English-Italian cup competitions

English-Italian cup competitions took place between English and Italian football clubs from the late 1960s with an interruption until the 1990s . These included above all the Anglo-Italian Cup (English “Anglo-Italian Cup”, Italian “Torneo Anglo-Italiano”) and the English-Italian League Cup (English “Anglo-Italian League Cup”, Italian “Coppa di Lega Italo-Inglese ").

history

English-Italian Cup

The reason for this competition was the league cup won by the English club Swindon Town in 1969, after which the European football association UEFA, however, refused the club to participate in the European Exhibition Cities Cup due to its membership in the third-rate third division . The tournament was initially set to six English and six Italian teams, whose participants did not belong to the top domestic league. The first edition should ultimately even win Swindon Town and the club defeated SSC Napoli 3-0 in the final - after their success in the Anglo-Italian League Cup the year before . The final in front of 55,000 spectators in Naples had to be stopped prematurely after 79 minutes, as numerous domestic supporters had stormed the place.

After Newcastle United won the competition in its fourth edition in 1973 , the Anglo-Italian League Cup was declared over until it was reissued in 1975. Until 1987, semi-professional teams from both countries competed against each other, with the Italian Serie C clubs ultimately clearly dominating their mostly lower-class English opponents. During this time the competition often changed its official name and was named "Alitalia Challenge Cup", "Talbot Challenge Cup" and "Gigi Peronace Memorial" after each sponsor.

A revival took place in 1992, when even second-rate English and Italian professional clubs took part. The tournament planned in England as the successor to the Full Members Cup was only to last four seasons. The main reason for the final end of the competition in 1996 was the very low status in both countries, but also the increasing propensity for violence between the supporters of the clubs in this tournament, which received little public attention.

English-Italian League Cup

At the same time as the similar sounding Anglo-Italian Cup competition, the Anglo-Italian League Cup was launched in 1969. In contrast to its "namesake", only the English league cup winner and the Italian Coppa Italia winner met each other in the Anglo-Italian League Cup . After only three rounds, the competition was ended again, but in 1975 it experienced a revival in which the Coppa Italia winner now played against the FA Cup winner. The duel between Southampton FC and Napoli SSC was the last meeting in 1976.

The finals at a glance