UEFA Europa League Trophy

The UEFA Europa League trophy is one of the largest and heaviest in world football. The trophy was designed and cast in the Bertoni workshops in Milan in 1971 as a replacement for the Inter Cities Fairs Cup trophy. The Bertoni workshops are famous for crafting the Football World Cup trophy.

The UEFA Europa League trophy is cast in silver and set on a solid marble plinth. The octagonal cup has no handles and its base features several figures in relief playing football above a chain of colourful European flags. The front of the trophy is engraved with a representation of Europe and the UEFA Logo. The total cost of the trophy was approximately 23,000 Euros.

UEFA Europa League winners are allowed to keep the trophy for a year, before handing it back to UEFA at a special ceremony that also involves the announcement of dates and locations for important future UEFA Europa League events. The UEFA Europa League winning team is then allowed to retain a replica trophy that is approximately 20% of the size of the original.

An interesting fact about the UEFA Europa League trophy is that any team who succeeds in winning the UEFA Europa League for three consecutive seasons will be allowed to retain it permanently. To date no team has accomplished this feat, although Spanish club Sevilla came close with UEFA Europa League final victories in 2006 and 2007.

Sevilla will, unfortunately, not have an opportunity to make it three in a row as they will instead be participating in the UEFA Champions League in 2008.

Inter Cities Fairs Cup Trophy

The origins of the Inter Cities Fairs Cup trophy are somewhat obscure. The Cup was first awarded to the victors of the Inter Cities Fairs tournament that saw cities hosting trade fairs pit their clubs against one another.

The Inter Cities Fairs Cup trophy, like its successor, sports an unconventional design. The trophy consists of an elongated silver cup set with two reversed handles. The cup rests on a brass ball/stem, itself anchored on a wooden plinth set with plaques commemorating the European clubs that won the trophy.

The Inter Cities Fairs Cup trophy was retired in 1971. A play off game was organised between the cup’s most frequent winner and its most recent winner to establish a permanent holder. The resulting match between Barcelona and Leeds United ended 1-0 with the historic trophy finding an enduring home in Barcelona’s well-stocked trophy cabinet.