<P> English football clubs have entered European association football competitions (UEFA Champions League / European Cup, UEFA Cup / Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the now defunct UEFA Intertoto Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup) since 1955, when Birmingham City and a London XI took part in the inaugural Inter-Cities Fairs Cup . English clubs have also taken part in the FIFA Club World Cup on four occasions and the Intercontinental Cup on six occasions . </P> <P> The European Cup began in 1955--56, but there was no English representative during that inaugural season as reigning champions Chelsea had been persuaded to withdraw by The Football League . The first English side to participate in the following edition was Manchester United, who were also the first English winners in 1968, ten years after their first attempt to win the cup had effectively ended when eight of their players died in the Munich air disaster when flying home from Belgrade after qualifying for the 1957--58 semi-final . Tottenham Hotspur won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963 . </P> <P> Prior to that, England had been pioneers in establishing international competitions, with the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, which was won by West Auckland when they defeated Italian side Juventus in 1909 . English teams have participated in UEFA competitions every year save for the years between 1985--1990, when in the aftermath of the Heysel Stadium disaster, all English clubs were banned from Europe by UEFA; Liverpool, who had been playing at the Heysel Stadium against Juventus, were banned for six years, until 1991 . Several teams have managed to play in Europe while being outside the top flight, including more recently Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic . </P>

First english team to play in european cup