The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , "betting pool"), originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discontinued after the 2008 tournament.

The tournament was founded in 1961–62, but was only taken over by UEFA in 1995. Initially, the tournament ended with a single champion, who received the Intertoto Cup. Starting in 1967, the tournament ended with a number of group winners (7 to 14 winners), who received cash prizes. When UEFA took on the tournament, it became a qualifier for the UEFA Cup, with 2 to 11 Intertoto winners advancing to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

Any club who wished to participate had to apply for entry, with the highest placed clubs (by league position in their domestic league) at the end of the season entering the competition. The club did not have to be ranked directly below the clubs which had qualified for another UEFA competition; if the club that was in that position did not apply, they would not be eligible to compete, with the place instead going to the club that did apply.

The cup billed itself as providing both an opportunity for clubs who otherwise would not get the chance to enter the UEFA Cup and as an opportunity for sports lotteries (or pools) to continue during the summer. This reflects its background, which was as a tournament solely for football pools. In 1995, the tournament came under official UEFA sanctioning and UEFA Cup qualification places were granted. Initially, two were provided; this was increased to three after one year, but in 2006, it was again increased to the final total of 11.

History

Beginnings

The Intertoto Cup was the idea of three men: Malmö FF chairman Eric Persson; the later FIFA vice-president and founder of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Ernst B. Thommen; and the Austrian coach Karl Rappan, who coached the Switzerland national team at the 1938 and 1954 FIFA World Cups. The "Cup for the Cupless" was also heavily promoted by the Swiss newspaper Sport. It derived its name from Toto, the German term for football pools.

Thommen, who had set up football betting pools in Switzerland in 1932, had a major interest in having purposeful matches played in the summer break. UEFA were initially disinclined to support the tournament, finding its betting background distasteful; nevertheless they permitted the new tournament but refrained from getting officially involved. Clubs which qualified for one of the official continental competitions, such as the European Champions Cupss and Cup Winners' Cup, were not allowed to participate.

Early independent tournaments

The first tournament was held in 1961 as the International Football Cup (IFC). Initially the Cup had a group stage, which led to knockout matches culminating in a final. By 1967, it had become difficult to organize the games, and so the knockout rounds and the final were scrapped, leaving the tournament without a single winner. Instead, group winners received prizes of CHF10,000-15,000.

Entering the UEFA fold

By 1995, UEFA had reconsidered their opinion, took official control of the tournament and changed its format. Initially, two winners were given a place in the UEFA Cup. The success of one of the first winners, Bordeaux, in reaching the final of the 1995–96 UEFA Cup encouraged UEFA to add a third UEFA Cup place in 1996.

Many clubs disliked the competition and saw it as disruptive to their preparations for the new season. As a consequence, they did not nominate themselves for participation even if entitled. In particular, following its 1995 relaunch, clubs in England were sceptical about the competition; after initially being offered three places in the cup, all English top division teams rejected the chance to take part. Following the threat of bans of English teams from all UEFA competitions, three English clubs were entered but fielded weakened teams. UEFA's punishment was to dock England a fourth UEFA Cup qualification place in 1995–96 "due to the conduct of Tottenham and Wimbledon in last season's Intertoto Cup".

In subsequent years, UEFA made it possible for nations to forfeit Intertoto places. For example, in 1998, Scotland, San Marino, and Moldova forfeited their places, while England, Portugal, and Greece forfeited one of their two, Crystal Palace being the sole English entrant despite finishing bottom of the Premier League. However, UEFA rejected the idea that the tournament was disruptive, pointing out that, among other successes, all three 2004 Intertoto Cup winners went on to qualify for the Champions League in 2004–05: Schalke and Lille qualified directly, while Villarreal progressed through the qualifying rounds.

Abolition

Following the election of new UEFA president Michel Platini, the Intertoto Cup was abolished in 2008, as part of several changes to the UEFA Cup system. Instead of teams qualifying for the Intertoto Cup, they would now qualify directly for the qualifying stages of the UEFA Europa League, which was expanded to four rounds to accommodate them. The UEFA Europa Conference League was introduced in 2021 as a third-tier European tournament.

Format

When the competition was taken over by UEFA in 1995, the format was both a group stage and a knock-out stage; 60 teams were split into 12 groups of five with the 16 best teams then contesting the knock-out stage with two-legged ties at each stage, the two winning finalists qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In 1996 and 1997, just the 12 group winners entered the knock-out round, with now three finalists advancing. Nations were allocated places according to their UEFA coefficients, much as with other UEFA tournaments.

The group stage was scrapped for the 1998 tournament, which became a straight knock-out tournament, with clubs from more successful nations entering at a later stage. This arrangement lasted until 2005.

From the 2006 tournament, the format for the Cup changed. There were three rounds instead of the previous five, and the 11 winning teams from the third round went through to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup. The clubs which were furthest in the UEFA Cup would each be awarded with a trophy. The first club that received that trophy (a plaque) was Newcastle United.

Only one team from each national association was allowed to enter. However, if one or more nations did not take up their place, the possibility was left open for nations to have a second entrant. Seedings and entry were determined by each association. Teams from the weakest federations entered at the first round stage, while those from mid-level federations entered in the second round, and those from the strongest federations entered in the third round.

Results

Before UEFA sanctioning

Winners by year (1961–1967)

The results shown are the aggregate total over two legs unless otherwise noted.

No declared winners (1967–1994)

During this time there were no competition winners, as only group stages were contested. The outright winners (determined by their best champions) are marked in bold.

Region system (1967, 1968, 1970)

Non-region system (1969, 1971–1994)

Winners by year (UEFA)

1995–2005

The results shown are the aggregate total over two legs. Listed are each year's three teams (two in 1995) that won the final matches, qualifying them for the UEFA Cup.

2006–2008

Listed are all 11 teams that won the Intertoto Cup, qualifying for the UEFA Cup. The outright winners (determined by the best performance in the UEFA Cup) are marked in bold.

Statistics

From 2006 onwards, the final round was no longer termed as the "Final", but instead simply as the "Third Round". In addition, there were 11 winners, compared to three under the old system. The clubs which progressed furthest in the UEFA Cup were awarded with a trophy (plaque).

Performance by club

Performance by nation

Winners by nation

See also

• List of UEFA Intertoto Cup winning managers

• UEFA club competition records

• UEFA Champions League

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

• UEFA Europa League

• UEFA Conference League

• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

• Mitropa Cup

• Latin Cup

• Balkans Cup

Notes

References

External links

• Official UEFA site

• Soccernet guide to Intertoto Cup: and

• Enrico Siboni Web Site – Winners of UEFA Intertoto Cup