Anglo-Italian Cup Explained

Number Of Teams:Varied
Current Champions:Genoa
Most Successful Club:Modena (2 titles)

The Anglo-Italian Cup (Italian: Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition[1] and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) was a European football competition.

The competition was played intermittently between 1970 and 1996 between clubs from England and Italy. It was founded by Gigi Peronace, following the two-team Anglo-Italian League Cup in 1969. The initial Anglo-Italian Cup was played as an annual tournament from 1970 to 1973. The first final was abandoned early due to violence, with Swindon Town declared the winners. During its time the tournament had a reputation for violence between fans, and also between players on the pitch.[2] but it returned as a semi-professional tournament from 1976 before it was abolished again in 1986.

In 1992, the Anglo-Italian Cup was re-established as a professional cup for second-tier clubs – it replaced the English Full Members Cup. The Italian representatives were Serie B teams. This version of the Cup ran for four seasons, until 1996, before being discontinued due to fixture congestion. The trophy was a 22inches high gold loving cup mounted on a wooden plinth.

History

Professional era

YearWinnersRunners-up
1970 Swindon Town Napoli
1971 Blackpool Bologna
1972 Roma Blackpool
1973 Newcastle United Fiorentina

From 1967, a place in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was awarded to the Football League Cup winners,[3] but that season's winners, Queens Park Rangers, could not take up their place because UEFA did not at that time allow third-tier teams to compete in the Fairs Cup.[4] When the same situation arose two years later with Swindon Town, a two-legged match against that year's Coppa Italia winners, A.S. Roma, was organised by way of compensation.[5] Following the popularity of that event, dubbed the Anglo-Italian League Cup,[6] and as a way to generate income to pay players' wages during the extended close season caused by the 1970 FIFA World Cup, the first Anglo-Italian Cup was inaugurated in 1970.

For the first competition there were six English teams and six Italian teams. These teams were split into three groups consisting of two English and two Italian teams each,[7] with two points being awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and a point for each goal scored.[8] [9] The final was contested between the best team from each country, and Swindon played Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo on 28 May 1970. Swindon were 3–0 up after 63 minutes, when violence started to break out. The match was halted and then abandoned after 79 minutes, with Swindon being declared as the first winners of the tournament.

In 1971, the second edition of the tournament, Blackpool and Bologna were the two nations' best-ranked teams and contested the final at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on 12 June 1971. Prior to the match, tournament organiser Gigi Peronace stressed that it was imperative for an Italian club to win back the trophy.[10] After 90 minutes the score was 1–1 and the match went into extra-time, during which Micky Burns scored the winning goal for Blackpool.[11]

Blackpool qualified for the final again in 1972, but were unsuccessful in their defence of the title, with Roma winning 3–1.[11] In 1973, points were no longer awarded for each goal scored, and Newcastle United went on to win the final 2–1 against Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on 3 June 1973.[12] [13] Due to lack of interest the tournament did not continue,[11] and it was not until 1976 that it re-emerged as a semi-professional competition.[2]

Anglo-Italian Semiprofessional Cup

Sources:[14] [15]

YearWinnerRunner-up
1975 Wycombe Wanderers Monza
1976 Lecce Scarborough

Semi-professional era

YearWinnerRunner-up
1976 Monza Wimbledon
1977 Lecco Bath City
1978 Udinese Bath City
1979 Sutton United Chieti
1980 Triestina Sutton United
1981 Modena Poole Town
1982 Modena Sutton United
1983 Cosenza Padova
1984 Francavilla Teramo
1985 Pontedera Livorno
1986 Piacenza Calcio Pontedera
In March 1976, the Anglo-Italian Cup was re-introduced as a semi-professional tournament, with six entrants from each country. Wimbledon and Monza reached the final, with Monza winning the final 1–0, making them unbeaten for the tournament.[16] For the next two years Bath City were the English finalists but they lost to Lecco in 1977,[17] and Udinese in 1978,[18] when the tournament was renamed the Alitalia Challenge Cup.[19]

In 1979, each country had four entrants and Sutton United defeated Italian finalists Chieti 2–1 to become the first and only English winners of the competition during its time as a semi-professional competition.[20] Attempting to defend their title the following year, Sutton United reached the final but were defeated by Triestina.[21]

In 1981, the tournament was called the Talbot Challenge Cup and Modena were the winners.[19] [22] The following year the tournament was renamed the Gigi Peronace Memorial, after the man who organised the tournament,[19] [23] and reduced to four teams. The new format consisted of two Anglo-Italian semi-finals, which meant the final was not necessarily contested by an English and an Italian team. That year, Modena successfully defended their title in a final against Sutton United,[24] who were the last English team to reach the final of the semi-professional tournament.

From 1983 to 1986, the finals were all-Italian contests, and after the 1986 instalment the tournament was discontinued.[19]

Professional tournament again

YearWinnerRunner-up
1992–93 Cremonese Derby County
1993–94 Brescia Notts County
1994–95 Notts County Ascoli
1995–96 Genoa Port Vale

The competition was re-established in 1992–93 as a replacement for the Full Members Cup.[6] [25] It was a professional tournament for teams competing in the second tier of football—the newly renamed First Division in England and Serie B in Italy.[26]

The new version of the tournament began with preliminary rounds – 24 English teams competed in 8 groups of three teams. Each team played the others once, and the eight group winners progressed to the main competition.

The main competition consisted of two groups, each with four English, and four Italian teams. Each team would play four group games – against every team in its group from the other nation. Then, the top team in each group from each nation competed in semi-finals: an all-English semi-final, and an all-Italian semi-final.[27] The final was a single match played at Wembley.

In the 1992–93 tournament, Derby County lost the final 3–1 to Cremonese.[28] Brescia won the final in 1994 against Notts County, but Notts County reached the final again in 1995 and defeated Ascoli 2–1.[25] The last instalment of the competition was held in 1995–96, and Genoa triumphed 5–2 over Port Vale in the final on 17 March 1996.[29] The competition was abandoned in 1996 because the two leagues could not agree on dates for fixtures,[30] [2]

Participants

For the original professional tournament in the 1970s, the English entrants were either First Division or Second Division sides. (The First Division sides had generally finished the previous season in the lower half of the table, while the Second Division sides were generally mid-table or better.) With the exception of Bari and Como in 1973, all Italian teams playing in the 1970s tournament had just competed in the previous Serie A season. The Italian clubs were often mid-table or higher finishers who had sometimes also qualified for the European competitions.

When the competition was revived in the 1990s, for the first two seasons all English sides playing in the First Division (2nd level) participated, but in the last two tournaments only 8 English teams played. In 1994/95, two of the clubs relegated from the Premiership were joined by six teams that had just missed out on promotion. For 1995/96, only one relegated Premiership team competed – most of the remaining teams had finished in mid-table or lower table in the previous First Division campaign, and Birmingham City had just been promoted from Division Two.[31]

The Italian participants in the revived 1990s tournament were the four teams that had just been relegated from Serie A and the four teams that had finished highest but not been promoted in Serie B. The exception to this was Verona, who were relegated in 1991/92, but did not play in the 1992/93 cup.[32]

Table of participants and performance by season

-- collapsed -->" style="text-align: center;"Country Club19701971[33] 1972[34] 1973[35] 1992–93[36] 1993–94[37] [38] 1994–95[39] 1995–96[40]
Middlesbrough
Sheffield Wednesday
Sunderland
Swindon Town
West Bromwich Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Fiorentina
Juventus
Lazio
Napoli
Roma
Lanerossi Vicenza
Blackpool
Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town
Stoke City
Bologna
Cagliari
Internazionale
Sampdoria
Verona
Birmingham City
Carlisle United
Leicester City
Atalanta
Catanzaro
Fulham
Hull City
Luton Town
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Oxford United
Bari
Como
Torino
West Ham United
Portsmouth
Tranmere Roversstyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Millwall
Derby Countystyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Grimsby Town
Peterborough United
Charlton Athletic
Barnsley
Bristol City
Watford
Notts County
Southend Unitedstyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Brentford
Cambridge United
Bristol Rovers
Ascoli
Cesenastyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Cosenza
Cremonese
Lucchese
Pisa
Reggianastyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Bolton Wanderers
Nottingham Forest
Anconastyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Bresciastyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Padova
Pescara
Sheffield Unitedstyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Leccestyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Piacenzastyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Udinesestyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Veneziastyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Ipswich Town
Oldham Athleticstyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Port Vale
Foggia
Genoa- Perugiastyle=background:#ffebcdGS
Salernitana
Key
style=background:yellowWstyle=background:thistleRUstyle=background:#afeeeeSFstyle=background:#bfdQFstyle=background:#ffebcdGSQ
Won tournament; runner-up; lost in semi-final (English or Italian final); lost in quarter-final (English or Italian semi-final); eliminated in group stage; eliminated in preliminary qualifying.

Performance by nation

NationWinners
15
6

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: When Palace humbled Inter. 25 February 2009. The Holmesdale Online. 31 August 2009. 28 February 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090228212030/http://www.holmesdale.net/page.php?id=82&story=4274. live.
  2. News: Lea . Greg . Remembering the violent but fascinating Anglo-Italian Cup . 6 September 2020 . These Football Times . 25 October 2019 . 4 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201004050719/https://thesefootballtimes.co/2019/10/25/remembering-the-violent-but-fascinating-anglo-italian-cup/ . live .
  3. Web site: Why the League Cup still has its place in English football. Murray. Scott. 12 November 2008. The Guardian. 1 September 2009. London. 20 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131020063924/http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2008/nov/12/carlingcup. live.
  4. Web site: Mike Keen: Footballer who captained Third Division Queen's Park Rangers to League Cup victory in 1967. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/mike-keen-footballer-who-captained-third-division-queens-park-rangers-to-league-cup-victory-in-1967-1677686.html . 7 May 2022 . subscription . live. Murphy. Alex. 2 May 2009. The Independent. Independent News & Media. 29 August 2009 . London.
  5. Web site: Swindon outplay Italians to win cup. King. Clive. 28 August 1969. Swindon Advertiser. 29 August 2009. 9 July 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100709073334/http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/Achievements/Reports/Report19701002_01.asp. live.
  6. Web site: The Joy of Six: Extinct football competitions – 3 Anglo-Italian Cup. The Sport Blog. Guardian Media Group. 7 February 2011. Scott. Murray. 26 June 2009. 22 July 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090722163307/http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/jun/26/joy-of-six-extinct-football-competitions. live.
  7. Web site: Under the Shadow of Mighty Vesuvius. Sheldon. Peter. Swindon's pride. 29 August 2009. 5 June 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100605232342/http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/Achievements/Reports/Report19700905_03.asp. live.
  8. Web site: Blackpool 10 LANEROSSI VICENZA 0 Anglo-Italian Cup, June 10, 1972. https://archive.today/20120722003337/http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/matchday-memories/Blackpool-10-LANEROSSI-VICENZA-0.1861801.jp. dead. 22 July 2012. 6 November 2006. Blackpool Gazette. 2 September 2009.
  9. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cup 1970. Andrea Veronese. 12 April 2004. RSSSF. 2 May 2012. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711124119/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit70.html. live.
  10. Book: Gillatt, Peter. Blackpool FC On This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year . Pitch Publishing Ltd. 30 November 2009. 978-1-905411-50-4.
  11. Web site: Bologna 1, Blackpool 2 – Anglo-Italian Cup Final, June 12, 1971. 20 September 2006. Blackpool Gazette. 29 August 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20100605074031/http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/matchday-memories/Bologna-1-Blackpool-2-.1777280.jp. 5 June 2010. dead.
  12. Web site: I've had countless drinks for my goal against Sunderland . https://archive.today/20120723010419/http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2002/01/15/i-ve-had-countless-drinks-for-my-goal-against-sunderland-72703-11540702/ . dead . 23 July 2012 . 15 January 2002 . . 29 August 2009 .
  13. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cup 1973. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 August 2009. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711124119/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit73.html. live.
  14. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cups. 2 February 2023. 6 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221006230352/https://rsssf.org/tablesa/angloitalian.html. live.
  15. Web site: The end of amateurism – News – Wycombe Wanderers. https://web.archive.org/web/20171022211849/https://www.wycombewanderers.co.uk/news/2013/march/the-end-of-amateurism/. 22 October 2017.
  16. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cup 1976. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 August 2009. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711124119/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit76.html. live.
  17. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cup 1977. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 August 2009. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711124120/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit77.html. live.
  18. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cup 1978. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 August 2009. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711124121/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit78.html. live.
  19. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cups. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 August 2009. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711124114/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloitalian.html. live.
  20. Web site: Club Info . . 29 August 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100924084113/http://www.suttonunited.net/info_history.html . 24 September 2010 .
  21. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cup 1980. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 August 2009. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711124120/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit80.html. live.
  22. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cup 1981. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 August 2009. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711124119/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit81.html. live.
  23. Web site: 'King John' and 'Angel with Dirty Face' . Formosa . Tony . 27 February 2005 . . 30 August 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100101205943/http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2005/02/27/tony.html . 1 January 2010 .
  24. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cup 1982. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 August 2009. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711124118/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit82.html. live.
  25. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cup Winners . 18 January 2008 . . 4 February 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110807230454/http://www.nottscountyfc.co.uk/page/HistoryDetail/0%2C%2C10426~1028232%2C00.html . 7 August 2011 .
  26. Web site: The Tempestuous Curtain Call of a Tournament Destined to Fail: the Anglo-Italian Cup 1992-96 . Calcio England . 6 September 2020 . 13 September 2019 . 7 September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200907163510/https://calcioengland.com/2019/09/13/the-tempestuous-curtain-call-of-a-tournament-destined-to-fail-the-anglo-italian-cup-1992-96/ . live .
  27. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cup 1992/93. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 August 2009. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711124118/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit93.html. live.
  28. Web site: Rams Celebrate Lionel Pickering . 28 July 2009 . . 29 August 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090901084415/http://www.dcfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0%2C%2C10270~1735078%2C00.html . 1 September 2009 .
  29. Web site: Genoa produce high strike-rate . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/genoa-produce-high-strikerate-1342630.html . 7 May 2022 . subscription . live. Shaw. Phil. 18 March 1996. The Independent. Independent News & Media. 29 August 2009 . London.
  30. News: Anglo-Italian Cup has been scrapped. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/angloitalian-cup-has-been-scrapped-1362967.html . 7 May 2022 . subscription . live. 12 September 1996. The Independent. Independent News & Media. 29 August 2009 . London.
  31. Web site: England – Football Statistics Archive – League Records. 4 September 2011. Paul Felton. RSSSF. 4 September 2008. 15 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220715002427/https://www.rsssf.org/engpaul/FLA/league.html. live.
  32. Web site: Italy – List of Champions. Links to Italian tables by season. RSSSF. 4 September 2011. Tamas Karpati and Igor Kramarsic. 12 May 2011. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711150721/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesi/italchamp.html. live.
  33. Web site: Anglo-Italian Cup 1971. Andrea Veronese. 15 October 2000. RSSSF. 22 July 2012. 11 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220711124119/https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit71.html. live.
  34. https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit72.html 1972 competition results at RSSSF
  35. Web site: 1973 competition results at RSSSF . 2 February 2023 . 3 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221203052734/https://rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit73.html . live .
  36. Web site: 1992/93 competition results at RSSSF . 2 February 2023 . 7 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221207005435/https://rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit93.html . live .
  37. https://www.rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit94.html 1993/94 competition results at RSSSF
  38. The references for the qualifiers are 1 2 3 45 6 7 8
  39. Web site: 1994/95 competition results at RSSSF . 2 February 2023 . 3 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221203061204/https://rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit95.html . live .
  40. Web site: 1995/96 competition results at RSSSF . 2 February 2023 . 3 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221203043842/https://rsssf.org/tablesa/angloit96.html . live .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Anglo-Italian Cup".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.