Editing Heysel Stadium disaster (section)

===English club ban===
{{more citations needed section|date=May 2016}}
Pressure mounted to ban English clubs from European competition. On 31 May 1985, British Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] asked [[The FA|The Football Association]] (the FA) to withdraw English clubs from European competition before they were banned,<ref>{{cite news |last=McKie |first=David |title=Thatcher set to demand FA ban on games in Europe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/fromthearchive/story/0,,1496054,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130716043114/http://www.guardian.co.uk/fromthearchive/story/0,,1496054,00.html |archive-date=16 July 2013 |access-date=27 May 2006 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=1985-05-31 |title=English Soccer Clubs Pull Out of Europe Competition |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-05-31-mn-14585-story.html |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> but two days later, UEFA banned English clubs for "[[Sine die|an indeterminate period of time]]".<ref>{{Cite web |title=English football clubs banned from Europe {{!}} June 2, 1985 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/english-football-clubs-banned-from-europe |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=HISTORY|date=16 November 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ap |date=1985-06-03 |title=ENGLISH SOCCER CLUBS ARE BANNED FROM EUROPEAN PLAY INDEFINITELY |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/03/world/english-soccer-clubs-are-banned-from-european-play-indefinitely.html |access-date=2024-06-02 |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-02-25 |title=European Football Union Bans English Soccer Teams |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/06/03/european-football-union-bans-english-soccer-teams/04959dae-2e33-4962-984c-e197b98d9601/ |access-date=2024-06-02 |newspaper=Washington Post|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> On 6 June, the [[FIFA|International Federation of Association Football]] (FIFA) extended this ban to all worldwide matches, but this was modified a week later to allow friendly matches outside of Europe to take place.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-12-28 |title=FIFA Restricts English Soccer |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1985/06/07/fifa-restricts-english-soccer/21076298-ae7f-41d7-82e6-b1db14ad97ba/ |access-date=2024-06-02 |newspaper=Washington Post|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> In December 1985, FIFA announced that English clubs were also free to play friendly games in Europe, though the Belgian government banned any English clubs from playing in their country.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1985-06-02 |title=1985: Uefa bans English clubs from Europe |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/2/newsid_2494000/2494963.stm |access-date=2024-06-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=World ban on English soccer clubs lifted - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/07/11/World-ban-on-English-soccer-clubs-lifted/4873489902400/ |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=UPI}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-04-04 |title=Heysel and the tragic aftermath |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/4400953.stm |access-date=2024-06-02}}</ref>

Though the [[England national football team|England national team]] was not subjected to any bans, English club sides were banned [[Adjournment sine die|indefinitely]] from European club competitions, with Liverpool being provisionally subject to a further three years' suspension as well. In April 1989, following years of campaigning from the English football authorities, UEFA confirmed the reintroduction of English clubs (with the exception of Liverpool) into its competitions from the 1990–91 season onward effective from 11 July 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=1989-04-11 |title=British Soccer Will Return to Continent's Fields in 1990 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-11-sp-1923-story.html |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=1990-07-10 |title=Soccer Union Lifts Ban on English Clubs |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-10-sp-419-story.html |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=English soccer clubs readmitted to Europe - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/07/10/English-soccer-clubs-readmitted-to-Europe/4009647582400/ |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=UPI}}</ref> In April 1991 UEFA's executive committee voted to allow Liverpool back into European competition from the 1991–92 season onward, a year later than their compatriots, but two years earlier than initially foreseen. In the end, all English clubs served a five-year-ban, while Liverpool were excluded for six years.

According to former Liverpool striker [[Ian Rush]], who signed with Juventus a year later, he saw pronounced improvement in the institutional relationships between both the clubs and their fans during his career in Italy.<ref name="Repubblica" />

====England's UEFA coefficient====
Prior to the introduction of the ban, England were ranked first in the [[UEFA coefficient]] ranking due to the performance of English clubs in European competition in the previous five seasons.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UEFA Country Ranking 1985 |url=https://kassiesa.net/uefa/data/method1/crank1985.html |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=kassiesa.net}}</ref> Throughout the ban, England's points were kept in the ranking until they would have naturally been replaced.

The places vacated by English clubs in the UEFA Cup were reallocated to the best countries who would usually only have two spots in the competition—countries ranked between ninth and twenty-first. For the [[1985–86 UEFA Cup]], the Soviet Union, France, [[Czechoslovakia]], and the Netherlands were granted an additional spot each, while in [[1986–87 UEFA Cup|1986–87]], [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], Czechoslovakia, France, and [[East Germany]] were the recipients. The [[1987–88 UEFA Cup|1987–88]] season saw Portugal, Austria, and Sweden gain an additional place, with Sweden and Yugoslavia gaining the places for the [[1988–89 UEFA Cup|1988–89]] competition. The final year of the English ban, [[1989–90 UEFA Cup|1989–90]] saw Austria receive a spot, while a play-off round was played between a French and a Yugoslav side for the final space—due to the two countries having the same number of points in the ranking.<ref>{{cite web|title=UEFA Ranking History|url=https://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/files/uefa-ranking-history.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818170916/http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/files/uefa-ranking-history.html|archive-date=18 August 2018|access-date=24 December 2018|work=kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl}}</ref>

England was removed from the rankings in 1990 due to having no points.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UEFA Country Ranking 1990 |url=https://kassiesa.net/uefa/data/method1/crank1990.html |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=kassiesa.net}}</ref> England did not return to the top of the coefficient rankings until 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UEFA Country Ranking 2008 |url=https://kassiesa.net/uefa/data/method3/crank2008.html |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=kassiesa.net}}</ref>

====Banned clubs====
The following clubs were denied entry to European competitions during this period:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Seasons
! European Cup
! European Cup Winners' Cup
! UEFA Cup
|-
| align="center" |1985–86
| [[1985–86 European Cup|Everton]]
| [[1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup|Manchester United]] (4th)
| [[1985–86 UEFA Cup|Liverpool (2nd)<br>Tottenham Hotspur (3rd)<br>Southampton (5th)<br>Norwich City (League Cup winners; 20th)]]
|-
| align="center" |1986–87
| [[1986–87 European Cup|Liverpool]]
| [[1986–87 European Cup Winners' Cup|Everton]] (2nd)
| [[1986–87 UEFA Cup|West Ham United (3rd)<br>Manchester United (4th)<br>Sheffield Wednesday (5th)<br>Oxford United (League Cup winners; 18th)]]
|-
| align="center" |1987–88
| [[1987–88 European Cup|Everton]]
| [[1987–88 European Cup Winners' Cup|Coventry City]] (10th)
| [[1987–88 UEFA Cup|Liverpool (2nd)<br>Tottenham Hotspur (3rd)<br>Arsenal (4th, League Cup winners)<br>Norwich City (5th)]]
|-
| align="center" |1988–89
| [[1988–89 European Cup|Liverpool]]
| [[1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup|Wimbledon]] (6th)
| [[1988–89 UEFA Cup|Manchester United (2nd)<br>Nottingham Forest (3rd)<br>Everton (4th)<br>Luton Town (League Cup winners; 9th)]]
|-
| align="center" |1989–90
| [[1989–90 European Cup|Arsenal]]
| [[1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup|Liverpool]] (2nd)
| [[1989–90 UEFA Cup|Nottingham Forest (3rd, League Cup winners)<br>Norwich City (4th)<br>Derby County (5th)<br>Tottenham Hotspur (6th)]]
|-
| align="center" |1990–91
|[[1990–91 European Cup|Liverpool]]
|}

The number of places available to English clubs in the UEFA Cup would however have been reduced had English teams been eliminated early in the competition. By the time of the re-admittance of all English clubs except Liverpool in 1990–91, England was only granted one UEFA Cup entrant (awarded to the league runners-up); prior to the ban, they had four entry slots, a number not awarded to England again under regular means.

Welsh clubs playing in the [[English football league system|English league system]], who could qualify for the [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners' Cup]] via the [[Welsh Cup]], were unaffected by the ban. [[Bangor City F.C.|Bangor City]] ([[1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup|1985–86]]),{{refn|Bangor City finished runners-up of the 1984–85 Welsh Cup to English side [[Shrewsbury Town F.C.|Shrewsbury Town]], however English teams cannot qualify for the European Cup Winners' Cup through the Welsh Cup.|group="note"}} [[Wrexham F.C.|Wrexham]] ([[1986–87 European Cup Winners' Cup|1986–87]]), [[Merthyr Tydfil F.C.|Merthyr Tydfil]] ([[1987–88 European Cup Winners' Cup|1987–88]]), [[Cardiff City F.C.|Cardiff City]] ([[1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup|1988–89]]), and [[Swansea City A.F.C.|Swansea City]] ([[1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup|1989–90]]) all competed in the Cup Winners' Cup during the ban on English clubs, despite playing in the English league system.

In the meantime, many other clubs missed out on a place in the UEFA Cup due to the return of English clubs to European competitions only being gradual—in 1990, the league had no UEFA coefficient points used to calculate the number of teams, and even though [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] won the Cup Winners' Cup in the first season of returning in [[1990–91 European Cup Winners' Cup|1990–91]], it took several more years for England to win back the points to the previous level, due to the coefficient being calculated over a five-year period and there being a one-year delay between the publication of the rankings and their impact on club allocation.

Liverpool's additional year of exclusion from Europe meant that there was no English representation in the [[1990–91 European Cup]], as they were [[1989–90 Football League First Division]] champions.

====Repercussions on UEFA Cup qualification====
Due to the weak coefficient, [[EFL Cup|Football League Cup]] winners [[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest]] also missed out on UEFA Cup places in [[1990–91 UEFA Cup|1990–91]], along with [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] and Arsenal. The teams who missed out on the [[1991–92 UEFA Cup]], for the same reason were [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]], [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]], and [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]]. Arsenal and [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] were unable to take part for the [[1992–93 UEFA Cup|1992–93 competition]]. For [[1993–94 UEFA Cup|1993–94]], [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]] and [[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|Queens Park Rangers]] would have qualified.

Leeds United missed out in [[1994–95 UEFA Cup|1994–95]] and initially [[1995–96 UEFA Cup|1995–96]], though they qualified for the latter via the new [[UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking|UEFA Fair Play ranking]], which at the time gave their three top-ranking associations' highest-placed team who've not already qualified for Europe a UEFA Cup spot. Remaining outside the top three of the coefficient rankings, England retained its three UEFA Cup berths instead of four. Sixth-placed [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] lost a Fair Play berth for [[1996–97 UEFA Cup|1996–97]] by UEFA, as punishment for the FA due to Tottenham Hotspur and [[Wimbledon F.C.|Wimbledon]] fielding weakened teams in the [[1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/english-clubs-pay-for-intertoto-fiasco-1526049.html|title=English clubs pay for Intertoto fiasco|work=The Independent|date=16 December 1995|access-date=31 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=FAQ: Qualification and Seeding for the European Cups|url=https://kassiesa.net/uefa/history/faq1996.txt|access-date=29 September 2020|publisher=Bert Kassies}}</ref>

By this point, while England's coefficient was no longer directly affected by the ban due to it being outside of the five-year window, their coefficient continued to be affected by years of under-representation in the competition. As a result, [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] missed out via their league position for [[1997–98 UEFA Cup|1997–98]] and [[1998–99 UEFA Cup|1998–99]] but qualified for both through Fair Play. Restructuring of UEFA competitions for 1999–2000 gave the top six associations of the coefficient ranking three UEFA Cup berths (the top three gained four [[1999–2000 UEFA Champions League|Champions League]] berths, whilst 4–6 got three), which England now reached, whilst associations ranked seventh and eighth were given four berths for the competition.