Editing UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (section)

===Inauguration and prestige===
Mirroring the circumstances behind the creation of the European Cup five years earlier, the idea for a pan-European cup competition contested by all of Europe's domestic cup winners came from prominent European sports journalists. The European Cup had proven to be a great success and the [[Inter-Cities Fairs Cup|Fairs Cup]] had also proven popular – as a result, other ideas for new European football tournaments were being aired. One proposal was for a tournament based upon the format of the European Cup, but with national cup winners rather than league champions taking part, which could run alongside that competition.

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| [[File:Recopa de Europa de 1961.JPG|thumb|150px|The trophy awarded to [[Atlético Madrid]] in 1962]]
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The [[1960–61 European Cup Winners' Cup|inaugural Cup Winners' Cup]] was held in the 1960–61 season and was a semi-official pilot tournament. However, the initial reaction to the competition's creation was unenthusiastic on the part of many of Europe's top clubs – many European associations did not have domestic cup competitions at the time and in those countries that did, the cup competition was generally held in low esteem and often not taken seriously by the bigger clubs. It was essentially only in England, Scotland and to a lesser extent Germany and Spain that the domestic cup was considered especially prestigious. Many were sceptical about the viability of a European tournament for cup winners and many of the bigger clubs eligible to contest the first CWC turned down the chance to enter, such as [[Atlético Madrid]] of [[Spain]] and [[AS Monaco FC|AS Monaco]] of [[France]].

Ultimately the inaugural CWC was contested by just 10 clubs (with [[ACF Fiorentina|Fiorentina]] of [[Italy]] winning the two-legged final against the [[Scotland|Scottish]] team [[Rangers F.C.|Rangers]]) but the games were generally well attended and the response from the public and the media to the new tournament was positive and enthusiastic. For the tournament's second season in 1961–62, UEFA took over the running of all aspects of the competition and this time all the clubs eligible to enter accepted the opportunity.

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| [[File:Finale Europa Cup II AC Milan tegen HSV Hamburg 2-0. Spelers van Milan maken ro…, Bestanddeelnr 921-3776.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The trophy awarded to [[AC Milan]] in 1968]]
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By 1968, all UEFA member nations had set up domestic cup competitions due to the success of the Cup Winners' Cup. UEFA regarded it as the second most prestigious competition, behind the European Cup (later the UEFA Champions League) and ahead of the Fairs Cup (later the UEFA Cup). Therefore, a team qualified for both the European Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup would play in the European Cup, whereas a team qualified for both the UEFA Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup would play in the Cup Winners' Cup. Nevertheless, many commentators and fans regarded the Cup Winners' Cup as weaker than the UEFA Cup, which had more and better teams from the stronger European leagues.<ref name="Weaver2012">{{cite book|last=Weaver|first=Graham|title=Gunners' Glory: 14 Milestones in Arsenal's History|quote=The Cup-Winners' Cup is traditionally the weakest of the three European competitions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=myAPqaPSdkwC&pg=PT159|date=2012|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|isbn=9781780575186|page=159}}</ref><ref name="Hesse-Lichtenberger2003">{{cite book|last=Hesse-Lichtenberger|first=Ulrich|title=Tor!: The Story of German Football|quote=Only three East German clubs ever reached a European final ... and they were all in the Cup-Winners Cup, the weakest of the three European competitions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQfNyLM5svIC&pg=PA222|year=2003|publisher=WSC Books Limited|isbn=9780954013455|page=222}}</ref><ref name="Spurling2014">{{cite book|last=Spurling|first=Jon|title=Red Letter Days: Fourteen Dramatic Events That Shook Arsenal Football Club|quote=The European Cup Winners' Cup had always been regarded as the weakest of the three continental competitions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsubBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT189|date=2014|publisher=Pitch Publishing|isbn=9781909626935|page=189}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kassimeris|first=Christos|title=European football in black and white: tackling racism in football|quote=Only three East German clubs ever reached a European final – all in the Cup-Winners' Cup, the weakest of the three European competitions|year=2008|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=9780739119600|page=26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-driven-to-distraction-by-the-cup-1277796.html|title=Football: Driven to distraction by the Cup|first=Ian |last=Ridley|date=9 February 1997|work=[[Independent on Sunday]]|access-date=2 October 2015 |quote=the Cup-winners' Cup ... is also the weakest and least regarded of the European competitions|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003182928/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-driven-to-distraction-by-the-cup-1277796.html|archive-date=3 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Donald2011">{{cite book|last=Donald|first=Stuart|title=On Fire with Fergie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A6p8DKuxK4oC&pg=PT134|date=2011|publisher=Headline|isbn=978-0755319817|page=Chapter 12, footnote 2|no-pp=y}}</ref>

In the 1985–86 season, English clubs were banned from European competition as a result of [[Heysel Stadium disaster]]. Consequently, [[Manchester United F.C|Manchester United]], [[Everton F.C.|Everton]], [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]], [[Wimbledon F.C|Wimbledon]] and [[Liverpool F.C|Liverpool]] were prevented from competing in the Cup Winners' Cup until the beginning of the 1990–91 season.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/31/newsid_2481000/2481723.stm|title=1985: English teams banned after Heysel|date=31 May 1985|via=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030215142732/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/31/newsid_2481000/2481723.stm|archive-date=15 February 2003|url-status=live}}</ref>

No club managed to retain the Cup Winners' Cup, although eight times a winning side followed up their victories with a losing appearance in the following season's final.