London XI
The London XI soccer team was a selection of London soccer players who participated in the 1955-1958 Exhibition Cities Cup.
The competition started on April 18, 1955, and the first tournament took three years to complete. The best football team from a trade fair city should take part, but some cities like London had several strong teams. However, since the rules only allowed one team from each city, it was decided to create a team just for this tournament. Essentially the best players from the eleven professional clubs based in London were selected, with a total of 54 players participating in the eight games of the tournament. Joe Mears , Chairman of Chelsea FC , represented the London Football Association on the organizing committee made up of representatives from the participating city selections.
The city selection of London won Group D after the selection teams of Basel and Frankfurt am Main had been beaten. The 3-2 win at Wembley Stadium against the Frankfurt national team was the first floodlit match in the stadium. In the semifinals, the Londoners defeated Lausanne Sport , but lost a total of 2: 8 in the two finals on March 5 at Stamford Bridge (2: 2) and on May 1, 1958 at Camp Nou (0: 6) against FC Barcelona .
The selection London XI only took part in the 1955-58 tournament, while individual clubs represented London in all subsequent Messestadtpokal competitions. There may have been comparable national teams in London that played friendly matches before. In any case, a small note in a 1904 Times article about a friendly against London's Corinthian FC suggests this. The article mentions that the Corinthians had only an easy job against London.
Web links
- Details of the trade fair cup 1955–58 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Tottenham Hotspur : "Official Program London v Basle" (VOL. XLVIII, No. 58)
- ↑ Article in the Times 1904 (English)