History of Asian
club competitions
When the AFC Champions League was launched
in August 2002, it was by no means the first
Asian continental club competion. Indeed,
there is a rich tradition of club
competitions in the AFC, dating back to 1967
when the first Asian Club Championship was
played.
Over the years, Asian clubs competed against
each other on a number of different fronts,
namely the Asian Club Championship, the Asian
Cup Winners' Cup and the Asian Super Cup. With
the advent of the AFC Champions League, those
competitions were merged into one major
continental club tournament to truly determine
Asia's best.
In the inaugural AFC Champions League season,
United Arab Emirates League champions Al Ain
proved to be the class of the competition.
Having beaten former Asian Club champions
Esteghlal of Iran, Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia and
Al Sadd of Qatar in the Group Stage, the UAE
side then eliminated Chinese champions Dalian
Shide 7-6 on aggregate in a dramatic semi-final.
Al Ain built a two-goal lead in the first
leg of the final and then resisted a
tremendous fightback from Thailand's BEC
Tero Sasana in the return match in Bangkok
to win 2-1 on aggregate and be crowned the
first ever AFC Champions League winners.
The second season of the tournament saw a
change in format with 28 teams divided into
seven groups of four for the Group Stage
with each of the group winners advancing
along with champions Al AIn into the
knockout stage.
The last teams left standing were Korea's
Seongnam Chunma and Saudi Arabia's Al
Ittihad. The K-League champions appeared to
have secured victory when they built a 3-1
lead in the opening leg in Jeddah but the
Saudis stormed back with a 5-0 win in Korea
to keep the AFC Champions League trophy in
West Asia.
Asian football has truly moved into a new era
with the advent of the AFC Champions League, but
one cannot overlook the earlier Asian club
competitions and the teams that have previously
emerged victorious on the continental stage.
