Did you know that, despite the inaugural European Cup Final taking place between a Spanish team and their French counterparts, three Englishmen were on the pitch for the full 90 minutes?
Reffing the final, repping the country
@nationalfootballmuseum What object do we have from the first ever European Cup Final? 🎵 A very special object relating to one of the few Englishmen in attendance, courtesy of The Players Foundation. #fyp #footballmuseum #footballhistory #championsleague #europeancup #referee ♬ A moist healing song – Nez Tunes
Referee Arthur Edward Ellis was appointed to take charge of this incredibly important fixture, aided by J. Parkinson and Tommy Cooper. Arthur had officiated all of Hibernian’s fixtures from the second round of the competition up to the semi-final, where they were beaten by then three-time Ligue 1 champions Stade de Reims.
For these games, Ellis was asked to provide his own assistants, calling upon Jimmy Caitlin and his own brother, Frank Ellis, but The FA stepped in to select his team for the final.
The game itself was a seven-goal thriller. Reims stormed into an early lead courtesy of goals from Michel Leblond and Jean Templin, but Alfredo Di Stefano and Hector Rial levelled proceedings before half-time. Undeterred, the French side regained the lead through Michel Hidalgo, but centre-half Marquitos drew Real level again within five minutes.
With little over ten minutes remaining, Rial scored his second of evening, clinching the trophy for Madrid. It would be the first of five consecutive European Cups won by Los Blancos.
Arthur Edward Ellis
One of The FA’s premier referees, Ellis had taken charge of big games before. He was one of the English officials at the 1950 World Cup, and the match referee for the 1952 FA Cup Final between Newcastle United and Arsenal. He went on to ref at the 1954 and 1958 World Cups, as well as taking up the whistle for the first ever European Championship final in 1960: an extra-time win for the Soviet Union over Yugoslavia.
He is perhaps best remembered for being the referee for the infamous Battle of Berne: the 1954 World Cup quarter-final between Hungary and Brazil. Many anticipated an exciting encounter between two of the world’s best sides, but a penalty awarded by Ellis instigated a pitch invasion from Brazilian journalists and officials. Thereafter, the game was marred by violent tackles and flare-ups.
By the time Ellis blew the whistle for full-time, he had awarded two penalty kicks, 42 fouls, and dished out three red cards. The fighting even continued in the dressing room post-match, though FIFA did not take any further disciplinary action.
The object: the whistle from the European Cup Final
We are delighted to have an object from that first ever final, courtesy of The Players Foundation.
This is the whistle used by Ellis on the day: the Acme Thunderer. It was manufactured by Birmingham firm J. Hudson & Co, which had been producing whistles since the 19th century. They claim to have made the first ever sports whistle back in 1884, and the Thunderer had become the industry standard for football officials.
This particular whistle has Coupe Champions Europeans engraved on the side, and still possesses its original leather strap. The company is now known as Acme, which is Greek for ‘highest point’ – a reference to the high pitch of these whistles. They are still going strong today, manufacturing different versions of the Thunderer, as well as its modern successor, the Tornado 2000.
Find out more about The Players Foundation and their work via their website below.