Global InformationEnglish football clubs in international competitions information
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.
- ^ "UEFA Champions League Finals 1956–2021". RSSSF. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
- ^ "UEFA Cup: All-time finals". UEFA. 30 June 2005. Archived from the original on 9 March 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
- ^ Ross, James M. (31 May 1999). "European Cup Winners' Cup Finals 1961–99". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
- ^ Vieli, André (2014). UEFA: 60 years at the heart of football (PDF). Nyon: Union des Associations Européennes de Football. p. 45. doi:10.22005/bcu.175315. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 August 2021.
- ^ "UEFA Europa Conference League: all you need to know". 3 December 2020.
- ^ "UEFA Intertoto Cup history". UEFA. Archived from the original on 3 May 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2006.
- ^ "English clubs pay for Intertoto fiasco". The Independent. 16 December 1995. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
- ^ a b Risolo, Don (2010). Soccer Stories: Anecdotes, Oddities, Lore, and Amazing Feats p.109. U of Nebraska Press. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ "UEFA Super Cup History". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. July 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
- ^ "Intercontinental Club Cup".
- ^ "Futebol: Titulos" [Football: Titles] (in Portuguese). Sport Club Corinthians Paulista. Archived from the original on 4 March 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.