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Originally known as the Asian Club Championship, the tournament began in 1967 with just eight clubs registered to take part. After the 1971 tournament the competition went into hiatus but was resurrected again in 1986 and reborn as the Asian Champions Cup. Entry was restricted to domestic champions only, with Cup winners playing in the Asian Cup Winners Cup tournament. The winners of the two major tournaments then played off for the Asian Super Cup.
From 2002/ 03 the Asian Champions Cup and Asian Cup Winners Cup were merged into one competition and was rebranded the AFC Champions League.
Six clubs have won the tournament two times; Suwon Samsung Bluewings, Pohang Steelers, Al-Hilal, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Thai Farmers Bank and Esteghlal.
Domestic Champions of the 14 top Asian federations qualify automatically for the tournament, along with the respective cup winners of the same federations. The tournament holders receive a bye into the quarter-finals.
In total, 29 clubs competed in the 2004 Champions League tournament.
The qualifying teams are split on a regional basis into seven groups of four teams. The teams play each other home and away and the top team from each group qualifies for the quarter-finals, where they join the reigning holders. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are played on a home and away basis.
| Season | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | BEC Tero SasanaBEC are a Thai professional football club who won the inaugural Asian Champions League competition in 2003. Thai football clubs. | 3 - 0 (aggregate) | Al-Ain |
| 2002 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 0 - 0 (4-2 pens) | Anyang LG CheetahsFC Seoul are one of the most controversial clubs in the K-League, due in part to the decision of owners LG to move the club from Anyang to the Korean capital Seoul and into the vacant Seoul World Cup Stadium at the end of 2003. The club started out life i |
| 20012001 is a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar), and also: The International Year of the Volunteer The United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations Events January January 1 A black monolith measuring approximately nine feet tall ap | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 1 - 0 | Jubilo IwataJubilo Iwata is a J. League team. The team name Jubilo is taken from the word Giubilo or 'delight' from Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. The team's home town is Iwata, Shizuoka and plays at Yamaha Stadium. It practices at Okubo Ground in Iwata and Iwata |
| 2000 | Al-Hilal | 3 - 2 | Jubilo Iwata |
| 1999 | Jubilo Iwata | 2 - 1 | Esteghlal |
| 1998 | Pohang Steelers | 0 - 0 (6-5 pens) | Dalian Wanda |
| 1997 | Pohang Steelers | 2 - 1 | Ilhwa Chunma |
| 1996 | Ilhwa Chunma | 1 - 0 | Al-Nasr |
| 1995 | Thai Farmers Bank | 1 - 0 | Al-Arabi |
| 1994 | Thai Farmers Bank | 2 - 1 | Omani Club |
| 1993 | Paas | 1 - 0 | Al Shebab |
| 1992 | Al-Hilal | 1 - 1 (4-3 pens) | Esteghlal |
| 1991 | Esteghlal | 2 - 1 | Liaoning |
| 1990 | Liaoning | 3 - 2 (aggregate) | Nissan FC |
| 1989 | Al Saad | 3 - 3 (aggregate, away goals win) | Al Rasheed |
| 1988 | Yomiuri | w/o - x (Al-Hilal withdrew) | Al-Hilal |
| 1987 | Furukawa Electric | Group stage win | Al-Hilal |
| 1986 | Daewoo Royals | 3 - 1 | Al-Ahly |
| 1971 | Maccabi Tel-Aviv | w/o - x (Al Shourta withdrew) | Al Shourta |
| 1970 | Taj Club | 2 - 1 | Hapoel-Tel Aviv |
| 1969 | Maccabi Tel-Aviv | 1 - 0 | Yangzee FC |
| 1967 | Hapoel Tel-Aviv | 2 - 1 | Selangor FC |