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, the London XI, went on to reach the final where they were beaten over two legs by the Barcelona XI (later recognized as FC Barcelona).

1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Ball used in the final (FC Barcelona Museum)
Tournament details
Dates4 June 1955 – 1 May 1958
Teams12 (10 competed)
Final positions
ChampionsSpain Barcelona XI
(Later recognized as FC Barcelona) (1st title)
Runners-upEngland London XI
Tournament statistics
Matches played23
Goals scored93 (4.04 per match)
Top scorer(s)Brazil Evaristo
England Peter Murphy
(4 goals each)

Teams location
Location of teams in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D

Group stage

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Spain Barcelona XI 2 1 1 0 7 3 +4 3
2 Denmark Copenhagen XI 2 0 1 1 3 7 −4 1
3 Austria Vienna XI (W) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source:
(W) Withdrew from the competition
Barcelona XI Spain6–2Denmark Copenhagen XI
Areta 8', 10'
Tejada 40', 80'
Villaverde 40'
Kubala 59'		 Report Lundberg 65', 75'
Copenhagen XI Denmark1–1Spain Barcelona XI
Lundberg 61' Report Villaverde 85'

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 England Birmingham City 4 3 1 0 6 1 +5 7
2 Italy Inter Milan 4 2 1 1 6 2 +4 5
3 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Zagreb XI 4 0 0 4 0 9 −9 0
Source:
Inter Milan Italy0–0England Birmingham City
Report
Zagreb XI Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia0–1England Birmingham City
Report Brown 8'
Zagreb XI Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia0–1Italy Inter Milan
Report Campagnoli 74'
Birmingham City England3–0Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Zagreb XI
Orritt 3'
Brown 60'
Murphy 67'		 Report
Inter Milan Italy4–0Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Zagreb XI
Skoglund 8', 89'
Lorenzi 43', 50'		 Report
Birmingham City England2–1Italy Inter Milan
Govan 44', 53' Report Lorenzi 88'

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Switzerland Lausanne-Sport 2 1 0 1 10 9 +1 2
2 East Germany Leipzig XI 2 1 0 1 9 10 −1 2
3 West Germany Cologne XI (W) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source:
(W) Withdrew from the competition
Leipzig XI East Germany6–3Switzerland Lausanne-Sport
Walter 5'
Konzack 9', 82'
Krause 23', 36'
Fettke 69'		 Report Maillard 11'
Rey 31'
Eschmann 43'
Lausanne-Sport Switzerland7–3East Germany 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 England London XI 4 3 0 1 9 3 +6 6
2 West Germany Frankfurt XI 4 2 0 2 10 10 0 4
3 Switzerland Basel XI 4 1 0 3 7 13 −6 2
Source:
Basel XI Switzerland0–5England London XI
Report Firmani 35', 81'[lower-alpha 1]
Holton 37', 43', 74'
London XI England3–2West Germany Frankfurt XI
Jezzard 46', 86'
Robson 60'		 Report Pfaff 25'
Kaufhold 30'
London XI England1–0Switzerland Basel XI
Robb 87' Report
Frankfurt XI West Germany5–1Switzerland Basel XI
Buchenau 19', 80'
Pfaff 31', 73'
Herrmann 52'		 Report Hugi 35'
Frankfurt XI West Germany1–0England London XI
Preisendorfer 72' Report
Basel XI Switzerland6–2West Germany Frankfurt XI
Allemann 3', 47', 66'
Sanmann 33'
Hugi 64'
Burger 88'		 Report Kraus 32'
Mayer 65'

Knockout stage
Semi-finals Final
        
Switzerland Lausanne-Sport 2 0 2
England London XI 1 2 3
England London XI 2 0 2
Spain Barcelona XI 2 6 8
England Birmingham City 4 0 4 (1)
Spain Barcelona XI 3 1 4 (2)
  • Teams playing first leg at home shown first.
  • Birmingham City and Barcelona required a play-off after their semi-final finished level on aggregate. The play-off was played in Switzerland.

Semi-finals
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Lausanne-Sport Switzerland 2–3 England London XI 2–1 0–2
Birmingham City England 4–41 Spain Barcelona XI 4–3 0–1

1 Barcelona beat Birmingham City 2–1 in a play-off to qualify for the Final.

First leg
Lausanne-Sport Switzerland2–1England London XI
Vonlanden 6', 74' Report Haverty 70'
Birmingham City England4–3Spain Barcelona XI
Eddy Brown 2'
Orritt 33'
Murphy 35', 60'		 Report Tejada 12'
Evaristo 27'
Martínez 40'

Second leg
London XI England2–0Switzerland Lausanne-Sport
Greaves 10'
Holton 76'		 Report
Barcelona XI Spain1–0England Birmingham City
Kubala 82' Report

Play-off

Barcelona XI Spain2–1England Birmingham City
Evaristo 33'
Kubala 83'		 Report Murphy 48'

Final
Main article: 1958 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final

First leg
London XI England2–2Spain Barcelona XI
Greaves 10'
Langley 88' (pen.)		 Martínez 7'
Tejada 35'
Attendance: 45,466
Referee: Albert Dusch (West Germany)

Second leg
Barcelona XI Spain6–0England London XI
Suárez 6', 8'
Martínez 42'
Evaristo 52', 75'
Vergés 63'
Attendance: 70,000
Referee: Albert Dusch (West Germany)

Notes
  1. Some sources give the final goal to Hooper.[2][3]

References
  1. "Blues in Europe – Part One 1956–1958". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011.
  2. EC 1 & Fairs Cup 1595-1960. International Federation of Football History & Statistics. pp. 158–171.
  3. Velasco, Santiago. "Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1955-58 (game details)". linguasport.com. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
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