lost in leith Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 One of the posters in the Alan Anderson thread mentioned that we finished 4th in 69-70. I wondered why that wasn't good enough for European qualification, until I remembered that there was a rule in the old Fairs Cup that only one team per city could qualify, and the cabbage got that spot by finishing 3rd. I then noticed that Rangers weren't in Europe in season 70-71 either. I don't think the Fairs Cup rule should have affected them as Celtic were in the European Cup, and I noticed that they had been in the Fairs Cup in previous seasons. I wondered if they had been banned from Europe after the sack of Newcastle, but that turned out to have been in 1969. Anyone know why they weren't in Europe that year? Yes, I am bored today ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deek Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 Knocked out my Bayern Munchen. 1-1 at Ibrox, 0-1 in Munich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lost in leith Posted May 24, 2010 Author Share Posted May 24, 2010 Knocked out my Bayern Munchen. 1-1 at Ibrox, 0-1 in Munich. Cheers - that's what I get for taking Wikipedia at face value Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hearts Heritage Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 I wondered why that wasn't good enough for European qualification, until I remembered that there was a rule in the old Fairs Cup that only one team per city could qualify, and the cabbage got that spot by finishing 3rd. The Fairs Cup WAS independent of UEFA and was originally by invitation to clubs or selects from cities which held trades fairs. It retained it's autonomy until 1971 when it was taken over by UEFA. However it was up to national associations to decide which clubs to enter. Kilmarnock finished runners-up in the league in both 1960 and 1961 but were passed over for Fairs Cup entry in favour of Hibs (7th) in 1960-61 and both Hibs (7th) and Hearts (8th) in 1961-62. For 1962-63 no fewer than NINE Scottish clubs applied for the three places on offer. The SFA selected Celtic (3rd), Dunfermline (4th), by-passed 5th-placed Kilmarnock and entered Hibs again (8th). Kilmarnock director Bob Thyne protested personally to the SFA, arguing that clubs should be selected on merit but to no avail. The argument that only clubs from cities could be entered no longer held water after the selection of Dunfermline. In 1962-63 Killie again finished runners-up in the league but the SFA put forward Partick Thistle (3rd) and Hearts (5th). I've never heard anything about the Glasgow Cup being used as a determinant and in any case Third Lanark won the Glasgow Cup in 1962-63 while Thistle lost in the first round. Finally in 1963-64 the SFA finally agreed to select entrants on league position. After being denied for four successive seasons Killie, runners-up again, finally took their place in European football and instantly justified their selection. The one-club, one city rule didn't exist in the early days of the competition - witness both Hearts and Hibs in 1961-62. I don't know exactly when it was introduced but its first impact on Scottish football was in 1967 when Clyde finished 3rd in the league but failed to qualify as Rangers finished runners-up and took the sole place available for Glasgow. Clyde argued they were from Rutherglen, not Glasgow but as they had played in the Glasgow Cup. Ironically, if Rangers had won the Cup-Winners Cup Final then they would have entered that competition the next year and Clyde would have played in Europe. Incidentally, it was only the Fairs Cup which had this rule. For example both Real and Atletico Madrid played in the European Cup in 1966-67 and Man Utd and Man City did likewise in 1968-69. Dundee benefited from Clyde's misfortune and went on to reach the semi-finals. The only other season when this rule affected Scottish football was, as Davy has pointed out, for 1970-71. Hearts were 4th in 1969-70 but Hibs were 3rd. However it affected two clubs that term. Dundee United were 5th and qualified for Europe but Dundee and Kilmarnock finished level on points but Dundee had the better goal average. However it was 7th-placed Kilmarnock who qualified for Europe. Probably the most famous instance of the one club one city rule was in England in 1968-69. Champions Man City and runners-up but European Champions Man Utd went into the European Cup. Leeds (4th) claimed one of the four Fairs Cup places on offer as League Cup winners. Liverpool (3rd) took a place but this ruled out 5th-placed Everton so in came Chelsea (6th) to take the third spot. Spurs (7th) were thus ineligible. West Brom had finished 8th but they had won the FA Cup so entered the Cup-Winners Cup. Arsenal were 9th and ineligible so 10th-placed Newcastle entered Europe for the first time despite having lost more league games than they had won. They went on to win the Fairs Cup the next season (and sod all ever since). The rule was still in place for the first UEFA Cup in 1971-72 as the presence of eventual winners Spurs (3rd in 70-71 and League Cup winners) prevented the entry of 6th-placed Chelsea and allowed in 7th-placed Southampton. I think it was scrapped for the following season. See here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hearts Heritage Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hearts Heritage Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 Thus Hibs entered Europe 3 times (4 if you include the European Cup) and Hearts twice not on merit but at the discretion of the SFA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4marsbars Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 Can I (as the poster on the Alan Anderson thread) just say that you've come up with a lot there that's new to me (I knew about the one club per city "rule" which turns out not to be a rule after all). All very interesting stuff, thanks. One unexpected bonus in 1970 was that we got into the first ever Texaco Cup and probably enjoyed that more than a European run (hard though that might seem to today's fans, given that two of our ties were in Lanarkshire, rather than Zagreb). Motherwell semi-final second leg was a dull game for 89 minutes, but some atmosphere when we equalised and then won in extra time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgiewave Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 You do get some furious use of bold type with 12august1893. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hearts Heritage Posted May 24, 2010 Share Posted May 24, 2010 Can I (as the poster on the Alan Anderson thread) just say that you've come up with a lot there that's new to me (I knew about the one club per city "rule" which turns out not to be a rule after all). All very interesting stuff, thanks. One unexpected bonus in 1970 was that we got into the first ever Texaco Cup and probably enjoyed that more than a European run (hard though that might seem to today's fans, given that two of our ties were in Lanarkshire, rather than Zagreb). Motherwell semi-final second leg was a dull game for 89 minutes, but some atmosphere when we equalised and then won in extra time. The Texaco was the first time aged 12 we (myself and Kenny Lightly) was allowed to travel to midweek games on our own. Wonderful times especially against Burnley Ralp Coates et al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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