Birmingham City F.C. in European football explained

Continent:Europe
Birmingham City F.C. in European football
Club:Birmingham City
Seasons Played:5
First Entry:1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Last Entry:2011–12 UEFA Europa League

Birmingham City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Birmingham. The club's involvement in European competition dates back to the 1950s.

Invitations to enter the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a football tournament set up to promote industrial trade fairs, were extended to the city hosting the trade fair rather than to clubs. Some cities entered a select team including players from more than one club, but Aston Villa, the other major club based in the city of Birmingham, rejected the opportunity to field a combined team.[1] Thus Birmingham City became the first English club side to play in European competition when they played their first match in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup on 15 May 1956. They were also the first English club side to reach a European final, the 1960 Fairs Cup final, in which they met Barcelona. The home leg, a goalless draw, was played on 29 March 1960 and the away leg, which Barcelona won 4–1, some six weeks later. In the semifinal of the 1961 Fairs Cup Birmingham beat Internazionale home and away; no other English club beat them in a competitive match in the San Siro until Arsenal did so in the Champions League more than 40 years later.[2]

Victory in the 2011 Football League Cup Final earned Birmingham qualification for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, which they entered at the play-off round.[3] A 3–0 aggregate victory over C.D. Nacional of Portugal[4] qualified Birmingham for the group stage, in which they were drawn alongside last season's finalists, S.C. Braga of Portugal, Slovenian champions NK Maribor, and fourth-placed Belgian team Club Brugge. They finished third in group H, one point behind Club Brugge and Braga, so failed to qualify for the knockout rounds.[5]

Record by season

Birmingham City's scores are given first in all scorelines.

SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentHome legAway legPlay-
off		NotesRefs
CountryClub
1955–58Inter-Cities Fairs CupGS ItalyInternazionale2–10–0[6]
GSZagreb XI3–01–0
SF SpainBarcelona4–30–11–2[7]
1958–60Inter-Cities Fairs Cup1R GermanyCologne XI2–02–2[8]
2RZagreb XI1–03–3
SF BelgiumR. Union Saint-Gilloise4–24–2
F SpainBarcelona0–01–4
1960–61Inter-Cities Fairs Cup1R HungaryÚjpesti Dózsa3–22–1[9]
2R DenmarkKB5–04–4
SF ItalyInternazionale2–12–1
F ItalyA.S. Roma2–20–2
1961–62Inter-Cities Fairs Cup2R SpainRCD Espanyol1–02–5[10]
2011–12UEFA Europa LeaguePO PortugalC.D. Nacional3–00–0
GS PortugalS.C. Braga1–30–1
GS SloveniaNK Maribor1–02–1
GS BelgiumClub Brugge2–22–1
Key

European attendance records

References

General
Specific

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Goodyear . David . Matthews . Tony . amp . Aston Villa A Complete Record 1875–1988 . Breedon Books . Derby . 1988 . 0-907969-37-2 . At this time there seemed a general lack of ambition at Villa Park. The club were slow to install floodlights, they turned down the chance of combining with Blues to field a 'Birmingham' team for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup....
  2. News: Arsenal routs Inter Milan . New York Times . Reuters . 25 November 2003 . 16 December 2019.
  3. Web site: 2011/12 list of participants . UEFA . 20 August 2011.
  4. News: UEFA Europa League 2012: Nacional–Birmingham . UEFA . 3 September 2011.
    News: UEFA Europa League 2012: Birmingham–Nacional . UEFA . 3 September 2011.
  5. Web site: Standings: Group stage: Group H . UEFA . 27 December 2011.
  6. Web site: European Competitions 1957–58: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1955–58 . Ross . James M. . Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) . 28 February 2008 . 20 August 2011.
  7. The away goals rule did not apply when aggregate scores were level, so a playoff was staged at St. Jakob-Park, Basel, which Barcelona won 2–1 to reach the final.
  8. Web site: European Competitions 1959–60: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1958–60 . Ross . James M. . Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) . 27 June 2007 . 20 August 2011.
  9. Web site: European Competitions 1960–61: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1960–61 . Ross . James M. . Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) . 27 June 2007 . 20 August 2011.
  10. Web site: European Competitions 1961–62: Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1961–62 . Ross . James M. . Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) . 27 June 2007 . 20 August 2011.
  11. Matthews (1995), "Blues in Europe", pp. 241–42.

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