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The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960 � 61 season-but not recognised by the governing body of European football until two years later-and the last in 1998 � 99, when it was absorbed by the UEFA Cup. Prior to its abolition, the European Cup Winners' Cup was regarded as the second most prestigious European club competition out of the three major tournaments, behind the UEFA Champions League and ahead of the UEFA Cup, although many commentators felt the European Cup Winners' Cup was the easiest of the three competitions to win. However, no club successfully defended the European Cup Winners' Cup, with such major names in European football as FC Barcelona, Arsenal, AC Milan, and Manchester United failing to defend the trophy. The idea of the European Cup Winners' Cup "jinx" against the defending side came to prominence particularly due to the unlikely manner of Arsenal's defeat in the 1995 final and the defeat of Paris Saint-Germain in 1997. From 1972 onwards, the winner of the tournament would go on to play the winner of the European Cup (later the UEFA Champions League) in the UEFA Super Cup. Since the abolition of the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup, the UEFA Super Cup place previously reserved for the CWC winner has been taken by the winner of the UEFA Cup, now UEFA Europa League. From its inception until 1994, the competition was known as the European Cup Winners' Cup, from the 1994 � 95 season onwards, UEFA officially named the tournament the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup. |