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Surprise/Unusual League Winners Across Europe


jamamafegan

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I love an underdog. I take great pleasure in seeing a football club break the mould and pull off a historical campaign by winning their domestic top flight. I don't like seeing the same teams winning the league every season. I've been having a look at some of the major European leagues to see when the last time was that a team won the league and ended the dominance of the usual suspects. Please note that when I say underdog I say that quite loosely, for example when Manchester City won the league in 2012 it wasn't necessarily a surprise that they did so due to their wealth - however they did end the dominance of clubs of usual winners like Manchester United and Chelsea that season.

Lets have a look at some of new clubs to pull off title winning seasons across Europe:

England

Leicester City - 2015/16 (1st title)

 

Spain

Deportivo de la Coruna - 1999/00 (1st title) - that said, Atlético Madrid broke the Barca/Real dominance in 2013/14. That was their 10th title and their first one since 1996.

 

Germany

Wolfsburg - 2008/09 (1st title) 

 

Portugal

Boavista - 2000/01 (1st title) - Only they and Belenenses have ever won the league and ended the rule of the "big 3" (Benfica, Porto, Sporting.) 

 

France

Montpellier - 2011/12 (1st title) - Lille won their 3rd title the season before, their first once since 1954.

 

Netherlands

Twente - 2009/10 (1st title) - AZ Alkmaar won only their 2nd title the season before. Feyenoord also broke the Ajax/PSV dominance by winning their 15th title in the 2016/17 season, their first since 1999.

 

Italy

Roma - 2000/01 (3rd title) - in a league currently dominated by Juventus/Milan clubs (Juve have 35 titles, both Milan clubs have 18 each), Roma won their first title since 1983. Lazio won their 2nd title the season before.

 

Scotland

Aberdeen - 1984/85 (4th title) - not so much a surprise at the time however they are the last club to have won the top flight other than the Old Firm.

 

Greece

PAOK - 2018/19 (3rd title) - their first title since 1985.

 

Turkey

Bursaspor - 2009/10 (1st title)

 

That's your lot for now, would be good to see what the record books say for the likes of Russia, Poland and Belgium for example but I can't be bothered looking through more just now! I'll probably come back and add more info for the teams I've put down so far.

Will we see some new teams winning their league come the end of this season? Although Liverpool are 18 time winners they haven't won the top flight for 30 years, so it's looking like we'll see a new winner in England. In Germany, RB Leipzig and Borussia Mönchengladbach are going for the title against Bayern. It would be glorious to see one of them win it.

Edited by jamamafegan
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FK Liepajas Metalurgs winning the 2005 Latvian Virsliga. Since independance in 1991 every title had been won by Skonto Riga which is 14 in a row & a world record tied with Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar. Liepajas did finish 2nd in four of those seasons.



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24 minutes ago, nsr said:

Could be wrong but I think Roma were still pretty big spenders around the 2000/01 era. They weren't the Italian equivalent of Leicester.

That is quite true, Roma did spend a lot that year, they were also in trouble for using dodgy passports to have some South American players considered as EU players

A more surprising title for Italy was Lazio the previous season, mostly because of how Juventus completely shat it

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Could be wrong but I think Roma were still pretty big spenders around the 2000/01 era. They weren't the Italian equivalent of Leicester.
Not sure Lazio's win was all that great an "underdog" achievement either. Was that not the season they spent total fortunes on Crespo, Veron etc?
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2 hours ago, Eednud said:

Going back a bit:

Dundee in 61/62, Kilmarnock 64/65

England - Burnley 59/60, Ipswich Town 61/2 possibly class Manchester City in 67/68 as they were in the old Second Division 2 seasons earlier.

Aberdeen in 54/55

Spurs in 50/51

Everton in 31/32

Third Lanark in 03/04

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2 hours ago, Eednud said:

Going back a bit:

Dundee in 61/62, Kilmarnock 64/65

England - Burnley 59/60, Ipswich Town 61/2 possibly class Manchester City in 67/68 as they were in the old Second Division 2 seasons earlier.

Teams winning the league or being contenders quickly after being promoted wasn't that unusual in those days.  Liverpool were promoted in 1962 and won the title in 1964, Leeds got promoted in 1964 and were runners up in the next two seasons, eventually winning the title in 1969.  Derby got promoted in 1969 and won the league in 1972.  A little earlier and Tottenham won the First Division in their first season up after winning the Second in 1951.

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6 hours ago, Silverton End said:

Hellas Verona winning Serie A back in 1984/85.

 

That was the last season the Italian FA never announced which referee was appointed to each game until the morning of the game. Funnily enough since the Italian FA started announcing which games the referee was assigned to earlier in the week no provincial team has won Serie A. Weird coincidence

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