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.
The first UEFA European Football Championship was held in France in 1960. The final in Paris was won by the USSR, who beat Yugoslavia 2-1 in the final in front of 17,966 spectators. The competition’s biggest ever crowd watched the 1964 final at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. Around 125,000 fans witnessed the hosts’ 2-1 victory over the USSR. However, the official attendance was given as only 79,115. UEFA EURO 2008™ is the 13th final tournament
of the UEFA European Football Championship. A total of 173 final round matches have been played to date, watched by 6.5 million spectators (an average of 37,500 per match) and featuring 426 goals (2.48 per match). Germany is the most successful nation with three victories, followed by France with two. The USSR, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece have each won the tournament once.
European champions Germany, in 1972
A familiar name with a new look: the old trophy, designed by Arthus Bertrand in Paris in 1960, had been in service for 45 years. Now, nearly half a century later, it is being confined to the trophy cabinet and replaced by the new Henri Delaunay trophy. The new trophy is 18 centimetres taller and 400 grams lighter (i.e. 60 cm high and 7.6 kg in weight). The modern design was conceived by British lifestyle house Asprey of London.
Another new feature is the inscription of the names of previous winners on the back. The
trophy – named after UEFA’s first general secretary – will be presented to the newly crowned European champions on 29 June 2008. It will remain the property of UEFA until a country either wins it three times in a row or five times in all.
1960 - France
1964 -Spain
1968 - Italy
1972 - Belgium
1976 - Yugoslavia
1980 - Italy
1984 - France
1988 - Germany
1992 - Sweden
1996 - England
2000 - Belgium/Netherlands
2004 - Portugal
1960: Gavril Katchalin (Soviet Union)
1964: José Villalonga / Miguel Muñoz (Spain)
1968: Ferruccio Valcareggi (Italy)
1972: Helmut Schön (Germany)
1976: Vaclav Jezek (Czechoslovakia)
1980: Jupp Derwall (Germany)
1984: Michel Hidalgo (France)
1988: Rinus Michels (Netherlands)
1992: Richard Møller Nielsen (Denmark)
1996: Berti Vogts (Germany)
2000: Roger Lemerre (France)
2004: Otto Rehhagel *(Greece)
* German
1960: Igor Netto (Soviet Union)
1964: Fernando Olivella (Spain)
1968: Giacinto Facchetti (Italy)
1972: Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)
1976: Anton Ondrus (Czechoslovakia)
1980: Bernard Dietz (Germany)
1984: Michel Platini (France)
1988: Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)
1992: Lars Olsen (Denmark)
1996: Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany)
2000: Didier Deschamps (France)
2004: Theodoros Zagorakis (Greece)
Date Teams Result Venue Attendance Referee
10.07.1960 USSR – Yugoslavia 2-1 * Paris 17,966 Arthur Ellis (ENG)
21.06.1964 Spain – USSR 2-1 Madrid 79,115 Arthur Holland (ENG)
08.06.1968 Italy – Yugoslavia 1-1 * Rome 68,817 Gottfried Dienst (SUI)
10.06.1968 Italy – Yugoslavia 2-0 ** Rome 32,886 José Ortiz de Mendibil (ESP)
18.06.1972 Germany – USSR 3-0 Brussels 43,066 Ferdinand Marschall (AUT)
20.06.1976 Czechoslovakia – Germany 2-2 *** Belgrade 30,790 Sergio Gonella (ITA)
22.06.1980 Germany – Belgium 2-1 Rome 47,860 Nicolae Rainea (ROM)
27.06.1984 France – Spain 2-0 Paris 47,368 Vojtech Christov (CZE)
25.06.1988 Netherlands – USSR 2-0 Munich 62,770 Michel Vautrot (FRA)
26.06.1992 Denmark – Germany 2-0 Gothenburg 37,800 Bruno Galler (SUI)
30.06.1996 Germany – Czech Republic 2-1 **** Wembley 73,611 Pierluigi Pairetto (ITA)
02.07.2000 France – Italy 2-1 **** Rotterdam 48,100 Anders Frisk (SWE)
04.07.2004 Greece – Portugal 1-0 Lisbon 62,865 Markus Merk (GER)
* after extra time / ** replay / *** 5-3 on pens / **** Golden Goal
