UEFA’s initial hesitant steps as a parent body for European football were followed by expansion during the late 1950s and early 1960s. At first, the Executive Committee was UEFA’s sole decision-making authority, but additional expert committees were gradually introduced to deal with the various aspects of the game, and the young body’s range of activities continued to grow. The figureheads of the organisation during this period of expansion were president Ebbe Schwartz, until April 1962, when he was succeeded by Gustav Wiederkehr (Switzerland). On 1 April 1960, Hans Bangerter (Switzerland) succeeded Pierre Delaunay (France) as general secretary – a position he was to hold for nearly three decades.
At the same time as UEFA’s activities were growing, the number of competitions increased. The UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup (then titled European Cup Winners’ Cup), open to domestic cup winners, was staged for the first time in 1960/61, and the inaugural European/South American Cup, contested by the winners of the champion clubs’ competitions on the two continents, took place in 1960.
UEFA’s duties and role developed further as the 1960s wore on. In addition to the formation of even more expert committees (for example, the Technical Committee in 1963 and the Referees’ Committee in 1968), UEFA diversified as it gained in stature, promoting constant dialogue and a continual search for improvement within the European game. Regular instruction courses for coaches and referees were introduced, as well as conferences for general secretaries and presidents of the national associations.
The European Nations’ Cup was given the grander title of the European Football Championship in time for the 1968 final round. Considerable emphasis was placed on the development of young footballers, and a national-team competition for players under the age of 23 was launched. As UEFA’s finances stabilised with the passing years, the organisation began granting subsidies (to cover tournament and course organisation costs, travel expenses, etc.). The media began exerting greater influence, and more comprehensive agreements with the media and broadcasting organisations became essential, in particular with respect to the regulation of television transmissions of football matches.
By the 1970s, football was enjoying tremendous mass public appeal, and UEFA kept pace with developments. The old Inter-Cities’ Fairs Cup came under UEFA’s full control and was renamed the UEFA Cup in 1971. The UEFA Super Cup, involving the winners of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, came into being in 1973. Three years later, a European competition for Under-21 players replaced the Under-23 competition and in 1977, the number of participants in the European Championship final round doubled from four to eight teams (for the 1980 final round in Italy).
A multitude of other important decisions were taken on the administrative side. Binding recommendations were issued on the maintenance of order in stadiums (1976); the legal bodies (Control and Disciplinary Committee and Board of Appeal) were separated from the rest of UEFA’s administrative machinery and guaranteed independent status (1972); standard regulations were adopted for all UEFA club competitions (1972); and subsidies were paid for the first time to clubs suffering deficits after early elimination in the club competitions (1971).
UEFA president Gustav Wiederkehr died suddenly on 7 July 1972. His successor from 15 March 173 was Artemio Franchi (Italy).
From:http://www.uefa.com/uefa/aboutuefa/organisation/history/chapter=2/index.html
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