About London XI

The London XI was a representative football team of the city of London, created for the first Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1955–58. The rules of the competition allowed only one team from each city that held a trade fair, so London, which had several strong clubs, put together a side from the best players of the eleven London-area Football League clubs, among them Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

Managed by Chelsea chairman Joe Mears, the London XI won its group ahead of the Basel and Frankfurt city teams and beat Lausanne-Sport in the semi-final. It played its home matches at several London grounds, including Wembley, White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge.

In the final the London XI drew 2–2 at Stamford Bridge with the Barcelona XI and lost the second leg 6–0 at the Camp Nou, 8–2 on aggregate. The team only took part in the 1955–58 tournament; afterwards London was represented in the competition by individual clubs.