Europe’s Sleeping Giants: Ten Former Top-Flight Clubs Eye a Return
Deportivo, Parma, and Hamburg are not simply choices for a football enthusiast’s bucket list; they represent former headline-grabbing clubs that have recently returned to their top divisions.
Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Schalke, and Malaga also belong in this group.
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However, with such footballing royalty back in the big time, where can you find Europe’s current sleeping giants? Which one-mighty sides are still snoozing?
We first need to establish some criteria – history, heritage, fanbase, stadium. Clubs with huge potential who currently exist outside the top flight.
Calling a big city home helps, but it is not a deal-maker – sorry to fans of Bristol City and second-tier Russian outfit FC Ufa, where the local population tops one million.
Likewise, some clubs with good-sized stadiums have not made the cut. Bari, whose Stadio San Nicola is the third-largest in Italy and was built for Italia ’90, stands out, though some of their calcio colleagues outside Serie A also have grounds of more than 30,000 – Hellas Verona, Messina and Palermo among them.
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There’s a plethora of ex-Premier League teams with top-flight worthy arenas and storied pasts, while Germany is stacked full of historic clubs with huge homes who arguably deserve a spot – Fortuna Dusseldorf, Wolfsburg, Hannover 96 – but we can’t include them all.
A sleeping giant must have experienced some element of former glory and Pro Vercelli are the obvious candidate there, winning seven Italian titles by 1922. But, despite being under new ownership, the third-tier side boast neither the ground nor local population to awaken that historic status any time soon.
The other nuance is, that success cannot have come too recently. West Ham, for example, won a European competition three years ago, Wolves are recent top-flight regulars; likewise Stade de Reims, twice European Cup runners-up, and eight-time French champions Nantes.
Leaving out Steaua Bucharest was another big call. European Cup winners 40 years ago and Romania’s most dominant club, they now play in Liga II. But, following a deeply divisive split, many of the traditional fanbase follow top-flight FCSB. So who really owns that legacy?
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And there was a case for Boavista, title winners in 2001 but whose existence now hangs by a thread. Facing financial ruin, despite fans’ best efforts, they have been ejected from Portugal’s professional leagues.
Anyway, let’s get on with this. Piped through the matrix above, here are my top 10 European sleeping giants – you can have your say in the comments, too.
10. Bursaspor
League titles: One (2009-10). Domestic cups: One (1985-86). Division: 1.Lig, second tier. Stadium: Centennial Ataturk Stadium (43,361)
Historically dominated by Istanbul’s elite teams, Bursaspor snapped that long-running streak by becoming only the second club from outside of the capital – and first since Trabzonspor almost three decades earlier – to clinch the Turkish title in 2010.
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That meant Champions League nights against Manchester United and Rangers, but in 2024 the Green Crocodiles dropped into the fourth tier for the first time in their history.
Based in a city of about 2.5m people – Bursa sits in the north west, south of Istanbul, near Mount Uludag – and with a unique crocodile-shaped stadium that can house 43,361 fans, Bursaspor have soared up the pyramid since and are looking to return to the Super Lig for the first time since 2019.
9. Dynamo Dresden
League titles: Eight (most recent East German DDR-Oberliga 1989-90). Domestic cups: Seven (most recent 89-90). Division: 2.Bundesliga, second tier. Stadium: Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion (32,085).
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Without wanting to turn this into a 2.Bundesliga table, this is the first of four German entries. But Dynamo Dresden, bearing a complex history and situated in the underrepresented east, feel a little different.
Initially enjoying the support of the security forces before their best players were relocated to Berlin, Dynamo became European regulars and lost to Liverpool in the Uefa Cup in 1976 and European Cup two seasons later.
One of East Germany’s most dominant clubs, they won eight titles and seven cups and joined the Bundesliga in 1991 following reunification, but they dropped into the third tier four years later amid relegation and mounting debts.
Dynamo, with alumni including Matthias Sammer, have bounced around the regional and lower leagues for many years but now sit in 2.Bundesliga.
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Based in a city of more than half a million people, their potential is underpinned by a large, passionate fanbase who averaged over 30,000 for home games in the second tier last term.
8. Kaiserslautern
League titles: Four (most recent 1997-98). Domestic cups: Two (most recent 95-96). Division: 2.Bundesliga. Stadium: Fritz-Walter-Stadion (49,327)
With their 1997-98 success, Kaiserslautern remain the only side to win the Bundesliga immediately after promotion, albeit following a surprise relegation having also been champions in 1991 and enjoyed cup triumphs in 1990 and 1996.
European regulars in the 1990s and early 2000s, it is now almost 15 years since they competed in the Bundesliga, spending four seasons in the third tier before a promotion in 2022.
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Despite modest league finishes, the club continue to record average crowds of more than 46,000 and almost pulled off another shock in 2024 when they reached the German Cup final, losing to Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen.
7. Sheffield Wednesday
League titles: Four (most recent 1929-30). Domestic cups: Four (most recent 90-91). Division: League One, third tier. Stadium: Hillsborough (39,732)
Sheffield United fans may argue that they, not city rivals Sheffield Wednesday, should make this list. But the Owls edge it on history and heritage – even if the most recent of their four league titles came almost 100 years ago.
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Wednesday were League Cup winners in 1991, and in living memory for many gave us magical moments from the likes of David Hirst, Chris Waddle and Paolo di Canio. Yet they now sit in the third tier after entering administration and enduring relegation last season, before a US consortium bought the club in May.
The Owls, boasting England’s 12th biggest club stadium, were relegated from the top flight in 2000, but fans are fuelled with fresh optimism that a reawakening is possible.
6. Hertha BSC
Leagues: Two (most recent 1931). Domestic cups: Two (most recent 2002). Division: 2.Bundesliga, second tier. Stadium: Olympiastadion (74,475).
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I’m convinced Hertha have huge potential, if not the history to match some of their counterparts. Their only titles, for example, precede the Bundesliga era.
But the Old Lady once reached a Uefa Cup semi-final and beat Chelsea in the Champions League in 1999.
This season is their fourth consecutive campaign outside the top tier, but Hertha continue to play at Berlin’s Olympiastadion and regularly attract more than 50,000 fans. A new ground on the Olympic Park site, housing up to 52,000, is being considered.
Currently top of 2.Bundesliga, Hertha can tap into a deep talent pool on their doorstep – highly rated youngsters Ibrahim Maza and Kennet Eichhorn have joined Leverkusen, goalkeeper Tjark Ernst went to Feyenoord – and look equipped to return to the Bundesliga in fine shape.
5. Bordeaux
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Leagues: Six (most recent 2008-09). Domestic cups: Seven (most recent 12-13). Division: Regional 1, sixth tier. Stadium: Stade Atlantique (42,115)
Bordeaux’s recent troubles have been well documented. Relegated from Ligue 1 in 2022 before administration meant they tumbled into the fourth tier, this summer they were again demoted to the regional sixth tier because of financial issues.
Having seemingly hit the bottom, the 2009 French champions now at least have something to build on after being bought by US investment fund Park Bench for one euro.
Les Girondins are dripping in history. Once home to former greats Jean Tigana and Zinedine Zidane, as well as current France internationals Aurelien Tchouameni and Jules Kounde, their decade-old home hosted a Euro 2016 quarter-final – albeit Bordeaux are not playing there at present as they try to shape their future.
4. FC Nuremberg
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League titles: Nine (most recent 1967-68). Domestic cups: Four (most recent 06-07). Division: 2.Bundesliga, second tier. Stadium: Max-Morlock-Stadion (50,000).
Perhaps it’s not overly imaginative to be opting for the current top two in Germany’s second tier but FC Nuremberg meet all the selection criteria laid out above.
They have the history – nine titles, with the latest of four cup triumphs coming in 2007; a 50,000-seater home; large local fanbase in a one-club city – and the heritage.
They’re nicknamed ‘Der Club’ because of their status in early German football.
Oh, and World Cup winner and Germany’s all-time top goalscorer Miroslav Klose is their boss.
3. Real Zaragoza
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Domestic cups: Six (most recent 2003-04). European: Cup Winners’ Cup (1994-95). Division: Primera Federacion, third tier. Stadium: La Romareda (under reconstruction but projected 43,000).
David Seaman, look away now. Arsenal fans of a certain vintage will remember former Spurs boy Nayim’s long, looping winner beating the moustachioed stopper in the final minute of extra time to give Real Zaragoza the Cup Winners’ Cup.
There have been two Copa del Rey triumphs, European journeys and star names since – Pablo Aimar, Diego Milito and David Villa among them – but three decades later, Los Manos find themselves in Spain’s third tier.
Ander Herrera, aged 37, is back at his boyhood club, who are in the process of developing a new 43,114-capacity stadium for the 2030 World Cup, in an attempt to help the fallen giants return to former glories.
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“Real Zaragoza belong to Europe, they belong to compete for trophies, to be fighting with the biggest clubs in Spain and in Europe,” said Herrera.
2. Saint-Etienne
League titles: 10 (most recent 1980–81). Domestic cups: Seven (most recent 2012–13). Continental: European Cup runners-up (1975–76). Division: Ligue 2, second division. Stadium: Stade Geoffroy-Guichard (41,965)
Saint-Etienne were, until Paris St-Germain overtook them in the past decade, the most-decorated club in France with 10 league titles in 25 seasons from 1956-57 to 1980-81.
Les Verts reached the European Cup final in 1976, losing to a vintage Bayern Munich side, while their last silverware came in the now-defunct Coupe de la Ligue 13 years ago with a team spearheaded by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
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They are presently spending their fourth season in five in the second tier, but they continue to produce top prospects. Star defenders William Saliba and Wesley Fofana came off the production line, while 18-year-old attacking talent Djylian N’Guessan will join Liverpool in January.
Then there is their 41,965-capacity Stade Geoffroy-Guichard home, nicknamed the ‘cauldron’, which was a whisker from seeing Ligue 1 football again this term – Les Verts lost to Nice in the promotion/relegation play-off, meaning the wait to rejoin France’s elite continues.
1. Sampdoria
League titles: 1990-91. Domestic cups: Four (most recent 93–94). Continental: Cup Winners’ Cup (89–90), European Cup runners-up (91-92). Division: Serie B, second tier. Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris (33,205)
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Sampdoria were once continental big-hitters, not merely domestic champions during a golden era of Italian football.
Buoyed by Paolo Mantovani’s investment, the Genoa outfit won the Coppa Italia four times between 1985 and 1994, clinched the Scudetto in 1991 and reached three European finals, winning the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1990 a year after losing to Barcelona in the final.
In 1992, the team of Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Pagliuca were again beaten by Barcelona in extra time of the European Cup final at Wembley.
More big names followed in the period between Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side winning the club’s last major trophy in 1994 and a first relegation five years later – Clarence Seedorf, Juan Sebastian Veron and Ariel Ortega included.
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Samp had spells back in Europe before finishing bottom of Serie A in 2023 amid serious financial problems and almost dropped into the third tier.
Under new ownership, though, fans hope the club’s future is more stable – and the architecturally iconic Stadio Luigi Ferraris home they share with rivals Genoa is set to undergo an expensive redevelopment before Italy host Euro 2032.
