The UEFA Cup, which was introduced for the 1971/72 season, comprises a wide range of clubs across Europe that have qualified for the competition from a selection of differing routes.

Starting with the 1999-2000 season the Cup Winners Cup was merged with the UEFA Cup.

The UEFA Cup is open to teams finishing in leading positions behind the champions in their domestic top divisions, the winners of the national Cup competition, the winners of the League Cup competition in certain countries, the three winners of the final matches in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, and three clubs from UEFA’s annual Fair Play assessment.

Certain national champion clubs which do not qualify for the UEFA Champions League in a particular season participate in the same season’s UEFA Cup. In addition, the eight third-placed clubs at the end of the UEFA Champions League group stage also revert to the UEFA Cup, but they enter the competition at the end of the group stage. From the 1997/98 season, the final has been played over one match at a neutral venue.

As with other club competitions, the number of clubs that can be entered by an association and their entry point in the competition depends on the association's position in UEFA's coefficient ranking list.

The competition consisted of national cup winners from around Europe.

The first Polish club to participate was Zaglebie Sosnowiec in the 1962-63 season.  Górnik Zabrze reached the final in the 1969-70 season where they lost to English club Manchester City 1-2.