This was the first of only two times in the history of the UEFA Cup, its unofficial predecessor Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, or its successor UEFA Europa League where both finalists won their national championship in the same season. Until then, this had only happened twice in the European Cup, and it would only happen once in the European Cup Winners Cup.
Club Brugge was the first Belgian team to reach a UEFA Cup final, six years after Anderlecht also reached the final in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, its predecessor tournament. The final's first leg was the last major final held at Anfield in one of the three premier European club championships, although the stadium would also host two UEFA Super Cup legs in later finals.
A total of 64 teams from 31 UEFA member associations participate in the 1975–76 UEFA Cup. The original allocation scheme was as follows:
3 associations have four teams qualify.
3 associations have three teams qualify.
18 associations have two teams qualify.
7 associations have one team qualify.
The Soviet Union and Sweden were the two associations selected to have an extra third birth for this season, while the Netherlands and Austria went back to two qualified teams.
Wales: There was no national league in Wales before 1992 and the only competition organised by the Football Association of Wales was the Welsh Cup so Wales had just a single participant in European competitions, the winner (or best placed Welsh team as several English teams also competed) of the Welsh Cup which competed in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
Albania: Albanian teams were absent from European competition from 1973 to 1978 due to the international isolation of the country during the communist rule of Enver Hoxha.[1]Vllaznia would have qualified for the UEFA Cup by league position.
England: At the end of the 1974–75 Football League season in April, the Football Association still applied the old Inter-Cities Fairs Cup ruling of 'one city, one team' to determine the teams that qualified for the UEFA Cup. As a result, Everton was bypassed for the final English birth, as the city of Liverpool was already represented by second placed Liverpool, and Stoke City was nominated for the spot after finishing fifth. However, UEFA gave a ultimatum to the English Football League in order for teams to qualify without geographical limitations, warning that English teams would not be accepted in European competitions otherwise. On 7 June 1975, the EFL formally confirmed Everton as the recipient of the fourth UEFA Cup spot.[2]
West Germany: The fourth UEFA Cup spot for West Germany was not awarded to the fourth best team not qualified for the European Cup or the European Cup Winners' Cup, which was Fortuna Dusseldorf, as it was common practice. Instead, this place was awarded to Duisburg, who had been runners-up in the 1974–75 DFB-Pokal.
Hungary:Vasas, who had finished 6th in the Hungarian league, qualified for the UEFA Cup by winning the Liberation Cup on its 30th anniversary. The tournament had not provided a European spot before, and would not do it ever since.[3]
The schedule of the competition was as follows. Matches were scheduled for Wednesdays, though some matches took place on Tuesdays. In the first round, three first leg matches were played on a Thursday, and both legs of the match-up between MSV Duisburg and Enosis Neon Paralimni FC were played over three days in West Germany, with the first leg being held on a Sunday.
Lazio refused to play for security reasons, claiming it would be impossible to play due to political demonstrations following the execution in Spain of five ETA and FRAP members on 27 September on terrorism charges. UEFA awarded Barcelona a 3–0 victory, ruling those three goals were not applicable for the away goals rule.
^"Everton to replace Stoke in UEFA Cup". New Sunday Times. Kuala Lumpur: New Straits Times Press. Reuters. 8 June 1975. p. 15. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
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Liverpool (2nd title)
Club Brugge