The France Football European Team of the Year (French: Challenge Européen de Football),[2] also known as European Challenge Interclubs (Challenge Européen Interclubs),[3] was an association football award conferred by French sports magazineFrance Football with the sponsorship of German multinational corporationAdidas. It was held in Europe for the first time in 1968 based in men's clubs' performance in association and UEFA competitions during the last sporting season disputed,[1] being assigned weighted scores according with the results achieved by each team, forming a virtual league.[4]
The award was conferred annually during 23 seasons between late 1960s to late 1980s in the same ceremony which was given the European Golden Shoe to the clubs' men's leading goalscorer in the continent[5] and, each four years, the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship awards, being Adidas the main sponsor of both competitions.[6][7]
The prize was officially discontinued following the Adidas decision of not renewing its commercial contract with the French publication after it awarded the 1990 winner teams in a gala held in Paris, in January 1991.[8] Subsequently, the Germany's designs and manufacturers corporation became the main sponsor of the FIFA World Player of the Year Award, established in that year.[8]
^ abcClubs' results in official competitions at national level, in UEFA competitions and in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup were included, cf. González, José Damián (8 November 1980). "El Madrid, proclamado mejor club europeo". El País (in Spanish).
^ abcdefghi"El inglés Gary Lineker, delantero del FC Barcelona, recibirá hoy en París la Bota de Oro". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 13 November 1986. p. 35.
^Pereira, Luís Miguel (November 2009). Bíblia do Benfica [Benfica Bible] (in Portuguese) (7th ed.). Portugal: Prime Books. p. 91. ISBN978-989-655-005-9.
^ ab"Muy breve". ABC (in Spanish). 22 September 1972. p. 65. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
^Webster, Jack (2003). The First 100 Years of The Dons: the official history of Aberdeen Football Club 1903–2003. Hodder and Stoughton. p. 297. ISBN0-340-82344-5.