The Most Successful Football Teams from each European League (Part 3)

Posted at February 13th, 2011 Add your comment

Third part of the article that will help you with the orientation in every European league. Let’s see what the history of another 5 European leagues is.

Cyprus

Cyprus Football

14 teams are currently competing in the Cypriot First Division, officially known as Marfin Laiki League. Since 2007-2008 season the league is separated in two rounds, as in the second round the first 12 teams are divided in 3 groups of 4 teams, with the points from the first round being carried to the second round.

In 1932 the first Cypriot championship started unofficially, while the first official championship was played in the 1934-1935 season. Trast AC became the first Cypriot champions, but the club was dissolved in 1938 due to financial problems. APOEL dominated in the next years, winning the title 5 times before the World War break. EPA Larnaca (dissolved in 1994) and AEL Limassol also took the silverware, before the first title of another current Cypriot giant – Anorthosis Famagusta. In 1950-1951 Turkish club Cetinkaya won the title and it’s currently one of the best teams in the Northern Cyprus’ championship. Cypriot championship was not held in 1958-1959 and was abandoned in 1963-1964, but between these two seasons AC Omonia took their first title (1965-1966). From 1971-1972 to 1992-1993 it was a long-lasting hegemony by Omonia, who took 15 titles. In the last 10 years the championship race has been really tight, as APOEL, Omonia, Anorthosis and even Apollon Limassol have won the title.

APOEL are leading the table so far this season with 47 points after 19 rounds, 7 points more than Omonia. Anorthosis are 5th, 21 points behind the leaders.

Cypriot Football Clubs

APOEL Nicosia – 20 titles (First title: 1935-1936 – Last title: 2008-2009)
Omonia Nicosia – 20 titles (First title: 1960-1961 – Last title: 2009-2010)
Anorthosis Famagusta – 13 titles (First title: 1949-1950 – Last title: 2007-2008)

Czech Republic

Czech Republic Football

16 teams are participating in the Czech Elite league, known as Gambrinus League. The history of this league began in 1993, after the dissolution of former Czechoslovakia. Sparta Prague became the first champions and won the title 10 more times since then, thus becoming the most successful team in the Czech Republic. Slavia Prague are their biggest rivals, winning the title 3 times and reaching the 2nd spot on 9 occasions. In 2001-2002 and 2005-2006 seasons

Slovan Liberec stole the glory, with forward Jiri Stajner putting his name in the records, becoming top goalscorer in the 2001-2002 season. Romantically, Stajner returned to Liberec at the beginning of the current season and has so far scored 4 goals in 16 matches. In 2003-2004 Banik Ostrava became surprising champions, with current Ferencvarosi striker Marek Heinz scoring 19 goals. This season we can see a surprising leader in Gambrinus league – Viktoria Plzen. Plzen have never finished on one of the top3 positions in the Czech league and could start writing history. Sparta Prague are trailing them by 4 points, while the other former champions are way too far from the title race. Slovan Liberec are 7th with 23 points (18 less than Plzen), Banik Ostrava are 10th with 19 points, while Slavia Prague are 14th, 1 point above the relegation zone.

Czech Football Clubs

Sparta Prague – 11 titles (First title: 1993-1994 – Last title: 2009-2010)
Slavia Prague – 3 titles (First title: 1995-1996 – Last title: 2008-2009)
Slovan Liberec – 2 titles (First title: 2001-2002 – Last title: 2005-2006)
Banik Ostrava – 1 title (2003-2004)

Denmark

Denmark Football

Danish league was introduced in 1912, being named “National Football Tournament” at first. The first 31 titles went to Copenhagen, as B93, AB and KB were winning the silverware from 1946 to 1953. Koge BK became the first non-capital champions in 1954, putting a start to a long-lasting streak of non-Copenhagen champions. It was not until 1967 when a capital side managed to win the title again and it was AB. The Danish championship had been a really open battle in those days, as rarely one team had been capable of winning the title in two consecutive years. Brondby had a successful spell from 1985 to 1990, a period of 4 titles for them. In 1991 the association presented a new competition – “Danish Superliga” that would contain the best teams in Denmark. Brondby won the first Superliga title and also did three consecutive times from 1996 to 1998. FC Copenhagen won their first title in the 1992-1993 season and slowly introduced themselves as a dominant force in the Scandinavian country, winning the silverware on 6 more occasions. KB won the most titles (15) from 1913 to 1991, while Brondby are 2nd with 10. AB Copenhagen and B93 Copenhagen are sharing the 3rd spot with 9 titles each. It’s an interesting fact, that FC Copenhagen was founded in 1992, as KB and B1903 merged together. If we sum all the titles, won by these three teams since 1913, the result is 30, three times more than second-placed Brondby. This season FC Copenhagen are comprehensive leaders in Superliga, having a 19-point advantage ahead of OB. Brondby are 3rd with 21 points less, while AB and B93 are playing in the 2-tier and 3-tier, respectively.

Danish Football Clubs

FC Copenhagen – 30 titles (First title: 1912-1913 /as KB/ - Last title: 2009-2010)
Brondby – 10 titles (First title: 1985 – Last title: 2004-2005)
AB Copenhagen – 9 titles (First title: 1918-1919 – Last title: 1967)
B93 Copenhagen – 9 titles (First title: 1915-1916 – Last title: 1945-1946)

England

England Football

Professional football was legalized in 1885 and English Football League was established in 1888. Preston North End became the first English champion, completing their fixtures unbeaten. In 1892 it was renamed to Football League First Division, with Sunderland being crowned as champions in the first season of the newly-named league. This name was kept until 1992, when Premier League was introduced. The English football league was the first fully-professional football league. Preston and Huddersfield are the only champions before 1992 that have never participated in Premier League. Sheffield Wednesday are the only club who have ever changed their name after winning a title – having previously been known as The Wednesday. Manchester United and Liverpool are leading the title standings, winning 18 titles each. Liverpool were a dominant force in the 70’s and 80’s, but after the title in 1990 this team is still yet to win the trophy. Manchester United won the first Premier League title in 1993 and from then on they started to re-write the history. Arsenal are on the 3rd place with 13 titles, while Everton are 4th with 9. Chelsea are on 7th place with 4 titles, alongside Newcastle and Sheffield Wednesday. Aston Villa (7) and Sunderland (6) are the two other teams, that have more titles than “The Blues”.A lot of excellent players had played and some of them are still playing in the Premier League, namely Teddy Sheringham, Andy Cole, Alan Shearer, Matthew Le Tissier, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Eric Cantona, Thierry Henry, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Michael Owen, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Edwin Van Der Sar and many more Manchester United are fighting for 19th title this season and are currently topping the table with 54 points after 24 games (“Red devils” are still unbeaten!). Arsenal are second with 49 points, while glory hunters Manchester City are third with 45. Liverpool are 7th, 22 points behind Manchester United while Chelsea, Sunderland, Aston Villa and Everton are 4th, 6th, 13th and 14th, respectively. Sheffield Wednesday are playing in League One (3-tier) and are currently on 12th position.

English Football Clubs

Manchester United – 18 titles (First title: 1907-1908 – Last title: 2008-2009)
Liverpool – 18 titles (First title: 1900-1901 – Last title: 1989-1990)
Arsenal – 13 titles (First title: 1930-1931 – Last title: 2003-2004)
Everton – 9 titles (First title: 1890-1891 – Last title: 1986-1987)

Estonia

Estonia Football

Estonian Meistrliiga was founded in 1991, after Estonian independency restoration. The first organized Estonian championship was back in 1921, with Sport Tallinn becoming the first champions. Until the World War II Kalev Tallinn and Estonia Tallinn also rose to prominence with some trophies, but the communist regime brought wholly new traditions in the Estonian football. Dunamo Tallinn, Balti Laevastik Tallinn and Kalev Ulemiste were dictating the tempo until the late 60’s, when Norma Tallinn, Baltika Narva and Dvigatel Tallinn managed to break this hegemony. Dunamo restored their power between 1978 and 1983, winning 4 titles. TVMK won the last two titles before the fall of the Soviet Union. Norma Tallinn won the first Meistrliiga title in 1992 and then repeated the success in the next season. Flora arrived on the Estonian stage in the 1993-1994 season, winning the title, thus starting a tradition of finishing in the top 3 until modern day, with only 2 exceptions. Lantana won 2 consecutive titles in 1996 and 1997, but were dissolved in 1999. In the same season Levadia won their first title and started a fierce rivalry with Flora that still continues at present. Only TVMK managed to break this two-side model, winning the title in 2005. Flora are leading the title race with 8 trophies, while Levadia are second with 7. Lantana and Norma have won it 2 times, while TVMK – once. Last season, Flora managed to win the gold medals, finishing with 5 points more than Levadia. None of the other three Meistrliiga champions is still a functioning club. Former dominions Dunamo Tallinn finished 6th in the East/North II Liiga (3-tier). Balti Leavastik Tallinn and Sport Tallinn do not exist anymore, even though Sport Tallinn were functioning between 2003 and 2008.

Estonian Football Clubs - All-Time

Dunamo Tallinn – 10 titles (First title: 1945 – Last title: 1983)
Balti Leavastik Tallinn – 10 titles (First title: 1946 /as BL Tallinn/ - Last title: 1972)
Sport Tallinn – 9 titles (First title: 1921 – Last title: 1933)

Meistrliiga

Flora Tallinn – 8 titles (First title: 1993-1994 – Last title: 2010)
Levadia Tallinn – 7 titles (First title: 1999 /as Levadia Maardu/ - Last title: 2009)
Lantana Tallinn – 2 titles (First title: 1995-1996 – Last title: 1996-1997)
Norma Tallinn – 2 titles (First title: 1992 – Last title: 1992-1993)
TVMK Tallinn – 1 title (2005)

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