70-475: The Belgian National Sports Merit Award is an annual award handed out to a Belgian sportsperson or -team for exceptional merit. Players can only win the award once during their career, making this trophy one of the most prestigious in Belgian sports. The trophy is awarded by a jury consisting of (former) sports champions (e.g. Paul Van Himst and Ingrid Berghmans ), influential sports people and sports journalists and
140-407: A forward , most notably for R.S.C. Anderlecht . Regarded as Anderlecht's ultimate club icon, Van Himst holds the record of four Belgian Golden Shoe awards and was named best "Belgian footballer of the twentieth century". Van Himst was introduced to Anderlecht as a child because his father, who was an ardent fan of Jef Mermans , rarely missed a home match and regularly took his three children to
210-470: A friendly cup against the winners of the CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana — since 2023. In the 2024–25 season, the group stage was replaced with an expanded league phase. Spanish clubs have the highest number of victories (14 wins), followed by teams from Italy (10 wins) and England (9 wins). The title has been won by 30 clubs, 14 of which have won it more than once. The most successful club in
280-592: A Europa League game as a musical element of the competition's opening sequence. The competition's first anthem was composed by Yohann Zveig and recorded by the Paris Opera in early 2009. The theme for the re-branded UEFA Cup competition was first officially unveiled at the Grimaldi Forum on 28 August 2009 before the 2009–10 season group stage draw. A new anthem was composed by Michael Kadelbach and recorded in Berlin and
350-675: A change in format. The 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup , producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and a change in qualifying criteria. The winner of the UEFA Europa League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup , for the following season's UEFA Champions League since the 2014–15 season, entering at the group stage, as well as for the UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge —
420-539: A convincing performance with Belgium in Paris against France . After he left Anderlecht, he played for RWDM , another Brussels club, in 1975–76 and for Eendracht Aalst (then in the second division ) in the following season. Two surgeries took their toll: neither at RWDM nor at Aalst Van Himst reached the same level as before. At the age of 17, Paul Van Himst made his debut for the Belgian national team on 19 October 1960 in
490-568: A cup winner). Since Gibraltar was accepted as a full UEFA member at the 24 May 2013 UEFA Congress in London, their cup winner also qualified for the Europa League. Although the other teams were the next-highest-ranked in each domestic league (after those qualifying for the UEFA Champions League), France and England continued to use one spot for their league-cup winners. With the abolition of
560-600: A few more in fact, but at a certain point the organizers decided that one could not win the Shoe more than once. A few years later, that decision was reverted with Van Himst winning a fourth award in 1974. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA 's Jubilee, he was named the Golden Player of Belgium by the Belgian Football Association as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. He has been an ambassador for
630-448: A final against fellow Spaniards Espanyol . Zenit Saint Petersburg won in 2008. Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk , won in 2009, the first Ukrainian side to do so. Since the 2009–10 season, the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League. At the same time, the UEFA Intertoto Cup , UEFA's third-tier competition, was discontinued and merged into the new Europa League. Atlético Madrid won twice in three seasons, in 2010 and 2012,
700-561: A greater number of berths in UEFA Cup to the more successful nations. Three nations had four places, five nations had three places, thirteen nations had two places, and eleven nations only one place. Since 1998, a similar system has been used for the UEFA Champions League . Before 1980, the entrance criteria of the last Fairs Cup was used. The competition was traditionally a pure knockout tournament. All ties were two-legged , including
770-535: A match against Sweden . 11 days later, he scored his first goal in a 2–1 home victory over Hungary . In 1964, Van Himst played in the Belgium– Netherlands match alongside 10 Anderlecht players after the substitution of goalkeeper Guy Delhasse by Jean-Marie Trappeniers . Van Himst was part of Belgium's team which qualified for the 1970 World Cup . At the Euro 1972 , organized in his home country, Van Himst helped
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#1732876853098840-500: A multiple-winner badge. As of 2016–17 , only Sevilla has earned the honour to wear the multiple-winner badge, having achieved both of the prerequisites in 2016 . The trophy was designed and crafted by Silvio Gazzaniga , who also designed the FIFA World Cup Trophy , working for Bertoni , for the 1972 UEFA Cup Final . It weighs 15 kg (33 lb) and is silver on a yellow marble plinth. 67 centimetres (26 in) tall,
910-401: A round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (all of the knockout games except the final are played over two legs). The league phase consists of each team playing a total of eight matches, with four at home and four away. The top eight teams from the league phase receive a bye to the round of 16, while the teams ranked 9th to 24th contest the knockout play-offs with the winners advancing to
980-460: A standard number of three berths (across both the Europa League and the Conference League), except: Usually, each country's places are awarded to teams who finish in various runners-up places in its top-flight league and the winner of the main cup competition . Typically the teams qualifying via the league are those in the highest places not eligible for the UEFA Champions League ; however,
1050-496: A teenager. In the 1961–62 season, Paul Van Himst won his first trophy with Anderlecht, the national championship. On his European debut against Real Madrid in 1962 at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium , he scored the opening goal in a 3–3 draw, immediately arousing the interest of Italian topclub Modena . They made him an attractive offer, including his brother in the deal, but Anderlecht did not let its rising star leave. At
1120-494: A third year in a row beating Liverpool in the 2016 final, making them the most successful team in the history of the competition with five titles. Atlético won their third title in 2018. The 2019 all-London final between Chelsea and Arsenal was the first UEFA Cup/Europa League final between two teams from the same city. Sevilla added a record-extending sixth victory in 2020, after defeating Inter Milan , and won an unprecedented seventh title in 2023. The UEFA Cup, also known as
1190-520: Is close friends with cycling legend Eddy Merckx . Both are regularly spotted together at Anderlecht's home games. And in 2022, his grandson Amando Lapage signed a professional contract with the club. Source: Note: The appearances and goals of Van Himst in exhibition games and the Belgian League Cup are not taken into account. Van Himst holds the record of most Golden Shoe awards, having won it on four occasions. There could have been
1260-538: Is led by the mayor of Brussels . The trophy was established in 1928 by Alban Collignon , as a tribute to the founder of the Royal Belgian Aero-club, Fernand Jacobs . Therefore the trophy was in the first four years known as the Fernand Jacobs Award . Paul Van Himst Paul Guillaume van Himst (born 2 October 1943) is a Belgian former football player and a football manager who played as
1330-601: Is no longer qualified through the cup berth. These rules became effective for the 2015–16 season. Beginning with the 2018–19 tournament , all domestic champions eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League will transfer to the Europa League, rather than just teams that are eliminated in the third-qualifying and play-off rounds. Europa League qualifying will also provide a separate champions route for these teams, allowing more opportunities for domestic league champions to compete against each other. If
1400-561: The 2024–25 season, the winner of the Europa League can no longer defend their title as they automatically qualify for the Champions League league phase and teams cannot be transferred from that phase to the Europa League. From 1995 to 2015, three leagues gained one extra place via the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking . The format involves a league phase and a knockout phase consisting of preliminary knockout play-offs, followed by
1470-468: The Belgian league awards one place via a playoff between First A and First B teams. Before its discontinuation in 2020–21, France offered a place to the winners of the Coupe de la Ligue . A team may qualify for European competitions through more than one route. In all cases, if a club is eligible to enter the UEFA Champions League then the Champions League place takes precedence and the club does not enter
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#17328768530981540-497: The Brésor coffee roasting company. But after he was contacted to become national coach in 1991, his son Frank became manager of the company. From the moment the contract ended in 1996, the family man concentrated definitively on his coffee company, with his son keeping his position. His wife Arlette Neckebroeck died on 4 December 2013. Also in his later life, the link with Anderlecht kept present. For more than forty years, Van Himst
1610-521: The Coupe UEFA , is the trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Europa League. Before the 2009–10 season , both the competition and the trophy were known as the 'UEFA Cup'. Before the competition was renamed the UEFA Europa League in the 2009–10 season , the UEFA regulations stated that a club could keep the original trophy for a year before returning it to UEFA. After its return,
1680-458: The Intertoto Cup , all participants in the Europa League are qualified through domestic routes. The higher an association is ranked in the UEFA coefficients, the later its members begin the qualification. However, every team except for the title-holder (until the 2014–15 season) and the highest-ranked (the cup winner or the best Europa League-qualified) from the top (six from 2012 to 2015, 12 since
1750-523: The Red Devils to reach the third place. Between 1960 and 1974, Paul Van Himst scored 30 goals (in 81 matches) for the Belgian national team. This performance made him Belgium's second top scorer—along with Bernard Voorhoof —and the most capped player for his country between 1973 and 1989. In 1975, aged 31, Paul Van Himst decided to leave Anderlecht. In a farewell match organized in the Anderlecht stadion ,
1820-502: The UEFA Fair Play ranking winners (until 2015–16), and eleven places in the second qualifying round for the UEFA Intertoto Cup winners. Winners of the qualifying rounds then joined teams from the associations ranked 1–13 in the first round proper. In addition, non-qualifiers in the third qualifying round of the Champions League also joined the competition at this point along with the current title-holders (unless they had qualified for
1890-587: The UEFA cup , after winning 2–1 on aggregate against Benfica , with Van Himst winning a European trophy after all. The following season, Anderlecht reached the UEFA cup final again, but lost it to Tottenham Hotspur after a penalty shootout. After winning the Belgian first division in 1984–85 and the Supercup in 1985, the ways of Anderlecht and Van Himst split up. And, as he did as a player, Van Himst continued his managerial career at RWD Molenbeek. In 1991, Paul Van Himst
1960-658: The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the second-tier competition of European club football , ranking below the UEFA Champions League and above the UEFA Conference League . Introduced in 1971 as the UEFA Cup, it replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup . The UEFA Cup was the third-tier European club competition from 1971 to 1999 before the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
2030-557: The mass media than the Fairs Cup. The title was retained by another English club, Liverpool , in 1973, who defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final. Gladbach won the competition in 1975 and 1979, and reached the final in 1980. Feyenoord won the cup in 1974 after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 4–2 on aggregate (2–2 in London, 2–0 in Rotterdam). Liverpool won the competition for the second time in 1976 after defeating Club Brugge in
2100-613: The Émile Versé Stadium . The young Van Himst himself started to play football in a neighborhood of Sint-Pieters-Leeuw and on the playground of the Sint-Niklaas Institute where national coach Bill Gormlie took care of the children. He was fully noticed when he went to the training fields of the Anderlecht youth complex with his cousin. Van Himst was able to keep a ball in the air for several minutes, which made such an impression on chairman Constant Vanden Stock that he promptly had
2170-453: The (first) group stage of the Champions League. From the 2004–05 season, the competition started with two knockout qualifying rounds held in July and August. Participants from associations ranked 18 and lower entered the first qualifying round with those from associations ranked 9–18 joining them in the second qualifying round. In addition, three places in the first qualifying round were reserved for
Belgian National Sports Merit Award - Misplaced Pages Continue
2240-421: The 2015–16 season) associations had to play at least one qualification round. Except for the teams mentioned, all teams eliminated in the Champions League preliminary round, qualifying rounds and play-off round were transferred to the Europa League. The 12 winners and runners-up in the group stage advanced to the knockout round, with eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage. The distribution
2310-590: The Belgian First Division's top scorer three times in 1963–64, 1965–66 and 1967–68. Van Himst was nicknamed Polle Gazon by Belgian football fans ( Polle is Paul in Brussels dialect, and Gazon means lawn in Dutch and French ) as he frequently lay on the field due to the large number of fouls committed on him. Later, the nickname Le Pelé blanc (the white Pelé) was introduced by French newspaper L'Équipe after
2380-535: The Belgian/South-African NGO "Born In Africa" since 2005. In 2009, Paul Van Himst became honorary citizen of Dilbeek . Decades after retiring from professional football, Van Himst is still consistently mentioned in both Anderlecht and Belgium's "Best Team Ever" and "Best Players" lists. To celebrate the 80th birthday of their club icon, Van Himst was extensively honored for the competition match of Anderlecht against Mechelen on 7 October 2023. For
2450-419: The Champions League via their national league), for a total of 80 teams in the first round. After the first knockout round, the 40 survivors entered a group stage, with the clubs being drawn into eight groups of five each. Unlike the Champions League group stage, the UEFA Cup group stage was played in a single round-robin format , with each club playing two home and two away games. The top three teams in each of
2520-417: The Champions League, in addition to their other qualifying teams. More recently, clubs that are knocked out of the qualifying round and (prior to 2024–25) the group stage of the Champions League can also join the UEFA Europa League, at different stages (see below). Formerly, the reigning champions qualified for the Europa League to defend their title, but since 2015 they qualify for the Champions League. From
2590-461: The Europa League from 2021 onwards. With a majority of the former entrants into the Europa League now participating solely in the UECL, the Europa League itself would have a greatly reduced format which will focus primarily around its group stage. There would also be an additional knockout round before the knockout phase proper, allowing for third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage to fall into
2660-515: The Europa League title holders already qualified for the Champions League group stage via their domestic league, the following changes to the access list would be made: The announcement of the UEFA Europa Conference League , a tertiary competition which would serve to split off the lower-ranked teams in the Europa League to give them a greater chance to compete, included a document from UEFA listing their intentions for qualification to
2730-470: The Europa League while still keeping the knockout stage itself at only 16 teams total. Changes would be made if the Europa Conference League title holders qualified through their league position: Changes will be made to the access list above if the Europa League or Conference League title holder qualifies for the tournament via their domestic leagues. Similar to the UEFA Champions League,
2800-417: The UEFA Europa League. The UEFA Europa League place is then granted to another club or vacated if the maximum limit of teams qualifying for European competitions is exceeded. If a team qualifies for European competition through both winning a cup and league placing, the "spare" UEFA Europa League place will go to the highest placed league team which has not already qualified for European competition, depending on
2870-478: The Wednesday ten days before the Champions League final. Qualification changed significantly. Associations ranked 7–9 in the UEFA coefficients sent the cup winners and three (two since the 2015–16 season) other teams to the UEFA Europa League qualification; all other nations sent a cup winner and two other teams, except for Andorra and San Marino (who sent a cup winner and a runner-up) and Liechtenstein (who sent only
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2940-492: The boy sign a membership card. But given Van Himst was barely eight, the connection only became official two years later. In the youth series, Van Himst was always allowed to compete with older teammates. Under manager Pierre Sinibaldi , Paul Van Himst developed into a very refined player who would dominate Belgian football for 15 years with his exceptional technique, insight into the game and precise passing. About two months after his 16th birthday, Van Himst made his debut in
3010-400: The club could keep a four-fifths scale replica of the original trophy. Upon their third consecutive win or fifth win overall, a club could retain the trophy permanently. Under the new regulations, the trophy remains in UEFA's keeping at all times. A full-size replica trophy is awarded to each winner of the competition. A club that wins three consecutive times or five times overall will receive
3080-411: The competition is Sevilla , with seven titles. Colombian striker Radamel Falcao holds the record of most goals (17) scored in a single season of the tournament. The UEFA Cup was preceded by the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup , which was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition grew from 11 teams during the first edition ( 1955–58 ) to 64 teams by the last edition which
3150-465: The cup for the third time in only eight years. Parma won the cup in 1999, the last win of the Italian-domination era. It was the last UEFA Cup/Europa League final appearance for any Italian club until Internazionale reached the 2020 final . The era of the 2000s began with victory for Galatasaray , the first Turkish team to win the trophy, defeating Arsenal . Liverpool won the competition for
3220-450: The cup is formed by a base with two onyx discs in which a band with the flags of the UEFA member nations is inserted. The lower part of the sculpture symbolises the stylised footballers and is surmounted by a hand-embossed slab. A musical theme for the competition, the Anthem, is played before every Europa League game at a stadium hosting such an event and before every television broadcast of
3290-500: The eight groups qualified for the main knockout round along with the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage. From then on a series of two-legged knockout ties were played before a single-legged final, traditionally held on a Wednesday in May, exactly one week before the Champions League final. In the 2009–10 season , the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League to raise its profile. Eight more teams qualified for
3360-545: The final to Ajax on the away goals rule . Juventus won the competition for a third time in 1993. Inter Milan kept the cup in Italy in 1994. 1995 saw a third all-Italian final, with Parma proving their consistency after two consecutive Cup Winners' Cup finals. The only final with no Italians in the 1990s was in 1996. Internazionale reached the final the following two years, losing in 1997 to Schalke 04 on penalties, and winning another all-Italian final in 1998, taking home
3430-487: The final. During the 1980s, IFK Göteborg (1982 and 1987) and Real Madrid (1985 and 1986) won the competition twice each, with Anderlecht reaching two consecutive finals, winning in 1983 and losing to Tottenham Hotspur in 1984. 1989 saw the commencement of the Italian clubs' domination, when Diego Maradona 's Napoli defeated VfB Stuttgart . The 1990s started with two all-Italian finals, and in 1992, Torino lost
3500-441: The final. Starting with the 1997–98 season , the final became a one-off match, but all other ties remained two-legged. Before the 2004–05 season , the tournament consisted of one qualifying round, followed by a series of knockout rounds. The sixteen non-qualifiers from the final qualifying round of the Champions League entered at the first round proper; later in the tournament, the survivors were joined by third-place finishers from
3570-476: The first team. In December 1959, the young striker was able to make his mark on the Beringen pitch with a promising performance. Following the example of Brazil, which had become world champions in 1958 , Sinibaldi had Anderlecht play in a 4-2-4 system. In that formation, Van Himst became one of the most important pawns on the field. With his excellent technique and nose for goals, he became a standout at Anderlecht as
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#17328768530983640-412: The group stage, which consisted of 12 groups with four teams each (in a double round-robin); the top two teams in each group advanced. The competition was then similar to the previous format, with four rounds of two-legged knockout rounds and a one-off final held at a neutral ground which met UEFA's Category Four stadium criteria . Matches are generally played on Thursdays. The final was played in May, on
3710-501: The knock-out stage triggered additional bonuses: €500,000 for the round of 32, €1,200,000 for the round of 16, €1,800,000 for the quarter-finals and €2,800,000 for the semi-finals. The losing finalists received €4,600,000 and the champions received €8,600,000. The UEFA Europa League is sponsored by seven multinational corporations, which share the same partners as the UEFA Conference League. The tournament's main sponsors for
3780-465: The latter in another all-Spanish final between them and Athletic Bilbao . In 2013, Chelsea became the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the following year. In 2014, Sevilla won their third cup in eight years after defeating Benfica on penalties. In 2015, Sevilla won their fourth UEFA Cup/Europa League and, in an unprecedented feat, they defended their title
3850-570: The match against Finish side FC Haka is still a (shared) record in a single European game. Anderlecht reached the final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (considered as the predecessor to the UEFA Cup ) in the 1969–70 season, but lost it to Arsenal F.C. Van Himst became top scorer of the tournament with 10 goals. The lost final was a disappointment sportively and marked the end of the Sinibaldi era. Most players retired or left Anderlecht, but Van Himst
3920-511: The occasion, the team played in a complete white "limited edition" shirts, stylized like the ones of the Van Himst era. Anderlecht National team Individual Anderlecht Individual [REDACTED] Media related to Paul Van Himst at Wikimedia Commons UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (previously known as the UEFA Cup ), abbreviated as UEL , is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by
3990-511: The overview of the game when doing so. He also liked to operate from the left, where he could regularly put in splitting actions with his friend Wilfried Puis , as well with Anderlecht as with the Belgian national team. Van Himst scored easily, but could also let others score. He performed best with more physical strikers such as Jacky Stockman , Johan Devrindt or Jan Mulder . Paul Van Himst has three children (one son and two daughters) and five grandchildren. In 1990, Van Himst took over
4060-411: The prize money received by the clubs is divided into fixed payments based on participation and results, and variable amounts that depend of the value of their TV market. For the 2021–22 season , group stage participation in the Europa League awarded a base fee of €3,630,000. A victory in the group pays €630,000 and a draw €210,000. Each group winner earns €1,100,000 and each runner-up €550,000. Reaching
4130-432: The round of 16. The teams ranked 25th to 36th in the league phase and the losers of the play-offs are eliminated from the competition. The final is played at a neutral venue. The winner of the competition is entitled to participate in the UEFA Champions League league phase the following season. The competition's matches are usually played on Thursdays. UEFA coefficients were introduced in 1980 and, until 1999, they gave
4200-411: The rules of the national association, or vacated, if the described limit is reached. The top three ranked associations may qualify for a fourth berth if both the Champions League and Europa League champions are from that association and do not qualify for European competition through their domestic performance. In that case, the fourth-placed team in that association will join the Europa League instead of
4270-508: The then Anderlecht squad faced a "world team". Rinus Michiels coached 18 international stars, including Pelé , Eusébio , Johan Cruyff , Gianni Rivera , José Altafini , Amancio , Jairzinho and Willem Van Hanegem . Van Himst reunited with Anderlecht in 1982 when he started to manage the U-17 team. He did such a good job that he was appointed head coach the following season, replacing Tomislav Ivić . In his debut season 1982–83, Anderlecht won
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#17328768530984340-411: The third time in 2001. In 2002, Feyenoord became winners for the second time, defeating Borussia Dortmund . Porto triumphed in the 2003 and 2011 tournaments, with the latter victory against fellow Portuguese side Braga . In 2004, the cup returned to Spain with Valencia being victorious. CSKA Moscow won in 2005. Sevilla succeeded on two consecutive occasions in 2006 and 2007, the latter in
4410-406: The time, in addition to football, Van Himst also represented the fuel company of chairman Albert Roossens The club would later also reject proposals from teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid, in their search for a successor of Alfredo Di Stéfano . Despite Anderlecht an early exit in the second round of the 1966–67 European Cup , Van Himst became top scorer of the tournament. His five goals in
4480-431: Was appointed as manager of the Belgian national team. He led the squad to the 1994 FIFA World Cup , where the team was eliminated by Germany in the round of 16. After Belgium didn't qualify for the Euro 1996 , Van Himst was replaced by his assistant Wilfried Van Moer , and he quitted from professional football. "The hallmark of Paul Van Himst was obviously his technique, but he was also physically very strong. Van Himst
4550-406: Was changed in 2014 to broaden the competition's appeal, giving the Europa League champions a Champions League qualification berth, more teams automatically qualified for the group stage. If cup winners had already qualified for European competition through league performance, their place in the league is vacated and goes to the best-ranked teams not qualified for European competition; the cup runner-up
4620-510: Was discontinued, and it is still often referred to as the "C3" in reference to this. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. In 1999 , the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was merged with the UEFA Cup and discontinued as a separate competition. From the 2004–05 season a group stage was added before the knockout phase. The competition took on its current name in 2009 , following
4690-414: Was launched as part of the competition's rebranding at the start of the 2015–16 season . A new anthem created by MassiveMusic was composed for the start of the 2018–19 season . It is also used for UEFA Conference League matches. Qualification for the competition is based on UEFA coefficients , with better entrance rounds being offered to the more successful nations. In practice, each association has
4760-456: Was one of the few to stay. In a new team that relied on young players such as Hugo Broos , Ludo Coeck , Gilbert Van Binst and François Van der Elst , he was still important with all his experience. Van Himst remained the leader on the field despite the generational change that had taken place. With Anderlecht, Paul Van Himst would win the Belgian championship eight times. He scored 309 goals in 566 matches during 16 seasons. Van Himst became
4830-419: Was played in 1970–71 . It was replaced by the UEFA Cup, a new seasonal confederation competition with different regulations, format and disciplinary committee. The UEFA Cup was first played in the 1971–72 season, and ended with an all-English final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur , with Spurs taking the first honours. The competition has since gained greater prestige and interest from
4900-408: Was really solidly built. That combination made him a quite unique player." reporter Frank Raes mentioned in 2023. "And of course that light-footedness made everyone enjoy. The use of the outside of the foot for passing, dribbling ánd shooting was remarkable. He was so skilled in dribbling. As an opponent you just couldn't get the ball." Van Himst preferred to "slalom" between opponents, but never lost
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