CAF Champions League 2010

History:


Early Years


Initially, the competition saw the league champions of each national league existing under the jurisdiction of the CAF
coming together over a 12 month period of home and away knock-out
fixtures until the quarter-final, semi-final and final stage was
reached for the winning team to be declared the African champion of
champions.
Starting life as the 'African Champions Cup' in 1964, the first team to lift the trophy was Cameroonian side Oryx Douala, who beat Stade Malien of Mali 2-1 in a one-off final.
There was no tournament held the following year, but the action
resumed again in 1966, when the two-legged ‘home and away’ final was
introduced, which saw another Malian team AS Real Bamako take on Stade Abidjan of the Cote d'Ivoire.
Bamako won the home leg 3-1 but it all came apart for them in the away
game in Abidjan as the Ivorians went on to win 4-1 to take the title
5-4 on aggregate.
Drama followed in 1967 when Ghana’s Asante Kotoko met the DRC’s TP Mazembe,
with both matches ending in draws (1-1 and 2-2 respectively). CAF
suggested a play-off, but the Ghanaians refused to compete and the
title was handed to Mazembe. Just to prove they were deserving winners,
TP Mazembe went on to win the title again the following year.
However, the Ghanaians got their revenge in 1970, when Kotoko and
Mazembe once again met in the final. Once again, the first game ended
1-1 but against expectation the Ghanaians ran out 2-1 winners in their
away game to lift the title that had eluded them three years earlier.
The 1970s saw a remarkable rise in the fortunes of Cameroonian club football, which created the platform of success enjoyed by Cameroonian football at international level today. Between 1971 and 1980 Cameroonian teams won the cup four times, with Canon Yaounde taking three titles (1971, 1978 and 1980) and Union Douala
lifting the cup in 1979. In between the Cameroonian victories the honor
was shared with another team enjoying a golden age, Guinean side Hafia Conakry, who won it three times during this period (1972, 1975 and 1977).