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HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

The UEFA European Football Championship is the pinnacle of international football for all European nations governed by the European ruling body, UEFA (Union of European Football Associations).

Henri Delaunay was a footballing visionary. (¿Getty Images)

Held every four years since 1960, the European Championships tournament has undergone severe changes since it's inception through to it's modern day format and is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in world soccer.

Despite the first seeds of an idea for a European Championship competition having been sown in 1927 by the French Football Association's Henri Delaunay (whom the trophy is now named after), it wasn't until 1958 that the first qualifying rounds were held, initially on a home and away knockout basis between nations culminating in a four team final stage with two semi-finals and a final to decide the winner.

The Henri Delaunay trophy is synonymous with UEFA's history. (¿UEFA/Jean-Luc Ray)

Henri Delaunay

After the Second World War there was a growing desire among the European associations for more national team competition than just the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic football tournament. The idea of a continental championship for national teams was hardly a new one: South America had introduced one as early as 1916, while both Africa and Asia launched one in the mid-1950s. Henri Delaunay, the visionary Frenchman after whom the UEFA European Championship trophy is named, first suggested the idea for a European tournament to FIFA well before the war. But fears that such a tournament might reduce the value of the World Cup remained in place right up until 1958, when the draw for the inaugural European Nations Cup, as it was then known, took place in Stockholm. The final was in Paris two years later, the Soviet Union defeating Yugoslavia 2-1.

Soviet players celebrate beating Yugoslavia in the 1960 final. (¿Teamsport)

1960 - Delaunay's dream comes true

As with sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, the European Champion Clubs' Cup and the modern Olympics, the first major European national competition was the brainchild of a Frenchman: Henri Delaunay, the secretary of the French Football Federation.

French first
He was there to watch the birth of his baby - the trophy was named after him - as France hosted the first final tournament. There were teething troubles before the event got off the ground: the first European Nations' Cup was nearly called off when the number of entries fell short of the required minimum of 16. A flurry of late applications averted that fate, although none of the British countries entered.

The Henri Delaunay trophy is to be replaced with a new version. (¿Action Images)

Opening game
The first match in the competition was played on 29 September 1958, 100,572 people in attendance at the Lenin stadium in Moscow as the Soviet Union beat Hungary 3-1. Anatoli Ilyin was the historic first scorer, having previously claimed the only goal of the 1956 Olympic final. The Soviets also won the second leg of this first-round tie, 1-0 to advance 4-1 on aggregate.

Spanish protest
In the quarter-finals, the Soviet Union had a slice of good fortune when General Franco's right-wing government pulled Spain out of the tie. The hosts France, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia also won through to the semi-finals.

New trophy for UEFA EURO 2008™
The new UEFA European Championship trophy is 18 centimetres higher and two kilos heavier than the original designed by Arthus Bertrand in 1960 and named after Henri Delaunay, the former president of the French Football Federation. The upper part of the trophy is based on the original and is also made out of sterling silver. The new trophy, created by Asprey London, will also retain its historical name.

UEFA.com

RESULTS

Total wins

Though the Soviet Union won the inaugural competition, Germany triumphed three times, twice as West Germany. France is the only other team to have won the tournament more than once.

Last Four Classifications

Total Hosts

*Belgium, and the Netherlands co-hosted the 2000 Euro Cup.
**Austria, and Switzerland will co-host the 2008 Euro Cup.

Final tournament appearances

Notes
^[1] – Including five appearances as West Germany.
^[2] – Including one appearance as Commonwealth of Independent States in 1992.
^[3] – Includes the Euro 1992 qualification and disqualification due to international sanctions.
^[4] – The country was named Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 2000.

Answers.com

TEN FACTS ABOUT THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

1. The modern UEFA European Championship has two parts: a series of qualifying groups played in the two years preceding its second part, a finals tournament. The finals are staged every four years in a different country.

2. The competition began in 1960 as the European Nations' Cup, the brainchild of Henri Delaunay. Then the final tournament consisted of four teams who survived a knockout competition played over the previous 2 years.

3. The 1960 competition was almost cancelled for lack of support after many countries left it late to apply.

4. The name 'UEFA European Championship' was adopted in 1968, the same year as knock-out preliminaries were replaced by the modern qualifying round.

5. There have been ten winners: Soviet Union (1960), Spain (1964), Italy (1968), Germany (as the Federal Republic of Germany/West Germany in 1972, 1980 and as Germany in 1996), Czechoslovakia (1976), France (1984, 2000), Netherlands (1988), Denmark (1992) and Greece (2004).

6. The finals tournament has been played in 11 countries: France (1960, 1984), Spain (1964), Italy (1968, 1980), Belgium (1972), Yugoslavia (1976), Germany (1988), Sweden (1992), England (1996), Belgium and the Netherlands (joint hosts 2000), Portugal (2004).

7. Denmark initially failed to qualify for the 1992 finals, but were invited to play when Yugoslavia were thrown out because of their civil war; Denmark won.

8. The four-team final tournament was expanded to eight teams in 1980 and sixteen in 1996, with 48 taking part in qualifiers.

9. The largest attendance in competition history was a qualifier between England and Scotland at Hampden Park for the 1968 competition. 130,711 were there.

10. In 1960 the Spanish team were withdrawn by their right-wing government rather than play the impressive, and communist, Russians.

From Robert Wilde

Euro 2008 News

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