First season in Europe: Best British performances

European football is often considered the pinnacle of club football; a clash of both teams and football cultures as clubs from all over the continent go head-to-head across three separate competitions.

Following Brighton’s staggering finish in the Europa League places this season, we review the best performances from a British side’s first season in different European competitions.

Leicester City – 2016/17

Despite previously appearing in the European Cup Winner’s Cup in the 1960s and the UEFA Cup in the late 1990s, Leicester City’s debut in the illustrious UEFA Champions League will be remembered most fondly by fans of the Foxes in terms of their debut into European competitions. Having miraculously won the Premier League the season before, they began the Champions League draw as one of the seeded teams, and were placed in Group G alongside Porto, Club Brugge, and Copenhagen.

The Foxes coasted out of their group as winners, winning four of their six games, before brilliantly overturning a 2-1 deficit against European veterans Sevilla in the round of 16 to advance to the quarter-finals. Two legs against Atletico Madrid proved to be a bridge too far for Craig Shakespeare’s men, narrowly losing 2-1 on aggregate to the Spanish giants to conclude their European adventure.

Aston Villa – 1981/82

Aston Villa are well renown for being one of the most successful clubs in England, despite their relatively mild success since the turn of the century, but their European triumph in the early 1980s has cemented their place as one of England’s finest. To make it even more special, it was their first ever appearance in the European Cup – an astonishing achievement by all standards.

The west Midlands side began their campaign by thrashing Valur 7-0 on aggregate, although they experienced a much tougher assignment in the round of 16, sneaking past BFC Dynamo by virtue of the away goal rule after each side won one leg. After beating Dynamo Kiev and Anderlecht in the quarter finals and semi finals respectively, Tony Barton’s men came up against German giants Bayern Munich in the final, with Peter Withe’s second-half strike enough to secure a first European title for the Villans.

Celtic – 1966/67

Another British club to taste success in their first ever European campaign were Celtic in 1967, managed by the legendary Jock Stein. The Glasgow side began their European adventure with an 8-1 aggregate victory over Swiss side FC Zurich to progress to the first round.

French side Nantes were a strong opposition but the Greens scored six goals over two legs to coast through 6-1 on aggregate, before facing Serbian side Vojvodina in the quarter finals. Despite losing the first leg 1-0, Stein’s men rallied in the return fixture at Celtic Park and squeezed through 2-1 on aggregate. A 3-1 aggregate win against Dukla Prague in the semi finals was enough to see them face off with Italian giants Inter Milan in the final in Portugal, where two second half goals from Tommy Glemmell and Stevie Chambers rounded off a brilliant 2-1 comeback victory to hand them the trophy at the first time of asking, which also saw them become the first ever team to win a treble

Nottingham Forest – 1978/79

Arguably one of the most iconic European triumphs and certainly one of the most memorable British debut seasons goes to Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in 1979. The Reds hold a unique record of only ever appearing in the European Cup on three occasions – yet winning two of them in consecutive seasons between 1978 and 1980.

Having dispatched fellow British side Liverpool in the first round, Forest’s European adventure continued as they resoundingly beat AEK Athens 7-2 on aggregate, before another high-scoring affair against Grasshoppers (5-2 on aggregate). The east Midlands side then impressively snuck past Cologne 1-0 in the second leg away from home after drawing 3-3 at the City Ground, landing them a final date with Swedish side Malmo FF. A second-half Trevor Francis header was enough to give Clough’s men the trophy and complete one of the most remarkable stories in football history