10 Key facts about the UEFA Champions League trophy

The Champions League Trophy contested in Madrid between Liverpool and Tottenham. [Courtesy]

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League is one of the most prestigious club tournament in football history.

The UEFA Champions League is the new version of the European Cup and was played for the first time in the 1992-1993 season according to Football history.org. 

The first competition of this tournament had only 8 clubs taking part but has since grown to 32 teams which start from the qualification stages.

Due to its prominence, it is every European team aim to clinch the title as it comes with a huge price tag on it. 

Jordan Henderson lifts the Champions League trophy aloft. [Courtesy]

It is every player’s dream whether playing in English Premier League, Laliga, Bundesliga, French League 1 among many others to lift this prestigious trophy.

However, little facts are known about the value, worth and the importance of UEFA Champions League trophy.

The champions league trophy was originally made by a Swiss designer in 1967, replacing a smaller version from the tournament’s early days, according to the New York Times.

Here are top 10 key facts about UEFA Champions League trophy;

1. The Champions League Trophy historically has been given different names over the past years: Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens (between 1967 and 1994), European Champion Clubs’ Cup, and European Cup, according to Football history.org.
2. The original Champions League trophy is only used for the official presentation to the winning team, but the trophy remains UEFA’s property.

• As a result, the winning team is always presented with a replica trophy that they may take to their respective football clubs.

3. Generally, UEFA keeps the original Champions League Trophy at their headquarters.
4. The Champions League Trophy weighs 7.5kg of sterling silver with a value of Sh. 288,622 only, according to Aford Awards.co.uk
5. The prize money for winning the Champions League final is €19m (Sh. 2.16 billion) while the runners up take home €15m (Sh.1.71 billion). The prize money is earned in every stage of the competition with money from TV rights is split between the clubs.
6. The Champions League trophy is 71cm tall though 33cm shorter in comparison to the Premier League Trophy’s 104cm! 
7. The most important and complex element of the champions league trophy is the handles as they take 15 days to make.

The UEFA Champions League trophy. [Courtesy]

8. The current trophy is the 5th version of the current design and was commissioned by UEFA General Secretary Hans Bangerter after Real Madrid were allowed to keep the original in 1967, according to EUFA.com.
9. The Champions League Trophy was designed and made in Berne (near UEFA's then headquarters) by Jürg Stadelmann. He has created the champions league trophy for the last 25 years
10. The trophy took 340 hours to make, with Stadelmann meeting a strict deadline, because he was getting married and had to take his wife on a ten-day boat trip to Los Angelo’s, according to EUFA.com

Prior to 2009, UEFA made a ruling allowing any club which had won the trophy 3 or 5 times in a row, to keep it. 

As a result, clubs including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Ajax, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and Inter Milan have their own version of the trophy, according to Aford Awards.

As it stands now, there are only 7 original Champions league trophies that have been made since its inception.