For you guys that watched us in 83/84, how hard was winning the old UEFA cup? And did you need to finish top 3 in the league previously to enter? I never knew we beat Bayern along the way until today! I guess before the bosman rule teams you think are average today (like Anderlecht) would’ve been way better back then as the best players from their country would all play in those teams.
Back in those days it was considered a harder trophy to win
( although less prestigious than the European Cup ) . The top leagues ( based on European coefficients got 4 teams into the competition) . Whereas in the EC it was , obviously, only one team per country. The Cup-winners Cup would , possibly , have diluted it a little bit ; but not by that much .
In a sense it was a forerunner of the Champions League , in that regard.
The average coefficient of the top 16 teams was HIGHER than the European Cup . There was also an
extra round to play . With no seedings and a random draw :the UEFA was therefore “ on average “ a more “ difficult “ cup to win . Even though, potentially , a team would
eventually have to play a higher rated/better opponent to win the European Cup .
If this makes sense .
In short winning the UEFA Cup in those times was seen as a very big deal .
Ps 1 )Back then Anderlecht , Feyenoord , Bayern, Hajduk Split were seen as major European outfits.
Ps 2 ) ( Feyenoord and Austria Vienna won their respective domestic leagues in 83/84 . And we beat them both ) .