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 Spain Barcelona 2 1 1 0 7 3 +4 3
2 Denmark Copenhagen XI 2 0 1 1 3 7 −4 1
3Austria Vienna XIVienna XI withdrew from the competition.

25 December 1955
Barcelona Spain 6–2 Denmark 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 England Birmingham City 4 3 1 0 6 1 +5 7
2 Italy Internazionale 4 2 1 1 6 2 +4 5
3 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Zagreb XI 4 0 0 4 0 9 −9 0

6 June 1956
Zagreb XI Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 0–1 Italy Internazionale
(Report) Campagnoli  74'

19 March 1957
Internazionale Italy 4–0 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Zagreb XI
Skoglund  8', 89'
Lorenzi  43', 50' 		(Report)

Group C

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
1 Switzerland Lausanne Sports 2 1 0 1 10 9 +1 2
2 East Germany Leipzig XI 2 1 0 1 9 10 −1 2
3West Germany Cologne XI Cologne XI withdrew from the competition

6 March 1956
Leipzig XI East Germany 6–3 Switzerland Lausanne Sports
Walter  5'
Konzack  9', 82'
Krause  23', 36'
Fettke  69' 		(Report) Maillard  11'
Rey  31'
Eschmann  43'

21 October 1956
Lausanne Sports Switzerland 7–3 East 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 Germany Frankfurt XI 4 2 0 2 10 10 0 4
3 Switzerland Basel XI 4 1 0 3 7 13 −6 2

4 June 1955
Basel XI Switzerland 0–5 England London XI
Report Firmani  35', 81'
Holton  37', 43', 74'

26 October 1955
London XI England 3–2 West Germany Frankfurt XI
Jezzard  46', 86'
Robson  60' 		Report Pfaff  25'
Kaufhold  30'

20 June 1956
Frankfurt XI West Germany 5–1 Switzerland Basel XI
Buchenau  19', 80'
Pfaff  31', 73'
Herrmann  52' 		Report Hugi  35'

27 March 1957
Frankfurt XI West Germany 1–0 England London XI
Preisendorfer  72' Report

12 June 1957
Switzerland Basel XI 6–2 West 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 Sports 2  
 England London XI 3  
 
     England London XI 2
   Spain Barcelona 8
 England Birmingham City 4 (1)
 Spain Barcelona 4 (2)  

Semi-finals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Lausanne Sports Switzerland 2-3 England London XI 2–1 0–2
Birmingham City England 4–41 Spain Barcelona 4–3 0–1

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

First leg

Second leg

Play-off

Final

First leg

5 March 1958
London XI England 2–2 Spain Barcelona
Greaves  10'
Langley  88' (pen.) 		Martínez  7'
Tejada  35'
Stamford Bridge, London
Attendance: 45,466
Referee: Albert Dusch (Switzerland)

Second leg

1 May 1958
Barcelona Spain 6–0 England London XI
Suárez  6', 8'
Martínez  42'
Evaristo  52', 75'
Vergés  63'
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Attendance: 70,000
Referee: Albert Dusch (Switzerland)

References

  1. 1 2 "Blues in Europe – Part One 1956–1958". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, July 24, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.