The UEFA Regions' Cup is a football competition for amateur teams in Europe, run by UEFA. It was held for the first time in 1999 and has been played biennially since. The first champions were the Italian Veneto team and the current holders are Portugal's Braga.
The competition was created in 1996 as there was no European level competition for amateur teams. The UEFA Amateur Cup, a previous attempt of awarding amateurs with continental competition, had run from 1966 to 1978, but was cancelled due to lack of interest both by the public and amateur teams themselves. Also, as opposed to today's Regions' Cup, in which amateur clubs are represented, the competition represented amateur national teams.
Each UEFA member nation is allowed to enter one representative amateur team into the competition, with clubs having to win a domestic amateur competition (such as the FA Inter-League Cup) in order to qualify.
The first two finals were won by teams from the host nation and, thus far, Spain has been the most successful nation in the competition, with Spanish sides winning two of the seven editions and finishing as runners-up in another.
Read more about UEFA Regions' Cup: Format, Results, Past Finals, Titles By Nation
Famous quotes containing the word cup:
“Sisters define their rivalry in terms of competition for the gold cup of parental love. It is never perceived as a cup which runneth over, rather a finite vessel from which the more one sister drinks, the less is left for the others.”
—Elizabeth Fishel (20th century)