European Cup

The European Cup (also known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup) was established in 1955, inspired by the South American Championship of Champions, the South American tournament for club teams. It could also be seen as an expanded version of the Mitropa Cup, that had existed in Europe for a long time but only included clubs from Central and East Europe. The European Cup would include winners of national domestic leagues from all over Europe. These clubs would compete in a knock-out tournament with two-legged home and away ties. It would become the most prestigious club tournament for clubs in Europe until 1991 when the tournament was replaced by the Champions League.

Winners and runners-up

All the winners and runners-up through the years of the European Cup.

Season	Winner	Runner-up
1990-1991	Red Star Belgrade	Olympique Marseille
1989-1990	Milan	Benfica
1988-1989	Milan	Steaua Bucuresti
1987-1988	PSV Eindhoven	Benfica
1986-1987	Porto	Bayern Munich
1985-1986	Steaua Bucuresti	Barcelona
1984-1985	Juventus	Liverpool
1983-1984	Liverpool	Roma
1982-1983	Hamburger	Juventus
1981-1982	Aston Villa	Bayern Munich
1980-1981	Liverpool	Real Madrid
1979-1980	Nottingham Forest	Hamburger SV
1978-1979	Nottingham Forest	Malmö FF
1977-1978	Liverpool	FC Brugge
1976-1977	Liverpool	Borussia Mönchengladbach
1975-1976	Bayern Munish	Saint Etienne
1974-1975	Bayern Munich	Leeds United
1973-1974	Bayern Munich	Atlético Madrid
1972-1973	Ajax	Juventus
1971-1972	Ajax	Internazionale
1970-1971	Ajax	Panathinaikos
1969-1970	Feyenoord	Celtic
1968-1969	Milan	Ajax
1967-1968	Manchester United	Benfica
1966-1967	Celtic	Internazionale
1965-1966	Real Madrid	Partizan Belgrade
1964-1965	Internazionale	Benfica
1963-1964	Internazionale	Real Madrid
1962-1963	Milan	Benfica
1961-1962	Benfica	Real Madrid
1960-1961	Benfica	Barcelona
1959-1960	Real Madrid	Eintracht Frankfurt
1958-1959	Real Madrid	Stade de Reims
1957-1958	Real Madrid	Milan
1956-1957	Real Madrid	Fiorentina
1955-1956	Real Madrid	Stade de Reims

History

The biggest European tournament for football clubs began in 1955. In the first edition 16 teams would partake and in the final at Parc des Princes in Paris, Real Madrid beat Stade de Reims by 4 goals to 3.

The very next year the tournament would be expanded to include 22 teams. In the following years the numbers of participating teams continued to grow until it reached 32 teams, which was ideal for playing five rounds (Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final). Some years included 33 teams, which resulted in a Preliminary round between two teams.

Statistics

If the Champions League is excluded and only titles between 1955-56 and 1990-91 are counted, these clubs have won the most titles:

Table 2. Clubs and European Cup titles

Club	Titles
Real Madrid	6
Liverpool	4
Milan	4
Ajax	3
Bayern Munich	3
Benfica	2
Internazionale	2
Nottingham Forest	2

In addition, these teams have won once: Aston Villa, Borussia Dortmund, Celtic, Chelsea, Crvena zvezda, Feyenoord, Hamburger SV, Olympique Marseille, PSV and Steaua Bucuresti.

English clubs have been the most successful, winning a total of eight titles (Liverpool 4, Nottingham Forest 2, Manchester United 1 and Aston Villa 1).

Real Madrid has the record with five consecutive titles. Three consecutive titles have been won by Ajax (1991-1973) and Bayern München (1974-1976). In addition, Benfica, Inter, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Milan have all won the tournament two years a row.

References:
http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/ec1.html