European Cup: Gerry Thornley looks at the history, special appeal and likely evolution of his favourite rugby competition

In two weeks' time it's back. Our favourite rugby tournament in the world (c'mon, it's gotta be?) returns with a thump too. A couple of heavyweight Anglo-Irish affairs, Leicester-Munster and Leinster-Gloucester, along with Ulster hosting the French aristocrats Toulouse. Munster's epic odyssey and belated coronation in Cardiff last May still stir the soul, and while it may be viewed as a peak in these shores, the Heineken European Cup's capacity for scaling new heights should never be doubted.

The tournament has never looked in better shape. Sky's deal as primary broadcasters in Ireland and Britain, which from this season on entails exclusive live coverage of matches involving the Irish provinces, lasts until 2010 and is believed to be worth €30 million-plus over five years.

Unusually, the terrestrial broadcasters France Television have outbid Canal Plus as primary television "partners" of the tournament in France, in a deal that will also see greatly increased coverage on that side of the channel.

Heineken's renewed sponsorship, utterly synonymous with the competition, until the end of the 2008/2009 season, is believed to be about 30 million, and secondary sponsors have come on board for the first time.

And yet the tournament has never been under greater threat since 1999. It was then the so-called eight-year Paris Accord was signed off. To the backdrop of an English boycott in 1998/1999, the bargaining, posturing, and muscle-flexing reached an apex one night in Paris in 1999, a night that remains the pivotal moment in the sometimes troubled history of the tournament. Aside from those representing each of the six unions, Serge Blanco and Tom Walkinshaw also represented the French and English club owners, who had issues not only with the tournament but also with their own unions.

The clubs' bêtes noires were assuredly the late Vernon Pugh QC and Tom Kiernan, who were demonised in the English media but were skilled and obdurate negotiators, oblivious to the brickbats. The meeting started at 7.30pm and concluded at 6am the following day.

The main issues were the divvy-up of the financial spoils and the format of the tournament, encompassing how many clubs would be participating.

The 20-team competition, divided into six pools, gave the tournament some badly needed stability. With that came growth, as manifest in the recent slew of much improved, long-term sponsorship and TV deals.

Another example: the aggregate attendance for the pool stages in the ensuing season, 1999/2000, was less than 330,000. The comparative figure last season was 660,000.

The Paris Accord expires at the end of this season. And late last season Mark McCafferty, chief executive of Premier Rugby, said the English clubs wanted changes in the way ERC is run, while Serge Blanco, president of the French clubs' association, said the French clubs, in arguing for reduced Celtic representation, could boycott the European Cup and not lose money from such a stance.

In such a context, the sight of Munster supporters outnumbering those supporting Blanco's own Biarritz by about 60,000 to 2,000 at the final last May was well timed. No team in Europe could have matched such an invasion. At the very least, it undermined Blanco's argument, since when the new French television deal and significantly improved financial deal all-round may have softened the French clubs' stance.

It is also worth remembering that from the inaugural year the French have stayed loyal to the tournament. The greater threat assuredly comes from the English clubs, with many in the English media convinced this is the last year of the European Cup as we know it.

In some respects, the ERC is a battleground for the ongoing tug-of-war between the English RFU and their Premiership clubs, who have been at loggerheads since the dawn of the professional era. The threat of withdrawal from the European Cup is one of the strongest bargaining tools the English clubs can wield in their multifarious demands for greater control of their players and improved commercial/financial dividends.

Yet Derek McGrath, chief executive or ERC, exudes confidence that a deal can be hammered out. "Yes, there are discussions," he says. "I'm not going to talk about them because we've made a bond to keep the discussions around the table. They're going very, very well. A lot of progress has been made. We're getting right down now to the final aspects of our discussions. Nobody is walking away. The only word we've agreed on to use is 'harmony', so that's pretty positive."

In addition to the regular ERC board meetings, there are shareholders' meetings - involving representatives from each of the six unions as well as key individuals, including McCafferty, who is also a current board director - every six weeks or so.

There's little desire or room for manoeuvre toward changing the format of the last eight years. Six pools of four is not foolproof in terms of ensuring the best eight teams reach the knockout stages. Yet, thinking of the dramatics of the last round of the pool stages especially, the flaws are part of its allure. "It provides such drama and excitement why tamper with it?" asks McGrath rhetorically. "Never say never, but clearly what we have works."

More significantly, ERC critics cite the fact English clubs are getting around £620,000 to share among themselves from the BBC-backed EDF Energy Anglo-Welsh Cup, and this is far in excess of their share from the European Cup. This has been presented as an indictment of the ERC's commercial acumen, but that fails to take into account several considerations.

For starters, that the BBC were so desperate to secure top-flight rugby was in part due to Sky's exclusivity with the European Cup. And, judging by team selections, it remains very much a third- or even fourth-rate competition in the minds of many English and even some Welsh clubs.

The spin-offs of the European Cup are in many ways incalculable. The push for qualification has helped give what might otherwise have been meaningless, end-of-season games in the Celtic League, English Premiership and French Top 14 real meaning. Furthermore, of course, it has helped bridge the gap between the club/provincial game and Test rugby.

"The truth is that we have a system which is not unlike the EU," says McGrath, "in the sense that the more-rich countries are investing and the less-rich are the recipients. And that means everybody shares the benefits . . . As you sit round the table, depending on whether you are a net recipient or a net contributor, you expect certain returns and that's what we continue to deliver and the tournament has delivered on all those promises."

For example, the eight clubs in last season's quarter-finals earned €4 million from gate receipts alone. It's also a little rich, so to speak, of the English and French clubs to argue about poor dividends from the cup when you consider how conservative they've been about increasing gates by moving games to bigger stadiums.

Those that have, such as Biarritz, were indebted to a home quarter-final draw with Munster for first moving a match to San Sebastian - vastly increasing their income and also generating a Basque identity with a move they would not be permitted in the French Championship.

Here in Ireland, of course, we love the tournament more than ever. Leinster's win in Toulouse, that semi-final and, most of all, that final.

While Ulster might understandably disagree, taken as a whole, the 11th running of the European Cup was assuredly the best. It was the ultimate reward for Kiernan and co in the IRFU, for the players and coaches, and for the Irish rugby public.

With nothing like the financial or playing strength of England and France, and no inherent advantages over their fellow Celts, in many respects the Irish provinces have been the true saviours of this tournament. This is not just a view through green-tinted glasses. Without the Irish, the cup would have become an Anglo-French duopoly.

Aside from providing two winners - and that's two more than the Welsh, Scots and Italians combined - the Irish have also provided four finalists in the last eight years, compared to eight French and four English.

Much of that, in truth, has been due to the remarkable Munster odyssey. Enough to fill three books already.

McGrath says he has been truly struck, when going around other clubs throughout Europe, by the popularity of Munster's victory.

"The delight has been shared for Munster's win and the remark on the fans . . . has been a massively important statement for our tournament, for Munster but also for Ireland and it's evolvement on the European stage of rugby."

Indeed, the general European goodwill toward Munster probably couldn't have been equalled by any other team on the continent.

Of course, it works both ways. The European Cup has been a godsend for Irish rugby. At a stroke it enabled Irish rugby to get its structures in place. It assuredly was the catalyst for Ireland's improved Test results in recent years. And last May's final was in some respects a magnificent payback for Irish rugby fans and Munster's especially, as well as the teams and players.

Irish audiences may thus feel a little betrayed this season in that they can no longer watch live coverage of Leinster and Munster on RTÉ, Sky having paid "a significant financial difference" for exclusive live rights.

"RTÉ have been a magnificent partner and will continue to be," maintains McGrath. "They will be announcing their scheduling pretty soon and it's going to be pretty extensive. You'll be surprised how much coverage RTÉ will have."

The national broadcasters can offer delayed coverage, and for the first time have access to delayed coverage of away games, as well as having more magazine-type, highlights packages.

"We are a very hungry organisation, we need to show every country is delivering a return and Ireland is no different in that," says McGrath.

"And the fans will see the benefit of that investment on the pitch. In broad, blunt commercial terms, we make no apology for it, the professional game needs an injection of finance.

"We have a responsibility also as an organisation to consider is this right for the tournament. When you look at the injection of quality, exposure and professionalism that Sky bring, we have seen a massive increase in the UK and in Ireland, with the awareness, and elite status, of the tournament. And that comes from Sky showing games on a Friday night right through to a Sunday evening, and review programmes, magazines, the works, which explains what the tournament is about. And that's why it is different from the championships and other cups. It's the Heineken Cup."

McGrath admits the tournament needs the fillip of a new accord from unions and clubs. Further growth, he believes, then depends on the clubs themselves, albeit with ERC's lead.

Moving games to bigger venues is the prime example and this season several clubs are eyeing such moves.

In the meantime, a new accord will have to be agreed upon, ideally by the end of the calendar year.

"The timing is really going to have to revolve around the ability of people to make the commitment at the right time and sign . . The number of issues left are not many," says McGrath.

"But the fact of the matter is that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. It's that type of structure. But based on what we have I'm confident we'll have an agreement very soon."