London XI

The London XI was an association football representative team, specially created to take part in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

The competition was created on 18 April 1955, and the first tournament took three years to complete. The entrants were the major football team of each city which held a Trade Fair. Like many cities taking part, London had several strong teams; however rules stated that there could only be a single team from each city. It was decided to create a team especially for the tournament, using the best players from each London-based club. Membership of the team varied considerably between matches, to the effect that as many as 54 players took part in the 8 matches of the campaign.

The London XI, managed by Chelsea chairman Joe Mears, reached the final of the cup, after coming top of a group that included special XI teams from Basel and Frankfurt, and then beating Lausanne Sports. London lost 8-2 on aggregate over two legs to FC Barcelona.

The London XI only competed in the 1955-58 tournament, all future Inter-Cities Fairs Cups involving a London team were contested by individual clubs from London instead.

A unified London side appears to have competed in friendly matches even earlier: there is passing mention of "London" having been heavily defeated in a friendly match against Corinthian FC in a 1904 Times article.