London XI

The London XI was a football team that represented the city of London in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

The competition began in 1955, and the first tournament took three years to complete. The entrants were the major football team of each city which held a Trade Fair. Like many cities taking part, London had several strong teams; however, rules stated that there could only be a single team from each city.^[1] Therefore, a representative team was created especially for the tournament, using the best players from the 11 London-area Football League clubs. Membership of the team varied considerably between matches, and some 54 players took part in the team's eight-match campaign.

The London XI, managed by Chelsea chairman Joe Mears, reached the final of the cup, after coming top of a group that included special XI teams from Basel and Frankfurt, and then beating Lausanne Sports. London lost 8–2 on aggregate over two legs to FC Barcelona.

The London XI only competed in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Thereafter, London was represented in the competition by individual clubs who qualified.

A unified London side competed in friendly matches even earlier: a "London" team represented the FA in the historic 1866 London v Sheffield match, there were several challenges against the Glasgow FA during the 1880s,^[2] and "London" lost 4-2 to Corinthians on 21 November 1903 in front of 1500,^[3] described as Corinthians "had an easy task" in a 1904 Times article.^[4] Two other matches have been referenced – an "annual match" versus Birmingham on 3 October 1910 and a match versus Paris on 18 December 1910.^[5]

Teams and match details

Clubs represented

• Arsenal
• Brentford
• Charlton Athletic
• Chelsea

• Crystal Palace
• Fulham
• Leyton Orient
• Millwall

• Queens Park Rangers
• Tottenham Hotspur
• West Ham United

Group stage

Team

Ron Reynolds (Tottenham), Peter Sillett (Chelsea), Jim Fotheringham (Arsenal), Stan Willemse (Chelsea), Ken Armstrong (Chelsea), Derek Saunders (Chelsea), Harry Hooper (West Ham), Johnny Haynes (Fulham), Cliff Holton (Arsenal), Eddie Firmani (Charlton), Billy Kiernan (Charlton).
Substitute: Brian Nicholas (QPR), on for Saunders 37′.

Team

Ted Ditchburn (Tottenham), Peter Sillett (Chelsea), Stan Willemse (Chelsea), Danny Blanchflower (Tottenham), Charlie Hurley (Millwall), Cyril Hammond (Charlton), Vic Groves (Orient), Bobby Robson (Fulham), Bedford Jezzard (Fulham), Roy Bentley (Chelsea), Charlie Mitten (Fulham).

Team

Jack Kelsey (Arsenal), Peter Sillett (Chelsea), John Hewie (Charlton), Danny Blanchflower (Tottenham), Stan Wicks (Chelsea), Ken Coote (Brentford), Jim Lewis (Chelsea), Derek Tapscott (Arsenal), Cliff Holton (Arsenal), Bobby Cameron (QPR), George Robb (Tottenham).

Team

Ron Reynolds (Tottenham), John Bond (West Ham), Peter Sillett (Chelsea), Ken Armstrong (Chelsea), Malcolm Allison (West Ham), Tony Marchi (Tottenham), Terry Medwin (Tottenham), Stuart Leary (Charlton), David Herd (Arsenal), Johnny Haynes (Fulham), Billy Kiernan (Charlton).

Semi-finals

Team

Ted Ditchburn (Tottenham), Stan Charlton (Arsenal), Dennis Evans (Arsenal), Brian Nicholas (Chelsea), Jim Fotheringham (Arsenal), Phil McKnight (Orient), Peter Berry (Crystal Palace), Geoff Truett (Crystal Palace), Les Stubbs (Chelsea), Phil Woosnam (Orient), Joe Haverty (Arsenal).

Team

Jack Kelsey (Arsenal), Stan Charlton (Arsenal), Peter Sillett (Chelsea), Ken Coote (Brentford), Bill Dodgin (Arsenal), Derek Saunders (Chelsea), Roy Dwight (Fulham), Jimmy Greaves (Chelsea), Cliff Holton (Arsenal), Johnny Haynes (Fulham), Billy Kiernan (Charlton).

London XI won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final

First leg

Team: Jack Kelsey (Arsenal), Peter Sillett (Chelsea), Jim Langley (Fulham), Danny Blanchflower (Tottenham), Maurice Norman (Tottenham), Ken Coote (Brentford), Vic Groves (Arsenal), Jimmy Greaves (Chelsea), Bobby Smith (Tottenham), Johnny Haynes (Fulham), George Robb (Tottenham).

Second leg

Team: Jack Kelsey (Arsenal), George Wright (Orient), Noel Cantwell (West Ham), Danny Blanchflower (Tottenham), Ken Brown (West Ham), Dave Bowen (Arsenal), Terry Medwin (Tottenham), Vic Groves (Arsenal), Bobby Smith (Tottenham), Jimmy Bloomfield (Arsenal), Jim Lewis (Chelsea).

Barcelona XI won 8–2 on aggregate.

London v Glasgow

• 8 matches played;
• London: 2 wins (15 goals);
• Glasgow: 5 wins (27 goals);
• 1 draw.

See also

• Football in London
• Football in England
• List of football clubs in England
• Copenhagen XI
• Madrid autonomous football team

References

1. ^ Dart, James (1 June 2005). "Are Liverpool the worst European champions ever?". The Guardian
2. ^ Representative Matches, Scottish Football Historical Archive (archive version, 2018)
3. ^ Cavallini, Rob (2007). Play Up Corinth: A History of The Corinthian Football Club. Stadia. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-7524-4479-6.
4. ^ The Times (1904). "Corinthians vs Manchester United". "James Owen of Penrhos and his descendants" ancestry website. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
5. ^ White, Eric (ed.) (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. p. 96. ISBN 0951526200.
6. ^ EC 1 & Fairs Cup 1595-1960. International Federation of Football History & Statistics. pp. 158–171.
7. ^ "Representative Matches". Scottish-Football-Historical-Archive. Archived 28 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
8. ^ "FOOTBALL". Glasgow Herald. 22 January 1883. (via British Newspaper Archive.
9. ^ "FOOTBALL". GlaSgow Herald. 17 December 1883. (via) British Newspaper Archive.
10. ^ "FOOTBALL". Glasgow Herald. 22 December 1884. (via) British Newspaper Archive.
11. ^ "LONDON V GLASGOW 3–0 (INTER CITY: MARCH 3, 1888)". PlayupLiverpool.com. 3 March 1888. Retrieved 6 July 2021. (via) British Newspaper Archive.
12. ^ "GLASGOW V LONDON 5–1 (INTER CITY: MARCH 23, 1889)". PlayupLiverpool.com. 23 March 1889. Retrieved 6 July 2021.

External links

• Details of the 1955–58 Fairs Cup