Crystal Palace will debut in the UEFA Conference League, marking their first entry into a major European competition after previous minor outings in the Anglo-Italian Cup and the 1998 Intertoto Cup, where they lost 4-0 on aggregate to Samsunspor. Samsunspor return to European competition after a 27-year absence. British clubs have a long history of notable European debuts dating back to the mid-1950s. Chelsea were invited to the inaugural European Cup in 1955 but withdrew under pressure from Football League secretary Alan Hardaker. Scotland supplied the first British entrant when Hibernian were chosen to represent the nation and reached the semi-finals.
After all the shenanigans with Uefa, Crystal Palace are now ready to make their debut in a major European competition, albeit the lesser Conference League. Palace have been involved in Europe before but only in minor competitions three entries into the Anglo-Italian Cup and the long-forgotten 1998 Intertoto Cup campaign in which they lost 4-0 on aggregate to the Turkish club Samsunspor, who are back in Europe this season after a 27-year hiatus.
Some suggested the club were entered because they had won the league three times in the previous eight years and had an attractive style of play. Perhaps more significant, Easter Road was the only Scottish ground with floodlights so it could host midweek evening matches. There was also the fact that the Hibs chair, Harry Swan, just happened to be the president of the SFA, which may have influenced the selection.
Whatever the final criteria, Hibernian took the plunge away at the West German side Rot-Weiss Essen and it could hardly have gone much better. They won 4-0, with Eddie Turnbull having the honour of scoring the first goal for a British club in Europe. Hibs then beat Chelsea's replacements, Djurgarden, before losing to Reims in the semi-finals.
Collection
[
|
...
]