parma
1992-1993	Parma	Royal Antwerp
1991-1992	Werder Bremen	Monaco
1990-1991	Manchester United	Barcelona
1989-1990	Sampdoria	Anderlecht
1998-1989	Barcelona	Sampdoria
1987-1988	Mechelen	Ajax
1986-1987	Ajax	Lokomotive Leipzig
1985-1986	Dynamo Kyiv	Atlético Madrid
1984-1985	Everton	Rapid Wien
1983-1984	Juventus	Porto
1982-1983	Aberdeen	Real Madrid
1981-1982	Barcelona	Standard Liège
1980-1981	Dinamo Tbilisi	Carl Zeiss Jena
1979-1980	Valencia	Arsenal
1978-1979	Barcelona	Fortuna Düsseldorf
1977-1978	Anderlecht	Austria Wien
1976-1977	Hamburg	Anderlecht
1975-1976	Anderlecht	West Ham
1974-1975	Dynamo Kyiv	Ferencváros
1973-1974	Magdeburg	Milan
1972-1973	Milan	Leeds United
1971-1972	Rangers	Dynamo Moscow
1970-1971	Chelsea	Real Madrid
1969-1970	Manchester City	Górnik Zabrze
1968-1969	Slovan Bratislava	Barcelona
1967-1968	Milan	Hamburg
1966-1967	Bayern Munich	Rangers
1965-1966	Borussia Dortmund	Liverpool
1964-1965	West Ham	1860 Munich
1963-1964	Sporting	MTK Hungária
1962-1963	Tottenham	Atlético Madrid
1961-1962	Atlético Madrid	Fiorentina
1960-1961	Fiorentina	Rangers

History

The establishment of the Cup Winner's Cup was a result of the growing interest among fans and the success of European Cup that started in 1955. The tournament was originally organized by the Mitropa Cup committee until UEFA took over in 1963.

At the time the first tournament was held in the 1960-1961 season it included only ten teams. The interest among the clubs was at this time not very big, but the competition would, however, start growing both in regards of teams and prestige. By the late 1960s all UEFA members were represented by a team.


AC Milan, the 1968 winners.

In the 1990s, the Cup Winners' Cup would lose more and more status due to the increasing popularity of the Champions League. As Champions League expanded several times by including more teams from the European leagues, the teams qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup were no longer among the top clubs. Because of the decreased status, UEFA decided to end the competition after the 1998-1999 tournament. Lazio would become the last cup champions.

Statistics

The club that won the tournament the most times were FC Barcelona with four trophies (1979, 1982, 1989, 1997). Besides that Barcelona were also runners-up twice (1969, 1991).

Table 2. Clubs and Cup Winners' Cup titles

Club	Titles
Barcelona	4
Anderlecht	2
Milan	2
Chelsea	2
Dynamo Kyiv	2
Bologna	2

Beside the listings in table 2, 27 other clubs have won the Cup once. It should also be noted that English clubs were not allowed to participate in UEFA tournaments during between 1985-1986 and 1990-1991 seasons. Despite that, English teams performed best in the tournament if titles is counted, eight in total.

Rob Rensenbrink is the player that scored the most goals overall in the Cup, 25 in 36 appearances with two teams (Club Brugge and Anderlecht). Other famous players among the top goalscorers in Cup Winner's Cup are Gerd Müller (20 goals), Gianluca Vialli (20 goals), Kurt Hamrin (16 goals), Hristo Stoichkov (15 goals).The club that won the tournament the most times were FC Barcelona with four trophies (1979, 1982, 1989, 1997). Besides that Barcelona were also runners-up twice (1969, 1991).

Table 3. Clubs with most participations

Club	Participations
Cardiff City	14
Barcelona	13
Levski Sofia*	11
Steaua Bucuresti	11
APOEL	10
Floriana	10
Rangers	10
Rapid Wien	10
Union Luxembourg	10

* Levski Sofia was playing under different name during this period: Sport Club Levski (1914-1969), Levski-Spartak (1969–1985), Vitosha Sofia (1985–1989).

The most participating team, Cardiff City, is from Wales and did qualify by winning the Welsh Cup (they reached the second round as best). Less known nationalities of the clubs in the list (see table 3) are Cyprus (APOEL) Malta (Floriana).

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Cup_Winners%27_Cup
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960%E2%80%9361_European_Cup_Winners%27_Cup
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/cwc.html
Images
Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Rijksfotoarchief: Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Fotopersbureau (ANEFO)