UEFA Europa League

Tottenham Hotspur FC was the first winners of this competition which was played in the 1971/72 season. It is played every year by the European football clubs, which includes teams from the United Kingdom. There are a total of 157 teams competing at the beginning of each season, all of which is on a knock out basis. After the first stage the competition enters the group stage played on a home and away format, ultimately leading to the finals, which is played at a neutral venue.

The 2009/10 competition was altered slightly to include more teams in a bid to increase the profile of the competition. The most significant change was there will now be 12 groups of 4, playing a double round robin, where as in the past there were 8 groups of 5 playing a single round robin.

The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League will be the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final will be played at the Amsterdam Arena in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Atlético Madrid are the defending champions.

For the 2012–13 edition, two changes will be made from the 2011–12 edition:

The cup winners of the six top-ranked associations will have direct access to the UEFA Europa League group stage. This allocation of slots has a direct impact on the qualification path, and adaptations will have to be made to the access list in order to accommodate these changes. Matchdays 5 and 6 will no longer be held on exclusive weeks, but will instead be played on the same weeks as Matchdays 5 and 6 of the UEFA Champions League.