In the past, when there was no UEFA Champions League, football in Europe was mostly tied to national leagues. The only exception was the Mitropa Cup, a kind of Champions League, but only for clubs from Central European countries.
The Mitropa Cup was one of the first international club competitions in European football, founded in 1927. Originally created to allow Central European clubs to compete, it included teams from Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and later Italy, among others. During its golden years, the Mitropa Cup was highly prestigious, often seen as a forerunner to modern continental tournaments. However, its significance declined with the rise of UEFA competitions, and the tournament was eventually discontinued, with the final edition taking place in 1992.
Structure of the Mitropa Cup
Structure of the competition is, of course, different then it was before. Packed schedule in European football doesn’t allow the best clubs to play another competition. One of the ideas was to hold this competition during the winter. Still, not all of the leagues participating in this competition have the winter break.
That’s why I decided to make the Mitropa Cup the fourth tier of European competitions exclusively for countries from Central Europe.
The competition features 32 clubs from 16 countries. They are divided into eight groups of four clubs. The top two clubs from each group advance to the Round of 16, and from then on, a knockout system is played. The Round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals are played over two legs (home and away), and the final over a single leg on a neutral ground (the stadium is chosen randomly from among the countries participating in the competition). The Mitropa Cup follows the calendar of other European competitions. It starts in mid-September, along with the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
Mitropa Cup – Participating countries and clubs
Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland
Clubs
The competition schedule is quite busy, so it wasn’t easy to find a format that wouldn’t make the schedule even more of a problem.
Therefore, the competition is created only after it is known which 108 (3×36) teams have qualified for the three biggest European competitions. After that, the two best ranked teams in the national leagues of the previous season that did not qualify for the European competitions will get their place in the Mitropa Cup.
For example, if Dinamo is the champion of Croatia and did not qualify for the group stage of any of the three European competitions, Modri will get a place in the Mitropa Cup. If Dinamo does qualify for the group stage of one of the competitions, we look at who was second in the HNL last season. And so on until we get to two teams that do not participate in any of the European competitions. That team will get a place in the Mitropa Cup.
Download Mitropa Cup
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How to install the add-on
- Download the file
- Make sure the .fmf file is stored in \Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2024\editor data
- Start Football Manager and start a new career.
- When selecting your database files, make sure the editor file is ticked
- Continue to Advanced Settings
- Once you have selected your Nations & Leagues you can start your game.
Graphics (logos, facepacks, kits) are not included in the add-on. You can download them separately.
