Europa League Badge: The evolution of a European football symbol over the years
The first UEFA Europa League season was held in 1971. There have been a lot of changes in this league and its symbol was also upgraded many times. Today, let explore the Europa League logo over the years with us!
1. What is Europa League?
The name of UEFA Europa League or UEL has been too familiar to football fans all over the world due to its popularity. This is an annual football competition for European clubs which is organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The league is the second-tier competition in Europe, ranking below the UEFA Champions League and above the UEFA Europa Conference League (since 2021).
Europa League was represented in 1971 as the UEFA Cup to replace the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. In 1999, it merged with the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup. The competition was played in two-legged format except for the final with only one game. It was then added a group stage and the knockout phase in the following periods.
In the 2009–10 season, UEFA officially renamed UEFA Cup to Europa League. The re-branding also included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup to expand the group stage as well as change qualifying criteria. The final winners join the UEFA Super Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
2. The upgrade of Europa League Logo
Despite the introduction of the league in 1971, the UEFA CUP logo was used for the first time during the 1998 UEFA Cup final between SS Lazio and Internazionale FC. This logo was used until 2004 when the group stage was added to the league’s format.
In 2004, the badge of the UEFA Cup was almost changed. It looked bigger and more colorful with “UEFA Cup” words being shortened as the cup image’s width.
In 2009, the UEFA Europa League name was officially in use so the Europa League emblem was completely modified as well. The logo included a yellow circle with red curves forming the cup’s figure, and the words “UEFA Europa League” were stylized in capital form.
From 2012 to 2015, the logo was refurbished, adding more 3D effects and some minor modifications.
In 2015, Red Bee Media designed a new badge for the UEFA Europa League. The words look bolder and more solid. The yellow background was erased to make the cup symbol, which was also re-stylized, look more outstanding.
By 2021, a new logo of the Europa League was remade by Turquoise Branding. This agency also took responsibility for designing the UEFA Europa Conference League logo. The new image of the Europa League has not looked light and purified as the old one. Instead, all symbols and words were designed in bold and solid.
3. The 2021–24 Europa League Badge
Together with the change of its logo, new branding for the Europa League to replace the former badge (2018–21) was also introduced by UEFA.
The new UEFA Europa League 2021 kit sleeve badge has had a new figure. The winners’ badge comes with the number of their titles in the center of the logo image.
Here above is the latest information about the Europa League Badge. We hope you are interested in our post. Do not forget to join us frequently for more football news!
