English football clubs in international competitions
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With 48 continental trophies won, English football clubs are the third-most successful in European football, behind Italy (49) and Spain (65). In the top-tier, the UEFA Champions League, a record six English clubs have won a total of 15 titles and lost a further 11 finals, behind Spanish clubs with 19 and 11, respectively.[1] In the second-tier, the UEFA Europa League, English clubs are also second, with nine victories and eight losses in the finals.[2] In the former second-tier UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, English teams won a record eight titles and had a further five finalists.[3] In the non-UEFA organized Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, English clubs provided four winners and four runners-up, the second-most behind Spain with six and three, respectively.[4] In the newly created third-tier UEFA Europa Conference League, English clubs have a joint-record one title so far.[5] In the former fourth-tier UEFA Intertoto Cup, England won four titles and had a further final appearance, placing it fifth in the rankings, although English clubs were notorious for treating the tournament with disdain, either sending "B" squads or withdrawing from it altogether.[6][7][8] In the one-off UEFA Super Cup, England has ten winners and ten runners-up, the second-most behind Spain with 16 and 15, respectively.[9] Similarly to the Intertoto Cup, English teams did not take the former Intercontinental Cup seriously enough, despite its international status of the Club World Championship. They made a total of six appearances in the one-off competition, winning only one of them, and withdrew a further three times.[10] English clubs have won the FIFA-organized Club World Cup four times, tied for the second-most with Brazil and behind only Spain, with eight.[11][8]
Prior to the establishment of official UEFA competitions in the 1950s, England had been pioneers in early continental football, organizing the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, which was won by West Auckland when they defeated Italian side Juventus in 1909. English teams have participated in UEFA competitions every year save for 1955–56 and the years between 1985 and 1990, when in the aftermath of the Heysel Stadium disaster all English clubs were banned from Europe by UEFA; Liverpool, who had been playing at the Heysel Stadium against Juventus, were banned for six years, until 1991. Several teams have played in Europe while being outside the top flight, including more recently Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic. Liverpool are the most successful English and British team internationally with fourteen honours, winning the most prestigious Champions League six times, also English and British records.
Qualification for UEFA competitions[edit]
From the 2021–22 season, the various permutations allow for a maximum of five English clubs to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, three for the UEFA Europa League and one for the UEFA Europa Conference League.[12] From the 2018–19 season, the top four clubs in Europe's four highest ranked leagues qualify directly to the group stage.[13] These nations are currently England, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The minimum quota is for four English clubs to qualify for the UEFA Champions League and two for the UEFA Europa League.
Competition | Who qualifies | Notes |
---|---|---|
UEFA Champions League group stage | Premier League 1st | |
Premier League 2nd | ||
Premier League 3rd | ||
Premier League 4th | ||
UEFA Champions League winners | Since the 2015–16 season, the UEFA Champions League winners gain entry to the UEFA Champions League in the group stages.[14] | |
UEFA Europa League winners | Prior to the 2015–16 season, there was a limit of four clubs from each association entering the Champions League. If a club outside of England's top four won the Champions League, the 4th placed club would be demoted to the Europa League in the following season. This occurred in the 2011–12 season when Chelsea won the Champions League but only finished sixth in the Premier League. They replaced the fourth-placed team Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League, who were demoted to the Europa League. From the 2018–19 season, the UEFA Europa League winners gain entry to the UEFA Champions League in the group stage.[15] Also from that season, if English clubs win both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, and neither finish the Premier League in a position that qualifies them for the UEFA Champions League, the following will happen:
| |
UEFA Europa League group stage | FA Cup winners or Premier League 6th | If the FA Cup winners qualify for the UEFA Champions League or the UEFA Europa League via the domestic league or European performance, by Regulation 3.04,[17] the highest ranking non-qualified league club qualifies, taking the lowest Europa League spot (the League Cup spot – the League Cup inherits the League spot, and the League inherits the FA Cup spot). |
Premier League 5th | ||
UEFA Europa Conference League winners | ||
UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round | League Cup winners or Premier League 6th/7th | If the League Cup winners have already qualified for Europe through other means, then the next highest-finishing Premier League club gets this place |
UEFA Europa League first qualifying round | Premier League club with the best UEFA Fair Play ranking that has not already qualified for Europe, but only if England has one of the top three positions and has a fair play score of above eight. | As of 2015, Fair Play no longer earns this Europa League spot. Instead, such teams will be awarded in cash prizes, with the money to be spent on related initiatives.[18] |
Wales-based clubs[edit]
Note that some Premier League clubs are not based in England. Because they are members of the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the question of which country clubs like Cardiff City and Swansea City should represent in European competitions has caused long-running discussions in UEFA. Despite being a member of the FAW, Swansea took up one of England's three available places in the UEFA Europa League in 2013–14, thanks to winning the League Cup in 2012–13. The right of Welsh clubs to take up such English places was in doubt until UEFA clarified the matter in March 2012.[19]
European and World competition winners[edit]
Club | Number of titles | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
European competitions | Intercontinental competitions | Total | ||||||||
European Cup/Champions League | UEFA Cup/Europa League | Conference League | Cup Winners' Cup | Intertoto Cup | Super Cup | Inter-Cities Fairs Cup | FIFA Club World Cup | Intercontinental Cup | ||
Liverpool | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 14 | |||||
Chelsea | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||||
Manchester United | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||
Manchester City | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||||
Nottingham Forest | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||
Aston Villa | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
Tottenham Hotspur | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||
West Ham United | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
Arsenal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Leeds United | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Newcastle United | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Ipswich Town | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Everton | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Fulham | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Total | 15 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 56 |
Chronology[edit]
Full European record for English league clubs[edit]
Note: Clubs in bold won the corresponding competition that season.
European Cup/UEFA Champions League[edit]
English clubs have won the competition fifteen times and been runners-up on eleven occasions.
Note: UEFA denotes qualified for the UEFA Cup/Europa League.
- ^ The Heysel ban for English clubs was lifted for 1990–91, apart from for Liverpool who served an additional year.
UEFA Cup/Europa League[edit]
English clubs have won the competition nine times and reached the final on eight other occasions (including 1972 and 2019 when both finalists were from England).
- ^ England had no coefficient points as a result of the Heysel ban, so only one club was granted entry.
- ^ England had only one year of coefficient points as a result of the Heysel ban, so only one club was granted entry.
- ^ England had only two years of coefficient points as a result of the Heysel ban, so only two clubs were granted entry.
- ^ England had only three years of coefficient points as a result of the Heysel ban, so only two clubs were granted entry.
- ^ England had only four years of coefficient points as a result of the Heysel ban, so only three clubs were granted entry.
- ^ England had the full five years of coefficient points but the limited berths from previous seasons affected their ranking, leaving them with three entrants. The introduction of the UEFA Intertoto Cup and the UEFA Fair Play ranking for 1995–96 allowed more UEFA Cup berths to open up.
- ^ England initially gained a UEFA Cup berth through the UEFA Fair Play ranking but it was revoked as punishment for its clubs fielding weakened teams in the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup.
UEFA Europa Conference League[edit]
An English club has won the competition once.
Season | Club | Progress | Score | Opponents | Venue(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021–22 | Tottenham Hotspur | 3rd in group stage | N/A | Rennes, Vitesse, Mura | |
Leicester City | Semi-finals | 1–2 | Roma | 1–1 at King Power Stadium 0–1 at Stadio Olimpico | |
2022–23 | West Ham United | Winners | 2–1 | Fiorentina | Fortuna Arena |
2023–24 | Aston Villa | Semi-finals | 2–6 | Olympiacos | 2–4 at Villa Park 0–2 at Karaiskakis Stadium |
European/UEFA Cup Winners' Cup[edit]
English clubs won the competition a record eight times and reached the final on five other occasions.
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup[edit]
English clubs won the competition four times and reached the final on four other occasions.
UEFA Intertoto Cup[edit]
European/UEFA Super Cup[edit]
English clubs have won the competition ten times and taken part on ten other occasions (only two clubs qualify).