When Chelsea beat Wolves to the First Division title in 1955 they were not just surpassing the reigning English champions, they were also getting one over on the self-styled “champions of the world”.

Wolves had just beaten Honved and their Marvellous Magyars 3-2 under Molineux’s new floodlights in a game broadcast live by the BBC.

While L’Equipe editor Gabriel Hanot was not buying the British bravado about Wolves being the best side on the planet, he had seen enough to know it was time for Europe to settle this properly. One of Hanot’s reporters, Jacques Ferran, had already been bending his ear about the South American Championship of Champions he had seen a few years before in Chile and, in the summer of 1955, they ganged up on UEFA to get a European version up and running.

The European Champion Clubs’ Cup started on September 4, but Chelsea were not on the starting grid. They had been blocked from accepting UEFA’s...