1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The first Inter-Cities Fairs Cup took place over three seasons from 1955 to 1958. The competition began with a group stage with each team playing home and away against each other. Due to the competition rules which stated only one side from each city was allowed to compete, many cities with several football clubs picked the best players from those teams to create a city representative side. One of these, a London XI, went on to reach the final where they were beaten over two legs by the Spanish club Barcelona.
Group stage
Group A
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .svg.png){kind=small} Barcelona |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 3 |
| 2 |  Copenhagen XI |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 1 |
| 3 |  Vienna XI | Vienna XI withdrew from the competition. | |||||||
1955-12-25 |
| Barcelona |
6–2 | KBU Copenhagen XI |
|---|---|---|
Areta  8', 10'Tejada 40', 80'Villaverde 40'Kubala 59' |
(Report) | Lundberg 65', 75' |
Group B
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Birmingham City |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 |
| 2 |  Internazionale |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 5 |
| 3 |  Zagreb XI |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 |
1956-12-03 |
| Birmingham City |
3–0 | Zagreb XI |
|---|---|---|
| Orritt 3' Brown 60'Murphy 67' |
(Report) |
St Andrews, Birmingham |
1957-04-17 |
| Birmingham City |
2–1 | Internazionale |
|---|---|---|
| Govan 44', 53' |
(Report) | Lorenzi 88' |
St Andrews, Birmingham |
Group C
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lausanne Sports |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 2 |
| 2 |  Leipzig XI |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 2 |
| 3 |  Cologne XI |
Cologne XI withdrew from the competition | |||||||
1956-03-06 |
| Leipzig XI |
6–3 | Lausanne Sports |
|---|---|---|
| Walter 5' Konzack 9', 82'Krause 23', 36'Fettke 69' |
(Report) | Maillard 11' Rey 31'Eschmann 43' |
1956-10-21 |
| Lausanne Sports |
7–3 | Leipzig XI |
|---|---|---|
| Tedeschi 28' Eschmann 37', 43', 55'Moser 38'Stefano 60', 62' |
(Report) | Walter 13' Konzack 58'Frohlich 70' |
Group D
| Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London XI |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 6 |
| 2 | Frankfurt XI |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Basel XI |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 13 | −6 | 2 |
1957-06-12 |
| Basel XI |
6–2 | Frankfurt XI |
|---|---|---|
| Allemann 3' 47' 66' Sanmann 33' Hugi 64' Burger 88' |
(Report) | Kraus 32' Mayer 65' |
Knockout stage
| Semi-finals | Final | ||||||
| Lausanne Sports |
2 | ||||||
| London XI |
3 | ||||||
| London XI |
2 | ||||||
| Barcelona |
8 | ||||||
| Birmingham City |
4 (1) | ||||||
| Barcelona |
4 (2) | ||||||
- Teams playing first leg at home shown first.
- Birmingham City and Barcelona required a playoff after their semi-final finished level on aggregate. The playoff was played in Switzerland.
Semifinals
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lausanne Sports |
2-3 | London XI |
2–1 | 0–2 |
| Birmingham City |
4–41 | Barcelona |
4–3 | 0–1 |
1 Barcelona beat Birmingham City 2–1 in a play-off to qualify for the Final.
First leg
23-10-1957 |
| Lausanne Sport |
2–1 | London XI |
|---|---|---|
| Vonlanden 6', 74' |
(Report) | Haverty 70' |
Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne |
23-10-1957 |
| Birmingham City |
4–3 | Barcelona |
|---|---|---|
| Eddy Brown 2' Orritt 33'Murphy 35', 60' |
(Report) | Tejada 12' Evaristo 27'Martínez 40' |
Second leg
Replay:
Final
Main article: 1958 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London XI |
2–8 | Barcelona |
2–2 | 0–6 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Blues in Europe – Part One 1956–1958". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011.
External links
- UEFA Inter-Cities Fair Cup results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
- Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Seasons 1955-58 – results, protocols
- website eurocups-uefa.ru Fairs' Cup Seasons 1955-58 – results, protocols
- website Football Archive 1955–58 Fairs' Cup
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