It seems incredible that thirty years separated the dream and the reality. The archives reveal that Henri Delaunay, as General Secretary of the French Football Federation, proposed a European Championship for national teams during a FIFA meeting held on 5 February 1927. He
pointed out that South America had had a continent-wide competition since 1916. However, FIFA – and, in particular, its president, Jules Rimet – was too busy consolidating the World Cup to take a new tournament on board. So, even though regional tournaments such as the British Home Championship, the Scandinavian Cup (renamed the Nordic Cup when Finland entered), the Baltic Cup and the Balkan Cup had been in existence for many years, it was not until UEFA was founded in 1954 that the idea fell on more receptive ears. When he became UEFA’s first general secretary, Henri Delaunay found himself ideally placed to blow the dust off his blueprint for the new competition. Cruelly, he did not live to witness its launching. But, after his death
on 9 November 1955, his son, Pierre, became UEFA’s general secretary and continued the
project. The proposal was submitted at a meeting chaired by the UEFA president, Ebbe Schwarz, in Cologne in 1957 and finally approved at the UEFA Congress held in the House of Parliament in Copenhagen on 28 June 1957. It seemed only natural that the trophy should bear Henri Delaunay’s name.
Labels: History UEFA EURO
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