Malcolm Bailey's Football Blog: ARTHUR REFEREES FIRST EUROPEAN CUP FINAL: EDDIE'S FIRST GOAL

June 13th 1956 was the Final of the first European Cup Competition, as it was called then. It was played at the Parc des Princes in Paris, between Real Madrid and French side, Stade de Rheims. Real Madrid won 4-3 and went on to win the first five European Cup tournaments. The was no English team in the first competition, another delayed decision, by The English FA, to join football's bigger tournaments, although the first final did have an English presence – it was refereed by Arthur Ellis who was later to find fame in television’s It’s A Knockout, where his dipstick became internationally recognised. He also featured as a Pools' panelist.

Ellis' role in the competition was extensive, refereeing those matches played by Hibernian from the second round until the semi-final before being selected for the Final in Paris. Ellis had been informed that he would need to provide the linesmen for the European Cup match against Rot-Weiss Essen. He wrote: "I managed to obtain the services of Jimmy Catlin (Rochdale) and Frank Ellis, then on the Yorkshire League and a Football League linesman. He is my younger brother. We officiated first at the first leg and, at the request of UEFA, the same three – with Frank Ellis of the Yorkshire League still included! – were again appointed to take the second round (both legs) between Hibernian and the Swedish champions. We also acted in the second leg of the semi-final involving Hibernian and the fine French team Rheims."

"I was chosen to referee the first-ever Final of this new competition ... Just when I thought that the same linesmen ... would be there once more, The FA stepped in and said it would soon be regarded by others as a closed shop. Despite the request of Rheims for an 'unchanged team', I was given two linesmen this time – Messrs. J. Parkinson, of Blackburn, and Tommy Cooper, of Bolton."

The participating clubs in the first five seasons of the European Cup were selected by French football magazine L'Equipe, on the basis that they were representative and prestigious clubs in Europe. When the tournament started, Real Madrid, Anderlecht, Milan, Rot-Weiss Essen, Stade de Reims. Djurgarden and AGF Aarhus, were the reigning champions of their respective national leagues. English champions, Chelsea initially agreed to compete and were drawn against Swedish side Djurgården; however, under pressure from The English Football League, who saw the tournament as a distraction to domestic football, they later withdrew from the competition, and were replaced by Gwardia Warszawa of Poland. Scottish champions Aberdeen withdrew under similar circumstances.

Eddie Turnbull, in 1955, was the first British player to score in a European club competition. Turnbull was selected nine times to play for Scotland and played in the 1958 World Cup, he did not physically receive an international cap at the time. This was because he did not play in any Home International matches, and caps were only awarded for playing in those matches until the mid-1970s. This situation was rectified in 2006 as a result of Gary Imlach's successful campaign for his father, Stewart Imlach and other players affected by this rule to receive recognition.

In addition, Holland Sport, Honved and Akadamisk Boldclub rejected the opportunity to represent the Netherlands, Hungary and Denmark respectively, being replaced by PSV Eindhoven, Voros Lobogo and AGF Aarshus (PSV and Vörös Lobogó becoming the last teams until 1997-8, to qualify for the European Cup not by either winning a domestic league or being current title holders). This was also the only UEFA tournament to include a representative of Saarland, a nation unified into West Germany in 1957.

The First Round pairings were fixed by the organisers and not drawn as would be the case for all future European Cup matches. Note Hibernian's representation for Scotland.

First round				Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final

Servette	0	0	0

Real Madrid	2	5	7
				Real Madrid	4	0	4

				Partizan	0	3	3
Sporting CP	3	2	5

Partizan	3	5	8
								Real Madrid	4	1	5

								Milan	2	2	4
Rapid Wien	6	0	6

PSV Eindhoven	1	1	2
				Rapid Wien	1	2	3

				Milan	1	7	8
Milan	3	4	7

Saarbrücken	4	1	5
												Real Madrid	4

												Stade Reims	3
AGF Aarhus	0	2	2

Stade Reims	2	2	4
				Stade Reims	4	4	8

				Vörös Lobogó	2	4	6
Vörös Lobogó	6	4	10

Anderlecht	3	1	4
								Stade Reims	2	1	3

								Hibernian	0	0	0
Djurgården	0	4	4

Gwardia Warszawa	0	1	1
				Djurgården	1	0	1

				Hibernian	3	1	4
Rot-Weiss Essen	0	1	1

Hibernian	4	1	5