The club's involvement in European competition dates back to the 1950s.
Some cities entered a select team including players from more than one club, but Aston Villa, the other major club based in the city of Birmingham, rejected the opportunity to field a combined team.
[A] In the semifinal of the 1961 Fairs Cup Birmingham beat Internazionale home and away; no other English club beat them in a competitive match in the San Siro until Arsenal did so in the Champions League more than 40 years later.
Nacional of Portugal[5] qualified Birmingham for the group stage, in which they were drawn alongside last season's finalists, S.C. Braga of Portugal, Slovenian champions NK Maribor, and fourth-placed Belgian team Club Brugge.
They finished third in group H, one point behind Club Brugge and Braga, so failed to qualify for the knockout rounds.