Rugby
Heineken Cup
History - Importan facts - Winners
In the summer of 1995 the Heineken Cup was launched with the plan to provide a new level of professional cross border competition of the then Five Nations Committee
Representatives of Ireland, Wales, Italy, Romania (Romanian teams no longer take part) and France competed in four pools. English and Scottish teams did not take part in the inaugural competition as they were already committed to their domestic schedules.
For the 1996/97 season England and Scotland joined the competition. The tournament now has 20 teams divided into four pools of five.
1997/8 saw the introduction of teams meeting on a home and away basis in the pool games.
English clubs decided to withdraw from the competition due to a dispute between European Rugby and the RFU over fixture scheduling and money. Without English clubs the 1998-99 tournament revolved around France, Italy and the Celtic nations.
In 1999 English clubs returned in 1999.
The tenth anniversary Heineken Cup final saw the inaugural champions Toulouse battle with Stade Français. Toulouse became the first team to win three Heineken Cup titles.
The 2006-07 Heineken Cup will be distributed to over 100 countries following Pitch International's securing of the rights.
There is currently some uncertainty over the future of the competition in the 2007-08 Season as French clubs have announced that they will not take part due to match blocking following the Rugby World Cup and an ongoing dispute between English clubs and the RFU over whether English clubs will be stakeholders in the competition.
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