1959–60 European Cup

The 1959–60 European Cup was the fifth edition of the European Cup, an continental club tournament that was held across Europe. This was the last edition of the European Cup to feature teams from the three British Isle nations before only one spot became available due to the British Football League.

27 teams competed in the knockout competition with Stade de Reims and the leagues that made the semifinalists in the previous edition automatically going through to the first round. The remaining 22 teams competed in a preliminary round to fill the remaining spots in the draw.

Background
The European Cup is a club competition that was form for the 1955-56 season. It was during that season where the format of a knockout competition between clubs was born with the league winners of each nation being sent to compete in the competition.

This season saw the first time that two French teams that was competing in the competition with Stade de Reims being the defending champions while OGC Nice was the French representative. This was also the last edition that the English, Scottish and Northern Irish teams was separate as starting from 1960–61, they would be united into one team as Great Britain.