UEFA Cup 1971-1972

Overview

The 1971-1972 UEFA Cup was the first edition of the competition. It was won by a team that defeated their opponents in the double final.

Formula and Participating Teams

The formula for the competition underwent changes to accommodate new teams and countries. Greece was removed from the Fairs Cup to make room for Cyprus, while Yugoslavia's place was taken by Albania. The Soviet Union also gained its first representative, abolishing the spot reserved for the outgoing champions. Other rebalances included:

* Moving Scotland's fourth place to East Germany
* Swapping Denmark's and Sweden's places

The final allocation of places was as follows:
* 4 places for the four major federations (corresponding to the present)
* 3 places for medium tradition federations (Portugal, France, Belgium, Scotland, and Yugoslavia)
* 2 places for ten other intermediate federations
* 1 place for the thirteen smaller federations

Teams were assigned places based on their own rankings. England's team allocation was:

* Leeds United
* Southampton
* Tottenham Hotspur
* Wolverhampton Wanderers

Other participating teams included:
* Germany (4): Eintracht Braunschweig, FC Cologne, Hamburger SV, Hertha Berlin
* Italy (4): AC Milan, Bologna, Juventus