Anglo-Italian Cup

Anglo-Italian Cup
Founded1970; 54 years ago (1970)
Abolished1996; 28 years ago (1996)
Region
  • England
  • Italy
Number of teamsVaried
Last championsGenoa
Most successful club(s)Modena (2 titles)

The Anglo-Italian Cup (Italian: Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition[1] and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) was a European football competition.

The competition was played intermittently between 1970 and 1996 between clubs from England and Italy. It was founded by Gigi Peronace, following the two-team Anglo-Italian League Cup in 1969. The initial Anglo-Italian Cup was played as an annual tournament from 1970 to 1973. The first final was abandoned early due to violence, with Swindon Town declared the winners. During its time the tournament had a reputation for violence between fans, and also between players on the pitch.[2][3] but it returned as a semi-professional tournament from 1976 before it was abolished again in 1986.

In 1992, the Anglo-Italian Cup was re-established as a professional cup for second-tier clubs – it replaced the English Full Members Cup. The Italian representatives were Serie B teams. This version of the Cup ran for four seasons, until 1996, before being discontinued due to fixture congestion. The trophy was a 22-inch (56 cm) high gold loving cup mounted on a wooden plinth.[4][5]

  1. ^ "When Palace humbled Inter". The Holmesdale Online. 25 February 2009. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guard was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Lea, Greg (25 October 2019). "Remembering the violent but fascinating Anglo-Italian Cup". These Football Times. Archived from the original on 4 October 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gazette was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Notts was invoked but never defined (see the help page).