The Internationaler Saarlandpokal was a football competition organised by 1. FC Saarbrücken, after the club were denied in their application to regularly compete in France's

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

. The competition is regarded as a forerunner to 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 ...

Background

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

had initially become independent following the fall of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, before being incorporated in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in January 1871, following the

Unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with ad ...

. Founded in 1903, 1. FC Saarbrücken finished runners up in the 1943 German football championship, losing 3–0 in the final against

Dresdner SC Dresdner Sportclub 1898 e.V., known simply as Dresdner SC, is a German multisport List of football clubs in Germany, club playing in Dresden, Saxony. Founded on 30 April 1898, the club was a Founding Clubs of the DFB, founding member of the Germa ...

. After German defeat in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the region was administered by the

French Fourth Republic The French Fourth Republic (french: Quatrième république française) was the Republicanism, republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of ...

as the

Saar Protectorate The Saar Protectorate (german: Saarprotektorat ; french: Protectorat de la Sarre) officially Saarland (french: Sarre) was a French protectorate separated from Germany; which was later opposed by the Soviet Union, one side occupying Germany like ...

. The

Saarland national football team The Saarland national football team (german: Saarländische Fußballnationalmannschaft) was the association football team representing the Saar Protectorate in international football from 1950 to 1956 during the French occupation following Wor ...

was soon formed, playing their first game on 22 November 1950, beating

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

4–2 in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

. Following the creation of the Saar Protectorate, FC Saarbrücken competed in the 1948–49 French Division 2, winning the championship under the Francised name of FC Sarrebruck, beating

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

9–0 and

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

10–1 on the way to the title. Saarbrücken applied to join the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the over ...

at the insistence of

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

president

Jules Rimet Jules Rimet (; 14 October 1873 – 16 October 1956) was a French football administrator who was the 3rd President of FIFA, serving from 1921 to 1954. He is FIFA's longest-serving president, in office for 33 years. He also served as the presid ...

. Saarbrücken's application was resoundly rejected by French clubs, particularly those in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

and

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

who had been forced to play in the German

Gauliga Elsaß The Gauliga Elsaß was the highest football league in the region of Alsace (German: Elsaß, the old orthography of Elsass) from 1940 to 1945. The Nazis reorganised the administrative region and the Alsace became part of the Gau Baden-Elsaß. Ove ...

following the

German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

from 1940 to 1944. Saarbrücken's results were consequently discounted and

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), come ...

won the championship. With the Saar's Ehrenliga deemed too weak for a club of Saarbrücken's stature, the club organised the Internationaler Saarlandpokal between 15 European clubs with a prize fund of two million

Saar franc The Saar franc was the French franc (german: Franken) used as the official currency of the Saar during the times that the Saar territory was economically split off from Germany, in 1920–1935 as the Territory of the Saar Basin, in 1947–1957 as t ...

s being awarded to the winners of the tournament.

1949–50 edition

The tournament began on 18 September 1949 with FC Saarbrücken defeating Swiss club

FC La Chaux-de-Fonds FC La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss football club based in La Chaux-de-Fonds. It was founded in 1894 and used to play at the Stade Charrière. History F.C. La Chaux-de-Fonds was founded on July 4, 1894, and won the Swiss first division in the ...

7–0. Saarbrücken played every game at their home, with the three clubs with the best results against Saarbrücken joining the hosts in the semi-finals.

Qualifying round

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

---- ----

Third place play-off

----

Final

----

1950–51 edition

The following season, the tournament was hosted by both FC Saarbrücken and fellow Saarlanders

Borussia Neunkirchen Borussia VfB Neunkirchen is a German association football club based in Neunkirchen, Saarland. The club ''SC Borussia Neunkirchen'' was founded out of the 1907 merger of ''FC 1905 Borussia'' and ''SC Neunkirchen''. History From 1912 through t ...

at their

Ellenfeldstadion The Ellenfeldstadion is a grass surface, multi-purpose stadium in Neunkirchen, Saarland, Germany. It was built in 1911 and 1912, completely reconstructed between 1962 and 1964 and partially renovated in 2002. It is currently used mostly for footb ...

ground with games played on a home and away basis. For the 1950–51 edition, German clubs were invited for the first time, as well as five new entries from Europe. The tournament was never completed due to a lack of interest and sponsorship after it was agreed that Saarlander clubs would return to the German football system in time for the

1951–52 Oberliga The 1951–52 Oberliga was the seventh season of the Oberliga, the first tier of the football league system in West Germany and the Saar Protectorate. The league operated in five regional divisions, Berlin, North, South, Southwest and West. The ...

List of teams

Legacy

The Internationaler Saarlandpokal gave FC Saarbrücken new found exposure and the club played

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, Universidad Católica,

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

and

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

in the months following the formation of the competition. The competition is regarded as a forerunner to the

, with Saarbrücken representing the Saar in the

1955–56 European Cup 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 Stade de Reims 4–3 in the final at Parc des Princes, Paris, on 13 June 1956. The ...

, despite playing in the German league system at the time. Saarbrücken won their first game in

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

's inaugural European competition, beating

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

4–3 at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

, before losing the second leg and exiting the competition on aggregate.

References

{{1. FC Saarbrücken 1. FC Saarbrücken German football friendly trophies Defunct international club association football competitions in Europe Recurring sporting events established in 1949 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1951 1949 establishments in Europe 1951 disestablishments in Europe Football competitions in Saarland Borussia Neunkirchen