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How The Mighty Have Fallen - Big European Clubs From Heaven To Hell (and not always back)

Ozren Podnar reports on football clubs who have fallen far

Shelves full of trophies have not helped many a big team avoid the drop and not even European titles provide any sort of protection against relegation. Still, some of the biggest European teams have lost their former glory and recovered. Some even returned with a vengeance.

We have divided the "fallen giants" into several categories - those who staged successful come-backs, those who regained a part of their fame, those who never made it back to the elite. Let's see how each of them fared.

Biggest come-backs: Manchester United, Milan, Valencia, Chelsea, Tottenham

The only two tems that were European champions, then got relegated before ascending to the European throne again, are AC Milan and Manchester United, currently among the biggest clubs in the world.

By then two-time European champions, Milan were pushed into Italy's Serie B by the Italian FA in 1980 due to their involvement in the infamous "totonero" illegal betting scandal. They returned within a year, but in 1982 they were relegated again, this time by virtue of their position in the table. They were soon up again, and their unbroken run of successes started 1986 when Silvio Berlusconi turned them into a vehicle for his personal and political promotion.

Manchester United were continental champions in 1968, only to taste the life in the Second Division six years later. Ironically, it was their former hero, now City's forward Denis Law, who sent them packing with a clever flick of the heel (and left the pitch in tears alongside his old mates). It took United just three years to win an FA Cup and deny Liverpool the treble, but only after the arrival of Alex Ferguson in 1986 did the construction of the footballing giant really take off. Today, they're to soccer what Microsoft is to software production.

Other teams experienced European glory before and after a spell in the lower divisions. Valencia won two Intercity Fairs' Cups (now UEFA Cups) in the sixties, a Spanish League and a Cup trophy in the seventies and the Cup Winners' Cup plus the Supercup in 1980, but then suddenly started to struggle and in 1986 suffered, unthinkably, a relegation. Still, a year later they staged a come-back and after a decade in the upper half of the table, they went on to become the most successful Spanish team over the past six seasons.

Similar are the fates of Chelsea, down in the old Second Division between two Cup Winners' Cups wins, and Tottenham. The Spurs were on a real rollercoaster between 1972 and 1984: picking up a UEFA Cup, sinking to the Division 2, then winning two back-to-back FA Cups plus another UEFA trophy.

Better after the drop: Lazio, Bordeaux, Newcastle

A stay in the Second Division has had a therapeutic effect on some teams. Lazio were Italian champs in 1974, then shuttled between the first and the second level during the eighties, only to reestablish themselves as a true force of Italian football from the mid-nineties onwards. In fact, between 1998 and 2004 they enjoyed their best spell ever, collecting eight different trophies in the space of only six years.

Bordeaux were demoted to the Division 2 in 1991 because of financial issues, but just five years later they appeared in their only European finals, in the UEFA Cup against Bayern Munchen. In 1999 they added a French League title.

Newcastle could also be included in this category, although they have not enriched their trophy room after emerging from the second level in 1993. They most recent trophy, a Fairs' Cup, dates back to 1969. Still, they have become a serious contender in the Premiership flourishing financially ever since, earning themselves spot in the world top-20 rich list.

Weaker after the drop: Marseille, Atletico, Bologna

Most big clubs never return to the old level after getting to know the charms of the lower leagues. Marseille amassed five consecutive French titles and a Champions League by 1993, but nine months later they were kicked out of Le Championnat, having their fifth, tarnished domestic title revoked because of the proven case of match-fixing. Upon return among the elite in 1996, Marseille were uncapable of going beyond second place on several occasions, both at home and abroad.

The relegation of Atlético Madrid in 2000 was the upset of the decade in Spanish football, because the team with Hasselbaink, Kiko, Molina and Aguilera were a more likely candidate for a place in European football. But, the legal problems of their owner-chairman Jesus Gil had the club placed under receivership and a bout of defeatism overcoming the players cost this popular club their league status for two seasons. Now back in Primera División, they haven't yet got the things right, but at least keep clear of the relegation zone.

Bologna used to be a titan of Italian football, but their last title was in 1964. In theearly nineties they slipped as low as Serie C, equivalent to the third level, but have recovered and established themselves as solid Serie A members.

After return - just mediocre: Manchester City, Borussia M'gladbach

Borussia Mönchengladbach used to be the leading German club, alongside Bayern. Between 1970 and 1980 they won no less than five Bundesliga titles, two UEFA Cups and reached three more European finals. After the golden era, they have been at best a solid Bundesliga member, and at worst a visitor to the Second Division of the Bundesliga in the late nineties.

Manchester City won their last English title in 1968, the same year that United were proclaimed the champions of Europe. An FA Cup and a Cup Winners' Cup ensued in the two following seasons, but after repeated relegations and promotions, they have not approached their neighbours in terms of on-field success. Still, better days may be just round the corner, as the last couple of seasons suggest.

Biggest losers: Reims, Nottingham Forest, Mechelen

Forest are the only two-times European champions currently in a second division. On the other hand, few clubs rose so quickly: 1976 to Division 2, 1977 to Division 1, 1978 champions of England, 1979 and 1980 champions of Europe! Since then, they have been relegated on three occasions and this year they could go down to the third level.

Should Forest avoid the drop into utter anonymity, the most famous club to have fallen most deeply will still be the French team Stade Reims. The two time European Cup finalists, featuring legends like Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, now languish in Division 3. May sound strange nowadays, but in the fifties they were in the class of Real Madrid.

Mechelen of Belgium shone like a comet in the late eighties. Tycoon John Cordier injected enormous amounts of cash into this provincial club, making them a force in European football overnight. Amazingly, in their first ever European outing they went on to win the Cup Winners' Cup undefeated! They also took the domestic League and the European Supercup, but a dramatic and evenly balanced quarterfinal clash with AC Milan in 1990 was their swan song. A small stadium and a support limited to this little Flemish town could not support Cordiers investments. Ten years on, Mechelen were relegated. Reports now claim they could be spotted in the Third Division.

Chronically ill: Napoli, Torino, Genoa, Köln, Eintracht

English football is universally revered as the most honest in the world. Much of this reputation comes from the fact that so many great clubs with legions of fans and traditions to match have turned losers with time - a clear signal of the absence of interference from 'higher powers', which in other countries apparently protect "big names" from the infamy of relegation.

As a consequence, several English clubs with proud European records have been relegated never to approach their former stature, notably Ipswich Town, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Napoli used to be a good Italian club, but with Maradona, Carnevale, Ferrara and Giordano they became giants. A majestic double in the 1987, a UEFA Cup and another League title made the citizens of Naples feel like the centre of the universe. In the nineties, the team pretended to be big for a while, but the debts accumulated and in 1998 came the farewell to Serie A. A brief return, another relegation and finally bankruptcy, leading to Division 3, the infamous Serie C.

Torino, alongside Juventus the only Italian club with five consecutive "scudetti", lost a whole team in the dreadful 1949 Superga plane crash. They did resurrect to win several FA Cups, one more League title and a UEFA Cup second place, but after 1996 the Bulls have spent most of the time in the Second Division.

Genoa have nine titles to their name, but they mostly live on memories. Their most recent trophy has "1937" written on it, and Serie B has been their home for many years.

Köln are the winners of the very first Bundesliga, and Eintracht Frankfurt the first ever German European Cup finalists. There is a lift in Germany taking the two from the First to the Second Bundesliga and back, on a yearly basis. Last season the lift moved downwards.

New come-backs: St. Etienne, Tirol, Fiorentina, Sampdoria

Tirol Innsbruck - Dumped in Division 3 for financial irregularities in 2002 (when, incidentally, they won the League title), the club came back as soon as they could, in two seasons.

Fiorentina - Dissolved in 2002 because of bankruptcy. Their legal successor, Florentia Viola, started in the fourth level. Jumped up three levels in two seasons thanks to some masterful Italian FA reshuffling of league sizes and formats. In the meantime, renamed to Fiorentina to keep the tradition alive.

Sampdoria - Returned with Fiorentina. When Luca Vialli and Roberto Mancini teamed up in Sampdoria's attack, the team from Genoa were a genuine joy to watch. Also, winners of many trophies home and abroad. Spent four seasons between 2000 and 2004 checking out Serie B grounds.

Saint Etienne still owns the most championship medals in France: ten. They were European Cup runners-up in 1976 and beaten semifinalists in 1975. In the nineties they were mostly anonymous, but are now back from the basement. The jury is still out as to what that means for the future.

New losers: Leeds, Slovan Bratislava

Leeds United were phenomenally successful in the sixties and seventies. League titles, an FA Cup, five European finals. After an erratic eighties, they were English champions again in 1992 and a continental powerhouse just four to five years ago. Now, they're down and everybody's asking who'll foot the bill for the years of extravagant management.

Slovan of Bratislava are one of the most famous Slavic clubs of all times. The Slovaks concocted one of the biggest upsets ever by winning the Cup Winners' Cup in 1969, beating none other than FC Barcelona. Not long ago, they were still the biggest club in now independent Slovakia. Last season the team was relegated to Division 2 as the bottom placed club of the top rank.

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