The 1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was an association football match contested between Fiorentina 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 and the second leg at the Stadio Comunale in 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 Round Opponents First leg Second legAggregate score Preliminary round Ferencváros 4–2 (h) 1–2 (a) 5–4 Quarter-finals Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–0 (a) 8–0 (h) 11–0 Semi-finals Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–0 (h) 1–1 (a) 3–1
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 Round Opponents First leg Second legAggregate score Quarter-finals FC Luzern 3–0 (a) 6–2 (h) 9–2 Semi-finals Dinamo Zagreb 3–0 (h) 1–2 (a) Pens 4–2
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 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
GK 1 Billy RitchieDF 2 Bobby Shearer DF 3 Eric Caldow (c)DF 4 Harold DavisDF 5 Bill PatersonMF 6 Jim BaxterMF 7 Davie WilsonMF 8 Ian McMillanFW 9 Alex ScottFW 10 Ralph BrandMF 11 Bobby HumeManager: Scot Symon GK 1 Enrico AlbertosiDF 2 Enzo RobottiDF 3 Sergio CastellettiDF 4 Piero GonfiantiniDF 5 Alberto Orzan (c)MF 6 Claudio RimbaldoMF 7 Kurt HamrinMF 8 Dante MicheliFW 9 Dino da CostaFW 10 Luigi MilanMF 11 Gianfranco Petris Manager: Nándor Hidegkuti
Second leg
GK 1 Enrico AlbertosiDF 2 Enzo RobottiDF 3 Sergio CastellettiDF 4 Piero GonfiantiniDF 5 Alberto Orzan (c)MF 6 Claudio RimbaldoMF 7 Kurt HamrinMF 8 Dante MicheliFW 9 Dino da CostaFW 10 Luigi MilanMF 11 Gianfranco Petris Manager: Nándor HidegkutiRANGERS: GK 1 Billy RitchieDF 2 Bobby Shearer DF 3 Eric Caldow (c)DF 4 Harold DavisDF 5 Bill PatersonMF 6 Jim BaxterMF 7 Alex ScottMF 8 Ian McMillanFW 9 Jimmy MillarFW 10 Ralph BrandMF 11 Davie WilsonManager: Scot Symon
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 1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final at UEFA.com