Anglo-Franco-Scottish Friendship Cup Explained

Founded:1960
Region:Europe
Number Of Teams:8
Current Champions:French League (SCO v FRA)
English League (ENG v FRA)
Most Successful Club:English League (2 titles)

The Anglo-Franco-Scottish Friendship Cup was a short-lived Inter-League football competition organised by the French Football Federation that would see teams from the Football League and the Scottish League compete against teams from the French League.

Format

The original idea was to have four teams from Scotland and four teams from England competing together as one nation competing against eight teams from France. Due to the objection by the Scottish League this ruling was cancelled.

Two separate trophies were cast - one for Scottish clubs competing against French clubs and one for English clubs competing against French clubs. Individual clubs could not win the competition, so each country was awarded 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.

Entry to the competition was based on a club's final league position at the end of the season. However, with some clubs guaranteed entry to European football competitions such the European Cup and Inter Cities Fairs Cup, it would open up the chance for other clubs to participate who finished lower down their domestic league.

History

In the inaugural Franco-Scottish competition, Sedan, Toulouse, Lens and Valenciennes were all given entry from the French League to participate in the Franco-Scottish competition. Clyde, Motherwell, Celtic and Dundee were all given entry from the Scottish League. Originally, Ayr United were to have competed, but they had to withdraw because of a lack of adequate floodlighting at their stadium. Their place was taken by Hibernian, who also withdrew because a friendly between an Edinburgh select and Chelsea was scheduled for the same date as their tie with Sedan. Hibernian were therefore replaced by Celtic.

In the inaugural Anglo-French competition, the participating teams were Racing Club de Paris, Nantes, Le Havre and Lille from the French League, and Newcastle United, Liverpool, Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough from the Football League.

For the second season of the competition, Le Havre, Rouen, Nimes and Reims were elected to compete on behalf of France in the Franco-Scottish competition, while Bordeaux, Nancy, Lens and Béziers took part in the Anglo-French competition. Three English clubs took part in the 1961-62 competition - Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Derby County - alongside one Welsh club, Cardiff City. With Celtic and Motherwell set to compete again, Aberdeen and Third Lanark replaced Clyde and Dundee in the Franco-Scottish competition.

Due to disagreements as to when matches should be played, neither of the matches between Celtic and Reims took place.

1960-61

France v Scotland

Source:[1] [2] [3]

1st Leg2nd LegOverall
DateHome teamResultAway teamDateHome teamResultAway teamWinnerAggregate
6 August 1960Sedan3–0 Celtic18 October 1960Celtic3–3SedanSedan6–3
7 August 1960Toulouse1–2Motherwell19 October 1960Motherwell4–1ToulouseMotherwell6–2
7 August 1960Lens0–4Clyde27 September 1960Clyde2–1LensClyde6–1
7 August 1960Valenciennes1–0Dundee7 December 1960Dundee4–2ValenciemnesDundee4–3

The Valenciennes-Dundee tie played on 7 August 1960 took place at Mers-les-Bains in the Somme department.

Scotland won the inaugural edition of the Franco-Scottish trophy by winning the series, 3 aggregate victories to 1.

France v England

Source:[1] [4]

1st Leg2nd LegOverall
DateHome teamResultAway teamDateHome teamResult Away teamWinnerAggregate
10 August 1960Racing Club Paris2–3Newcastle United28 September 1960Newcastle United2–1Racing Club ParisNewcastle United5–3
11 August 1960Nantes0–2Liverpool30 November 1960Liverpool5–1NantesLiverpool7–1
14 August 1960Le Havre1–1Bolton Wanderers15 March 1961Bolton Wanderers4–0Le HavreBolton Wanderers5–1
14 August 1960Lille1–2Middlesbrough12 October 1960Middlesbrough4–1LilleMiddlesbrough6–2

England won the inaugural edition of the Anglo-French trophy by winning the series, 4 aggregate victories to 0.

1961-62

France v Scotland

Source:[1]

1st Leg2nd LegOverall
DateHome teamResultAway teamDateHome teamResultAway teamWinnerAggregate
10 October 1961Aberdeen2–0Le Havre6 May 1962Le Havre2–5AberdeenAberdeen7–2
7 November 1961Third Lanark0–4Rouen9 May 1962Rouen2–1Third LanarkRouen6–1
4 April 1962Motherwell1–2Nimes9 May 1962Nimes3–3MotherwellNimes5–4

France won the last edition of the Franco-Scottish trophy by winning the series, 2 aggregate victories to 1.

France v England

Source:[1]

1st Leg2nd LegOverall
DateHome teamResultAway teamDateHome teamResult Away teamWinnerAggregate
13 November 1961Southampton2–1Bordeaux1 May 1962Bordeaux2–0SouthamptonBordeaux3–2
4 December 1961Blackburn Rovers3–1Nancy1 May 1962Nancy1–0Blackburn RoversBlackburn Rovers3–2
13 December 1961Lens2–4Cardiff City7 March 1962Cardiff City2–0LensCardiff City6–2
11 April 1962Derby County1–0Béziers12 May 1962Béziers2–1Derby CountyMatch Tied2–2

The Football League clubs won the second edition of the Anglo-French trophy by winning the series, 2 aggregate victories to 1 (with one match tied).

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Anglo-Franco-Scottish Friendship Cup . . 9 March 2018 . 8 August 2020.
  2. Web site: Remembering Clyde v RC Lens . Clyde FC . 7 August 2020 . 8 August 2020.
  3. Web site: Celtic in Europe 1961-64 . Jim Craig's Football 50 . 8 August 2020.
  4. Web site: A History Of Boro Against French Opposition . MFC . 29 July 2019 . 8 August 2020.