1955–56 European Cup

1st season of the UEFA club football tournamentTemplate:SHORTDESC:1st season of the UEFA club football tournament

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International football competitionTemplate:SHORTDESC:International football competition
The **1955–56 European Cup** was the first season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The tournament was won by Real Madrid, who defeated Reims 4–3 in the final at Parc des Princes, Paris, on 13 June 1956.

The participating clubs in the first season of the European Cup were selected by French football magazine *L'Equipe* on the basis that they were representative and prestigious clubs in Europe. When the tournament started, Real Madrid, Anderlecht, AC Milan, Rot-Weiss Essen, Reims, Djurgården and AGF Aarhus were the reigning champions of their respective national leagues. English champions Chelsea initially agreed to compete and were drawn against Swedish side Djurgården; however, under pressure from the Football League, who saw the tournament as a distraction to domestic football, they later withdrew from the competition, and were replaced by Gwardia Warsaw of Poland. Scottish champions Aberdeen withdrew under similar circumstances, Hibernian were chosen instead. They were considered one of the best teams in Scotland, having won the Scottish title in 1950–51 and 1951–52, but the main reason they were invited was because they were the only team in the country to install floodlights on their grounds. Dynamo Moscow, the champions of the Soviet Union, did not participate due to climatic restrictions. In addition, Holland Sport, Honvéd and AB rejected the opportunity to represent the Netherlands, Hungary and Denmark respectively, being replaced by PSV Eindhoven, Vörös Lobogó and AGF Aarhus[*<span title="**Script error: No such module "decodeEncode".**">clarification needed*]. This was also the only UEFA tournament to include a representative of Saarland, unified into West Germany in 1957.

The first round pairings were fixed by the organisers and not drawn as would be the case for all future European Cup matches.

## Teams

A total of 16 teams participated in the competition.

## First round

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1955–56 European Cup is located in EuropeReimsAnderlechtPartizanVörös LobogóServetteHibernianSportingDjurgårdenR. W. EssenGwardiaAGFRapidPSVMilanSaarbrückenReal Madrid

### Second leg

*Real Madrid won 7–0 on aggregate.*

*Partizan won 8–5 on aggregate.*

*Hibernian won 5–1 on aggregate.*

*Djurgården won 4–1 on aggregate.*

*Vörös Lobogó won 10–4 on aggregate.*

*Reims won 4–2 on aggregate.*

*Rapid Wien won 6–2 on aggregate.*

*Milan won 7–5 on aggregate.*

## Quarter-finals

### First leg

Note – differences in information: RSSSF website indicates that the goal scored on 26th minute was scored by Robert Körner, while UEFA website indicates that it was scored by his younger brother Alfred Körner.

### Second leg

*Hibernian won 4–1 on aggregate.*

*Reims won 8–6 on aggregate.*

*Real Madrid won 4–3 on aggregate.*

*Milan won 8–3 on aggregate.*

### Second leg

*Reims won 3–0 on aggregate.*

*Real Madrid won 5–4 on aggregate.*

## Notes

1. ↑ L'Équipe
2. ↑ Glanvill, Rick (2005). *Chelsea FC: The Official Biography*. London: Headline. p. 254. ISBN 0755314654.
3. ↑ Ferris, Ken (2004). *Manchester United in Europe: Tragedy, Destiny, History*. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 1840188979.
4. ↑ Match switched to Glasgow due to a frozen pitch in Sweden (Hibernian reach the first European Cup semi-finals 1956. *A Sporting Nation: Rock 'n' Roll Era 1950–1959*. BBC (November 2005).)

## External links

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* 1955–56 season at UEFA website
* 1955–56 All matches – season at UEFA website
* All scorers 1955–56 European Cup according to protocols UEFA
* European Cup results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
* 50 years of the European Cup. UEFA (October 2004).
* 1955-56 European Cup – results and line-ups (archive)

1956–57 •
1957–58 •
1958–59 •
1959–60 •
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1990–91 •
 **Finals** | 1956 •
1957 •
1958 •
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1993–94 •
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2013–14 •
2014–15 •
2015–16 •
2016–17 •
2017–18 •
2018–19 •
2019–20 •
2020–21 •
2021–22 •
2022–23 •
2023–24 •
 **Finals** | 1993 •
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2015 •
2016 •
2017 •
2018 •
2019 •
2020 •
2021 •
2022 •
2023 •
2024 •
 History
(Finals •
Winning managers) •
Records and statistics
(Top scorers •
Hat-tricks •
Appearances •
Performance comparison •
UEFA coefficient) •
Anthem •
Broadcasters
(in the US) •
Video games •
Trophy •
Extra-sporting events
(1985 Heysel Stadium disaster •
2007 Roma–Manchester United conflict •
2017 Turin stampede •
2022 Paris chaos)

* Austria
* Belgium
* Bulgaria '55 '56
* Czechoslovakia '55 '56
* Denmark
* England
* Finland '55 '56
* France
* East Germany '55 '56
* West Germany (Finals)
* Greece
* Hungary '55 '56
* Iceland '55 '56
* Italy
* Luxembourg
* Netherlands
* Northern Ireland
* Norway
* Poland '55 '56
* Portugal
* Republic of Ireland
* Romania '55 '56
* Scotland
* Soviet Union '55 '56
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
 Domestic cups
* Bulgaria
* Denmark
* England
* Finland '55 '56
* France
* East Germany '56
* West Germany
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland '55 '56
* Luxembourg
* Northern Ireland
* Norway '55 '56
* Poland
* Portugal
* Republic of Ireland
* Romania '55 '56
* Scotland
* Soviet Union '55
* Spain
* Switzerland
* Wales

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