Cup Winners' Cup: Winners, history & why European tournament ended

As UEFA gets set to reintroduce a third continental tournament, we've taken a look back at UEFA's last third-tier competition

European football governing body UEFA is set to introduce a new third continental competition to complement the and the .

The idea behind what is being called 'UEL2', according the UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, is to increase participation for clubs that would find it difficult to qualify for the premier and second-tier tournaments.

While the concept of a new third tournament may seem novel and fresh to some football fans, it is not the first time we've seen three UEFA tournaments.

As well as the European Cup (Champions League) and UEFA Cup (Europa League), the Cup Winners' Cup ran for nearly 40 years during the 20th century.

Goal takes a look at the competition, past winners and why it came to an end.

What was the Cup Winners' Cup?

The Cup Winners' Cup was launched during the 1960-61 season as a pan-European tournament for - as the name suggests - the winners of domestic cups across the continent.

It was a companion competition to the European Cup and the winners of the two competitions later faced off in the final of the UEFA Super Cup.

Initially it was not recognised by UEFA but the governing body took over the administration of it in the second season and it soon became a key competition in the club football calendar.

Thirty-two teams competed and unlike the Champions League and Europa League formats that we are familiar with today, the Cup Winners' Cup was a straight knockout tournament, with home and away legs.

Interestingly, it was the platform where the away goals rule was first introduced, with the 1965-66 tournament serving as a test space.

Cup Winners' Cup champions

are the most successful club in the history of the Cup Winners' Cup, lifting the trophy on four occasions having reached six finals in total.

, , and follow on two trophies each. After that there are 27 different champions, including the likes of , , , and .

Italian side won the first ever tournament beating 4-1 on aggregate. It was the only final in the competition's history to feature home and away legs, with the rest being single deciders on neutral territory.

You can see the full list of winners and the years they won in the table below.

Club Titles Years won Barcelona 4 1979, 1982, 1989, 1997 Anderlecht 2 1976, 1978 AC Milan 2 1968, 1973 Chelsea 2 1971, 1998 Dynamo Kiev 2 1975, 1986 1 1962 Rangers 1 1972 Arsenal 1 1994 Fiorentina 1 1961 West Ham 1 1965 Hamburg 1 1977 Ajax 1 1987 1 1990 1 1993 1 1996 1 1963 1 1964 1 1966 Bayern Munich 1 1967 Slovan Bratislava 1 1969 1 1970 Magdeburg 1 1974 1 1980 Dinamo Tblisi 1 1981 1 1983 Juventus 1 1984 1 1985 Mechelen 1 1988 Manchester United 1 1991 1 1992 Real Zaragoza 1 1995 1 1999

When did the Cup Winners' Cup end & why?

The last Cup Winners' Cup tournament took place in the 1998-99 season with UEFA's executive committee deciding to abolish it thereafter, bringing an end to four decades of history.

side Lazio won the final tournament - it was their first time lifting the trophy - by beating Spanish outfit Mallorca in the decider at Villa Park.

The decline of the tournament coincided with sweeping changes to the European Cup, which had been remodelled in 1992 as the Champions League.

With a greater number of elite clubs qualifying for the Champions League through their league positions thanks to UEFA's overhaul, the Cup Winners' Cup gradually suffered from a perceived lack of quality.

It was merged with the UEFA Cup (which later became the Europa League) and the winner of that competition subsequently earned the right to play in the UEFA Super Cup.