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) |
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Norwich City (1962)
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QPR (1967)
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Swindon Town (1969)
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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) |
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Notts County (1894)
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Tottenham (1901)
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Wolverhampton (1908)
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Barnsley (1912)
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West Bromwich (1931)
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Sunderland (1973)
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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:
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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 ) |
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Le Havre (1959)
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