Misplaced Pages

#684315

63-567: Every special day aims to provide beneficiaries and their loved ones with a break from the realities of their diagnosis and treatment and the inspiration to make the most out of life. At a time of uncertainty, spending quality time with family and friends can help restore a sense of normality, boost confidence and create precious memories for the future. To date, Willow has provided more than 15,000 special days for young adults living with life-threatening conditions including cancer, motor neurone disease, cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease. 2013 saw

126-609: A Europa League game as a musical element of the competition's opening sequence. The competition's first anthem was composed by Yohann Zveig and recorded by the Paris Opera in early 2009. The theme for the re-branded UEFA Cup competition was first officially unveiled at the Grimaldi Forum on 28 August 2009 before the 2009–10 season group stage draw. A new anthem was composed by Michael Kadelbach and recorded in Berlin and

189-737: A change in qualifying criteria. The winner of the UEFA Europa League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup , for the following season's UEFA Champions League since the 2014–15 season, entering at the group stage, as well as for the UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge — a friendly cup against the winners of the CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana — since 2023. In the 2024–25 season, the group stage was replaced with an expanded league phase. Spanish clubs have

252-588: A cup winner). Since Gibraltar was accepted as a full UEFA member at the 24 May 2013 UEFA Congress in London, their cup winner also qualified for the Europa League. Although the other teams were the next-highest-ranked in each domestic league (after those qualifying for the UEFA Champions League), France and England continued to use one spot for their league-cup winners. With the abolition of

315-536: A football superfan raised £17,500 for the charity by touring 92 league stadiums in 12 days and becoming the first person to run around every ground he visited in the country. Stars on Canvas was a high-profile charity event held in December 2008 and again in 2010 involving numerous famous celebrities, sports personalities, artists, actors and comedians. Each star was asked to create an art image on canvas that portrayed aspects of their personality and character. The event

378-575: A greater number of berths in UEFA Cup to the more successful nations. Three nations had four places, five nations had three places, thirteen nations had two places, and eleven nations only one place. Since 1998, a similar system has been used for the UEFA Champions League . Before 1980, the entrance criteria of the last Fairs Cup was used. The competition was traditionally a pure knockout tournament. All ties were two-legged , including

441-509: A multiple-winner badge. As of 2016–17 , only Sevilla has earned the honour to wear the multiple-winner badge, having achieved both of the prerequisites in 2016 . The trophy was designed and crafted by Silvio Gazzaniga , who also designed the FIFA World Cup Trophy , working for Bertoni , for the 1972 UEFA Cup Final . It weighs 15 kg (33 lb) and is silver on a yellow marble plinth. 67 centimetres (26 in) tall,

504-401: A round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (all of the knockout games except the final are played over two legs). The league phase consists of each team playing a total of eight matches, with four at home and four away. The top eight teams from the league phase receive a bye to the round of 16, while the teams ranked 9th to 24th contest the knockout play-offs with the winners advancing to

567-468: A standard number of three berths (across both the Europa League and the Conference League), except: Usually, each country's places are awarded to teams who finish in various runners-up places in its top-flight league and the winner of the main cup competition . Typically the teams qualifying via the league are those in the highest places not eligible for the UEFA Champions League ; however,

630-634: A statue in his honour in Kildare Street, Newry. Tottenham Hotspur Arsenal Northern Ireland Individual UEFA Cup The UEFA Europa League (previously known as the UEFA Cup ), abbreviated as UEL , is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the second-tier competition of European club football , ranking below

693-494: A third year in a row beating Liverpool in the 2016 final, making them the most successful team in the history of the competition with five titles. Atlético won their third title in 2018. The 2019 all-London final between Chelsea and Arsenal was the first UEFA Cup/Europa League final between two teams from the same city. Sevilla added a record-extending sixth victory in 2020, after defeating Inter Milan , and won an unprecedented seventh title in 2023. The UEFA Cup, also known as

SECTION 10

#1732797864685

756-427: Is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper . He is widely recognised as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the sport. He played 119 international matches for Northern Ireland in an international career which lasted for over 22 years. During his career, Jennings played for Newry Town , Watford and in the top division with Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal , winning

819-610: Is no longer qualified through the cup berth. These rules became effective for the 2015–16 season. Beginning with the 2018–19 tournament , all domestic champions eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League will transfer to the Europa League, rather than just teams that are eliminated in the third-qualifying and play-off rounds. Europa League qualifying will also provide a separate champions route for these teams, allowing more opportunities for domestic league champions to compete against each other. If

882-490: The 1986 World Cup , on his 41st birthday, making him at the time the World Cup's oldest-ever participant. The match was Northern Ireland's final group game, a 3–0 defeat against Brazil . In total, Jennings participated in the qualifying stages of six World Cups between 1966 and 1986. Following his retirement Jennings has worked as a goalkeeping coach. He has worked at Tottenham in this capacity since 1993. In 2003 Jennings

945-418: The 2020 final . The era of the 2000s began with victory for Galatasaray , the first Turkish team to win the trophy, defeating Arsenal . Liverpool won the competition for the third time in 2001. In 2002, Feyenoord became winners for the second time, defeating Borussia Dortmund . Porto triumphed in the 2003 and 2011 tournaments, with the latter victory against fellow Portuguese side Braga . In 2004,

1008-579: The 2024–25 season, the winner of the Europa League can no longer defend their title as they automatically qualify for the Champions League league phase and teams cannot be transferred from that phase to the Europa League. From 1995 to 2015, three leagues gained one extra place via the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking . The format involves a league phase and a knockout phase consisting of preliminary knockout play-offs, followed by

1071-526: The Belgian league awards one place via a playoff between First A and First B teams. Before its discontinuation in 2020–21, France offered a place to the winners of the Coupe de la Ligue . A team may qualify for European competitions through more than one route. In all cases, if a club is eligible to enter the UEFA Champions League then the Champions League place takes precedence and the club does not enter

1134-531: The Coupe UEFA , is the trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Europa League. Before the 2009–10 season , both the competition and the trophy were known as the 'UEFA Cup'. Before the competition was renamed the UEFA Europa League in the 2009–10 season , the UEFA regulations stated that a club could keep the original trophy for a year before returning it to UEFA. After its return,

1197-616: The FA Cup in 1967, the League Cup in 1971 and 1973, and the UEFA Cup in 1972. He also scored once, in the 1967 Charity Shield , from his own area, kicking the ball from his hands and sending a large punt down the field that bounced over Manchester United goalkeeper Alex Stepney and into the net. In 1973 the Football Writers' Association named him as its footballer of the year. Three years later he won PFA 's version of

1260-506: The FA Cup with both of the north London rivals . In total, Jennings made over 1,000 top level appearances , and despite being a goalkeeper, he scored from play in the 1967 FA Charity Shield . After playing for a local under-18 side in Newry at the age of 11 (named Shamrock Rovers, not to be confused with the Dublin club of the same name), Jennings concentrated on Gaelic football until he

1323-485: The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup , which was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition grew from 11 teams during the first edition ( 1955–58 ) to 64 teams by the last edition which was played in 1970–71 . It was replaced by the UEFA Cup, a new seasonal confederation competition with different regulations, format and disciplinary committee. The UEFA Cup was first played in

SECTION 20

#1732797864685

1386-465: The Intertoto Cup , all participants in the Europa League are qualified through domestic routes. The higher an association is ranked in the UEFA coefficients, the later its members begin the qualification. However, every team except for the title-holder (until the 2014–15 season) and the highest-ranked (the cup winner or the best Europa League-qualified) from the top (six from 2012 to 2015, 12 since

1449-609: The UEFA Champions League and above the UEFA Conference League . Introduced in 1971 as the UEFA Cup, it replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup . The UEFA Cup was the third-tier European club competition from 1971 to 1999 before the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was discontinued, and it is still often referred to as the "C3" in reference to this. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. In 1999 ,

1512-577: The UEFA Fair Play ranking winners (until 2015–16), and eleven places in the second qualifying round for the UEFA Intertoto Cup winners. Winners of the qualifying rounds then joined teams from the associations ranked 1–13 in the first round proper. In addition, non-qualifiers in the third qualifying round of the Champions League also joined the competition at this point along with the current title-holders (unless they had qualified for

1575-471: The award – he was the first goalkeeper to receive this accolade, and to this date remains only one of two, along with Peter Shilton . On 6 August 1977, he was transferred to Tottenham's arch-rivals, Arsenal , with Tottenham thinking he was nearing the end of his career. However, Jennings saw off rivals for the goalkeeper's jersey to play for Arsenal for another eight years. Whilst at Highbury , he helped Arsenal to four Cup finals in three successive years;

1638-457: The (first) group stage of the Champions League. From the 2004–05 season, the competition started with two knockout qualifying rounds held in July and August. Participants from associations ranked 18 and lower entered the first qualifying round with those from associations ranked 9–18 joining them in the second qualifying round. In addition, three places in the first qualifying round were reserved for

1701-571: The 10,000th Special Day Willow provided and 2019 will see the 16,000th. The importance of having something positive to look forward to at such a difficult time cannot be overestimated and provides memories and motivation for the beneficiaries and those close to them. The charity receives no government or lottery funding and is totally reliant on the generosity of individuals, companies and trusts to fund its work. Among donors and supporters have been Pat Jennings OBE KSG, Natasha Kaplinsky, DJ Tim Westwood, Bob Finch and Michael Holland's Oil Aid. In 2018

1764-501: The 1971–72 season, and ended with an all-English final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur , with Spurs taking the first honours. The competition has since gained greater prestige and interest from the mass media than the Fairs Cup. The title was retained by another English club, Liverpool , in 1973, who defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final. Gladbach won the competition in 1975 and 1979, and reached

1827-482: The 1990s was in 1996. Internazionale reached the final the following two years, losing in 1997 to Schalke 04 on penalties, and winning another all-Italian final in 1998, taking home the cup for the third time in only eight years. Parma won the cup in 1999, the last win of the Italian-domination era. It was the last UEFA Cup/Europa League final appearance for any Italian club until Internazionale reached

1890-421: The 2015–16 season) associations had to play at least one qualification round. Except for the teams mentioned, all teams eliminated in the Champions League preliminary round, qualifying rounds and play-off round were transferred to the Europa League. The 12 winners and runners-up in the group stage advanced to the knockout round, with eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage. The distribution

1953-419: The Champions League via their national league), for a total of 80 teams in the first round. After the first knockout round, the 40 survivors entered a group stage, with the clubs being drawn into eight groups of five each. Unlike the Champions League group stage, the UEFA Cup group stage was played in a single round-robin format , with each club playing two home and two away games. The top three teams in each of

Willow Foundation - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-417: The Champions League, in addition to their other qualifying teams. More recently, clubs that are knocked out of the qualifying round and (prior to 2024–25) the group stage of the Champions League can also join the UEFA Europa League, at different stages (see below). Formerly, the reigning champions qualified for the Europa League to defend their title, but since 2015 they qualify for the Champions League. From

2079-465: The Europa League from 2021 onwards. With a majority of the former entrants into the Europa League now participating solely in the UECL, the Europa League itself would have a greatly reduced format which will focus primarily around its group stage. There would also be an additional knockout round before the knockout phase proper, allowing for third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage to fall into

2142-527: The Europa League title holders already qualified for the Champions League group stage via their domestic league, the following changes to the access list would be made: The announcement of the UEFA Europa Conference League , a tertiary competition which would serve to split off the lower-ranked teams in the Europa League to give them a greater chance to compete, included a document from UEFA listing their intentions for qualification to

2205-480: The Europa League while still keeping the knockout stage itself at only 16 teams total. Changes would be made if the Europa Conference League title holders qualified through their league position: Changes will be made to the access list above if the Europa League or Conference League title holder qualifies for the tournament via their domestic leagues. Similar to the UEFA Champions League,

2268-582: The FA Cup final in 1978, 1979, and 1980, as well as the European Cup Winners Cup final that year. However, Arsenal only managed to win the second of these finals, a 3–2 victory against Manchester United . In total, Jennings made 327 appearances for Arsenal, 237 of them in the League, between 1977 and his eventual retirement from first-team club football in 1985. On 26 February 1983, he became

2331-472: The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was merged with the UEFA Cup and discontinued as a separate competition. From the 2004–05 season a group stage was added before the knockout phase. The competition took on its current name in 2009 , following a change in format. The 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup , producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and

2394-417: The UEFA Europa League. The UEFA Europa League place is then granted to another club or vacated if the maximum limit of teams qualifying for European competitions is exceeded. If a team qualifies for European competition through both winning a cup and league placing, the "spare" UEFA Europa League place will go to the highest placed league team which has not already qualified for European competition, depending on

2457-533: The Wednesday ten days before the Champions League final. Qualification changed significantly. Associations ranked 7–9 in the UEFA coefficients sent the cup winners and three (two since the 2015–16 season) other teams to the UEFA Europa League qualification; all other nations sent a cup winner and two other teams, except for Andorra and San Marino (who sent a cup winner and a runner-up) and Liechtenstein (who sent only

2520-400: The club could keep a four-fifths scale replica of the original trophy. Upon their third consecutive win or fifth win overall, a club could retain the trophy permanently. Under the new regulations, the trophy remains in UEFA's keeping at all times. A full-size replica trophy is awarded to each winner of the competition. A club that wins three consecutive times or five times overall will receive

2583-603: The commencement of the Italian clubs' domination, when Diego Maradona 's Napoli defeated VfB Stuttgart . The 1990s started with two all-Italian finals, and in 1992, Torino lost the final to Ajax on the away goals rule . Juventus won the competition for a third time in 1993. Inter Milan kept the cup in Italy in 1994. 1995 saw a third all-Italian final, with Parma proving their consistency after two consecutive Cup Winners' Cup finals. The only final with no Italians in

Willow Foundation - Misplaced Pages Continue

2646-454: The cup is formed by a base with two onyx discs in which a band with the flags of the UEFA member nations is inserted. The lower part of the sculpture symbolises the stylised footballers and is surmounted by a hand-embossed slab. A musical theme for the competition, the Anthem, is played before every Europa League game at a stadium hosting such an event and before every television broadcast of

2709-423: The cup returned to Spain with Valencia being victorious. CSKA Moscow won in 2005. Sevilla succeeded on two consecutive occasions in 2006 and 2007, the latter in a final against fellow Spaniards Espanyol . Zenit Saint Petersburg won in 2008. Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk , won in 2009, the first Ukrainian side to do so. Since the 2009–10 season, the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League. At

2772-503: The eight groups qualified for the main knockout round along with the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage. From then on a series of two-legged knockout ties were played before a single-legged final, traditionally held on a Wednesday in May, exactly one week before the Champions League final. In the 2009–10 season , the competition was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League to raise its profile. Eight more teams qualified for

2835-538: The final in 1980. Feyenoord won the cup in 1974 after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 4–2 on aggregate (2–2 in London, 2–0 in Rotterdam). Liverpool won the competition for the second time in 1976 after defeating Club Brugge in the final. During the 1980s, IFK Göteborg (1982 and 1987) and Real Madrid (1985 and 1986) won the competition twice each, with Anderlecht reaching two consecutive finals, winning in 1983 and losing to Tottenham Hotspur in 1984. 1989 saw

2898-441: The final. Starting with the 1997–98 season , the final became a one-off match, but all other ties remained two-legged. Before the 2004–05 season , the tournament consisted of one qualifying round, followed by a series of knockout rounds. The sixteen non-qualifiers from the final qualifying round of the Champions League entered at the first round proper; later in the tournament, the survivors were joined by third-place finishers from

2961-727: The first player in English football to make 1,000 senior appearances, celebrating this milestone with a clean sheet in a goalless league draw for Arsenal at West Bromwich Albion . Jennings played his last game in the league for Arsenal against Sheffield Wednesday 25 November 1984 , and he was finally replaced by John Lukic as the first choice keeper. A farewell match for Jennings was played against Tottenham Hotspur 8 May 1985 at Highbury. After his retirement, Jennings returned to Tottenham Hotspur, playing mostly in their reserve side to maintain his match sharpness for Northern Ireland's 1986 World Cup campaign. His final appearance for Tottenham

3024-547: The game 3–2; George Best made his international debut in the same game. He made four appearances in Northern Ireland’s best-ever performance at the 1982 World Cup , conceding only one goal in the three first group stage games — including a 1-0 win with 10 men against hosts Spain — before letting four past him against eventual group D winners France in the second group stage games. Despite retiring from club football in 1985, Jennings played his final international game at

3087-412: The group stage, which consisted of 12 groups with four teams each (in a double round-robin); the top two teams in each group advanced. The competition was then similar to the previous format, with four rounds of two-legged knockout rounds and a one-off final held at a neutral ground which met UEFA's Category Four stadium criteria . Matches are generally played on Thursdays. The final was played in May, on

3150-408: The highest number of victories (14 wins), followed by teams from Italy (10 wins) and England (9 wins). The title has been won by 30 clubs, 14 of which have won it more than once. The most successful club in the competition is Sevilla , with seven titles. Colombian striker Radamel Falcao holds the record of most goals (17) scored in a single season of the tournament. The UEFA Cup was preceded by

3213-511: The knock-out stage triggered additional bonuses: €500,000 for the round of 32, €1,200,000 for the round of 16, €1,800,000 for the quarter-finals and €2,800,000 for the semi-finals. The losing finalists received €4,600,000 and the champions received €8,600,000. The UEFA Europa League is sponsored by seven multinational corporations, which share the same partners as the UEFA Conference League. The tournament's main sponsors for

SECTION 50

#1732797864685

3276-411: The prize money received by the clubs is divided into fixed payments based on participation and results, and variable amounts that depend of the value of their TV market. For the 2021–22 season , group stage participation in the Europa League awarded a base fee of €3,630,000. A victory in the group pays €630,000 and a draw €210,000. Each group winner earns €1,100,000 and each runner-up €550,000. Reaching

3339-432: The round of 16. The teams ranked 25th to 36th in the league phase and the losers of the play-offs are eliminated from the competition. The final is played at a neutral venue. The winner of the competition is entitled to participate in the UEFA Champions League league phase the following season. The competition's matches are usually played on Thursdays. UEFA coefficients were introduced in 1980 and, until 1999, they gave

3402-411: The rules of the national association, or vacated, if the described limit is reached. The top three ranked associations may qualify for a fourth berth if both the Champions League and Europa League champions are from that association and do not qualify for European competition through their domestic performance. In that case, the fourth-placed team in that association will join the Europa League instead of

3465-671: The same time, the UEFA Intertoto Cup , UEFA's third-tier competition, was discontinued and merged into the new Europa League. Atlético Madrid won twice in three seasons, in 2010 and 2012, the latter in another all-Spanish final between them and Athletic Bilbao . In 2013, Chelsea became the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the following year. In 2014, Sevilla won their third cup in eight years after defeating Benfica on penalties. In 2015, Sevilla won their fourth UEFA Cup/Europa League and, in an unprecedented feat, they defended their title

3528-490: The sons of fellow Spurs players Chris Hughton , Osvaldo Ardiles and Ray Clemence . He is still associated with Spurs and hosts Corporate Hospitality fans in the Pat Jennings Lounges at White Hart Lane and Windsor Park, Belfast. Jennings married Eleanor Toner, a singer from Newry, in 1967. They have four children: Mairead, Siobhan, Ciara and Patrick Junior , a goalkeeper. Jennings is Catholic. Jennings

3591-658: Was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to association football in the 1976 Birthday Honours ; he was promoted to Officer of the same Order (OBE) in the 1987 New Year Honours for services to football, particularly in Northern Ireland, and promoted further to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to association football and charity. On 8 November 2023, Jennings unveiled

3654-406: Was changed in 2014 to broaden the competition's appeal, giving the Europa League champions a Champions League qualification berth, more teams automatically qualified for the group stage. If cup winners had already qualified for European competition through league performance, their place in the league is vacated and goes to the best-ranked teams not qualified for European competition; the cup runner-up

3717-601: Was in the Football League Super Cup against Liverpool in January 1986. He was also briefly on Everton 's books, having been signed as goalkeeping cover for the 1986 FA Cup Final against Liverpool , Neville Southall having been injured playing for Wales. Jennings made his Northern Ireland debut as an eighteen-year-old, whilst playing for Watford. This game, on 15 April 1964, was a British Home Championship match against Wales , Northern Ireland won

3780-644: Was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of the skills he demonstrated in the English league. His son, also named Pat , is also a goalkeeper, having played for League of Ireland clubs University College Dublin , Derry City , Shamrock Rovers and NIFL Premiership club Glenavon . Jennings and his family have lived for many years in Broxbourne , Hertfordshire , where his son attended The Broxbourne School along with

3843-414: Was launched as part of the competition's rebranding at the start of the 2015–16 season . A new anthem created by MassiveMusic was composed for the start of the 2018–19 season . It is also used for UEFA Conference League matches. Qualification for the competition is based on UEFA coefficients , with better entrance rounds being offered to the more successful nations. In practice, each association has

SECTION 60

#1732797864685

3906-542: Was repeated successfully in 2012 - with a press night and public showing at Maddox Arts Gallery in London. Mo Farah's canvas fetched over £2,000 alone. Among the celebrities who donated their art were actors Lord Attenborough , John Hurt and Jude Law , artists Peter Blake , Tracy Emin, Karen Burt, Sara Abbott, and Jamie McCartney, comedians Michael "Atters" Attree , Steve Coogan , Matt Lucas , Catherine Tate and London Mayor Boris Johnson Pat Jennings Patrick Anthony Jennings CBE (born 12 June 1945 )

3969-648: Was sixteen years old, when he made his football comeback with his hometown side Newry Town . After impressing with the team he moved to English Third Division side Watford in May 1963. Jennings again impressed in his first season in England, playing every league game for his club, and making two international appearances that season. He was signed by Tottenham Hotspur for £27,000 in June 1964. Jennings spent thirteen years at White Hart Lane , where he played in 472 league games for Spurs, and 591 in all competitions. He won

#684315