Mitropa Cup

The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the successor states of the former Austria-Hungary. After World War II in 1951 a replacement tournament named Zentropa Cup was held, but just for one season, the Mitropa Cup name was revived, and again in 1958 the name of the tournament changed to Danube Cup but only for one season. The tournament was discontinued after 1992.

The most successful club is Vasas with six titles.

History

File:Mitropa Cup 1927–1940.svg

Nations which participated in the Mitropa Cup (1927–1940)

This "International" competition for football clubs was founded in 1897 in Vienna. The Challenge Cup was invented by John Gramlick Sr., a co-founder of the Vienna Cricket and Football-Club. In this cup competition all clubs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that normally would not meet could take part, though actually almost only clubs from the Empire's three major cities Vienna, Budapest and Prague participated. The Challenge Cup was carried out until the year 1911 and is today seen as the predecessor to the Mitropa Cup and consequently the European Cup and Champions League. The last winner of the cup was Wiener Sport-Club, one of the oldest and most traditional football clubs of Austria where the cup still remains.

The idea of a European cup competition was shaped after World War I which brought the defeat and collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The centre of this idea were the Central European countries that, at this time, were still leading in continental football. In the early 1920s they introduced professional leagues, the first continental countries to do so. Austria started in 1924, followed by Czechoslovakia in 1925 and Hungary in 1926. In order to strengthen the dominance of these countries in European football and to financially support the professional clubs, the introduction of the Mitropa Cup was decided at a meeting in Venice on 17 July, following the initiative of the head of the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB), Hugo Meisl. Moreover, the creation of a European Cup for national teams – that unlike the Challenge Cup and the Mitropa Cup would not be annual – was also part of the agreement. The first matches were played on 14 August 1927. The competition was between the top professional teams of Central Europe.

File:Bologna FC - 1961 Mitropa Cup - Renato Dall'Ara, Mirko Pavinato.jpg

The president and the captain of Bologna, Renato Dall'Ara (left) and Mirko Pavinato (right), with the trophy of the 1961 season.

Initially two teams each from Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia entered, competing in a knock-out competition. The countries involved could either send their respective league winners and runners-up, or league winners and cup winners to take part. The first winners were the Czech side, AC Sparta Prague. In 1929 Italian teams replaced the Yugoslavian ones. The competition was expanded to four teams from each of the competing countries in 1934. Other countries were invited to participate – Switzerland in 1936, and Romania, Switzerland and Yugoslavia in 1937. Austria was withdrawn from the competition following the Anschluss in 1938. In 1939, prior to the start of World War II, the cup involved only eight teams (two each from Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Italy and one each from Romania and Yugoslavia). The level of the competing nations is clearly shown by Italy's two World Cup titles (1934 & 1938), Czechoslovakia's (1934) and Hungary's (1938) World Cup final, and Austria's (1934) and Yugoslavia's (1930) semi-finals. Out of the eleven different teams competing in the first three World Cups, five were part of the Mitropa Cup.

A tournament was started in 1940, but abandoned before the final match due to World War II. Again, only eight teams competed, three each from Hungary and Yugoslavia and two from Romania. Hungarian Ferencváros and Romanian Rapid (which had won on lots after three draws) qualified for the final, but did not meet because the northern part of Transylvania (lost shortly after World War I) was ceded to Hungary from Romania.

Champions

Finals

Season	Country	Champions	Result	Runners-up	Country
1927	Template:Flagcountry	Sparta Prague	6–2	Rapid Wien	Template:Flagcountry
			1–2
1928	Template:Flagcountry	Ferencváros	7–1	Rapid Wien	Template:Flagcountry
			3–5
1929	Template:Flagcountry	Újpest	5–1	Slavia Prague	Template:Flagcountry
			2–2
1930	Template:Flagcountry	Rapid Wien	2–0	Sparta Prague	Template:Flagcountry
			2–3
1931	Template:Flagcountry	First Vienna	3–2	Wiener AC	Template:Flagcountry
			2–1
1932	Template:Flagcountry	Bologna	align=cente Template:NA	NoneTemplate:Refn
1933	Template:Flagcountry	Austria Wien	1–2	Ambrosiana-Inter	Template:Flagcountry
			3–1
1934	Template:Flagcountry	Bologna	2–3	Admira Wien	Template:Flagcountry
			5–1
1935	Template:Flagcountry	Sparta Prague	1–2	Ferencváros	Template:Flagcountry
			3–0
1936	Template:Flagcountry	Austria Wien	0–0	Sparta Prague	Template:Flagcountry
			1–0
1937	Template:Flagcountry	Ferencváros	4–2	Lazio	Template:Flagcountry
			5–4
1938	Template:Flagcountry	Slavia Prague	2–2	Ferencváros	Template:Flagcountry
			2–0
1939	Template:Flagcountry	Újpest	4–1	Ferencváros	Template:Flagcountry
			2–2
1940	NoneTemplate:Refn		N/A	Rapid București Ferencváros	Template:Flagcountry Template:Flagcountry
1941–50	Not held
1951Template:Refn	Template:Flagcountry	Rapid Wien	3–2	Admira Wien	Template:Flagcountry
1952–54	Not held
1955	Template:Flagcountry	Vörös Lobogó	6–0	ÚDA Prague	Template:Flagcountry
			2–1
1956	Template:Flagcountry	Vasas	3–3	Rapid Wien	Template:Flagcountry
			1–1
			9–2
1957	Template:Flagcountry	Vasas	4–0	Vojvodina	Template:Flagcountry
			1–2
1958Template:Refn	Template:Flagcountry	Red Star Belgrade	4–1	Rudá Hvězda Brno	Template:Flagcountry
			3–2
1959	Template:Flagcountry	Honvéd	4–3	MTK	Template:Flagcountry
			2–2
1960	Template:FlagcountryTemplate:Refn
1961	Italy	Bologna	2–2	Slovan Nitra	Czechoslovakia
			3–0
1962	Hungary	Vasas	5–1	Bologna	Italy
			1–2
1963	Hungary	MTK Budapest	2–1	Vasas	Hungary
			1–1
1964	Czechoslovakia	Sparta Prague	0–0	Slovan Bratislava	Czechoslovakia
			2–0
1965	Hungary	Vasas	1–0	Fiorentina	Italy
1966	Italy	Fiorentina	1–0	Jednota Trenčín	Czechoslovakia
1966–67	Czechoslovakia	Spartak Trnava	2–3	Újpesti Dózsa	Hungary
			3–1
1967–68	Yugoslavia	Red Star Belgrade	0–1	Spartak Trnava	Czechoslovakia
			4–1
1968–69	Czechoslovakia	Inter Bratislava	4–1	Sklo Union Teplice	Czechoslovakia
			0–0
1969–70	Hungary	Vasas	1–2	Inter Bratislava	Czechoslovakia
			4–1
1970–71	Yugoslavia	Čelik Zenica	3–1	Austria Salzburg	Austria
1971–72	Yugoslavia	Čelik Zenica	0–0	Fiorentina	Italy
			1–0
1972–73	Hungary	Tatabányai Bányász	2–1	Čelik Zenica	Yugoslavia
			2–1
1973–74	Hungary	Tatabányai Bányász	3–2	ZVL Zilina	Czechoslovakia
			2–0
1974–75	Austria	Wacker Innsbruck	3–1	Honvéd	Hungary
			2–1
1975–76	Austria	Wacker Innsbruck	3–1	Velež Mostar	Yugoslavia
			3–1
1976–77	Yugoslavia	Vojvodina	RR	Vasas	Hungary
1977–78	Yugoslavia	Partizan	1–0	Honvéd	Hungary
1978–79	Not played
1979–80	Italy	Udinese	RR	Čelik Zenica	Yugoslavia
1980–81	Czechoslovakia	Tatran Prešov	RR	Csepel SC	Hungary
1981–82	Italy	Milan	RR	TJ Vítkovice	Czechoslovakia
1982–83	Hungary	Vasas	RR	ZVL Zilina	Czechoslovakia
1983–84	Austria	SC Eisenstadt	RR	Prishtina	Yugoslavia
1984–85	Yugoslavia	Iskra Bugojno	RR	Atalanta	Italy
1985–86	Italy	Pisa	2–0	Debrecen	Hungary
1986–87	Italy	Ascoli	1–0	Bohemians Prague	Czechoslovakia
1987–88	Italy	Pisa	3–0	Váci Izzó	Hungary
1988	Czechoslovakia	Baník Ostrava	2–1	Bologna	Italy
			2–1
1990	Italy	Bari	1–0	Genoa	Italy
1991	Italy	Torino	2–1 (a.e.t)	Pisa	Italy
1992	Yugoslavia	Borac Banja Luka	1–1 (a.e.t) 5–3 (p)	BVSC	Hungary

Notes

Performances

Note: The 1960 edition is not included in the list because it was won by a nation rather than club.

By club

Club	Winners	Runner-up	Winning seasons	Runners-up seasons
Template:Flagicon Vasas	6	2	1956, 1957, 1962, 1965, 1970, 1983	1963, 1977
Template:Flagicon Bologna	3	2	1932, 1934, 1961	1962, 1988
Template:Flagicon Sparta Prague	3	2	1927, 1935, 1964	1930, 1936
Template:Flagicon Ferencváros	2	4	1928, 1937	1935, 1938, 1939, 1940
Template:Flagicon Rapid Wien	2	3	1930, 1951	1927, 1928, 1956
Template:Flagicon Čelik Zenica	2	2	1971, 1972	1973, 1980
Template:Flagicon MTK Budapest	2	1	1955, 1963	1959
Template:Flagicon Újpest	2	1	1929, 1939	1967
Template:Flagicon Pisa	2	1	1986, 1987–88	1991
Template:Flagicon Red Star Belgrade	2	–	1958, 1968	–
Template:Flagicon Austria Wien	2	–	1933, 1936	–
Template:Flagicon Wacker Innsbruck	2	–	1975, 1976	–
Template:Flagicon Tatabányai Bányász	2	–	1973, 1974	–
Template:Flagicon Budapest Honvéd	1	2	1959	1975, 1978
Template:Flagicon Fiorentina	1	2	1966	1965, 1972
Template:Flagicon Spartak Trnava	1	1	1967	1968
Template:Flagicon Inter Bratislava	1	1	1969	1970
Template:Flagicon Slavia Prague	1	1	1938	1929
Template:Flagicon Vojvodina	1	1	1977	1957
Template:Flagicon Borac Banja Luka	1	–	1992	–
Template:Flagicon Iskra Bugojno	1	–	1985	–
Template:Flagicon Partizan	1	–	1978	–
Template:Flagicon Milan	1	–	1982	–
Template:Flagicon Torino	1	–	1991	–
Template:Flagicon Udinese	1	–	1980	–
Template:Flagicon Ascoli	1	–	1987	–
Template:Flagicon Bari	1	–	1990	–
Template:Flagicon SC Eisenstadt	1	–	1984	–
Template:Flagicon First Vienna	1	–	1931	–
Template:Flagicon Baník Ostrava	1	–	1988	–
Template:Flagicon Tatran Prešov	1	–	1981	–
Template:Flagicon ZVL Zilina	–	2	–	1974, 1983
Template:Flagicon SK Admira Wien	–	2	–	1934, 1951
Template:Flagicon Wiener AC	–	1	–	1931
Template:Flagicon Austria Salzburg	–	1	–	1971
Template:Flagicon Ambrosiana Inter	–	1	–	1933
Template:Flagicon Lazio	–	1	–	1937
Template:Flagicon Atalanta	–	1	–	1985
Template:Flagicon Genoa	–	1	–	1990
Template:Flagicon ÚDA Prague	–	1	–	1955
Template:Flagicon Slovan Nitra	–	1	–	1961
Template:Flagicon Slovan Bratislava	–	1	–	1964
Template:Flagicon Jednota Trenčín	–	1	–	1966
Template:Flagicon Sklo Union Teplice	–	1	–	1969
Template:Flagicon TJ Vítkovice	–	1	–	1982
Template:Flagicon Bohemians Prague	–	1	–	1987
Template:Flagicon Velež Mostar	–	1	–	1976
Template:Flagicon Prishtina	–	1	–	1984
Template:Flagicon Csepel SC	–	1	–	1981
Template:Flagicon Debreceni MVSC	–	1	–	1986
Template:Flagicon Váci Izzó	–	1	–	1987–88
Template:Flagicon BVSC	–	1	–	1992
Template:Flagicon Rapid București	–	1	–	1940

Titles by country

Country	Titles
Hungary	16
Italy	11
Czechoslovakia	8
Yugoslavia
Austria	7

Top scorers (1927–1940)

By year

Year	Player	Goals	Played	Average
1927	Template:Flagicon Josef Silný	5	6	0.83
1928	Template:Flagicon Jozsef Takács II	10	6	1.66
1929	Template:Flagicon István Avar	10	7	1.42
1930	Template:Flagicon Giuseppe Meazza	7	6	1.16
1931	Template:Flagicon Heinrich Hiltl	7	7	1.00
1932	Template:Flagicon Renato Cesarini	5	4	1.25
1933	Template:Flagicon Raimundo Orsi	5	4	1.25
	Template:Flagicon František Kloz		4	1.25
	Template:Flagicon Giuseppe Meazza		6	0.83
	Template:Flagicon Matthias Sindelar		6	0.83
1934	Template:Flagicon Carlo Reguzzoni	10	8	1.28
1935	Template:Flagicon György Sárosi	9	8	1.12
1936	Template:Flagicon Giuseppe Meazza (3)	10	6	1.66
1937	Template:Flagicon György Sárosi	12	9	1.33
1938	Template:Flagicon Josef Bican	10	8	1.25
1939	Template:Flagicon Gyula Zsengellér	9	6	1.50
1940	Template:Flagicon György Sárosi (3)	6	2	3.00

All-time top scorers (1927–1940)

Rank	Player	Goals	Played	Average
1	Template:Flagicon György Sárosi	50	42	1.19
2	Template:Flagicon Giuseppe Meazza	29	27	1.07
3	Template:Flagicon Gyula Zsengellér	24	19	1.26
4	Template:Flagicon Matthias Sindelar	24	31	0.77
5	Template:Flagicon István Avar	19	24	0.79

Top scorers (1951–1992)

By season

Season	Player	Club	Goals
1951	Template:Flagicon Erich Probst	Template:Flagicon Rapid Wien	5
1955	Template:Flagicon János Molnár	Template:Flagicon Vörös Lobogó	9
	Template:Flagicon Nándor Hidegkuti	Template:Flagicon Vörös Lobogó	9
1956	Template:Flagicon Lajos Csordás	Template:Flagicon Vasas	8
1957	Template:Flagicon Johann Riegler	Template:Flagicon Rapid Wien	5
	Template:Flagicon Dezső Bundzsák	Template:Flagicon Vasas	5
1959	Template:Flagicon Lajos Tichy	Template:Flagicon Budapest Honvéd	9
1960	Template:Flagicon Sulejman Rebac	Template:Flagicon Velez Mostar	4
1961	Template:Flagicon Milan Dolinský	Template:Flagicon Red Star Bratislava	7
	Template:Flagicon Viliam Hrnčár	Template:Flagicon Slovan Nitra	7
1962	Template:Flagicon Harald Nielsen	Template:Flagicon Bologna	11
1963	Template:Flagicon Ferenc Machos	Template:Flagicon Vasas	7
1964	Template:Flagicon Václav Mašek	Template:Flagicon Sparta Prague	7
1965	Template:Flagicon Lajos Puskás	Template:Flagicon Vasas	3
1966	Template:Flagicon Friedrich Rafreider	Template:Flagicon Wiener Sport-Club	5
1966–67	Template:Flagicon Antal Dunai	Template:Flagicon Újpest	9
1967–68	Template:Flagicon Vojin Lazarević	Template:Flagicon Red Star Belgrade	5
1968–69	Template:Flagicon Pavel Stratil	Template:Flagicon Sklo Union Teplice	7
1969–70	Template:Flagicon János Farkas	Template:Flagicon Vasas	6
1970–71	Template:Flagicon Alojz Renić	Template:Flagicon Čelik Zenica	5
1971–72	Template:Flagicon Luciano Chiarugi	Template:Flagicon Fiorentina	5
1972–73	Template:Flagicon Alojz Renić (2)	Template:Flagicon Čelik Zenica	4
1973–74	Template:Flagicon Mihai Kyomyuves	Template:Flagicon FC Tatabánya	6
1974–75	Template:Flagicon Jaroslav Melichar	Template:Flagicon Sklo Union Teplice	3
1975–76	Template:Flagicon Kurt Welzl	Template:Flagicon FC Wacker Innsbruck	6
1976–77	Template:Flagicon Template:Ill	Template:Flagicon Vasas	4
1977–78	Template:Flagicon Momčilo Vukotić	Template:Flagicon Partizan	3
1979–80	Template:Flagicon Nerio Ulivieri	Template:Flagicon Udinese	4
1980–81	Template:Flagicon László Lazsányi	Template:Flagicon Csepel SC	3
1981–82	Template:Flagicon Jiří Šourek	Template:Flagicon Vítkovice	3

Mitropa Super Cup

Additionally, a "Mitropa Super Cup" was contested in 1989 between the winners of 1988 and 1989. Ostrava won the first leg 3–0 on 12 April 1989.

Year	Champion	Result	Runner-up
1989	Template:Flagicon Baník Ostrava	3–0	Template:Flagicon Pisa
		1–3 Template:Aet

See also

• Latin Cup
• Balkans Cup