UEFA Regions' Cup

The UEFA Regions' Cup is a football competition for amateur teams in Europe, run by UEFA. It was held for the first time in 1999 and has been played biennially since. The 2023 champions are the Galicia team from Spain.

UEFA Regions' Cup
Organising bodyUEFA
Founded1996 (1996)
RegionEurope
Number of teamsUp to 53 (Qualifiers)
8 (Finals)
Current championsSpain Galicia (1st title)
Websitewww.uefa.com/regionscup/
2023 UEFA Regions' Cup

The competition was created in 1996 as there was no European level competition for amateur teams. The UEFA Amateur Cup, a previous attempt to organise a continental competition for amateurs, had run from 1966 to 1978, but ceased due to lack of interest from both the public and amateur teams themselves. In contrast to today's Regions' Cup, in which amateur regions are represented, the previous competition was for representative amateur national teams.

Each UEFA member nation may enter one representative amateur team into the competition, with regions having to win a domestic amateur competition (such as the FA Inter-League Cup) in order to qualify.

The first two finals were won by teams from the host nation. Thus far, Italy and Spain have been the most successful nation in the competition, with their representatives winning respectively three of the twelve editions.

Format

All of the 55 UEFA-affiliated associations are eligible to submit a team to compete in the Regions' Cup, provided they hold a domestic qualifying competition to decide which team will represent that nation. Smaller member nations, however, are permitted to enter a representative national side.

Teams were entered by 32 nations for the inaugural tournament in 1999 and competed in one qualifying round. As interest in the tournament grew over the years, the qualifying stage was enlarged and an extra group round added in 2005, scrapping the playoffs added in 2001.

The preliminary round consists of a small number of teams split into groups, with the best from each group being included in the draw for the intermediary round. In the intermediary round, the teams are placed into eight groups of four teams. The teams in each group play each other once and the team finishing top of the group qualifies for the Regions' Cup finals. The eight group winners are placed into two groups of four for the final tournament and the winners of these two final groups, after each team has played one another once, play in the final, with the winners being crowned champions. Third place is shared between the two teams which finish second in their respective groups.

One aspect of the Regions' Cup that is different from most other international club tournaments is the hosting of games. As teams play each other once in the preliminary and intermediary rounds, in contrast to the more common two-legged fixtures, each group has all its matches held in one particular region. For example, in the 2009 tournament, all the preliminary Group 1 matches were played in San Marino. Another unusual feature of the Regions' Cup is the choice of host for the final tournament. In most football tournaments, the host nation or city is decided by the governing body before qualification begins. In the Regions' Cup, however, the host is chosen only after most of the eight finalist teams have qualified, with one of the qualified regions selected as host.

Results

Edition Year Hosts Winners Score Runners-up Bronze medals
1 1999
details
Italy
Italy

Veneto
32 (a.e.t.)
Madrid

Prague

Kyiv Oblast
2 2001
details
Czech Republic
Czech Republic

Central Moravia
22
42 (p)

Braga

Madrid

Plovdiv
3 2003
details
Germany
Germany

Piedmont-Aosta Valley
21
Maine

Szabolcs Gabona

Württemberg
4 2005
details
Poland
Poland

Basque Country
10
South-West Sofia

Kzeso

Central Slovakia
5 2007
details
Bulgaria
Bulgaria

Lower Silesia
21 (a.e.t.)
South-East Region

Aveiro

Tuzla Canton
6 2009
details
Croatia
Croatia

Castile and León
21
Oltenia

Privolzhie

Kempen
7 2011
details
Portugal
Portugal

Braga
21
Leinster & Munster

Zlín

Belgrade
8 2013
details
Italy
Italy

Veneto
00
54 (p)

Catalonia

Eastern Region

Isloch
9 2015
details
Republic of Ireland
Ireland

Eastern Region
10
Zagreb

Ankara

Württemberg
10 2017
details
Turkey
Turkey

Zagreb
10
Munster/Connacht

Istanbul

Rostov Oblast
11 2019
details
Germany
Germany

Lower Silesia
32
Bavaria

Istanbul

Castile and León
- 2021
details
N/A Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[1]
12 2023
details
Spain
Spain

Galicia
31
Belgrade

Bavaria

Zlín

Finals

Veneto Italy32
(a.e.t.)
Spain Madrid
Borriero <45'
Giaretti >45'
De Toni 120'
(Report) Moreno 9'
Sanz Pascual 71'
Stadio Comunale delle Terme, Abano Terme
Attendance: 700[2]
Referee: Guido Wildhaber (Switzerland)

Braga Portugal22
(a.e.t)
(24 pen.)
Czech Republic Central Moravia
Ferreira 55'
Freitas 84'
(Report) David 12'
Svach 90+4' (pen.)
Attendance: 2,820[2]
Referee: Tony Chapron (France)

Maine France12Italy Piedmont–Aosta Valley
Kharraz 83' (Report) Borgna 24', 29'
Attendance: 800[2]
Referee: Kris Hermans (Belgium)

South-West Sofia Bulgaria01Spain Basque Country
(Report) Arroyo 33'
KS Proszowianka Stadium, Proszowice
Attendance: 1,300[3]
Referee: Novo Panić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

South-East Region Bulgaria12 (a.e.t.)Poland Lower Silesia
Stoyanov 66' (Report) Sudoł 78'
Jaskułowski 114'
Attendance: 3,500[4]
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy)

Oltenia Romania12Spain Castile and León
Sîrbu 25' (Report) Ramírez 20'
Robles 81'

Braga Portugal21Republic of Ireland Leinster & Munster
Nobre 62'
Fortunato 84'
Report O'Sullivan 68'
Attendance: 1036[6]
Referee: Ken Henry Johnson (Norway)

Veneto Italy00
(54 pen.)
Spain Catalonia
(Report)
Comunale Delle Terme, Abano Terme
Attendance: 800[7]

Eastern Region Republic of Ireland10Croatia Zagreb
David Lacey 10' Report

Zagreb Croatia10Republic of Ireland Munster/Connacht
Adžić 26' Report

Bavaria Germany23Poland Lower Silesia
Türk 35' (pen.)
Ekin 90' (pen.)
Report Jaros 41'
Traczyk 47' (pen.)
Bohdanowicz 80' (pen.)
Attendance: 1224[10]
Referee: Sebastian Colţescu (Romania)

Galicia Spain3–1Serbia Belgrade
  • Rial 9'
  • Rey 41' (pen.)
  • Martinez 74'
Report
  • Kolarević 57'
Campo Municipal de A Lomba, Vilagarcía de Arousa
Attendance: 4.085
Referee: Kristoffer Karlsson (Sweden)

Titles by country

Country Titles Runners-up Winning teams Second-placed teams
 Spain 3 2 Basque Country (2005) Madrid (1999)
Castile and León (2009) Catalonia (2013)
Galicia (2023*)
 Italy 3 0 Veneto (1999*, 2013*) None
Piedmont–Aosta Valley (2003)
 Poland 2 0 Lower Silesia (2007, 2019) None
 Ireland 1 2 Eastern Region (2015*) Leinster & Munster (2011)
Munster/Connacht (2017)
 Portugal 1 1 Braga (2011*) Braga (2001)
 Croatia 1 1 Zagreb (2017) Zagreb (2015)
 Czech Republic 1 0 Central Moravia (2001*) None
 Bulgaria 0 2 None South-West Sofia (2005)
South-East Region (2007*)
 France 0 1 None Maine (2003)
 Romania 0 1 None Oltenia (2009)
 Germany 0 1 None Bavaria (2019*)
 Serbia 0 1 None Belgrade (2023)
* = Hosts

See also

References

  1. "UEFA competitions to resume in August". UEFA.com. 17 June 2020.
  2. "UEFA Regions' Cup. All-Time Statistics". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 March 2005. Archived from the original on 18 March 2005. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  3. "South-West Sofia vs. Vasca" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 9 July 2005. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  4. "South-East Region vs. Dolnoslaski" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 June 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  5. "Oltenia vs. Castilla y León" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 June 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  6. "Braga vs. Leinster" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  7. "Veneto vs. Selección Catalana" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  8. "Eastern Region vs. Zagreb" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  9. "Zagreb vs. Region 2" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 9 July 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  10. "Bavaria vs. Dolny Śląsk" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
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