How many days is it since every top-flight club last won a major trophy?
- Matt Whiley
- 18 March 2022
Manchester United and Tottenham are suffering trophy droughts but how long has it been exactly since they won silverware? Matt Whiley gets out his calculator to do the maths.
It's another trophyless season for Manchester United.
English football's former giants, who swept through everything in their path just over a decade ago, will have now not won silverware for five years come the end of this season.
At Planet Sport, that got us thinking. How long exactly is it since every Premier League club last won a major trophy? And we're being very exact too - let's boil it right down to how many days.
For the purposes of this, we're defining a 'major trophy' as any one of the Premier League/First Division, the League Cup, the FA Cup, the Champions League, the Europa League, the UEFA Super Cup, or the Club World Cup.
Everything clear? Excellent. From the most recent all the way down to the most distant memory, let's go…
1. Liverpool - 19 days (correct as of March 18, 2022)
We start in the red half of Merseyside, where it's less than three weeks since Liverpool won the 2021/22 League Cup, courtesy of a victory on penalties over Chelsea on February 27.
Having drawn 0-0 after 120 thrilling minutes at Wembley, Blues goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga stepped up with Liverpool leading the shootout 11-10. He blazed his spot-kick high over the bar, handing the Reds their 49th major trophy.
2. Chelsea - 34 days
Fortunately for Kepa, it's not quite as if he had the weight of an enormous drought on his shoulders when he walked to the penalty spot at Wembley. In fact, his side had won the 2021 Club World Cup just over a fortnight earlier.
Thomas Tuchel led his charges to that particular trophy after extra time, with Kai Havertz's penalty in the 117th minute sealing a 2-1 win over Palmeiras. It came after Raphael Veiga's own spot-kick for the Brazilian outfit had cancelled out Romelu Lukaku's opener for the Blues.
3. Leicester - 307 days
After their incredible title triumph six years ago, Leicester added the FA Cup to their trophy cabinet for the first time ever last May, with Chelsea again the losers at Wembley.
This time, however, the tie was decided inside 90 minutes, as Youri Tielemans' thunderbolt strike from 25 yards in the second half handed the Foxes victory, sealing only their second major piece of silverware.
4. Manchester City - 311 days
It feels strange for Pep Guardiola's all-conquering City to be as low as fourth on this list, especially considering their status as defending champions, but as we approach the end of this season, it is almost a year since they lifted the Premier League.
Their seventh top-flight title was sealed not by City themselves, but by virtue of their closest challengers, city rivals Manchester United, losing 2-1 at home to Leicester. Guardiola's men went on to finish 12 points clear of United.
5. Arsenal - 594 days
The notion of a trophy drought became somewhat synonymous with Arsenal over the decade following their last league title in 2004, but they have since knocked that idea on its head, with four FA Cup victories since.
The most recent of those came in August 2020, when they defeated Chelsea at Wembley after a Covid-enforced rearrangement of the schedule. The Gunners won 2-1 against their London rivals thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's double, overturning Christian Pulisic's early opener for the Blues.
6. Manchester United - 1,759 days
Tell a Manchester United fan ten years ago that in 2022, they would be closing in on five years without a major trophy, and they'd have scoffed down the phoneline from London at you. That is the case, though, with the Red Devils' last silverware being the 2016/17 Europa League.
On that occasion, it was Jose Mourinho who led them to the trophy, as they saw off Ajax 2-0 in Stockholm thanks to goals from Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan either side of half-time.
7. Tottenham - 5,136 days
Also in the midst of a rather unenjoyable barren spell are Tottenham, who last lifted a major trophy in 2008, when they saw off London rivals Chelsea 2-1 after extra time to win that season's League Cup.
Didier Drogba had given the Blues a half-time lead, but after Dimitar Berbatov levelled with 20 minutes remaining, the additional 30 minutes was required. Spurs only needed four of them, though, as Jonathan Woodgate netted what turned out to be the eventual winner.
8. Aston Villa - 9,490 days
We're really starting to stretch back into history now, and next we come to Villa, who, despite their storied history, are closing in on 10,000 days without a major trophy.
The last time they got their hands on such a piece of silverware was in 1996, when they beat Leeds United 3-0 in the League Cup final. Savo Milosevic gave Villa the lead after 20 minutes, before Ian Taylor and Dwight Yorke netted after the break to confirm victory for Brian Little's side.
9. Everton - 9,799 days
Despite this one already stretching out to be nearly three decades long, it very much feels like it could go on for some time yet. Neighbours Liverpool have won 14 major trophies since Everton last lifted an equivalent piece of silverware themselves, which was the 1994/95 FA Cup.
On that particular occasion, they defeated Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley, with Paul Rideout's first-half strike settling the contest.
10. Leeds - 10,918 days
In the final season before English football's top flight became the Premier League, Leeds finished four points clear at the top, ahead of Manchester United. The Whites officially became champions of England for a third time on April 26, 1992, when they won 3-2 away to Sheffield United in the season's penultimate game.
In a truly bizarre clash, there were three own goals, as the Blades' Rod Wallace and Brian Gayle put the ball in their own net, alongside Leeds' Lee Chapman doing the same. Jon Newsome at least knew which end to aim at for the Whites, and despite Alan Cork also netting for the hosts, the result confirmed the title would be heading to West Yorkshire.
11. Norwich - 13,508 days
The gap between clubs is certainly now beginning to space out, as we travel seven years further back, to the 1985 League Cup final, to find the last time the Canaries lifted a major trophy. Both Norwich and their opponents on that day, Sunderland, would be relegated at the end of that season, but that didn't stop both sets of fans enjoying a cordial atmosphere to the point that the two clubs now contest the 'Friendship Trophy' whenever they meet. Yes, I'm serious.
On that day at Wembley, the Canaries ran out narrow winners as Scottish defender Gordon Chisholm netted an own goal just after half-time to settle the clash. Apparently, on the Tube after the game, Norwich fans sang "we won the cup", while Sunderland's retorted with: "we scored the goal". Ten out of ten for family-friendly footballing banter.
12. West Ham - 15,287 days
David Moyes may have brought a brighter immediate future to West Ham after a fair few years of turmoil, but the Hammers are still on a barren run in terms of silverware that stretches back over four decades. Their last trophy win was in 1980, when they saw off Arsenal in the FA Cup final.
Much like Norwich's clash with Sunderland - although it's hard to imagine those two sets of supporters enjoying the same friendly atmosphere - the game was decided by a solitary goal. It turned out to be a man as associated with West Ham as bubbles are, Trevor Brooking, who scored it, after just 13 minutes.
13. Wolves - 15,343 days
Two months before West Ham won their last trophy, fellow 'W' club Wolves won theirs too, by the same margin and at the same venue, as they beat all-conquering Nottingham Forest 1-0 at Wembley in the League Cup final in March.
Forest were the clear favourites, as European Cup holders and as victors in the last two League Cup finals, but it would be Wolves who would emerge victorious in this particular meeting between the West and the East Midlands. Andy Gray's goal midway through the second half would be enough to see old gold ribbons tied to the League Cup that year.
14. Southampton - 16,757 days
Cup finals are rarely remembered as all-time classics, with their tendency to be quite low scoring explained by the deep desire of both teams not wanting to put a foot wrong. That perhaps clarifies why we come to yet another final decided by a single goal, with the game in question being the 1976 FA Cup final between Southampton and Manchester United.
The Saints' 1-0 victory, thanks to Bobby Stokes' goal seven minutes before the end of normal time, was a shock win for the underdogs, was their first, and to date only, major trophy. It was also the last time that the Queen attended a final at Wembley and presented the trophy.
15. Burnley - 22,600 days
After a long run of teams winning their most recent major trophies through the medium of cup competitions, we return to the First Division, which Burnley won for the last time in 1960. Back in the days when teams were awarded two points for a win, the Clarets earned 55 points, and ended the season atop the pile, finishing ahead of Wolves by a solitary point.
In one of the most striking examples ever of hitting form at the right time, Burnley had in fact not occupied top spot in the table until the very last game of the season. The Turf Moor side saw off Manchester City at Maine Road in front of 65,000 fans thanks to goals from Brian Pilkington and Trevor Meredith, ending Wolves' hopes of a third consecutive title and sealing their first - and most recent - since 1921.
16. Newcastle - 24,422 days
Magpies fans may have renewed optimism for the club after their recent change in ownership, but it has still been a long, long wait for silverware in the north-east. No current top-flight club, bar the four who have never won one, has experienced a major trophy drought as long as Newcastle's.
The fact that Wor Jackie Milburn scored the last time they won a trophy tells you all you need to know, and it was May 1955 the last time it happened, as the Magpies saw off Manchester City 3-1 in that season's FA Cup final. You would have to imagine it won't be long before that streak ends, but it has been a truly barren run.
17=. Brentford, Brighton, Crystal Palace, & Watford - Never
Four current top-flight clubs have never won any of the major trophies listed above. All have come close, but are yet to experience their respective moments of glory.
Brentford are the only side of the four never to reach a major final, but they are the most recent of this quartet to go close, losing 2-0 in the semi-final of the 2020/21 League Cup - when still a Championship side - to Tottenham. Meanwhile, the other three have all reached the final of the FA Cup.
Watford did so in 2019 but were thrashed 6-0 by Manchester City, and Palace ended up being downed 2-1 by Manchester United in 2016.
Brighton also met United in the 1983 final, a tie best remembered for Seagulls striker Gordon Smith's career-defining moment in the final seconds of extra time. With the sides locked together at 2-2, Michael Robinson squared the ball to an unmarked Smith eight yards out. "And Smith must score," went the famous commentary. He didn't and Brighton lost the replay 4-0.
