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
Dates25 December 1955 – 1 May 1958
Teams12
Final positions
Champions Barcelona XI
Later recognized as FC Barcelona (1st title)
Runners-up London XI
Tournament statistics
Matches played23
Goals scored93 (4.04 per match)
Top scorer(s) Evaristo
Peter Murphy
(4 goals)

Group stage

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Barcelona XI 2 1 1 0 7 3 +4 3
2 Copenhagen XI 2 0 1 1 3 7 −4 1
3 Vienna XI (W) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source:
(W) Withdrew from the competition.
Barcelona XI 6–2 KBU Copenhagen XI
Areta  8', 10'
Tejada  40', 80'
Villaverde  40'
Kubala  59'		 Report Lundberg  65', 75'
KBU Copenhagen XI 1–1 Barcelona XI
Lundberg  61' Report Villaverde  85'

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
Source:
Internazionale 0–0 Birmingham City
Report
Zagreb XI 0–1 Birmingham City
Report Brown  8'
Zagreb XI 0–1 Internazionale
Report Campagnoli  74'
Birmingham City 3–0 Zagreb XI
Orritt  3'
Brown  60'
Murphy  67'		 Report
St Andrews, Birmingham
Internazionale 4–0 Zagreb XI
Skoglund  8', 89'
Lorenzi  43', 50'		 Report
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-Sport 2 1 0 1 10 9 +1 2
2 Leipzig XI 2 1 0 1 9 10 −1 2
3 Cologne XI (W) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source:
(W) Withdrew from the competition.
Leipzig XI 6–3 Lausanne-Sport
Walter  5'
Konzack  9', 82'
Krause  23', 36'
Fettke  69'		 Report Maillard  11'
Rey  31'
Eschmann  43'
Lausanne-Sport 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
Source:
Basel XI 0–5 London XI
Report Firmani  35', 81'[lower-alpha 1]
Holton  37', 43', 74'
London XI 3–2 Frankfurt XI
Jezzard  46', 86'
Robson  60'		 Report Pfaff  25'
Kaufhold  30'
London XI 1–0 Basel XI
Robb  87' Report
Frankfurt XI 5–1 Basel XI
Buchenau  19', 80'
Pfaff  31', 73'
Herrmann  52'		 Report Hugi  35'
Frankfurt XI 1–0 London XI
Preisendorfer  72' Report
Basel XI 6–2 Frankfurt XI
Allemann  3', 47', 66'
Sanmann  33'
Hugi  64'
Burger  88'		 Report Kraus  32'
Mayer  65'

Knockout stage
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
 Lausanne-Sport2
 
 
 
 London XI3
 
 London XI2
 
 
 
 Barcelona XI8
 
 Birmingham City4 (1)
 
 
 Barcelona XI4 (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. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Lausanne-Sport 2–3 London XI 2–1 0–2
Birmingham City 4–41 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 2–1 London XI
Vonlanden  6', 74' Report Haverty  70'
Birmingham City 4–3 Barcelona XI
Eddy Brown  2'
Orritt  33'
Murphy  35', 60'		 Report Tejada  12'
Evaristo  27'
Martínez  40'

Second leg
London XI 2–0 Lausanne-Sport
Greaves  10'
Holton  76'		 Report
Barcelona XI 1–0 Birmingham City
Kubala  82' Report

Play-off

Barcelona XI 2–1 Birmingham City
Evaristo  33'
Kubala  83'		 Report Murphy  48'

Final
Main article: 1958 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final

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

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

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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