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About the UEFA Europa League: Introduction and History of the Trophy

The UEFA Europa League, popularly abbreviated as UEL, is one of the most prestigious European club competitions in the world of football, second only to the UEFA Champions League. It was first played in the year 1971 and has been held every year since then by UEFA, but only for eligible European clubs. There is a certain criterion for determining, which are the eligible clubs to participate in this prestigious competition, and that is based on the performances in their respective leagues and cup competitions.

Before the UEFA Europa League, it was known as the UEFA Cup. This was only changed recently since the 2009-10 season, which also brought some changes in the format of the competition. As far as the UEFA footballing records are concerned, both the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League are considered to be the same competition.

This prestigious title has been clinched by 28 different clubs since the beginning of the competition, 13 of which have got hold of the cup more than once. Sevilla, a well-established Spanish club, is the most successful club in this particular tournament, as they have won the title on five different occasions. The winners of last season, that is, 2019-20 season, were Chelsea and they got to hold the title for the second time, after defeating Arsenal in a thrilling final that ended 4-1 in the favour of the Blues.

Trophy

The Coupe UEFA, or the UEFA Cup, is the name of the trophy that is handed over annually to the football club by UEFA that wins the UEFA Europa League. It was designed by Bertoni for the 1972 UEFA Cup Final, weighs 15kg and is silver plated on a yellow marble plinth. Before the 2009-10 season, both the trophy as well as the competition were called by the same name, that is, the UEFA Cup.

Before the completion got renamed, the UEFA regulations stated that the winning club could keep the trophy for a complete year and then return it back to UEFA. After returning it, the club is given a four-fifths scale replica of the trophy. Once any club wins their third consecutive title or fifth one in total, the club could retain the trophy for themselves permanently.

However, under the new regulations set by UEFA, the original trophy is retained by UEFA at all times. The winners are awarded a full-size replica trophy for keeps every year. Moreover, now if a club manages to win three consecutive titles or five ones in total, it receives a multiple-winner badge. As of now, only Sevilla has managed to earn the honour of wearing that multiple-winner badge in the 2016-17 campaign, having achieved both the criteria in the same year.

These were some of the facts and information on the historical club competition, which is the UEFA Europa League.


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