Balkans Cup

Balkans Cup
	Balkans Cup trophy in 1968
Founded	1961;64 years ago
Abolished	1994;31 years ago
Region	Southeast Europe
Number of teams	Various
Related competitions	Balkan Cup
Last champions	Samsunspor ; (1st title)
Most successful club(s)	Beroe Stara Zagora (4 titles)

Last updated January 21, 2025

The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators),^[1] being the second most important international club competition for clubs from the region (after the European Champions' Cup in which the champions could play; the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup originally attracted few teams from the region as many did not organise domestic cups regularly and only Yugoslavia had significant representation in the Fairs Cup).^[1]

Editions

Finals on Home and Away basis, except noted otherwise.

a → first leg of the final

Years	Nr of Clubs & Format	Winner (or Champion in Group Format)	Results of Finals (or Points in Group Format)	Finalist (or Runner-up in Group Format)
1960–61 Details	5 type-A	Steagul Roşu Braşov	13 – 8 Points RR	Levski Sofia
1961–63 Details	8 type-B	Olympiacos	a1–0 / 0–1 / 1–0 Play-off match in Istanbul, Turkey.	Levski Sofia
1963–64 Details		Rapid Bucureşti	2–0 / 1–1a	Spartak Plovdiv
1964–66 Details		Rapid Bucureşti	a3–3 / 2–0	Farul Constanţa
1966–67 Details		Fenerbahçe	1–0 / 1–2a / 3–1 Play-off match in Istanbul, Turkey.^[2]	AEK Athens
1967–68 Details		Beroe Stara Zagora	a3–0 / 3–4	Spartak Sofia
1969 Details	6 type-C	Beroe Stara Zagora	3–0 / 0–1a 2nd Leg: Dinamo walked off while losing 0–1.	Dinamo Tirana
1970 Details		Partizani Tirana	3–0 / 1–1a 2nd Leg: Beroe did not show up.	Beroe Stara Zagora
1971 Details		Panionios	a2–1 / 1–1	Besa Kavajë
1972 Details		Trakia Plovdiv	a5–0 / 0–4	Vardar Skopje
1973 Details		Lokomotiv Sofia	2–0 / 1–1a	ASA Târgu Mureș
1974 Details		Akademik Sofia	a2–1 / 0–0	Vardar Skopje
1975 Details		Radnički Niš	a1–0 / 2–1	Eskişehirspor
1976 Details		Dinamo Zagreb	a3–1 / 2–3	Sportul Studențesc
1977 Details		Panathinaikos	2–1 / 0–0a	Slavia Sofia
1977–78 Details		NK Rijeka	4–1 / 0–1a	Jiul Petroşani
1979–80 Details		Sportul Studențesc	a2–0 / 1–1	NK Rijeka
1980–81 Details		Velež Mostar	6–2 / 6–5a	Trakia Plovdiv
1981–83 Details		Beroe Stara Zagora	a3–0 / 3–1	17 Nëntori Tirana
1983–84 Details	3 type-D	Beroe Stara Zagora	6 – 4 Points RR	Argeş Piteşti
1984–85 Details	8 type-E	Iraklis	4–1 / 1–3a	Argeş Piteşti
1986 Details	8 type-E	Slavia Sofia	a3–0 / 2–3	Panionios
1987–88 Details	10 type-F	Slavia Sofia	a5–1 / 1–0	Argeş Piteşti
1988–89 Details	6 type-C	OFI	3–1 One Final in Serres, Greece.	Radnički Niš
1989–90	The Balkans Cup did not take place due to the Romanian Revolution of 1989 .
1990–91 Details	6 type-G	Inter Sibiu	1–0 (a.e.t) / 0–0a	Budućnost Podgorica
1991–92 Details	5 type-H	Sarıyer	1–0 / 0–0a	Oţelul Galaţi
1992–93 Details	6 type-G	Edessaikos	3–1 / 0–1a	Etar Veliko Tarnovo
1993–94 Details	4 type-I	Samsunspor	2–0 / 3–0a	PAS Giannina

Competition's formats:

type-A: One group of 5 clubs.

type-B: Two groups of 4, top clubs qualifying for the final.

type-C: Two groups of 3, top clubs qualifying for the final.

type-D: One group of 3 clubs.

type-E: Knock-out (Quarterfinals → Semifinals → Final).

type-F: Two groups of 3 and one group of 4, top clubs plus the best runner-up qualifying for the Knock-out Semifinals.

type-G: Knock-out (Preliminary round qualifying 2 clubs out of 4 → Semifinals → Final).

type-H: Knock-out (Preliminary round qualifying 1 club out of 2 → Semifinals → Final).

type-I: Knock-out (Semifinals → Final).

Performances

By club

When sorted by year of winning or losing final(s), the table is sorted by the year of each club's first final.

Club	Winners	Finalists	Finals	Years of Winning	Years of Losing	Entries	Notes
Beroe Stara Zagora	4	1	4^[3]	1968, 1969, 1983, 1984	1970	7	1984 Top Spot in Group
Slavia Sofia	2	1	3	1986, 1988	1977	5
Rapid Bucureşti	2	-	2	1964, 1966	—	2	Winner in Both Entries
Panionios	1	1	2	1971	1986	3
Trakia Plovdiv	1	1	2	1972	1981	2	Reached Final in Both Entries
Radnički Niš	1	1	2	1975	1989	3
NK Rijeka	1	1	2	1978	1980	2	Reached Final in Both Entries
Sportul Studențesc	1	1	2	1980	1976	3
Olympiacos	1	-	1	1963	—	3
Fenerbahçe	1	-	1	1967	—	4
Partizani Tirana	1	-	1	1970	—	5
Lokomotiv Sofia	1	-	1	1973	—	4
Akademik Sofia	1	-	1	1974	—	2
Dinamo Zagreb	1	-	1	1976	—	1
Panathinaikos	1	-	1	1977	—	1
Velež Mostar	1	-	1	1981	—	1
Iraklis	1	-	1	1985	—	3
OFI	1	-	1	1989	—	2
Inter Sibiu	1	-	1	1991	—	1
Sarıyer	1	-	1	1992	—	1
Edessaikos	1	-	1	1993	—	1
Samsunspor	1	-	1	1994	—	2
Steagul Roşu Braşov	1	-	-^[4]	1961	—	4	1961 Top Spot in Group
Argeş Piteşti	-	2	2^[3]	—	1984, 1985, 1988	3	1984 Runner-up in Group
Vardar Skopje	-	2	2	—	1972, 1974	4
Levski Sofia	-	1	1^[4]	—	1961, 1963	3	1961 Runner-up in Group
Spartak Plovdiv	-	1	1	—	1964	2
Farul Constanţa	-	1	1	—	1966	4
AEK Athens	-	1	1	—	1967	4
Spartak Sofia	-	1	1	—	1968	1
Dinamo Tirana	-	1	1	—	1969	5
Besa Kavajë	-	1	1	—	1971	2
Târgu Mureș	-	1	1	—	1973	2
Eskişehirspor	-	1	1	—	1975	3
Jiul Petroşani	-	1	1	—	1978	1
17 Nëntori Tirana	-	1	1	—	1983	4
Budućnost Podgorica	-	1	1	—	1991	2
Oţelul Galaţi	-	1	1	—	1992	1
Etar Veliko Tarnovo	-	1	1	—	1993	3
PAS Giannina	-	1	1	—	1994	2
Total	28	26	52	52 Teams in Finals, since 1961 and 1983–84 editions were contested in Group Format.

All 24 Clubs (out of 89 in total) that appeared in the Balkans Cup for 3 times or more, eventually Reached the Final with the exception of: Galatasaray (5 entries) and Beşiktaş (3) of Turkey, Vllaznia Shkodër (3) of Albania and Universitatea Craiova (3) of Romania.
Beroe Stara Zagora of Bulgaria is competition's Record Holder concerning participation (7 entries), finals reached (4, plus one top spot in group) and wins (4), while in their single lost final against Partizani for 1970 edition, they opted not showing up in Tirana for the return leg of a 1–1 draw at home.
Next to Beroe's 4, their compatriots Slavia Sofia reached 3 Finals (2 wins), while Romanian Argeş Piteşti had 2 (no win), plus one runner-up spot in group (each time they entered the competition, ended up in the losing side).
6 clubs won Balkans Cup in their Single Entry: Dinamo Zagreb (Yugoslavia, now Croatia) in 1976, Panathinaikos Athens (Greece) in 1977, Velež Mostar (Yugoslavia, now Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 1980–81, Inter Sibiu (Romania) in 1990–91, Sarıyer İstanbul (Turkey) in 1991–92 and Edessaikos Edessa (Greece) in 1992–93 edition.

By country

Clubs from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia competed as part of SFR Yugoslavia.

Country	Winners	Finalists	Finals	Clubs won in final(s)	Clubs did not win in final(s)
Bulgaria	9	7^[4]	15^[5]	Beroe Stara Zagora (4) Slavia Sofia (2) Trakia Plovdiv (1) Lokomotiv Sofia (1) Akademik Sofia (1)	Levski Sofia (1 + Runner-up spot in 1961.) Spartak Plovdiv (1) Spartak Sofia (1) Beroe Stara Zagora (1) Slavia Sofia (1) Trakia Plovdiv (1) Etar Veliko Tarnovo (1)
Greece	6	3	9	Olympiacos (1) Panionios (1) Panathinaikos (1) Iraklis (1) OFI (1) Edessaikos (1)	AEK Athens (1) Panionios (1) PAS Giannina (1)
Romania	5	7^[3]	11^[5]	Rapid Bucureşti (2) Steagul Roşu Braşov (1) Sportul Studențesc Bucureşti (1) Inter Sibiu (1)	Argeş Piteşti (2 + Runner-up spot in 1983–84.) Farul Constanţa (1) ASA 1962 Târgu Mureș (1) Sportul Studențesc Bucureşti (1) Jiul Petroşani (1) Oţelul Galaţi (1)
Yugoslavia	4	5	9	Dinamo Zagreb (1) NK Rijeka (1) Radnički Niš (1) Velež Mostar (1) ___ ___	NK Rijeka (1) Radnički Niš (1) —— Vardar Skopje (2) Budućnost Podgorica (1)
	2	1	3
	1	1	2
	1	-	1
	-	2	2
	-	1	1
Turkey	3	1	4	Fenerbahçe İstanbul (1) Sarıyer İstanbul (1) Samsunspor (Samsun) (1)	Eskişehirspor (Eskişehir) (1)
Albania	1	3	4	Partizani Tirana (1)	Dinamo Tirana (1) Besa Kavajë (1) 17 Nëntori Tirana (1)
Total	28	26	52	52 Teams in Finals, since 1961 and 1983–84 editions were contested in Group Format.

Top performer by country:

Country	Club	Winners	Finalists	Finals	Entries	Notes
BUL	Beroe Stara Zagora	4	1	4^[3]	7	Balkans Cup record holder in wins, finals reached and entries.
ROU	Rapid Bucureşti	2	-	2	2
YUG	NK Rijeka	1	1	2	2	Radnički Niš same performance in 3 entries.
GRE	Panionios	1	1	2	3
TUR	Sarıyer İstanbul	1	-	1	1	Samsunspor and Fenerbahçe 1 win in 2 and 4 entries respectively.
ALB	Partizani Tirana	1	-	1	5

Participation

By club

In the 33 years of its existence, a total of 89 clubs from 6 countries appeared in the 28 Balkans Cup editions. Two of them, both Turkish, withdrawn their participation before playing a single match: Zonguldakspor in 1980–81 and Trabzonspor in 1986. Sides with 4 entries or more:

Club	Country	Entries	Winners	Finalists	Finals	First Edition	Last Edition	Notes
Beroe Stara Zagora	BUL	7	4	1	4^[3]	1967–68	1992–93
Slavia Sofia	BUL	5	2	1	3	1977	1987–88
Partizani	ALB	5	1	-	1	1961	1979–80
Dinamo Tirana	ALB	5	-	1	1	1961–63	1987–88
Galatasaray	TUR	5	-	-	-	1961–63	1990–91	Also Withdrew in 1977–78 and 1979–80.
Steagul Roşu Braşov	ROU	4	1	-	-^[4]	1961	1972
Fenerbahçe	TUR	4	1	-	1	1961	1967–68	Also Withdrew in 1963–64.
Lokomotiv Sofia	BUL	4	1	-	1	1966–67	1988–89
Vardar Skopje	YUG	4	-	2	2	1964–66	1974
Farul Constanţa	ROU	4	-	1	1	1964–66	1975
AEK Athens	GRE	4	-	1	1	1961	1980–81
17 Nëntori Tirana	ALB	4	-	1	1	1964–66	1990–91

By country

Bulgarian and Turkish sides were present at each one of the 28 Balkans Cup editions, while Yugoslavian were absent 9 times in total, entering just twice during its last decade of existence (ironically, reaching both finals). Generally, South Slavs (both Football Association and clubs) were never keen supporters of the competition, as they had neither been enthusiastic about the national teams' Balkan Cup, too.

		Bulgaria	Turkey	Romania	Greece	Albania	Yugoslavia
Number of different sides that entered		15	17	18	15	12	12
Editions of Balkans Cup that
[1]	Country was represented by at least one club	28	28	27	27	26	20
[2]	Country's club withdrew before playing a match	—	5	—	1	—	1
[3]	Country was still represented by another club	—	1	—	1	—	—
[4]	Country's clubs competed(=[1]-[2]+[3])	28	24	27	27	26	19
Country's clubs were absent(=28 total editions-[4])		—	4	1	1	2	9
Years/editions that country's clubs were absent		—	1977 to 1981 1986	1993–94 (Last Cup)	1983–84	1983 to 1985	1961 (First Cup) 1983 to 1988 1991–end
[5]	Editions a club quit after playing at least one match	1	5	1	4	—	1
Editions a club withdrew or quit (=[2]+[5])		1	10	1	5	—	2
[6]	Editions with double entry	8	5	6	3	1	—
[7]	Total entries (=[4]-[3]+[6])	36	28	33	29	27	19
[8]	Cups won	9	3	5	6	1	4
% success in winning the Cup (=[8]÷[7]×100)		25%	11%	15%	21%	4%	21%
[9]	Finals reached	15	4	11 ^[5]	9	4	9
% success in reaching the final (=[9]÷[7]×100)'		42%	14%	33%	31%	15%	47%

Despite the fact that in each edition there was at least one Turkish side initially entering, in no less than 5 occasions it withdrew before playing a single match and in 5 more quit during group stage, after unsuccessful results. Greeks followed with 1 withdrawal and 4 quits, while clubs from all countries had sporadically terminated their participation in some early stage of the competition, except for Albanian. Multiple winner and several other records holder Beroe Stara Zagora, became the only Bulgarian side ever to withdraw or quit a Balkans Cup match and the single one to do so in a final, by not showing up for 1970 edition's return leg against Partizani Tirana of Albania, following a 1-1 draw at home.

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References

1 2 "Balkans Cup". rsssf.com. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
↑ Draw for the venue was held by FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous.
1 2 3 4 5 1983–84 edition not included, since contested in Group Format.
1 2 3 4 1961 edition not included, since contested in Group Format.
1 2 3 1961 and 1983–84 editions not included, since contested in Group Format.

External links

Balkans Cup Archive , Romeo Ionescu, RSSSF (Recreation & Sports Soccer Statistics Foundation)
Balkans Cup , Mehmet Çelik, Turkish Soccer

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Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[Balkans-1] 1 2 "Balkans Cup". rsssf.com. Retrieved 5 January 2015.

[2] Draw for the venue was held by FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous.

[1983-84-3] 1 2 3 4 5 1983–84 edition not included, since contested in Group Format.

[.1961-4] 1 2 3 4 1961 edition not included, since contested in Group Format.

[finals-5] 1 2 3 1961 and 1983–84 editions not included, since contested in Group Format.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e International friendly association football tournaments in Bulgaria
Clubs	Albena Cup Balkans Cup Kaliakra Kavarna Albena Cup
National teams	Balkan Cup

v t e International friendly association football tournaments in Romania
Clubs	Balkans Cup Mitropa Cup
National teams	Balkan Cup

v t e International friendly association football tournaments in Yugoslavia
Clubs	Balkans Cup Mitropa Cup
National teams	Balkan Cup Central European International Cup

Balkans Cup

Contents

Editions

Performances

By club

By country

Participation

By club

By country

See also

Related Research Articles

References

External links

Balkans Cup trophy in 1968
Founded	1961;64 years ago (1961)
Abolished	1994;31 years ago (1994)
Region	Southeast Europe
Number of teams	Various
Related competitions	Balkan Cup
Last champions	Samsunspor (1st title)
Most successful club(s)	Beroe Stara Zagora (4 titles)