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The Inter Cities Fairs Cup is not a commonly know term amongst football enthusiasts in the contemporary game, but this was the original title given to the Europa League, a cup competition that was to take place between European cities that hosted trade fairs.

Through the inception of the Champions League – formerly the Champion Clubs Cup – in 1955, three future FIFA management officials, Ernst Thommen, Ottarino Barrasi and Sir Stanley Rous, developed a similar competition for European league members. It became the Europa League.

There have been many developments in the format for qualification, and ultimately the way the competition operates, since the 50’s, but the current system has existed for almost 15 years.

In 1972, the year in which the Europa League rules included two-legged finals, the winners were the English Tottenham Hotspur, who managed a 3-2 aggregate defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers of the same nation, at home at White Hart Lane.

The last occurrence of a two-legged final saw Shalke dominate Internazionale in a penalty shootout to leave the San Siro stadium in Milan with a 4-1 success.

The current single match final format was conceived in 1998. The first winner of this new system was Internazionale, who achieved a 3-0 defeat over Lazio at the Parc Des Princes stadium in Paris. Last year Shakhtar Donetsk defeated Werder Bremen, 2-1.

Since the late 1970’s the competition, like the Champions League, has grown to include differing nations and clubs: Juventus, Internazionale and Liverpool have all achieved a total of 3 wins since the tournaments creation.

Since 2009 the Europa League has involved a total of 48 teams during the qualifying stage, dwindling to just 16 for the main legs, and like many international competitions, the league and the world renowned talent that takes part attract much attention from advertisers, sponsors and online betting companies, giving the tournament a high profile in the world arena.

The 2010 tournament has seen teams such as Liverpool, Fulham, Benfica, Athletico de Madrid, Valencia and Vfl Wolfsburg take to the pitch in the main legs in an effort to acquire the title.