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The Last Domestic Cup's Non-Top-Flight Champions in the European Top League

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The non-top-flight domestic cup champions have been incredibly rare in the European top five, and there have been none since the late 2000s.

It's been a while since non-top-tier clubs won the domestic cup. Interestingly, such events have occurred throughout Europe's top five leagues. No one from the lower division has ever won a title in one of them.

In England, lower-tier teams used to surprise fans every now and then, whether in the FA Cup or the EFL Cup. Compared to the other top five major leagues, England had more non-top-flight champions. The fans saw them win eight times in the former and five times in the latter. Meanwhile, non-top-tier teams have only won the German Cup, also known as the DFB Pokal, Coupe de France, and Coppa Italia, twice in their history. The Spanish Copa del Rey is the worst, with none of them winning the title even once.

Here are the last non-top-flight domestic cup winners in the European major leagues.

EFL League Cup

The tournament, which is currently known as the Carabao Cup, saw the last non-top-flight champions back in the 1990–91 season. At that time, the second-tier Sheffield Wednesday managed to thump Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley in the final. The Irish central midfielder, John Sheridan,bagged the only goal of the game with a long-range shot just outside thesix-yard box. It was the Owls’ first trophy in the competition.

In addition, Nigel Pearson and Co. secured their promotion in the same season. Unfortunately, their European campaign in the following season was cut short as they headed to exit in the second round of the UEFA Cup. Ron Atkinson’s men lost 5-3 on aggregate to Germany’s Kaiserslautern.

Sheffield Wednesday’s road to glory

2nd round: vs Brentford 2-1; 2-1

3rd round : vs Swindon 0-0 (1-0 replay)

4th round: vs Derby County: 1-1 (2-1 replay)

5th round: vs Coventry 1-0

Semifinal: vs Chelsea 2-0; 3-1

Final: vs Manchester United 1-0

Top players

Ronald Nilsson (Sweden), Nigel Pearson, Trevor Francis

Manager

Ron Atkinson

(former Manchester United, Atletico Madrid and Aston Villa boss who won 2 FA Cups and 2 League Cups in his career)

 Previous non-top-tier winners:

-          Norwich City (1962)

-          QPR (1967)

-          Swindon Town (1969)

-          Aston Villa (1975)

FA Cup

The oldest football tournament saw their last non-top-tier team lift the trophy in 1980. At that time, West Ham, which were competing at the second division, was able to stun Arsenal in the final. Trevor Brooking, a former England international and current FA director of football development, netted the only goal of the game. It was the Hammers’ last FA Cup trophy. Unfortunately, they only sat seventh on the second division final table. Frank Lampard Sr and Co eventually gained their promotion in 1981.

West Ham’s European campaign in the following season was fairly satisfactory. They managed to advance to the round of eight in Cup Winners Cup before suffering a loss to the eventual champions, Dinamo Tbilisi. John Lyall’s men knocked out Real Madrid B and Politehnica Timisoara in the previous stages.

West Ham’s road to glory

3rd round: vs West Bromwich 1-1 (2-1 replay)

4th round : vs Leyton Orient 3-2

5th round: vs Swansea 2-0

6th round: vs Aston Villa 1-0

Semifinal: vs Everton 1-1 (2-1 replay)

Final: vs Arsenal 1-0

Top players

Trevor Brooking, Frank Lampard Sr.

Manager

John Lyall

(former West Ham and Ipswich boss who guided The Hammers to Cup Winners Cup final in 1976 plus won 2 FA Cups)

 Previous non-top-tier winners:

-          Notts County (1894)

-          Tottenham (1901)

-          Wolverhampton (1908)

-          Barnsley (1912)

-          West Bromwich (1931)

-          Sunderland (1973)

-          Southampton (1976)

DFB Pokal

The German cup witnessed a shock winner in 1992 when the second-tier team, Hannover 96 snatched the title in the final after beating Gladbach 4-3 on penalties. Both teams shared spoils in a stalemate after 120 minutes. Their success marked them as one of the only two non-top-flight champions in DFB Pokal history. Hannover 96 only finished fifth in the Bundesliga 2 final standings.

Unfortunately, Michael Koch and Co’s campaign in Europe in 1992/93 season was short-lived as they were eliminated in the first round by their German counterpart, Werder Bremen. They were beaten 4-3 on aggregate. Their domestic campaign did not even improve as they failed to gain promotion. In fact, they even suffered a relegation to the third tier in 1996.

Hannover’s road to glory

1st round: vs NSC Marathon 7-0

2nd round : vs Bochum 3-2

3rd round: vs Dortmund 3-2

Round of 16: vs Bayer Uerdingen 1-0

Quarterfinal: vs Karlsruher SC 1-0

Semifinal: vs Werder Bremen 1-1 (6-5 on penalties)

Final: vs Gladbach 0-0 (4-3 on penalties)

Top players

-

Manager

Michael Lorkowski

(a gaffer who mainly led second-tier teams in Germany such as FC St.Pauli and VfB Lubeck)

 

Previous non-top-tier winners:

-          Kickers Offenbach ( 1970)

Coppa Italia

In Italy, the last time a non-top-flight team won the domestic cup was not as recently as in England or Germany. It happened way back in the 1960s. Napoli, still playing in Serie B, clinched their first Coppa Italia title in 1962, defeating SPAL 2-1. They were also promoted to Serie A during the same season.

However, their first European campaign in the following season ended too soon. Il Partenopei was eliminated in the second round of the 1963 Cup Winners Cup after losing 3-1 in a replay game to Yugoslavia's OFK Beograd. At the time, both teams had to play an additional one-time game or replay if they beat each other, regardless of the score.

Napoli’s road to glory

1st round: vs Alessandra 1-1 (6-5 on penalties)

2nd round : vs Sampdoria 0-0 (7-6 on penalties

Round of 16: vs Torino 2-0

Quarterfinal: vs AS Roma 1-0

Semifinal: vs Mantova 2-1

Final: vs SPAL 2-1

Top players

-

Manager

Bruno Pesaola

(Argentine manager who mainly took charge of mid or low table teams such as Bologna and Fiorentina beside Napoli)

 

Previous non-top-tier winners:

-          Vado (1922)

Coupe de France

France saw the most recent non-top-tier domestic cup winner in 2009. The Ligue 2 side, Guingamp liftedtheir first French Cup trophy after crushing Rennes 2-1 in the summit. Eduardo scored a brace at the second half after conceding through Carlos Bocanegra. Unfortunately, they only finished 13th in the final standing and even went down to the third tier in 2010. Their continental campaign in the following season was also disappointing. Lionel Mathis and Co were eliminated instantly in the 2009/10 Europa League playoff round. They were hammered by Hamburg 8-2 on aggregate.

Guingamp’s road to glory

7th round: vs Dinard 5-0

8th round : vs La Vitreenne 1-1 (4-1 on penalties)

Round of 64: vs Tour d’Auvergne Rennes 0-0 (5-4 on penalties)

Round of 32: vs Brest 2-0

Round of 16: vs Le Mans 1-0

Quarterfinal: vs Sedan 3-1

Semifinal: vs Toulouse 2-1

Final: vs Rennes 2-1

Top players

Wilson Oruma, Bakary Kone, Lionel Mathis,

Manager

Victor Zvunka

(Former Nice boss who mainly led lower division teams such as Chateauroux, Guegnon, Nimes and Valenciennes )

 Previous non-top-tier winners:

-          Le Havre (1959)


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