Hugo Meisl believed that football would benefit from international club competitions. By the middle of the 1920s the situation in central Europe was right for putting such a theory into practice. Austria (1924), Hungary (1925) and Czechoslovakia (1926) had all introduced professionalism into their league football, and they remained the strongest nations in continental football. Nearby Italy was also enjoying a meteoric rise. Public interest was high, games were well attended and international competition would provide a good source of extra revenue for the professionalized clubs.
In the summer of 1927 Meisl and his Hungarian counterpart Dr.Fischer Mór ironed out the arrangements for La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, more popularly known as the Mitropa Cup.
Meisl invisaged an international league, but this would have added to fixture congestion, so a cup format was settled on. In theory the league champions and runners up (or cup winners) from each country would qualify. Germany and Italy were approached to participate. Italy declined on account of their complex and protracted domestic arrangements.Germany were concerned by professionalism and the fact that the play offs that they needed to decide their national championships went on into the summer.
The initial tournament was contested by two teams each from Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia:
Austria
SK Admira Vienna (league champions)
SK Rapid Wien (cup winners-Wiener Cup)
Czechoslovakia
Sparta Prague (league champions)
Slavia Prague (cup winners-Stredoceský Pohár)
Hungary
MTK (Budapest)
Újpesti
(Neither of these sides won a league or cup - they finished 3rd and second respectively behind Ferencváros in Nemzeti Bajnokság I)
Yugoslavia
Hajduk Split (league champions)
BSK (Belgrade) (league runners up)
First Round
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1st Leg
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2nd Leg
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Aggregate
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MTK
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BSK
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4-2
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4-0
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8-2
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Rapid Wien
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Hajduk Split
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(14.8.27) 8-1
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(21.8.27) 1-0
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9-1
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Sparta Prague
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Admira Vienna
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5-1
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3-5
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8-6
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Slavia Prague
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Újpesti
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4-0
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2-2
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6-2
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Semifinals
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1st Leg
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2nd Leg
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Aggregate
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Slavia Prague
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Rapid Wien
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(28.09.27) 2-2
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(02.10.27) 1-2
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3-4
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MTK
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Sparta Prague
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2-2
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0-0
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2-2*
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* history tantalizes us here: Sparta were awarded the tie because 'a player of MTK had occupied an irregular position'. I can find no explanation for this ruling.
Final
30.10.27: Sparta Prague 6-2 Rapid Wien (Letná Stadium, Pague, attendance: 25,000)
13.11.27: Rapid Wien 2-1 Sparta Prague
(Hohe Warte Stadium, Vienna, attendance: 40,000)
Sparta won 7-4 on aggregate.
Rapid Wien
Sparta Prague
Many sources state that John Dick was the manager of Sparta when they won the Mitropa in 1927. However, it would appear that this is incorrect, as Dick was with the Antwerp club Beerschot from 1923 (when he first left Sparta) until his return to Prague in either 1928 or 1929. Václav Špindler was the 'trainer' in 1927.
