In 2022-23 season, there were a number of first-time league champions in Europe. Interestingly none were from what we now identify as the continent’s top leagues – England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the powerhouses of European football. The nine “new” champions were from Andorra, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Poland and Romania.
When Leicester City won the Premier League in 2016, it ended a 38-year gap without a new champion in England. Fifteen of the 24 English champions won their first titles before the second world war and 10 of those were prior to the first world war. Of the major leagues, Italy has the longest current run without a new name at the top, the last new champions being Sampdoria in 1991. In Spain, Deportivo La Coruna were the last side to enjoy that first time at the summit, in 2000. Boavista were Portuguese football’s last club to break the stranglehold of the big three (Benfica, Porto, Sporting) in 2001 and Wolfsburg won their first Bundesliga in 2009. France’s last new champion was Montpellier in 2012.
For some countries, a club breakthrough is not as unheard of as it is in England or Spain. For example, in two of the last five years, Poland has had new champions in Piast Gliwice and Raków Czestochowa. In Turkey, where the big Istanbul trio have dominated, a new name hit the top in the form of Istanbul Basaksehir in 2020.
In other leagues, the traditional leaders have been overtaken by clubs with strong financial backing. In Bulgaria, where the Sofia-based clubs had long dominated, a team from Razgrad benefitted from a takeover by a well known entrepreneur. Ludogorets have since stood astride Bulgarian football, winning their first title in 2012 and in 2023, completed their 12th consecutive triumph. In Austria, the rise of Red Bull Salzburg, driven by their owners, the well known soft drinks company, has seen them win 17 Bundesliga titles since 1994. The balance of power in Austrian football has shifted away from Vienna.
The reality of European football is that the big, established clubs will always win more than their fair share of trophies. In England, football is being dominated – once more – by a team from Manchester. Since the league began in 1888-89, football has gone through periods of leadership that really began with Aston Villa, Sunderland and Newcastle, the clubs of the industrial revolution, and after WW1, the baton passed from Huddersfield to Arsenal and then after WW2, Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham, before the 1960s saw the pendulum swing between Liverpool and Manchester. Liverpool took a firm grip in the late 1970s and 1980s, and when their empire started to fall, Manchester United became the first super club as the Premier exploded. United’s first Premier success in 1993 ended a 26-year wait for the top prize, but it also sent Liverpool into the shadows for 30 years. Chelsea and Manchester City moved into the driving seat thanks to a massive change in their financial status, ending a period where Arsenal and Manchester United jockeyed for position under their exceptional coaches Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.
Most big clubs don’t have to wait long for a piece of silverware. Clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, the two Milans, Benfica, Celtic and the Manchester duo have had their barren moments, but it is a relative calculation. Five years for these clubs is like a decade at most football institutions. Inter and AC Milan both went through difficult periods, but they ended their Serie A drought in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Real Madrid and Barcelona, rather surprisingly, also had their lean times, with Barca going 14 years without a league title between 1960 and 1974 and Real being denied the crown of champions from 1933 and 1954. In more recent times, both clubs would consider three or four years as being comparable to a drought. Since winning the title in 1932, Real Madrid’s average number of years between championships is 2.12. Bayern Munich’s record since their first Bundesliga in 1969 is an impressive 1.74 years, while Benfica’s record (since 1936) is 2.21 and Ajax’s is 2.89 years.
Real and Barca are, effectively, systemic clubs who prop-up domestic football in Spain. Similar levels of importance can be found in most other countries. Benfica and Porto in Portugal, Bayern Munich in Germany, Celtic and Rangers in Scotland, Ajax and Feyenoord in the Netherlands, AC Milan, Inter and Juventus in Italy – all are well supported, wealthy and successful. They are vital components of football’s eco-system in their respective markets.
It is therefore understandable that these clubs have won their domestic league titles more than any of their rivals. Rangers and Celtic have won over 100 between them, Olympiakos in Greece have 47 to their name, Benfica have 38, Ajax and Juventus 36 apiece and Bayern Munich 33. Big city clubs have long dominated industrialised football.
That’s why it is good to hear stories of small clubs coming to the fore. It is becoming a rare occurence, but in Northern Ireland in 2023, a team from Larne, a town of just 18,000 people, were champions for the very first time.
The 2023-24 season has revived hopes of a surprise winner in La Liga, but the script usually involves one of the big guns eventually hitting the top. Girona have been among the pacesetters, but it would seem unlikely they will sustain their exceptional start. In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen, scarcely a small club but certainly an underachieving one, is currently outperforming even Bayern Munich. We can only hope that just occasionally, we can witness a story that compares with Leicester 2016, because football does need those little episodes of unexpected glory.
GAME OF THE PEOPLE 