Membership

Club directory

With over 500 clubs members of the ECA Family, ECA has followed a trend of continued growth over the past years demonstrating itself to be a strong representative body on the European football landscape. ECA's Member Clubs in the 2022/23 season are drawn from 55 UEFA Member Associations. ECA's Membership Panel is composed of both ordinary members and associated members. Since 2022 a new category of ECA Network clubs.

Membership of ECA is granted per Membership Cycle which consists of four seasons. At the beginning of every ECA Membership Cycle all members, except for founding members, must play in the top division at domestic level.

ECA started its activities in 2008 with 137 member clubs and has since grown to over 500 clubs. The founding members of ECA were Manchester United FC (ENG), Chelsea FC (ENG), Real Madrid CF (ESP), FC Barcelona (ESP), Juventus (ITA), AC Milan (ITA), Olympique Lyonnais (FRA), FC Bayern München (GER), FC Porto (POR), AFC Ajax (NED), Rangers FC (SCO), RSC Anderlecht (BEL), Olympiacos FC (GRE), FC Kobenhavn (DEN), GNK Dinamo (CRO) and Birkirkara FC (MLT).

Clubs are at the Heart of ECA...

ECA clubs voted unanimously in March 2023 to increase our representation and reach:

The current 135 ordinary members are the clubs competing regularly in the UEFA Club Competitions. They vote on all matters at a General Assembly and are eligible for all bodies.
The current 169 associated members are the clubs occasionally competing in the UEFA Club Competitions. They vote to elect representatives onto the board and other bodies.
The current 208 network clubs are the clubs invested in the prosperity of the European football ecosystem. They have a voice and engagement within ECA via activites and services.

...now elevating women's clubs voices.

The March 2023 reforms formalised and expanded the involvement of women's clubs:

The top 40 women's clubs are guaranteed ordinary members.
2 board members are directly elected solely by women's clubs.
Every ordinary women's club will have an opportunity to work with an ECA Body.

Our Model:

The ECA Board represents ECA Member Clubs in making decisions:

24 full voting members
Up to 330 members with access to the Board. All ordinary and associated members have a potential route to the Board.
Up to 37 total Board size. To ensure a board range of voices on the Board, including iindependents and observers. This now includes Associated Member Clubs and Women's Clubs.
Up to 25 different countries guaranting a diversity of viewpoints on the Board.

Subdivisions:

In order to guarantee fair representation is achieved at all levels of ECA Membership and to define the number of clubs per National Association eligible to become ECA Ordinary Members, the ECA Membership Panel is divided into four "subdivisions".

Each subdivision comprises 26-30 ordinary member clubs in total, spread in accordance with the UEFA Country Ranking (i.e. subdivision 1 comprises 30 ordinary member clubs coming from National Associations ranked No. 1-6 in the official UEFA Country Ranking). Learn more about Subdivisions.