Champions league trophy: weight, size and what is it made of?

A total of 55 captains have hoisted the Champions league trophy over the years. Real Madrid’s Miguel Muñoz was the first to get his mitts on Ol’ Big Ears and City’s Ilkay Gündogan was the last. We have even seen a father and son, Cesare and Paolo Maldini make it a generational achievement - the former ending on the winning side in 1962-3 and the latter, twice - both with AC Milan.

Several goalkeepers have been in charge of collecting the trophy, among them, Peter Schmeichel, Andoni Zubizareta, Iker Casillas and Manuel Neuer. Once full-time is blown in tonight’s final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid, either Emre Can or Nacho will be raising the cup on the podium in London.

The original trophy, the European Champion Clubs’ Cup as it was known, was commissioned and donated by French sports daily L’Équipe and had a slightly different design. It was rounder, the neck was taller and the handles were much smaller. Three clubs won the trophy in its nascent form: Real Madrid, Benfica and Inter Milan.

The original European Cup gets redesigned in 1966

In 1966, UEFA decided to redesign the trophy. Jörg Stadelmann, a jeweller from Bern was commissioned by UEFA General Secretary Hans Bangerter to design and produce the new cup, cast in bespoke silver at a cost of 10,000 Swiss Francs. The new trophy, which was engraved with the tournament name, Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens, stood 74 cm high and weighed 8 kg. Celtic became the first club to win it and captain Billy McNeill the first to lift it after the Glaswegians beat Inter Milan in 1967, becoming the first British team to be crowned champions of Europe.

Real Madrid were allowed to keep the original, which now proudly resides as one of the centerpieces in the club’s impressive trophy room at the Santiago Bernabéu, one of fourteen that are permanently on display.

The trophy underwent another makeover in 1994, after the tournament has been rebranded as the Champions League. The major difference was the title, which now appears all in capital letters: COUPE DES CLUBS CHAMPIONS EUROPÉENS. AC Milan had the honor of being the first team to lift the new trophy.

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There were more changes in 2005 after Liverpool clinched their fifth European crown. The Reds became the last club to be able to keep the trophy under the old rules which states that five-time winners or team that won three titles in a row would be allowed to keep it. The current UEFA Champions League trophy was cast ahead of the 2005/6 tournament and stands 73.5 cm tall (approximately 29 inches) and weighs 7.5 kg (approximately 16.5 pounds). Today, the actual trophy remains housed in a glass cabinet at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon with the winning teams presented with a replica.

For its distinctive protruding handles, the Champions League trophy has gained nicknames in several languages - in Britain, it’s Ol’ Big Ears, in Spanish La orejona; in French: La Coupe aux grandes oreilles, Italian: La Coppa dalle grandi orecchie and in Russian: Ushastiy (The Boy with the Jug Ears)