The UEFA Super Cup is the official football tournament that usually opens the European season. It is held in August. The tournament consists of only one match - and there are teams that won the previous season in the Champions League and the Europa League.
Base
The UEFA Super Cup was founded in 1972. The idea was initiated by Anton Witkamp, a reporter for a popular Dutch newspaper called “De Telegraaf”. A little later, he became editor of the sports department of the publication. In those days, Dutch football was very good. Because Witkamp wanted to find the very original way to demonstrate the strength of the Dutch teams in the European football arena. Then FC “Ajax” and “Feyenoord” four times reached the final of the European Cup. Three times they managed to win the main trophy.
And at that time the European Champions Cup and the Cup Winners Cup were being played. Naturally, each tournament had its own winning team. Witkamp had a brilliant idea - what if a match between them were arranged? The struggle between the two strongest clubs could find out which one is really the strongest, and is worthy to occupy the podium. So the reporter shared the idea with Jap van Prague (president of Ajax), who really liked it. And they began to prepare the first tournament.
The first match
When Witkamp and Van Prague the elder (with Yap's father) went to meet with Artemio Franky, who was then president of UEFA, they planned to talk about the idea of the tournament and receive any kind of support. However, he refused. Allegedly, the fans of the “Rangers”, with whom, in theory, was supposed to play “Ajax”, behave inappropriately, and the refusal was to serve as a punishment. But the president, on the occasion of the centenary of the Rangers, allowed the game to be held - in an unofficial confrontation.
Total sponsored by the tournament is the very newspaper Witkamp. According to the results of two matches, “Ajax” won with a score of 6: 3. It was the first UEFA Super Cup, and it laid the foundation for the further development of the idea of the tournament.
What happened next
The following year, UEFA agreed to oversee the tournament. It was supposed to pass between “Ajax” and “Milan”. Then the Dutch team won the UEFA Super Cup again.
In 1974, the tournament was not held. And all because the Munich “Bavaria” and “Magdeburg” could not agree on the date of the meeting. In general, the tournament was stably held only in 1975. But in 1981 it was again canceled - now Dynamo from Tbilisi could not agree on a date with Liverpool.
In 1985, the Eisel Tragedy, famous today, happened on the Super Bowl. Then at a match between Juventus and Liverpool, there was a real battle between the fans. People died. And both teams were punished for their inadequate fans - they were expelled from all UEFA tournaments for five years.
Many loved this vibrant football. The UEFA Super Cup has become one of the most anticipated tournaments. Everyone wanted to see the battle of the strongest clubs. At the end of the 1998/99 season, it was decided to hold a tournament between those teams that won in the UEFA Cup and in the Champions League.
Winners
Who most often won the UEFA Super Cup? “Barcelona” - on her account five victories and four defeats. The last win was in the past, 2015. Following is the “Milan" (also 5 wins, but only 2 losses). Liverpool and Ajax have 3 wins each. Next comes Madrid “Real” and “Anderlecht”, then “Valencia”, “Juventus” and “Atlético” - they have two victories and zero losses. Most often, the tournament was unlucky with Bayern and Sevilla - these teams have only one win and three losses. But such clubs as Milan “Inter”, Donetsk “Shakhtar”, Moscow “CSKA”, “Feyenoord”, Dortmund “Borussia”, “PSG”, “Arsenal”, “Bremen”, “Sampdoria” did not succeed at all in this tournament and some more FCs. They participated in the tournament only once and lost.