The 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was the 13th and final season of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a European football competition for teams not qualified for the European Cup or the European Cup Winners' Cup. Back in 1969, UEFA determined this would be the final year of the Fairs Cup before taking over the organizational duties and evolving the competition into the UEFA Cup, which is now known as the UEFA Europa League.^[1]

Quick Facts Tournament details, Teams ...

1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Tournament details
Teams	64
Final positions
Champions	Leeds United (2nd title)
Runners-up	Juventus
Tournament statistics
Matches played	126
Goals scored	382 (3.03 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Pietro Anastasi (10 goals)
← 1969–70 1971–72 (UEFA Cup) →

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The final was played over two legs at Stadio Comunale, Turin, Italy, and at Elland Road, Leeds, England. It was won by Leeds United of England, who defeated the Italian team Juventus on the away goals rule after a 3–3 aggregate draw to claim their second Inter-Cities Fairs Cup title. It was the first time the competition final had been won on the away goals rule.

This was to be the final European title for Leeds United, which would cap off its most successful era later in the decade with two further finals in UEFA-organized tournaments. It was also the second Fairs Cup final lost by Juventus, who still had not won a European title. Notably, the first leg of the final was replayed from scratch two days later after the initially scheduled game, which was abandoned after 51 minutes of play with a score of 0–0 due to heavy rain and a waterlogged pitch.

As no team had ever managed to permanently win the Inter-Cities Fairs trophy that was to be discontinued, its destination was decided in a special play-off between the first and last competition winners: Barcelona and Leeds United, respectively.^[1]

A total of 64 teams from 29 countries were entered in the 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. For the first time, a team from Finland entered the competition, with the allocation scheme being redrawn as follows

• England have five teams qualify due to the use of the title holder birth.
• 5 countries have four teams qualify.
• 3 countries have three teams qualify.
• 10 associations have two teams qualify.
• 10 associations have one team qualify.

Scotland and Yugoslavia gained a fourth birth, which Portugal lost. These places came mainly from the loss of a second Fairs Cup birth by East Germany, Norway and Northern Ireland.

More information Five teams, Four teams ...

Countries in the 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Five teams England Four teams Scotland Italy Spain West Germany Yugoslavia Belgium

Three teams Portugal Belgium France Two teams Hungary Czechoslovakia Poland Bulgaria Netherlands Romania Austria Greece Switzerland Denmark

One team East Germany Turkey Sweden Northern Ireland Norway Finland Republic of Ireland Luxembourg Malta Iceland

Did not compete Wales[Note WAL] Albania Soviet Union Cyprus

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Teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for competition:

• TH: Title holders
• CW: Cup winners
• CR: Cup runners-up
• LC: League Cup winners
• 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
• P-W: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners
• Sum: Position at the halfway mark or the summer break in a calendar-based league

Qualified teams for 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Arsenal (TH)	Leeds United (2nd)	Liverpool (5th)	Coventry City (6th)
Newcastle United (7th)[Note ENG]	Rangers (2nd)	Hibernian (3rd)	Dundee United (5th)
Kilmarnock (7th)[Note ONE]	Inter Milan (2nd)	Juventus (3rd)	Fiorentina (4th)
Lazio (8th)[Note ICFC]	Athletic Bilbao (2nd)	Sevilla (3rd)	Barcelona (4th)
Valencia (5th)	Bayern Munich (2th)	Hertha BSC (3rd)	Köln (4th)
Hamburg (6th)[Note ICFC]	Partizan (2nd)	Željezničar (4th)	Dinamo Zagreb (6th)[Note ONE]
Hajduk Split (7th)[Note ICFC]	Vitória de Setúbal (3rd)	Barreirense (4th)	Vitória de Guimaraes (5th)
La Gantoise (3rd)	Anderlecht (4th)	Beveren (5th)	Marseille (2nd)
Sedan (3rd)	Angoulême (4th)	Ferencváros (2nd)	Pécsi Dózsa (7th)[Note ONE]
Spartak Trnava (2nd)	Sparta Prague (3rd)	Ruch Chorzów (2nd)	Katowice (7th)[Note ICFC]
Slavia Sofia (3rd)	Botev Plovdiv (4th)	FC Twente (4th)	Sparta Rotterdam (5th)
Universitatea Craiova (4th)	Dinamo București (5th)	Wiener SC (2nd)	Sturm Graz (3rd)
AEK Athens (2nd)	PAOK (5th)[Note ONE]	Lausanne-Sport (2nd)	Grasshoppers (4th)
AB (Sum-2nd)[Note DEN]	B 1901 (Sum-3rd)	Dynamo Dresden (3rd)	Eskişehirspor (2nd)
Malmö (Sum-1st)	Coleraine (2nd)	Sarpsborg (Sum-1st)	Ilves-Kissat (Sum-1st)
Cork Hibernians (LC)	Rumelange (2nd)	Sliema Wanderers (2nd)	ÍA (Sum-1st)

Notes

1. ^
   England: Derby County originally qualified for the Fairs Cup by finishing 4th in the 1969–70 Football League. However, a disciplinary commission found the team guilty of administrative and financial irregularities. As a result, Derby County was not allowed to compete in the Fairs Cup. Newcastle United, the next best team not qualified for international competition, took its place.
2. ^
   Scotland, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Greece: The following teams qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup due to the 'one city, one team' rule that prevented other teams from competing:

   • Scotland: Kilmarnock qualified instead of Hearts (4th), ineligible because of Hibernian also being from Edinburgh, and Dundee (6th), ineligible because of Dundee United.
   • Yugoslavia: Dinamo Zagreb qualified instead of OFK Belgrade (5th), ineligible because of Partizan also being from Belgrade.
   • Hungary: Pécsi Dózsa qualified instead of Budapest Honvéd (3rd), MTK Budapest (4th), Vasas (5th) and Csepel (6th), all ineligible because of Ferencváros also being from Budapest.
   • Greece: PAOK qualified instead of Olympiacos (3rd), ineligible because of AEK Athens also being from Athens.
3. ^
   West Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia and Poland: The following teams competed in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup instead of other teams that would've had the first right to compete via their league position, and were not in breach of the 'one city, one team' rule. 'Fair trade' eligibility for the unqualified teams is unknown in some cases:

   • West Germany: Hamburg qualified instead of Borussia Dortmund (5th), which had played previously in the Fairs Cup.
   • Italy: Lazio qualified instead of Napoli (6th), which had competed in the Fairs Cup the previous season. Both Milan (4th) and Torino (7th) were ineligible because of Inter Milan and Juventus qualifying ahead of them.
   • Yugoslavia: Hajduk Split qualified instead of Velež (3rd).
   • Poland: GKS Katowice qualified instead of Polonia Bytom (4th), Zagłębie Sosnowiec (5th) and Gwardia Warsaw (6th).
4. ^
   Denmark: Newly promoted Brönshöj led the standings at the June break, but the team was not approved to compete by the Danish federation. It was replaced by AB, who was second at the time and couldn't qualify initially because the team was also based in Copenhagen.

The schedule of the competition was as follows. Matches were primarily scheduled for Wednesdays, though some matches took place on Tuesdays, and exceptionally on Thursdays. After the first leg of the final had to be postponed to a Friday, the return leg played in the following weekend was moved one day backwards to a Thursday. The first leg of the 1st round match-up between Sevilla FC and Eskisehirspor was played on a Saturday.