Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Organising body | Fairs Cup Committee |
---|---|
Founded | 1955 |
Abolished | 1971 |
Region | Europe |
Number of teams | 12 (first edition) 64 (last edition) |
Related competitions | UEFA Cup (replaced by) |
Last champions | Leeds United (2nd title) |
Most successful club(s) | Barcelona (3 titles) |
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup,
After 1964, the Fairs Cup was sometimes referred to as the "Runners-up Cup", with teams now qualifying based on league position. The winning team received the Noel Beard Trophy (Trophée Noel Beard), named for the cutler who designed it.[5]
The competition was organised by the Fairs Cup Committee which was led by some FIFA executives until 1971, when it was taken over by UEFA and replaced with the UEFA Cup.[6][7] According to UEFA general secretary Hans Bangerter, "The competition was very successful but the time came when the UEFA Executive Committee thought that such a major competition should be governed and organised by UEFA itself, which could ensure that standard rules were followed and could deal with refereeing and disciplinary matters."[6][7] While the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup is generally considered to be the predecessor to the UEFA Cup, it was not organised by UEFA and ran under different regulations; consequently, the confederation does not consider clubs' records in the Fairs Cup to be part of their European record.[8][9]
History
Spanish era
The first competition was to be held over two seasons to avoid clashes with national leagues fixtures. Because it was also intended to coincide with trade fairs, it ran over into a third year. It commenced in 1955 and finished in 1958. Cities that entered teams included Barcelona, Basel, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Vienna, Cologne, Lausanne, Leipzig, London, Milan, and Zagreb. The first competition included a group stage and also featured some city representative teams instead of clubs. The eventual finalists were the city of Barcelona, dubbed Barcelona XI, and a London XI. While the latter side consisted of players from 11 clubs, the former was effectively FC Barcelona with one player from RCD Espanyol. After a 2–2 draw at Stamford Bridge, Barcelona emerged triumphant after winning the return 6–0. A second tournament took place between 1958 and 1960. This time, the group stage format was abandoned in favour of a knockout tournament. Barcelona retained the cup, beating Birmingham City 4–1 in the final.
The third tournament was held over the course of the 1960–61 season and all subsequent tournaments were completed over one season. The season also saw the holders, Barcelona, compete in both the Fairs Cup and
The 1961–62 season saw the rules amended to allow three teams from each country to enter. The "one city, one team" rule was temporarily abandoned and two teams represented each of
The 1965 tournament saw a record entry of 48 teams, testimony to the growing status of the Fairs Cup. It also produced only the second final not to feature a Spanish team. Ferencvárosi TC of Hungary beat Juventus in another single-game final. The 1966 competition attracted attention for all the wrong reasons. Chelsea were pelted with rubbish at Roma and Leeds United fought a bruising encounter with Valencia CF which ended with three dismissals. Leeds also had Johnny Giles sent off in the semi-final against Real Zaragoza. The final saw FC Barcelona beat Real Zaragoza 4–3 on aggregate.
English era
The 1967 tournament saw the emergence of English clubs with Leeds United reaching the final. Although they lost to Dinamo Zagreb, they returned the following season and defeated Ferencvárosi TC to become the first English club to win the competition. The subsequent victories of Newcastle United and Arsenal and a second win for Leeds United saw English clubs winning the last four Fairs Cup tournaments. The last final saw Leeds United declared winners on away goals after drawing with Juventus 3–3 on aggregate.
UEFA Cup
In the 1971–72 season the competition was abolished and replaced by the UEFA Cup after UEFA revised the entry regulations and concluded that the "one city one team" rule related with the Fairs Cup must be abolished,[10] which had had a particularly bad effect on English entrants for 1969–70, when Liverpool (2nd), Arsenal (4th), Southampton (7th), and Newcastle United (9th-also holders) got the places, at the expense of Everton (3rd), Chelsea (5th), Tottenham Hotspur (6th), and West Ham United (8th). The Football League upheld the geographic rule until 1975, when UEFA pressured the League to drop it or face sanctions. Everton that year, having come 4th, would have been excluded from the competition due to Liverpool's 2nd-place finish.[11]
Finals
- Keys
- Notes
Trophy play-off match
After the 1970–71 tournament, the last of the Fairs Cup, the competition was abolished and replaced with the UEFA Cup.[7]
The Fairs Cup trophy had not been won by any club permanently, so a play-off match was organised to decide who would gain permanent possession of the original competition trophy. Before the match, then FIFA President Sir Stanley Rous presented silver insignia to the members of the 1958 title-winning side, FC Barcelona.[13][14]
The one-off match was played on 22 September 1971, between the first ever Fairs Cup winners, Barcelona, and the last winners, Leeds United. Barcelona won this play-off 2–1.[7]
Year | Champion | Score | Runner-up | Venue | City | Attend. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1971 |
Barcelona | 2–1 |
Leeds United | Camp Nou | Barcelona | 45,000 |
Performances
By club
Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning years | Runner-up years |
---|---|---|---|---|
Barcelona | 3 | 1 | 1966 |
1962
|
Leeds United |
2 | 1 | 1971 |
1967
|
Valencia | 2 | 1 | 1963 |
1964
|
Dinamo Zagreb | 1 | 1 | 1967 |
1963
|
Ferencváros | 1 | 1 | 1965 |
1968
|
Zaragoza | 1 | 1 | 1964 |
1966
|
Arsenal | 1 | 0 | 1970 |
|
Newcastle United | 1 | 0 | 1969 |
|
Roma |
1 | 0 | 1961 |
|
Juventus | 0 | 2 | 1971
| |
Birmingham City | 0 | 2 | 1961
| |
Anderlecht | 0 | 1 | 1970
| |
Újpest | 0 | 1 | 1969
| |
London XI | 0 | 1 | 1958
|
All-time top scorers
Rank | Player | Goals | Club(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Waldo
|
31 | Valencia |
2 | Peter Lorimer | 20 | Leeds United |
3 | Flórián Albert | 19 | Ferencváros |
Ferenc Bene | Újpest | ||
José Antonio Zaldúa | Barcelona | ||
6 | Pedro Manfredini | 18 | Roma
|
7 | Evaristo
|
17 | Barcelona |
8 | Vicente Guillot | 16 | Valencia |
9 | Marcelino | 15 | Zaragoza |
10 | Héctor Núñez | 14 | Valencia |
Top scorers by season
Season | Player(s) | Goals | Club(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1955–58 | Evaristo
|
4 | Barcelona
|
Justo Tejada | |||
Peter Murphy | Birmingham City | ||
Cliff Holton | London XI | ||
Norbert Eschmann | Lausanne-Sport | ||
1958–60 | Bora Kostić | 6 | Belgrade XI |
1960–61 | Pedro Manfredini | 12 | Roma
|
1961–62 | Waldo
|
9 | Valencia |
1962–63 | Francisco Lojacono | 6 | Roma
|
Pedro Manfredini | |||
Waldo
|
Valencia | ||
1963–64 | Waldo
|
6 | Valencia |
1964–65 | Bobby Charlton | 8 | Manchester United |
Denis Law | |||
1965–66 | José Antonio Zaldúa | 8 | Barcelona
|
1966–67 | Flórián Albert | 8 | Ferencváros |
1967–68 | Peter Lorimer | 8 | Leeds United |
1968–69 | Antal Dunai | 10 | Újpest |
1969–70 | Paul Van Himst | 10 | Anderlecht
|
1970–71 | Pietro Anastasi | 10 | Juventus |
- Source: rsssf.com
See also
References
- ISBN 9781909178373. Archivedfrom the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ "British Cup next season". Glasgow Herald. 19 March 1970. p. 6. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ^ "German International". Heinz Moeller-Verlag. March 17, 1971. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ Prole, David Robert (March 17, 1964). "Football in London". R. Hale. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Homage to an unloved prize". Game of the People. 3 August 2016. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- ^ a b Vieli (2014, p. 44)
- ^ a b c d Vieli, André, ed. (May 2009). "Origins of the UEFA Cup" (PDF). UEFA direct. No. 85. Nyon: Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA). pp. 10–11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 April 2022.
- ^ "UEFA Cup: All-time finals". UEFA. 30 June 2005. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
- ^ "UEFA Europa League: History: New format provides fresh impetus". UEFA. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
- ^ Vieli (2014, p. 45)
- ^ "Everton to replace Stoke in UEFA Cup". New Sunday Times. Kuala Lumpur: New Straits Times Press. Reuters. 8 June 1975. p. 15. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
- ^ "Cara y cruz de los ingleses" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine at Mundo Deportivo, p.1 – 2 May 1958
- ^ Tomás, Manel (21 September 2011). "40th anniversary of Fairs Cup victory". FC Barcelona. Archived from the original on 30 December 2011.
- ^ "Fairs Cup Trophy play off - Nou Camp". Archived from the original on 6 September 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
Bibliography
- Vieli, André (2014). UEFA: 60 years at the heart of football (PDF). Nyon: Union des Associations Européennes de Football. p. 45. (PDF) from the original on 3 August 2021.