There are few extra iconic items of silverware in skilled sport than the Champions League trophy. ‘Ol’ Large Ears’ unmistakable design matches its standing as one of the prestigious and historic accolades within the membership recreation.
However how a lot do you really know in regards to the trophy that’s been lifted by legendary figures together with Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard?
We’ve obtained you coated for all the important thing details and details about the Champions League trophy.
Historical past of the Champions League trophy
Mostly generally known as the European Cup from the eponymous competitors previous to the large ‘Champions League’ rebrand in 1992, the trophy is formally known as the European Champion Golf equipment’ Cup, translated from the unique Coupe des Golf equipment Champions Europeens.
The French language origins return to its conception by legendary soccer outlet L’Equipe of stingy participant scores fame – to not be confused with French journal France Soccer, answerable for the Ballon d’Or.
The newspaper donated the unique trophy, handed out within the Fifties, and finally awarded completely to Actual Madrid in recognition of their five-in-a-row trophy triumphs from 1955 to 1960. That authentic trophy is on show in Actual Madrid’s museum.
There have been an additional 4 variations of the identical design, with the present trophy – held aloft by Chelsea, Actual Madrid and Manchester Metropolis lately – has been in use since 2006.
Who retains the trophy?
Again within the late Nineteen Sixties, UEFA launched a rule stipulating that if a membership wins the competitors three years in a row or 5 instances in complete, they get to maintain the cup.
That’s why the trophy that Liverpool lifted in Istanbul in 2005 – the membership’s fifth – stays a part of their trophy cupboard at the moment. Ajax, Bayern Munich and AC Milan are additionally proud holders of authentic European Cup trophies.
However in 2008, UEFA revised its guidelines and determined that they themselves would maintain onto it indefinitely. Unfortunate for Barcelona, who claimed a fifth Champions League in 2015 however have been unable to maintain the trophy.
The identical trophy is now lifted by a membership on the finish of every season after which returned to the governing physique for the remainder of the 12 months.
However a full-size duplicate trophy is awarded to each winner – with the membership’s title engraved upon it.
Successful golf equipment are additionally permitted by UEFA to make additional replicas of their very own, however they need to clearly be marked as such and are solely allowed to be eighty per cent the scale of the actual factor.
How massive is the Champions League trophy & how a lot does it weigh?
The present Champions League trophy stands 73.5cm tall and weighs 7.5kg.
To place that in context, that’s about 30cm smaller than the Premier League trophy (104cm) and over thrice lighter. No marvel Didier Drogba was in a position to mimic flying with it after profitable it in 2012.
What supplies is the Champions League trophy fabricated from?
The present design of the trophy was commissioned by UEFA Normal Secretary Hans Bangerter in 1967 after the unique was given to Actual Madrid.
It was designed in Berne, Switzerland – conveniently near UEFA’s headquarters – by native jeweller Jurg Stadelmann. It’s fabricated from silver and took Stadelmann 340 hours to make.
“My father Hans and I went alongside to Herr Bangerter’s workplace and coated the entire ground with drawings,” he mentioned of how the design got here collectively.
“He made feedback like, ‘The Bulgarians would really like the underside of that. The Spaniards would really like this however the Italians would favor that and the Germans would go for this.’ We put the design collectively like a jigsaw puzzle.”
How a lot is the Champions League trophy price?
Sports activities attire model Canterbury estimate that the Champions League trophy is barely price about $15,000 (about €13,200 or £11,100).
Utilizing the identical supply’s figures, that makes it about 1/66th as beneficial because the FA Cup, estimated to be price within the area of $1million.
The World Cup, against this, is fabricated from 18-carat gold mounted on two layers of malachite and has an estimated worth of a whopping $20million – making it over a thousand instances extra beneficial than the Champions League trophy.
TRY A QUIZ: Are you able to title the 15 groups with most Champions League matches with out profitable the trophy?
