British teams reached the finals of all three European competitions this season for the first time.
After Aston Villa and Crystal Palace’s wins in Europe across recent days, Arsenal tonight face their own date with destiny against Champions League holders Paris St Germain.
Manchester United – including Northern Ireland hero George Best (middle row, fourth left) - after European Cup glory in 1968. (Photo by Allsport Hulton/Archive)placeholder image
Manchester United – including Northern Ireland hero George Best (middle row, fourth left) - after European Cup glory in 1968. (Photo by Allsport Hulton/Archive)
Here, the Press Association looks back at the British sides who have tasted European glory down the decades.
European Cup/Champions League – 1976-77, 1977-78, 1980-81, 1983-84, 2004-05, 2018-19; UEFA Cup/Europa League – 1972-73, 1975-76, 2000-01
Comfortably the most successful British club in European competition, Liverpool piled up trophies during the 1970s and early 1980s until the Heysel disaster before the 1985 European Cup final and the subsequent ban on English clubs in Europe. The European Cup returned to Anfield under Rafael Benitez after the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ against AC Milan in 2005 before Jurgen Klopp’s side beat Tottenham in the 2019 final.
Manchester United
European Cup/Champions League – 1967-68, 1998-99, 2007-08; UEFA Cup/Europa League – 2016-17; Cup Winners’ Cup – 1990-91
United were the first English club to lift the European Cup, scoring three goals in seven minutes during extra time to brush aside Benfica 4-1. Sir Alex Ferguson oversaw two Champions League triumphs, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the hero of their come-from-behind win over Bayern Munich before a dramatic shoot-out win over Chelsea in 2008.
European Cup/Champions League – 2011-12, 2020-21; UEFA Cup/Europa League – 2012-13, 2018-19
Conference League – 2024-25; Cup Winners’ Cup – 1970-71, 1997-98
Chelsea were crowned European champions in 2012 under then-caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo, appointed two months before the final after Andre Villas-Boas was sacked. Last season’s success in the Conference League made Chelsea the first club to have won all three of UEFA’s current competitions.
Nottingham Forest
European Cup/Champions League – 1978-79, 1979-80
Five years after Brian Clough took over at a then-second division Nottingham Forest, he and Peter Taylor had made them two-time European champions in one of football’s most remarkable stories.
Aston Villa
European Cup/Champions League – 1981-82; UEFA Cup/Europa League – 2025-26
When Villa beat Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final, it made it six years in a row that an English side had been crowned European champions. This season has brought more success as manager Unai Emery lifted the Europa League for the fifth time in his own career.
Manchester City
European Cup/Champions League – 2022-23; Cup Winners’ Cup – 1969-70
Rodri’s strike against Inter Milan in Istanbul saw Pep Guardiola’s City achieve their primary goal in Europe and become only the second English side – after rivals United – to win the treble.
European Cup/Champions League – 1966-67
Celtic became the first British club to win the European Cup when the ‘Lisbon Lions’ beat Inter Milan 2-1 in Portugal.
UEFA Cup/Europa League – 1971-72, 1983-84, 2024-25; Cup Winners’ Cup – 1962-63
Tottenham lost in their only Champions League final appearance, beaten by Liverpool in 2019, but are three-time winners of the UEFA Cup/Europa League, most recently when they beat Manchester United in last season’s final.
UEFA Cup/Europa League – 1980-81
Ipswich’s eighth European campaign ended in success in 1981 as they beat AZ Alkmaar 5-4 in a two-legged final, winning 3-0 at Portman Road before hanging on with a 4-2 defeat in the Netherlands.
Cup Winners’ Cup – 1984-85
The Toffees followed their 1984 FA Cup win by beating Rapid Vienna 3-1 to win the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup. They were denied a return the following season by England’s ban after Heysel.
Cup Winners’ Cup – 1993-94
The Gunners’ only previous European trophy came when Alan Smith’s goal saw off Parma in the 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup final, having won both domestic cups the previous season.
Conference League – 2022-23; Cup Winners’ Cup – 1964-65
Winners of the Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1965, West Ham lifted the Conference League trophy in the competition’s second season as David Moyes’ side beat Fiorentina 2-1.
Crystal Palace
Conference League – 2025-26
Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal secured a first European trophy – and qualification for the Europa League, from which they had been excluded this season.
Cup Winners’ Cup – 1971-72
Rangers joined their Old Firm rivals as European winners when Willie Johnston’s brace secured a 3-2 win over Dynamo Moscow at the Nou Camp. Their run included beating Sporting Lisbon on away goals after the referee erroneously played a penalty shoot-out, which was won by Sporting.
Cup Winners’ Cup – 1982-83
The Cup Winners’ Cup had another Scottish winner just over a decade after Rangers as the Dons saw off mighty Real Madrid 2-1 thanks to John Hewitt’s extra-time winner.