List of football clubs in England by competitive honours won
The European governing body UEFA was founded in 1954, and created their first competition, the European Cup, the next year. It was expanded and renamed in 1992 as the UEFA Champions League. Liverpool hold the English record, with five wins. Parallel to UEFA, various officials created the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1955, but this competition was disbanded when UEFA created the replacement tournament the UEFA Cup in 1971, renamed the UEFA Europa League in 2009. The English record number of Europa Leagues is three, also held by Liverpool. Another competition absorbed into the UEFA Cup, in 1999, was the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, which was created in 1960 and featured the winners of national knockout competitions. The winners of this competition played the European Cup winners in the UEFA Super Cup, starting in 1972 but was recognised by UEFA in 1973, which now features the winners of the Champions and Europa Leagues. The International Football Cup, also known as the UEFA Intertoto Cup, started in 1961, was a competition for clubs not participating in the European Cup, UEFA Cup, and Cup Winners Cup. UEFA officially recognised it in 1995, and discontinued it in 2008, with the Europa League expanded to accommodate Intertoto clubs. UEFA and CONMEBOL also created an intercontinental competition in 1960 with the Intercontinental Cup, featuring representatives from both associations. In 2000, the international governing body FIFA created the FIFA Club World Cup and in 2004 the Intercontinental Cup was merged with it. Manchester United are the only English club to win either intercontinental competition, winning each once.
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent is home to two professional Football League teams, and is one of the smaller cities in England that boasts two league clubs. The club bearing the area's name is Stoke City, who were formed in 1863 and is the second-oldest professional football club in England. They currently play at the bet365 Stadium at Stanley Matthews Way, Stoke-on-Trent, which has been their home since 1997 when they relocated from the Victoria Ground in Stoke after 119 years. They were among the twelve founding members of the Football League in 1888, but did not win their first (and, to date, only) major trophy until 1972, when they lifted the Football League Cup. In 1985, they were relegated from the First Division and began a 23-year exile from the top flight of English football which did not end until they won promotion in 2008, by which time the First Division had become the Premier League. Stoke City reached the final of the F.A. Cup for the first time in 2011 but were defeated by Manchester City. Stoke City were relegated from the Premier League in 2018. Arguably the club's most famous player of all time is the late Stanley Matthews, who began and ended his League career with Stoke City, sandwiching a 14-year spell at Blackpool where he played in what became known as the Matthews Final. He also managed Port Vale from 1965 to 1968. He was the first active footballer to receive a Knighthood. Matthews made 54 appearances for his country, scoring 11 times. There are two statues of Matthews in the city: one in Hanley, and one at the Bet365 Stadium.
The city's other professional football club is Port Vale, who were formed in 1876 and play at Vale Park in the Burslem area. Previous stadiums include the Athletic Ground in Cobridge (1886–1913), and The Old Recreation Ground in Hanley (1913–1950). They joined the Football League in 1892 but were forced to resign in 1907 due to financial problems, only to return in 1919. Their highest league position came in 1931 when they finished fifth in the Football League Second Division. In 1954, while in the Third Division (North) they progressed to the FA Cup semi-final when they were knocked out by First Division West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park. This remains the furthest they have progressed in the competition. Unlike Stoke City, their local rivals in the Potteries derby, they have never played top division football and hold the record for most years spent in the second tier without ever playing in the first. Individuals of note include John Rudge (who managed the club for 16 years from 1983–1999), and Roy Sproson (who made a record 837 appearances for the club from 1950 until 1972, and was later their manager).