Hugo Meisl has been mentioned before in this blog. Understandably, because he has been a major influence on European Football. The son of a wealthy Bohemian banker, he should have followed in his father's foot steps in the family business. He did however, take another career route by joining the emerging Austrian FA as an administrator and in 1919 he was part of a committee that selected the National side, eventually creating the Austria's Wunderteam, that made its mark in the 1930s.
Meisl inspired by this success, in 1924, suggested an international tournament played by central European clubs, naming this the MITROPA CUP, officially known as La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale. It was conducted first among the successor states of the former Austria-Hungary. After World War 2, in 1951, a replacement tournament named Zentropa Cup was held, but just for one season, the Mitropa Cup name was revived, and again in 1958 the name of the tournament changed to Danube Cup but only for one season. The tournament was discontinued after 1992. The most successful club is Vasas, of Budapest, with six titles.
This "International" competition for football clubs was founded in 1897 in Vienna. The Challenge Cup was invented by John Gramlick Snr, a co-founder of the Vienna Cricket and Football Club. In this cup competition all clubs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, that normally would not meet, could take part, though actually almost only clubs from the Empire's three major cities Vienna, Budapest and Prague participated. The Challenge Cup was carried out until the year 1911 and is today seen as the predecessor to the Mitropa Cup and consequently the European Cup and then the Champions' League. The last winner of the cup was Wiener Sports Club, one of the oldest and most traditional football clubs of Austria where the cup still remains!!
The idea of a European Cup competition was shaped after World War 1, which brought the defeat and collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.The centre of this idea were the Central European countries that, at this time, were still leading in continental football. In the early 1920s they introduced professional leagues, the first continental countries to do so. Austria started in 1924, followed by Czechoslovakia, in 1925 and Hungary in 1926. In order to strengthen the dominance of these countries in European football and to support, financially, the professional clubs, the introduction of the Mitropa Cup was decided at a meeting in Venice on 17 July, following the initiative of the head of the Austrian FA (ÖFB), Hugo Meisl. Moreover, the creation of a European Cup for national teams – that unlike the Challenge Cup and the Mitropa Cup would not be annual – was also part of the agreement. The first matches were played on 14 August 1927. The competition was between the top professional teams of Central Europe.
Initially two teams each from Austria, Hungary, Czechslovakia and Yugoslavia entered, competing in a knock-out competition. The countries involved could either send their respective league winners and runners-up, or league winners and cup winners to take part. The first winners were the Czech side, AC Sparta Prague. In 1929, Italian teams replaced the Yugoslavian ones. The competition was expanded to four teams from each of the competing countries in 1934. Switzerland in 1936, and Romania, Switzerland and Yugoslvia, in 1937 were allowed to join. Austria was withdrawn from the competition following the Anschluss (the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 12 March 1938).
In 1939, prior to the start of World War II, the cup involved only eight teams (two each from Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Italy and one each from Romania and Yugoslavia).
The level of the competing nations is clearly shown by Italy's two World Cup titles, in 1934 and 1938 and Czechoslovakia's (1934) and Hungary's (1938), World Cup finals, and Austria's (1934) and Yugoslavia's (1930) semi-finals. Out of the eleven different teams competing in the first three World Cups, five were part of the Mitropa Cup.
A tournament was started in 1940, but abandoned before the final match due to WW2. Again, only eight teams competed, three each from Hungary and Yugoslavia and two from Romania. Hungarian Ferencvaros and Romanian Rapid (which had won on lots after three draws) qualified for the final, but did not meet because the northern part of Transylvania (lost shortly after WW1) was ceded to Hungary from Romania.
It involved a two legged format and by July 1927, the idea of the cup was accepted with two clubs from each East European countries, Czecholslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Meisl's Austria.
The first "Champion's team" was Sparta Prague, who reached the final following a "toss of a coin" against the Hungarian side from Budapest named Hungaria. Hugo Meisl had come up with a two legged model for "his" competition, but he had not factored in clubs finished level after two legs! Still, Sparta continued their success and romped into a 6-2 lead against Rapid Vienna at home. They lost the away leg 2-1 and were subsequently pelted with rotten fruit and stones! As if that ever happens in football.Italy saw the potential success of the competition and in 1932, Juventus won its first title under controversial circumstances. 4-0 ahead after the first leg, Juventus were well ahead in the second leg, with Slavia Prague a further 2-0 down. Slavia took to "time wasting" to halt the slide and as a result the crowd rioted, with Slavia refusing to continue the match after their keeper had been hit by a "rock". The teams took refuge in the changing rooms and stayed there for an hour, when both teams were "disqualified", with Bologna won the final on a "walk over".
Mitropa, the organisers, hoped that British teams would join in and raise the status of the competition, but World War 2 happened and the idea melted away. Iron Curtain countries were not going to enter the competition and UEFA launched the European Cup in 1956. The Mitropa competition raised its head as a tournament for "second tier" clubs which led to Milan winning it in 1982!
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