WSE Champions League explained

Sport:	Roller hockey
Founded:	(rebranded in 2022)
Organiser:	World Skate Europe - Rink Hockey
Teams:	32 (since 2022–23)
Champions:	Sporting CP (4th title)
Most Champs:	Barcelona (22 titles)
Tv:	WSE TV
Website:	Official website
Current Season:	2023–24 WSE Champions League

The WSE Champions League is an annual club roller hockey competition organised by the World Skate Europe - Rink Hockey and contested by teams from the top-ranked European leagues. It is the top-level European club competition and its winner earns the right to play the Continental Cup, against the winners of the second-tier World Skate Europe Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup, against the winners of the South American Club Championship.

The current champions are Portuguese side Sporting CP, who beat another Portuguese side, UD Oliveirense, in the 2024 final to secure their fourth title in the competition.

History

Since its foundation in 1965, under the name of European Cup, the competition has been dominated by teams from Spain (mainly from Catalonia), Portugal and Italy. In 1997, the European Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup were merged to create the Champions League. In 2007, the competition name and format was changed to form the European League, a 16-team competition with no preliminary rounds. In 2020, the format was changed to a 9-team competition with no preliminary rounds. In 2021, the format was changed to an 8-team competition with no preliminary rounds. In 2023, along with a renaming back to Champions League, the format was again changed to accommodate 32 teams and two preliminary rounds.

The most successful team is Barcelona, having won a record 22 titles, including eight consecutive between 1978 and 1985. Barcelona are followed by four other Spanish teams, making Spain the most successful country in the competition, with 44 titles. Four Portuguese teams have won the trophy by nine times, while two Italian teams have won the trophy by two times.

Format

Since 2023, the competition is composed by 16 teams placed into 4 groups. The first 2 teams of each group play the final-eight.

Finals

Season	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Venue (finals)
1965–66	Voltregà	3–1, 6–2	HC Monza	rowspan=31
1966–67	Reus Deportiu	3–3, 6–3	HC Monza
1967–68	Reus Deportiu (2)	2–0, 6–2	Triestina
1968–69	Reus Deportiu (3)	7–1, 0–3	Benfica
1969–70	Reus Deportiu (4)	12–5, 8–6	Voltregà
1970–71	Reus Deportiu (5)	7–7, 9–4	Novara
1971–72	Reus Deportiu (6)	2–10, 11–0	Novara
1972–73	Barcelona	5–3, 7–7	Benfica
1973–74	Barcelona (2)	8–5, 4–5	Lourenço Marques
1974–75	Voltregà (2)	5–5, 6–4	Barcelona
1975–76	Voltregà (3)	2–2, 3–1	Barcelona
1976–77	Sporting CP	6–0, 6–3	Vilanova
1977–78	Barcelona (3)	8–3, 5–1	Royal Sunday
1978–79	Barcelona (4)	1–3, 6–2	Reus Deportiu
1979–80	Barcelona (5)	5–2, 6–3	Benfica
1980–81	Barcelona (6)	6–1, 6–2	Giovinazzo
1981–82	Barcelona (7)	4–1, 6–4	Amatori Lodi
1982–83	Barcelona (8)	9–1, 14–6	Sentmenat
1983–84	Barcelona (9)	2–3, 6–2	Liceo
1984–85	Barcelona (10)	4–5, 6–4	Porto
1985–86	Porto	5–3, 7–5	Novara
1986–87	Liceo	4–2, 4–3	Porto
1987–88	Liceo (2)	1–2, 4–1	Novara
1988–89	Noia	7–4, 3–1	Sporting CP
1989–90	Porto (2)	6–0, 5–2	Noia
1990–91	Barcelos	4–4, 4–3	Roller Monza
1991–92	Liceo (3)	7–6, 2–2	Seregno
1992–93	Igualada	4–1, 8–3	Benfica
1993–94	Igualada (2)	7–4, 2–3	Barcelos
1994–95	Igualada (3)	3–4, 3–1	Benfica
1995–96	Igualada (4)	0–0, 2–2 (a)	Barcelona
1996–97	Barcelona (11)	4–3	Porto	Palau Blaugrana, Barcelona
1997–98	Igualada (5)	8–1	Amatori Vercelli	PalaPregnolato, Vercelli
1998–99	Igualada (6)	6–5	Porto	Pavelló Poliesportiu de Les Comes, Igualada
1999–2000	Barcelona (12)	3–2	Porto	Pavilhão Rosa Mota, Porto
2000–01	Barcelona (13)	4–2	Liceo	Palacio de Deportes San Pablo, Seville
2001–02	Barcelona (14)	2–1	Barcelos	Pavilhão Multiusos, Guimarães
2002–03	Liceo (4)	4–3	Igualada	Pazo dos Deportes de Riazor, A Coruña
2003–04	Barcelona (15)	3–0	Porto	PalaBarsacchi, Viareggio
2004–05	Barcelona (16)	3–2	Porto	Palau d'Esports del Reus Deportiu, Reus
2005–06	Follonica	League	Porto	Palácio dos Desportos, Torres Novas
2006–07	Barcelona (17)	5–2	Bassano	PalaBassano, Bassano del Grappa
2007–08	Barcelona (18)	5–2	Reus Deportiu	Palau Blaugrana, Barcelona
2008–09	Reus Deportiu (7)	2–2 (2–1 p)	Vic	PalaBassano, Bassano del Grappa
2009–10	Barcelona (19)	4–1	Vic	PalaLido, Valdagno
2010–11	Liceo (5)	7–4	Reus Deportiu	Poliesportiu d'Andorra, Andorra la Vella
2011–12	Liceo (6)	4–2	Barcelona	PalaCastellotti, Lodi
2012–13	Benfica	6–5 (a.e.t.)	Porto	Dragão Caixa, Porto
2013–14	Barcelona (20)	3–1	Porto	Palau Blaugrana, Barcelona
2014–15	Barcelona (21)	4–3	Vic	PalaSind, Bassano del Grappa
2015–16	Benfica (2)	5–3	Oliveirense	Pavilhão Fidelidade, Lisbon
2016–17	Reus Deportiu (8)	4–1	Oliveirense	Pavelló Barris Nord, Lleida
2017–18	Barcelona (22)	4–2	Porto	Dragão Caixa, Porto
2018–19	Sporting CP (2)	5–2	Porto	Pavilhão João Rocha, Lisbon
2019–20	Abandoned (due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe).
2020–21	Sporting CP (3)	4–3 (a.e.t.)	Porto	Pavilhão Gimnodesportivo Municipal, Luso
2021–22	GSH Trissino	4–4 (3–1 p)	Valongo	Palácio dos Desportos, Torres Novas
2022–23	Porto (3)	5–1	Valongo	Pavilhão Municipal José Natário, Viana do Castelo
2023–24	Sporting CP (4)	2–1	Oliveirense	Super Bock Arena, Porto

Performances

By club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Years won	Years runners-up
Barcelona	22	4	1973, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2018	1975, 1976, 1996, 2012
Reus Deportiu	8	3	1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 2009, 2017	1979, 2008, 2011
Liceo	6	2	1987, 1988, 1992, 2003, 2011, 2012	1984, 2001
Igualada	6	1	1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999	2003
Sporting CP	4	1	1977, 2019, 2021, 2024	1989
Porto	3	13	1986, 1990, 2023	1985, 1987, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021
Voltregà	3	1	1966, 1975, 1976	1970
Benfica	2	5	2013, 2016	1969, 1973, 1980, 1993, 1995
Barcelos	1	2	1991	1994, 2002
Noia	1	1	1989	1990
Follonica	1	0	2006	—
GSH Trissino	1	0	2022	—
Novara	0	4	—	1971, 1972, 1986, 1988
Vic	0	3	—	2009, 2010, 2015
Oliveirense	0	3	—	2016, 2017, 2024
HC Monza	0	2	—	1966, 1967
Valongo	0	2	—	2022, 2023
Triestina	0	1	—	1968
Lourenço Marques	0	1	—	1974
Vilanova	0	1	—	1977
Royal Sunday	0	1	—	1978
Giovinazzo	0	1	—	1981
Amatori Lodi	0	1	—	1982
Sentmenat	0	1	—	1983
Roller Monza	0	1	—	1991
Seregno	0	1	—	1992
Amatori Vercelli	0	1	—	1998
Bassano	0	1	—	2007

By country

Winners	Runners-up	Winners	Runners-up
46	17	Barcelona (22), Reus Deportiu (8), Liceo (6), Igualada (6), Voltregà (3), Noia	Barcelona (4), Vic (3), Reus Deportiu (3), Liceo (2), Voltregà, Vilanova, Sentmenat, Noia, Igualada
10	27	Sporting CP (4), Porto (3), Benfica (2), Barcelos	Porto (13), Benfica (5), Oliveirense (3), Barcelos (2), Valongo (2), Lourenço Marques, Sporting CP
2	13	Follonica, Trissino	Novara (4), HC Monza (2), Triestina, Giovinazzo, Amatori Lodi, Roller Monza, Seregno, Amatori Vercelli, Bassano
0	1	—	Royal Sunday

External links

Official website