The 1967 Intertoto Cup was the first in which no knock-out rounds were contested, and therefore the first in which no winner was declared. The tournament was expanded, with 48 clubs and twelve groups compared to 40 clubs and ten groups the season before. Denmark participated for the first time.

Ruch Chorzów were the best performers, with 12 points.

Abandonment of knock-out rounds

The Group Stage was always played during the summer break, with the knock-out rounds played as clubs could fit them in during the new season. However, this began to cause increasing problems. Firstly, clubs often had difficulty agreeing dates, and the tournament struggled to finish on time - for example, the 1964–65 final wasn't played until early June, over a year after the group games had started; and in 1963–64 and 1965–66 it was concluded in late May.

The second reason was the insistence of UEFA that any clubs taking part in the European Cup or UEFA Cup Winners' Cup could not continue games in other European competitions after the end of the summer break. This meant that clubs who had progressed from the Intertoto Group Stage, but were also competing in one of the UEFA competitions, had to be given byes through the Intertoto knock-out rounds (until they were eliminated from the UEFA competition), or withdrawn entirely. This made the knock-out rounds complicated, difficult to schedule, and weakened their significance.

The third reason was the lack of value attributed to the knock-out rounds. While reaching the final was seen as an achievement worthy of praise, the main purpose of the tournament, for most clubs who entered, was to provide football during the otherwise empty summer break. The financial benefits of participating in the pools competitions was also important. Having to arrange and play home-and-away knock-out matches during the new season was seen as difficult, expensive, and relatively pointless if the club in question was eliminated before reaching the Final or Semi-finals.

As a result, the knock-out rounds were abandoned, and for the next three decades there were no winners of the cup. The Group Stage continued much as before, with prize money still awarded according to a club's final group placing.

Group stage

The teams were divided into twelve groups of four clubs each - four in 'A' section, and eight in 'B' section. Belgium, France, and the Netherlands had clubs in 'A'; while Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, East Germany, Poland, Sweden and West Germany had clubs in 'B'. Clubs from Switzerland were placed in both sections.

Group A1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Switzerland Lugano 6 3 1 2 8 5 +3 7
2 France Bordeaux 6 3 1 2 5 7 −2 7
3 Netherlands Sparta Rotterdam 6 3 0 3 9 6 +3 6
4 Belgium Waregem 6 2 0 4 6 10 −4 4
Source:
Sparta Rotterdam Netherlands4-0Belgium Waregem
Henk Bosveld 6'
Ben Bosma 22'
Ad Vermolen 30', 54'
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Germany Willi Thier
Waregem Belgium2-0Netherlands Sparta Rotterdam
Pierre Vandevelde 49'
Jószef Frivaldi 74' (pen.)
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Switzerland Eugen Boller
Sparta Rotterdam Netherlands0-1France Bordeaux
Gabriel Abossolo 22'
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Belgium Franz Geluck
Lugano Switzerland2-0Netherlands Sparta Rotterdam
Flavio Signorelli 34'
Otto Luttrop 78'
Attendance: 4,000
Sparta Rotterdam Netherlands1-0Switzerland Lugano
Henk Bosveld 3'
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Germany Alfred Ott

Group A2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Netherlands Feyenoord 6 5 0 1 17 6 +11 10
2 Belgium RDC Molenbeek 6 3 1 2 8 9 −1 7
3 France Strasbourg 6 1 2 3 6 11 −5 4
4 Switzerland Lausanne Sports 6 1 1 4 8 13 −5 3
Source:

Group A3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 France Lille 6 3 2 1 10 6 +4 8
2 Switzerland Sion 6 3 1 2 10 7 +3 7
3 Belgium Beerschot 6 1 3 2 6 9 −3 5
4 Netherlands Groningen 6 1 2 3 5 9 −4 4
Source:

Group A4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Belgium Lierse 6 4 1 1 13 7 +6 9
2 Switzerland Grenchen 6 2 2 2 8 9 −1 6
3 France Rouen 6 1 3 2 9 15 −6 5
4 Netherlands Go Ahead Eagles 6 2 0 4 12 11 +1 4
Source:

Group B1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 West Germany Hannover 6 4 1 1 10 6 +4 9
2 East Germany 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig 6 3 1 2 10 5 +5 7
3 Sweden Norrköping 6 2 4 0 12 16 −4 8
4 Austria Rapid Vienna 6 1 2 3 9 14 −5 4
Source:

Group B2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Poland Zagłębie Sosnowiec 6 5 0 1 14 7 +7 10
2 West Germany Schalke 04 6 3 1 2 7 7 0 7
3 Austria Wacker Innsbruck 6 2 1 3 15 10 +5 5
4 Sweden Djurgården 6 1 0 5 6 18 −12 2
Source:

Group B3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Poland Polonia Bytom 6 5 0 1 16 6 +10 10
2 West Germany Werder Bremen 6 3 2 1 12 7 +5 8
3 Sweden Elfsborg 6 1 1 4 10 17 −7 3
4 Switzerland Grasshopper 6 1 1 4 9 18 −9 3
Source:

Group B4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Sweden Gothenburg 6 5 0 1 16 7 +9 10
2 East Germany FC Carl Zeiss Jena 6 4 1 1 10 9 +1 9
3 Czechoslovakia Bohemians Prague 6 2 1 3 12 8 +4 5
4 Switzerland Young Fellows Zürich 6 0 1 5 6 20 −14 1
Source:

Group B5

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Poland Ruch Chorzów 6 6 0 0 18 6 +12 12
2 Denmark Frem 6 2 1 3 11 11 0 5
3 Switzerland Young Boys 6 1 2 3 8 12 −4 4
4 Austria First Vienna 6 1 1 4 6 14 −8 3
Source:

Group B6

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Czechoslovakia Košice 6 3 3 0 11 4 +7 9
2 East Germany SG Dynamo Dresden 6 3 1 2 10 7 +3 7
3 Sweden AIK 6 3 1 2 7 11 −4 7
4 Denmark AGF 6 0 1 5 5 11 −6 1
Source:

Group B7

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Denmark KB 6 5 0 1 10 4 +6 10
2 Czechoslovakia Union Teplice 6 4 1 1 9 4 +5 9
3 East Germany 1. FC Union Berlin 6 1 1 4 4 7 −3 3
4 Poland Katowice 6 1 0 5 4 12 −8 2
Source:

Group B8

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 West Germany Fortuna Düsseldorf 6 4 0 2 12 10 +2 8
2 Austria LASK Linz 6 2 3 1 7 6 +1 7
3 Denmark Vejle 6 2 2 2 12 11 +1 6
4 Czechoslovakia Žilina 6 0 3 3 3 7 −4 3
Source:

See also

  • by Pawel Mogielnicki
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