After all the shenanigans with Uefa, Crystal Palace are now ready to make their debut in a major European competition, albeit the lesser Conference League. Palace have been involved in Europe before but only in minor competitions – three entries into the Anglo-Italian Cup and the long-forgotten 1998 Intertoto Cup campaign in which they lost 4-0 on aggregate to the Turkish club Samsunspor, who are back in Europe this season after a 27-year hiatus. Palace will be aiming to follow a long line of British clubs who have made impressive European debuts over the last 70 years.
When the European Cup was founded in 1955, the English league champions, Chelsea, were invited to take part but there was a major obstacle in the shape of Alan Hardaker. The xenophobic secretary of the Football League put pressure on Chelsea to decline the offer and the club capitulated.
It was left to Scotland to provide the first British club to enter a European competition, although the place did not go to the league champions, Aberdeen, who had just won their first title in 1955. The Scottish Football Association ended up choosing fifth-placed Hibernian instead. Some suggested the club were entered because they had won the league three times in the previous eight years and had an attractive style of play. Perhaps more significant, Easter Road was the only Scottish ground with floodlights so it could host midweek evening matches. There was also the fact that the Hibs chair, Harry Swan, just happened to be the president of the SFA, which may have influenced the selection.
Whatever the final criteria, Hibernian took the plunge away at the West German side Rot-Weiss Essen and it could hardly have gone much better. They won 4-0, with Eddie Turnbull having the honour of scoring the first goal for a British club in Europe. Hibs then beat Chelsea’s replacements, Djurgården, before losing to Reims in the semi-finals. This remains the only time Hibs have played in the European Cup, although they did reach the semi-finals of the Fairs Cup in 1961. After beating Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, Hibs came up against Roma in the last four. With the tie level at 5-5 after the two legs, and no away-goal rule in place, they returned to the Stadio Olimpico for a playoff, which Roma won 6-0.
Manchester United were the first English side to play in the European Cup, with Matt Busby insisting they defy Hardaker and take up their place in the 1956-57 season. United played Anderlecht in the first round and, after winning 2-0 in Belgium, they racked up a 10-0 win at Maine Road (as Old Trafford did not yet have floodlights), which remains their record victory in all competitions.
Dennis Viollet scored four and finished as the top scorer in the European Cup that season with nine goals, just above his teammate Tommy Taylor with eight and Alfredo Di Stéfano with seven. United then beat Borussia Dortmund and Athletic Bilbao but, like Hibs, they fell at the semi-final stage, losing 5-3 on aggregate to the eventual winners, Real Madrid.
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the precursor to the Uefa Cup, also started in 1955. As its name suggests, the competition not only featured clubs but also teams that represented cities, picked from a variety of clubs. The first edition of the Fairs Cup ran over three seasons between 1955 and 1958, with a London XI featuring players from all 11 of the capital’s professional clubs, including Jimmy Greaves from Chelsea, Johnny Haynes from Fulham and Danny Blanchflower from Tottenham.
Birmingham City were the only English club that entered, doing so after Aston Villa rejected the opportunity to field a combined team for the city. They kicked off their campaign against Inter on 16 May 1956, making them the first English club to play in Europe. Birmingham breezed through their group, beating a Zagreb XI twice before a win against Inter sealed their place in the semi-finals. After beating a Barcelona XI 4-3 in the first leg at St Andrew’s, they lost 1-0 at the Camp Nou and, like Hibs before them, lost a playoff match. The London XI reached the final but were beaten 8-2 on aggregate by Barcelona. Birmingham reached the final of the Fairs Cup in 1960, making them the first British club to play in a European final, but they were also beaten by Barcelona.
In 1960, a third European competition was introduced with the launch of the Cup Winners’ Cup. Among the 10 clubs involved were Wolves and Rangers, who met in the semi-finals. The Scottish Cup winners, who had annihilated Borussia Mönchengladbach 11-0 on aggregate, beat their English counterparts 3-1 on aggregate, thus becoming the first Scottish club to reach a European final, which they lost to Fiorentina.
Two years later Tottenham became the first British club to win a European trophy when they beat Atlético Madrid 5-1 in the Cup Winners’ Cup final, with two goals each from Greaves and Terry Dyson plus one from John White. It was only their second season in Europe; they had reached the semi-finals of the European Cup the year before, losing to the eventual champions, Benfica, in the last four.
Liverpool also reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in their first season playing continental football, in 1964-65, and they were also knocked out by the eventual winners in the last four. They won the first leg at Anfield 3-1 but were beaten 3-0 by Inter at San Siro in the return fixture. The result did not go down well with the visiting players. “What happened left me feeling cheated,” said Tommy Smith. “The Italians didn’t win it – the referee won it for them – and the only surprise was that they didn’t carry him off shoulder high at the end.”
Nottingham Forest did even better in their first season in the European Cup, in 1978–79. They beat Liverpool in the first round – the first time two English clubs had met in the competition – and went all the way to the final, where they beat Malmö 1-0 to be crowned European champions. Aston Villa also won the European Cup in their first attempt, in 1981–82, beating Bayern Munich in the final.
The first British side to win the European Cup at the first attempt were from Scotland. Celtic built up some European experience in the mid-1960s, reaching the Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finals in 1964 and 1966, before they qualified for the European Cup for the first time in the 1966-67 season. They beat FC Zürich, Nantes, Vojvodina and Dukla Prague to set up a daunting final against Inter, the champions of 1964 and 1965, in Lisbon. Celtic overcame the odds in the final, coming from behind to win 2-1 and become the first British side crowned champions of Europe.
If Palace are looking for some inspiration as they begin their campaign this week, they should also look to Newcastle, who remain the only English club to have won a European trophy in their first season playing continental football. They won the Fairs Cup in 1969 and did it in some style, beating Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, Real Zaragoza, Vitória Setúbal and Rangers along the way before hammering the Hungarian side Ujpest Dozsa 6-2 in the final.
For a more contemporary precedent, Fulham went all way to the Europa League final in 2009-10, in just their second campaign in Europe (they won the Intertoto Cup as well as playing in the Uefa Cup in their first). Guided by Roy Hodgson, they knocked out Juventus in the last 16 thanks to a sensational 4-1 win at Craven Cottage. Victories against the German clubs Wolfsburg and Hamburg set up a final against Atlético Madrid at the Volksparkstadion, which they lost narrowly after extra time.
If Palace can emulate Fulham, Newcastle, Birmingham City and Hibs, the disappointment of missing out on the Europa League will be tempered by a successful debut in Europe.
This is an article by Richard Foster, the writer behind The Football Mine and host of the podcast It Started With A Kick.
