The 1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was an association football match contested between Fiorentina of Italy and

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

of Scotland. It was the final match of the

1960–61 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1960–61 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football tournament was won by Italian club Fiorentina in two-legged final victory against Rangers of Scotland. Organised by the Mitropa Cup committee, this tournament's edition was recog ...

and the first European Cup Winners' Cup final. It was the only time that the final was played over

two legs In sports (particularly association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum ...

. The first leg was played at Ibrox Park, Glasgow and the second leg at the Stadio Comunale in Florence. It was Rangers first European final and in doing so became the first British team to reach the final of a European football competition. It was Fiorentina's second European final having previously reached the

1957 European Cup Final The 1957 European Cup Final was a football match played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, on 30 May 1957 to determine the winners of the 1956–57 European Cup. It was contested between Real Madrid of Spain and Fiorentina of Ital ...

. Fiorentina won the final 4–1 on aggregate.Rangers again beaten by Italians
Glasgow Herald, 29 May 1961 (via Google news archive)

Route to the final

Rangers

Rangers were required to play a preliminary round in the competition where they beat Ferencváros from Hungary 5-4 on aggregate. They were then drawn against Borussia Mönchengladbach from Germany who they then defeated 11-0 on aggregate. In the semi final Rangers were then required to play English team Wolverhampton Wanderers. Rangers won the tie 3-1 on aggregate to reach their first ever European final.

Fiorentina

Fiorentina went straight into the quarter-finals where they played FC Luzern from Switzerland. They subsequently defeated them and Dinamo Zagreb to reach the final.

Background

The 1961 final was the only time that it had been played over two legs until the competition was merged with the UEFA Cup in 1999. Fiorentina, who were managed by Hungarian Nándor Hidegkuti, were the recent Coppa Italia winners and had reached the final of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

four years earlier. Their team included many Italian internationals including goalkeeper Enrico Albertosi and Swedish star player Kurt Hamrin. Rangers were managed by Scot Symon and had reached the semi-final of the European Cup the previous year. Since the start of the 1960-61 season , the all-Scottish Rangers team also included Jim Baxter who would go on to become a legendary figure of the club. Rangers top scorer Jimmy Millar missed the first leg through injury but featured in the return match.

Match details

First leg

Second leg

References

External links

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
{{ACF Fiorentina matches 3 Cup Winners' Cup Final 1961 Cup Winners' Cup Final 1961

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

Cup Winners' Cup Final 1961 Cup Winners' Cup Final 1961 Cup Winners' Cup Final Cup Winners' Cup Final 1960s in Glasgow European Cup Winners' Cup Final International sports competitions in Glasgow European Cup Winners' Cup Final Football in Glasgow