Predecessor of European Cup
Before World War II, the Mitropa Cup, officially called the La Coupe de l’Europe Centrale, was the largest international club competition in European football—and the predecessor to the European Cup and the Champions League. Transfermarkt has now included all years of the competition, which continued after World War II from 1951 to 1992 but lost in relevance due to the emergence of other competitions, in the database.
Until World War II, the Austrian capital clubs Austria Vienna (1933, 1936), Rapid Vienna (1930), and First Vienna FC (1931) were among the winners. The title went twice to Italian side Bologna (1932, 1934), Czechoslovakian side Sparta Prague (1927, 1935), and Ferencváros (1928, 1937) as well as Újpest FC from Budapest (1929, 1939) den Cup. In 1940, World War II interrupted the tournament, and the final between Ferencváros and Rapid Bucaresti was not completed.
The name Mitropa Cup is of German origin and describes Central Europe. It was also the name of the train company Mitropa, which, starting in 1916, introduced night trains in Europe and was used by the clubs to travel to games. Teams from Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania, former Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia participated. The biggest stars of the tournament were György Sárosi, Giuseppe Meazza, and Matthias Sindelar.
The list of tournaments sorted by year:
1926/27, 27/28, 28/29, 29/30, 30/31, 31/32, 32/33, 33/34, 34/35, 35/36, 36/37,
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