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 2019 champions are the Lower Silesia team from Poland.

UEFA Regions' Cup
Founded1996
RegionEurope (UEFA)
Number of teamsUp to 53 (Qualifiers)
8 (Finals)
Current champions Lower Silesia
Websitewww.uefa.com/regionscup/
2021 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 clubs 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 clubs 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 and, thus far, Italy has been the most successful nation in the competition, with their representatives winning three of the nine editions (two of these were hosted in Italy, with Veneto winning both).

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

Year Hosts Winners Score Runners-up Bronze medals
1999
details

Italy

Veneto
32 (a.e.t.)
Madrid

Prague

Kyiv Oblast
2001
details

Czech Republic

Central Moravia
22
42 (p)

Braga

Madrid

Plovdiv
2003
details

Germany

PiedmontAosta Valley
21
Maine

Szabolcs Gabona

Württemberg
2005
details

Poland

Basque Country
10
South-West Sofia

Kzeso

Central Slovakia
2007
details

Bulgaria

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

Aveiro

Tuzla Canton
2009
details

Croatia

Castile and León
21
Oltenia

Privolzhie

Kempen
2011
details

Portugal

Braga
21
Leinster & Munster

Zlín

Belgrade
2013
details

Italy

Veneto
00
54 (p)

Catalonia

Eastern Region

Isloch
2015
details

Republic of Ireland

Eastern Region
10
Zagreb

Ankara

Württemberg
2017
details

Turkey

Zagreb
10
Munster/Connacht

Istanbul

Rostov Oblast
2019
details

Germany

Lower Silesia
32
Bavaria

Istanbul

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

Finals

Veneto 32
(a.e.t.)
Madrid
Borriero  <45'
Giaretti  >45'
De Toni  120'
(Report) Moreno  9'
Sanz Pascual  71'
Stadio Comunale delle Terme, Abano Terme
Attendance: ~700
Referee: Guido Wildhaber (Switzerland)

Braga 22
(aet)
(24 pen.)
Central Moravia
Ferreira  55'
Freitas  84'
(Report) David  12'
Svach  90+4' (pen.)
Attendance: ~2,800
Referee: Tony Chapron (France)

Maine 12 Piedmont–Aosta Valley
Kharraz  83' (Report) Borgna  24', 29'
Attendance: ~800
Referee: Kris Hermans (Belgium)

South-West Sofia 01 Basque Country
(Report) Arroyo  33'
KS Proszowianka Stadium, Proszowice
Attendance: ~1,300
Referee: Novo Panić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

South-East Region 12
(a.e.t.)
Lower Silesia
Stoyanov  66' (Report) Sudoł  78'
Jaskułowski  114'
Attendance: ~3,500
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy)

Oltenia 12 Castile and León
Sîrbu  25' (Report) Ramírez  20'
Robles  81'

Braga 21 Leinster & Munster
Nobre  62'
Fortunato  84'
Report O'Sullivan  68'
Referee: Ken Henry Johnson (Norway)

Veneto 00
(54 pen.)
Catalonia
(Report)
Comunale Delle Terme, Abano Terme

Eastern Region 10 Zagreb
David Lacey  10' Report

Zagreb 10 Munster/Connacht
Adžić  26' Report

Bavaria 23 Lower Silesia
Türk  35' (pen.)
Ekin  90' (pen.)
Report Jaros  41'
Traczyk  47' (pen.)
Bohdanowicz  80' (pen.)
Referee: Sebastian Colţescu (Romania)

Titles by nation

Nation Titles Runners-up Winning teams Second-placed teams
 Italy 3 0 Veneto (1999*, 2013*) None
Piedmont–Aosta Valley (2003)
 Spain 2 2 Basque Country (2005) Madrid (1999)
Castile and León (2009) Catalonia (2013)
 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*)
* = Hosts

References

  1. "UEFA competitions to resume in August". UEFA.com. 17 June 2020.

See also

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