Europa Conference League’s name CHANGED after just two seasons
UEFA have confirmed the Europa Conference League has changed its name after just two seasons.
The third-tier continental competition only came about in 2021, with Jose Mourinho’s Roma winning the first final.
AlamyThe Europa Conference League has been rebranded after just two seasons[/caption]
West Ham are the second and current champions, beating Fiorentina 2-1 in a dramatic match earlier this month.
But the competition will no longer be referred to as the Europa Conference League.
That’s because UEFA have changed it to just the Conference League – avoiding any confusion with the second-tier Europa League.
The new name will not come into effect until the 2024/25 season, meaning Unai Emery’s Aston Villa will still be playing under the Europa Conference League banner next term.
UEFA made the decision following a consultation process with fans and commercial partners.
And they reckon removing the word ‘Europa’ will help the Conference League stand on its own two feet as a proper competition.
A statement confirmed: “Introduced under the ‘Europa’ umbrella at the start of the 2021-24 commercial cycle, the new competition has quickly established itself amongst a broad audience after two successful seasons.
“Research amongst fans as well as commercial partners has found that removing ‘Europa’ from the name of the competition will enable further development as a stand-alone competition and this proposed change was approved by the UEFA executive committee.
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“It will be effective in the new cycle, as of the 2024-25 season.
“Together with the UEFA Europa League, the UEFA Conference League will continue to deliver ‘Thursday Night Football’ to fans across Europe and beyond.
“A strong link between the competitions will remain in place as both brand identities will remain very close, and both competitions will continue to be sold to broadcast partners and sponsors together.”
Fans reacted hilariously to the news on social media.
One said: “Life will never be the same again.”
Another declared: “Bet it took a while to reach that momentous decision.”
One noted: “West Ham fans be prepared for the trophy not to count anymore.”
Another used an Alan Partridge meme to add: “They’ve rebadged it you fool!”
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