AuthorJeffEyesRimmer
The season is coming to a close and titles are being decided across Europe with plenty of teams going back to back with championship wins. In a lot of cases more so, Celtic has now won the title six seasons in a row, Bayern Munich have made it five in a row, Benfica four titles in a row and even in my country of birth, Wales, The New Saints have made it six in a row.
So are these up there with the best consecutive title runs ever? Not even close, there are teams that have far exceeded these feats over the years and in several cases are still going. Here are the best title winning runs in Europe. 14 - Lincoln Red Imps FC (Gibraltar) 2003-2016… Yes they may be semi pro but that by no means lessens the achievement of 14 consecutive titles. The Red Imps (great nickname!) now have a chance over the next few seasons to play for a record attempt (more on that later). Although the record is potentially in jeopardy with them being one point off the top (Europa are top at the time of writing) and have only one game to play. Tense is the word. The club was founded in 1976 and in 1984 they managed to gain promotion to the Gibraltar Premier Division. Thanks to UEFA granting Gibraltar status as their 54th member state the Red Imps entered the Champions League in 2014. It didn’t go completely to plan, losing 5-2 on aggregate to Faroese team HB. But they did manage a 1-1 draw in the home tie, so could hold their heads high. Again in 2015 they entered the Champions League and picked up an aggregate win over Andorran side FC Santa Coloma to become the first ever Gibraltar side to qualify for the second round of the UCL. However, it’s this seasons Champions League that has brought the clubs biggest highlight with the club beating Celtic 1-0 at home, with Lee Casciaro scoring to give the underdogs a massive win (video below). That handed Brendan Rodgers a loss in his first game in charge of the Parkhead club. They eventually lost 3-1 on aggregate but the part timers made their mark. What this shows is steady improvement for the club and hopefully we see more of them in the future in Europe. 14 - Skonto Riga (Latvia) 1991-2004 Founded in 1991 with the new Latvian League, Skonto Riga went on to win 14 consecutive titles up until 2004. The club was not among the favourites to win the league in their first season and in the 1992 season an additional game was needed to separate the winner. Now that’s an exciting league climax! Over the next decade Skonto dominated domestically, even going two seasons unbeaten. A particular highlight during this period was the, 15–2 thrashing of FK Valmiera during the 1998 season. These seasons included players like Marian Pahars (of Southampton fame) and Igor Stepanovs (Arsenal) and Skonto made up the majority of the team that qualified for the 2004 Euros. The late 1990s were the real high points for the club, with them managing a draw with Chelsea in the UCL qualifying rounds in 1999. Unfortunately, in 2005 they were dethroned by FHK Liepājas Metalurgs and from that point on the club went into decline. They did have resurgence in 2010 when they won the league again but it was to be a false dawn. In the summer of 2011 the club were hit with a financial crisis that they never truly recovered from. The sponsors of the club ended their backing when they themselves were having problems. This led to major delays to paying players and transfer fees and led to the club being initially refused entry into the league in 2014 due to the ongoing mounting debts. Then the sanctions from UEFA came, they were disqualified from the 2014-15 Europa League, a much needed financial lifeline, and in December 2016 the club went bankrupt. This is a club without a happy ending sadly. 13 - Rosenborg (Norway) 1992-2004 The club was originally founded in 1917 and were called Odd (amazing name). They were barred from playing amateur league until 1928 and that is when they took the name Rosenborg. The club were in the lower divisions for much of their early life and eventually won promotion into the top flight in 1967. They proceeded to win three league titles between 1967 and 1971. However, the golden era was from 1991 through to 2004 when the team won 13 consecutive titles. Of those, 10 were under one manager, Nils Arne Eggen. It was during this time that they managed to qualify for the Champions League 11 times and in the 1996-1997 season they progressed to the quarter final stages, beating AC Milan in the San Siro on the way before eventually losing out to Juventus 3-1. Other major victories included 3-0 wins over Dortmund and a 5-1 win over Greek Champions Olympiacos. However, probably their greatest night was a 2-0 victory over Real Madrid in the 1997–98 season (video below). After Nils Arne Eggen retired in 2003, Åge Hareide came in and he immediately set to overhauling a squad that was getting on in years. The plan succeeded and Rosenborg romped to the title in 2004. However, after the title victory Hareide left and with other clubs in the league catching up to Rosenborg the club failed to adapt to better competition. After winning the league in 2004 the club nosedived due to mismanagement and were fighting relegation in the 2005 season. However, they have turned it around with successful coaching and root and branch initiatives and have won back to back championships in 2015 and 2016. With 8 games of the new league in 2017 over Rosenborg sit top of the league with 20 points. The Trondheim club are back! Two other notable consecutive title victories include BATE Barysau (Belarus) and Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) who both have 11 in a row from 2006-2016. Both these sides could increase their streaks over the coming seasons. There are also a few clubs outside of Europe that have won just as many as the teams mentioned above. Now many of you might be reading this and thinking that its easy for the one team with all the money and infrastructure to dominate in a small league and to some degree you are right, but they still needed to win those trophies, it does a disservice to those sides and league otherwise. Its interesting that the clubs in this list are also at varying stages of their development, from the Red Imps being new kids on the block in Europe, Rosenborg the fallen giant coming back to regain past glories and then Skonto Riga who have gone entirely (sad). However, none of these teams have yet matched the 15! Yes, 15 consecutive title wins by Tafea FC on the Pacific Island of Vanuatu in the Port Vila Football League. Tafea FC won the title from 1994 season until the 2008/2009. There were knocked off the perch by Amicale FC, who also gone their own streak, winning the title six times since. Lincoln does have a serious chance at breaking the record though if they can claim this seasons Championship. But what about the top five leagues in Europe? What are the best runs in those leagues? We will save that for another article. |
AuthorsJust Some Fans Writing About Football. Archives
June 2018
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