Celtic was the first British team to clinch the European Cup in 1968 .
The European Cup started in 1955–56 , but there was no English representative during that inaugural season as Chelsea had been persuaded to withdraw by The Football League ; the first English side to take part was Manchester United , who also became the first English side to win the European Cup in 1968 , ten years after their first attempts to win the Cup had been effectively ended when eight of their players died in the Munich air disaster when flying home from Belgrade after qualifying for the 1957-58 semi-final .