The 1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was an
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
match contested between
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...
of Italy and
Rangers of Scotland. It was the final match of the
1960–61 European Cup Winners' Cup and the first
European Cup Winners' Cup final. It was the only time that the final was played over
two legs. The first leg was played at
Ibrox Park,
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
and the second leg at the
Stadio Comunale in
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
. It was Rangers first European final and in doing so became the first Scottish 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.
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
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star.
Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
in 1999.
Fiorentina, who were managed by Hungarian
Nándor Hidegkuti
Nándor Hidegkuti (3 March 1922 – 14 February 2002) was a Hungarian football player and manager. He played as a forward or attacking midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career at MTK Hungária FC. During the 1950s he was also a ...
, were the recent
Coppa Italia
Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since.
Juventus is the competition's most successf ...
winners and had reached the final of the
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
four years earlier. Their team included many Italian internationals including goalkeeper
Enrico Albertosi
Enrico "Ricky" Albertosi (; born 2 November 1939) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Regarded as one of Italy's greatest ever goalkeepers, he had a successful club career, winning titles with Fiorentina, Cagliari, and Mi ...
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
See also
*
ACF Fiorentina in European football
*
Rangers F.C. in European football
References
External links
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
{{ACF Fiorentina matches
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Cup Winners' Cup Final 1961
Cup Winners' Cup Final 1961
1961
Cup Winners' Cup Final 1961
Cup Winners' Cup Final 1961
Cup Winners' Cup Final 1961
Cup Winners' Cup Final
Cup Winners' Cup Final
European Cup Winners' Cup final, 1961
European Cup Winners' Cup Final
International sports competitions in Glasgow
European Cup Winners' Cup Final
European Cup Winners' Cup final, 1961
Association football matches in Scotland
Football competitions in Florence