Why Only 5 Clubs Have Ever Been Allowed To Keep The Original UCL Trophy
The UEFA Champions League is considered by many football fans around the globe as the most prestigious competition in football at club level.
The competition was first introduced in 1956 and was named the ‘European Cup’. Multiple clubs have won the title, but only a few of those clubs were allowed to keep the original version of the trophy, why is that? Keep reading as we reveal the mystery behind only 5 clubs winning and taking the original UCL trophy back home.
If every club that wins the UEFA Champions League competition at the end of the season is given an original version of the UCL trophy, it means that UEFA would have given out 67 trophies at the end of this season, but that is not the case as clubs are given the replica of the trophy.
Before the year 2009, UEFA made except for a club to take the original version of the UEFA Champions League trophy back home. Below, here are the conditions that a club must meet before they are allowed to take the original trophy home.
A club must win the competition three times in a row before they can keep the original trophy.
A club must have won the competition five times in the history of the club.
Taking into account the above rules, only 5 clubs have had the honor of taking the original version of the UCL trophy back home.
1. REAL MADRID: ( 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1966 )
Real Madrid were the first football club to take the UCL original trophy back home. The club was granted that honor after they won the competition for the sixth time.
They won it in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960, and finally in 1966 they were given the original, not the replica.
Real Madrid are the only Spanish club to have taken the original of the UEFA Champions League trophy back home.
2. AJAX: ( 1971 – 1973 )
Ajax Football Club were given the original UCL trophy after winning the UCL three straight times. ( 1971 – 1973 )
They joined Real Madrid as the second team in history to achieve that feat in the world.
3. BAYERN MUNICH: ( 1974 – 1976 )
The German club joined Real Madrid and Ajax as the only exclusive teams in the history of football to take the original UEFA Champions League trophy back home in the year 1976 after they won the trophy for the third time in a row just like Ajax did before them.
Bayern Munich are the only Bundesliga club that have won the UEFA Champions League three straight times.
4. AC MILAN: ( 1963, 1969, 1989, 1990 and 1994)
The Serie A giant on their part did not win the competition for 3 seasons in a row just like the other aforementioned clubs.
Ac Milan took the original home after they won the UEFA Champions League in 1994 which made their wins in the competition the fifth.
They first won the competition in 1963 and waited for three years to win it again in 1969, and waited for 20 years before they won their third in the competition, their fourth and fifth wins came in 1990 and 1994 respectively, in which they took the original trophy back home in 1994.
5. Liverpool: ( 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984 and 2005 )
Liverpool football club are the only English side to take the original UEFA Champions League trophy back home.
The Reds got their first two wins in 1977 and 1978 respectively, they won their third UCL trophy in 1981, and in 1984 they won their fourth UCL. They had to wait for another 21 years before they got their hands on the trophy again which eventually gave them the honor of keeping the original in 2005, not the replica.
Liverpool were the last team to take the original UCL trophy back home after their comeback win in 2005. The rule was changed in 2009, and the new rule now is that a ‘multiple winners badge’ was introduced which is always on the left sleeve of the shirt of any team that achieves the feat during their next UEFA Champions League Matches.
In the new rule, teams that have won the UEFA Champions League for three times, in a row or five times overall, receive a multiple-winner badge. Six teams have earned this privilege: Real Madrid, Ajax, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Liverpool, and Barcelona.
If the old rule was still in place, teams like Real Madrid who have won the UEFA Champions League for three straight times in modern football, and Barcelona who have won the competition for the fifth time in their history would have gotten the original version of the UEFA Champions League trophy.
