Spurs win all-English final in 1972

Thanks to the number of participants, the UEFA Cup held a unique place in international football as a showcase for clubs from across the European continent.

The Fairs Cup had become so popular that it was eventually taken over by the European governing body of football and renamed the UEFA Cup.

The first edition of the UEFA Cup, in season 1971-72, produced an all-English showdown between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves, the Londoners taking the first honours.

The competition was traditionally open to the runners-up of the domestic leagues but the tournament was merged with UEFA’s previous second-tier European competition, the Cup Winners’ Cup, in 1999.

Since then, the winners of domestic cup competitions also qualified for the UEFA Cup.

This contest complemented the main competition, the Champions League, as clubs eliminated in the third qualifying round of the Champions League and the third-placed teams in the group phase, were awarded a berth in the UEFA Cup.

The top three clubs in UEFA’s Fair Play chart are also rewarded with a place in the UEFA Cup.

In 1971-72, seven clubs from England and Scotland took part in the tournament. Tottenham began their route to stardom with a double-digit victory over a minnow team from Iceland.

First round: Dundee-AB Copenhagen 4-2, 1-0 (5-2); IBK Keflavik-Tottenham 1-6, 0-9 (1-15); Celta Vigo-Aberdeen 0-2, 0-1 (0-3); Wolves-Academica Coimbra (Portugal) 3-0, 4-1 (7-1); Hamburg-St Johnstone 2-1, 0-3 (2-4); Southampton-Athletic Bilbao 2-1, 0-2 (2-3); Lierse SK-Leeds 0-2, 4-0 (4-2).

The shock result befell Leeds, the holders of the ‘old trophy’ – the Fairs Cup. They were knocked out at the first time of asking. St Johnstone recorded a fine two-legged victory over German giants Hamburg.

Second round: Cologne-Dundee 2-1, 2-4 (4-5); Den Haag (Netherlands)-Wolves 1-3, 0-4 (1-7); Nantes-Tottenham 0-0, 0-1 (0-1); St Johnstone-Vasas (Hungary) 2-0, 0-1 (2-1); Juventus-Aberdeen 2-0, 1-1 (3-1).

St Johnstone maintained their march by adding another fine scalp, that of Hungary’s Vasas. Dundee joined in with a fine win over Cologne but Aberdeen lost to Juventus.

Third round: Milan-Dundee 3-0, 0-2 (3-2); Carl Zeiss Jena (East Germany)-Wolves 0-1, 0-3 (0-4); St Johnstone-Zeljeznicar (Yugoslavia) 1-0, 1-5 (2-5); Tottenham-Rapid Bucharest (Romania) 3-0, 2-0 (5-0).

Both Scottish clubs bowed out, Wolves stretched their winning spree and Spurs remained undefeated.

Quarter-finals: UT Arad (Romania)-Tottenham 0-2, 1-1 (1-3); Juventus-Wolves 1-1, 1-2 (1-3).

Semi-finals: Tottenham-Milan 2-1, 1-1 (3-2); Ferencvaros-Wolves 2-2, 1-2 (3-4).

Crack Italian sides fell to English clubs. Juventus went out to Wolves and Milan crashed to Tottenham as the two English sides reached the final undefeated.

Final: Wolves-Tottenham 1-2 (McCalliog − Chivers 2); Tottenham-Wolves 1-1 (Mullery − Wagstaffe).

Tottenham: Jennings, Kinnear, Knowles, Mullery, England, Beal, Gilzean, Perryman, Chivers, Peters, Coates (Pratt).

Wolves: Parkes, Shaw, Taylor, Hegan, Munro, McAlle, McCalliog, Hibbitt, Richards, Dougan, Wagstaffe.

In the second leg, Tottenham fielded the same team as in the first match without using a substitute. Wolves were also unchanged with substitutes Bailey and Curran coming on for Hibbitt and Dougan, respectively.

Sizzling six

Liverpool made sure the UEFA Cup stayed in England in 1972-73. After the Reds’ success, English clubs won the competition (Fairs Cup/UEFA Cup) for six years running.

First round: Aberdeen-B. M’gladbach 2-3, 3-6 (5-9); Manchester City-Valencia 2-2, 1-2 (3-4); SFK Lyn (Norway)-Tottenham 3-6, 0-6 (3-12); Stoke-Kaiserslautern 3-1, 0-4 (3-5); Liverpool-Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0, 0-0 (2-0).

Only UEFA Cup holders Tottenham and Liverpool advanced past the first round. Stoke City, in their debut season, were eliminated by Kaiserslautern, of Germany.

Second round: Tottenham-Olympiakos 4-0, 0-1 (4-1); Liverpool-AEK Athens 3-0, 3-1 (6-1).

Third round: Tottenham-Red Star Belgrade 2-0, 0-1 (2-1); Dynamo Berlin-Liverpool 0-0, 1-3 (1-3).

Quarter-finals: Tottenham-Vitoria Setubal 1-0, 1-2 (2-2 – Spurs through on away goals); Liverpool-Dynamo Dresden 2-0, 1-0 (3-0).

Semi-final: Liverpool-Tottenham 1-0, 1-2 (2-2 – Liverpool through on away goals).

Final: Liverpool-B. M’gladbach 3-0 (Keegan 2, Lloyd); B. M’gladbach-Liverpool 2-0.

Liverpool: Clemence, Lawler, Lindsay, Smith, Lloyd, Hughes, Keegan, Cormack, Toshack, Heighway (Hall), Callaghan.