In football, there’s a special kind of drama reserved for clubs that have fallen from grace.
These teams, once basking in the glow of championship glory, and league titles, now find themselves trudging through the muck of lower leagues. Think of them as the washed-up actors of the football world, whose greatest roles are well behind them but whose stories are far from over.
These are the teams whose trophy-laden pasts are in stark contrast to their present-day struggles, each one a poignant reminder that in football, as in life, the wheel of fortune never stops turning.
Okay, let’s dig into the tales of the 10 most successful clubs currently exiled from the top tier, we’ll take a look at their histories, their hard times, and the ever-present hope that tomorrow might just bring a return to glory.
Football Clubs That Have Suffered a Deep Decline
1. Queen’s Park
- 10x Scottish Cup (1874, 1875, 1876, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1884, 1886, 1890, 1893)
Current Division:
- Scottish Championship (Tier 2)
Last Top-Flight Season:
- 1957-58
One of the world’s oldest football clubs and the oldest professional Scottish club still kicking, Queen’s Park stands tall alongside Hibernian as the fifth-most successful club in Scotland, having 10 Scottish Cup trophies.
Astonishingly, the Spiders haven’t spun a major web, sorry, I mean victory since 1893, an indication of their early supremacy in Scottish football.
The Glasgow-based club hasn’t seen top-flight action since 1958, comfortably the longest hiatus on this list.
For much of its history, it operated as an amateur club, only shedding its amateur status to go fully professional in 2019.
They play their home games at Scotland’s national stadium, Hampden Park, their fortress for over a century.
Climbing up the ranks with back-to-back promotions from 2020 to 2022, Queen’s Park now finds itself competing in the Scottish Championship.
2. Real Zaragoza
- 6x Copa del Rey (1963-64, 1965-66, 1985-86, 1993-94, 2000-01, 2003-04)
- 1x Supercopa de España (2004)
- 1x UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup (1994-95)
- 1x Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1963-64)
Current Division:
- Segunda División (Tier 2)
Last Top-Flight Season:
- 2012-13
Spanish outfit Real Zaragoza are currently languishing in the Segunda División, a place they’ve called home since their relegation from La Liga in 2013.
Although they’ve never worn the crown of top-flight champions, Zaragoza has a rich history on the continental stage, with a 1964 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and a 1995 UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup nestled in their trophy cabinet.
Add to that their six Copa del Rey triumphs, the most recent being a thrilling 3-2 victory over Real Madrid in 2004.
Despite their current predicament, Zaragoza has spent the bulk of its existence in the top tier.
Their current 12-year exile from La Liga is the longest in the club’s history since its foundation in 1932. One might say they’ve overstayed their welcome in the lower leagues, like a houseguest who doesn’t quite get the hint.
3. Girondins de Bordeaux
- Ligue 1 Titles: 6 (1949-50, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1998-99, 2008-09)
- Coupe de France: 4 (1940-41, 1985-86, 1986-87, 2012-13)
- Coupe de la Ligue: 3 (2001-02, 2006-07, 2008-09)
- Trophée des Champions: 3 (1986, 2008, 2009)
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1 (1995)
Current Division:
- Ligue 2 (Tier 2)
Last Top-Flight Season:
- 2021-22
Bordeaux, the prominent football club hailing from France’s renowned wine region, currently finds itself in Ligue 2, a far cry from its glory days.
Relegated from the top tier in the 2021-22 season, this club, dripping with history and prestige, has won 17 major honours, including six Ligue 1 titles. Despite their present predicament, these accolades make Bordeaux the sixth-most successful club in French football.
Known fondly as Les Girondins, the club has navigated a rocky path recently.
They entered administration in 2021 and flirted dangerously with relegation to the third-tier Championnat National, only to be saved by a successful appeal against the DNCG’s decision.
It’s been a saga worthy of a dramatic novel – one that Bordeaux fans would probably prefer to put back on the shelf.
The club’s last Ligue 1 triumph came in 2009, a victory that now feels like a distant, sunlit memory. In the 21st century, they’ve still managed to snag six major trophies, a small win anyways.
On the European stage, Bordeaux tasted success in 1995 by winning the Intertoto Cup and made a notable run to the UEFA Cup final in the 1995-96 season, where Bayern Munich ultimately outclassed them with a 5-1 aggregate loss.
The bittersweet beauty of football.
Top Incredible Premier League Records That May Never Be Broken
4. Schalke 04
- German Championships: 7 (1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1958)
- DFB Pokal/German Cup: 5 (1937, 1971-72, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2010-11)
- DFB Ligapokal: 1 (2005)
- UEFA Cup: 1 (1996-97)
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2 (2003, 2004)
Current Division:
- 2. Bundesliga (Tier 2)
Last Top-Flight Season:
- 2022-23
Schalke, a titan of German football, has known the highs of European competition and the lows of second-division slogging.
Despite their current stint in the 2. Bundesliga, Schalke’s legacy remains illustrious, with 16 major honours making them the third-most decorated club in Germany, just behind Bayern Munich and their archrivals Borussia Dortmund.
Schalke’s 178,000 strong make them the fourth-largest club in the world, an indication of their enduring appeal even amidst turmoil.
Their trophy cabinet gleams with seven German national championships, five DFB Pokals, and the 1996-97 UEFA Cup (now the Europa League).
Not long ago, in 2019, they were mixing it with Europe’s elite in the Champions League, but since then, they’ve faced the ignominy of relegation from the Bundesliga twice.
The club’s recent journey reads like a gripping novel full of dramatic twists.
From the heights of Champions League nights to the humbling reality of second-tier football, they’ve seen it all. Despite the setbacks, their massive membership base and rich history keep the flame of hope burning brightly in Gelsenkirchen.
5. Deportivo La Coruña
- La Liga: Winners (1): 1999-2000
- Segunda División: Winners (5): 1961-62, 1963-64, 1965-66, 1967-68, 2011-12
- Tercera División: Winners (1): 1974-75
- Primera Federación: Winners (1): 2023-24
Current Division:
- Segunda División (Tier 2)
Last Top-Flight Season:
- 2017-18
Deportivo’s journey through Spanish football has been anything but ups and downs.
They hit the peak once, winning La Liga in the 1999-2000 season, and played the role of runner-up five times, probably wondering what could have been.
They’ve got two Spanish Cups (1994-95 and 2001-02) and three Spanish Super Cups (1995, 2000, and 2002) to show for their efforts, and even won the now-ancient Concurso España back in 1912, back when dinosaurs probably roamed the pitch.
For nearly two decades, from 1992 to 2010, Deportivo were fixtures in La Liga’s top spots, finishing in the top half 16 out of 19 seasons.
They even dabbled in European competitions, reaching the Champions League quarter-finals twice and the semi-finals in 2003-04, causing plenty of sleepless nights for their opponents.
But all good things must come to an end.
Relegation came knocking in the 2010-11 season, and just when things couldn’t get worse, a match-fixing scandal involving Levante and Real Zaragoza reared its ugly head ensuring Zaragoza’s survival at Deportivo’s expense.
The case dragged on in the courts until December 2020, when the allegations were finally dismissed, proving that justice does move at the speed of a slow loris.
After spending four seasons in the third tier, Deportivo clawed their way back to the second division by topping Group 1 of the 2023-24 Primera Federación.
Their trophy cabinet might need some dusting, but it’s got quite the collection across various levels, with one shiny La Liga title and multiple second and third-division trophies.
6. Blackburn Rovers
- 3x First Division/Premier League (1911-12, 1913-14, 1994-95)
- 6x FA Cup (1883-84, 1884-85, 1885-86, 1889-90, 1890-91, 1927-28)
- 1x League Cup (2001-02)
- 1x Charity Shield (1912)
- 1x Full Member’s Cup (1986-87)
Current Division:
- Championship (Tier 2)
Last Top-Flight Season:
- 2011-12
The only Premier League champion presently languishing outside the top tier, Blackburn has been adrift in the Championship since their relegation in the 2011/12 season, a campaign that saw them finish 19th.
Despite their fall from grace, Blackburn Rovers hold the title of England’s most successful club not in the top flight, boasting a cabinet adorned with 12 major trophies. This includes three top-division titles, six FA Cups, and a League Cup.
As one of the country’s oldest football clubs, Blackburn won five of those FA Cup trophies in the 19th century.
Their Premier League victory in 1994-95, was achieved a mere three years after being promoted.
The Lancashire club even faced the ignominy of relegation to League One in 2017, though they bounced back to the Championship at the first time of asking.
7. Sunderland
- 6x First Division (1891-92, 1892-93, 1894-95, 1901-02, 1912-13, 1935-36)
- 2x FA Cup (1936-37, 1972-73)
- 2x Charity Shield (1903, 1936)
Current Division:
- Championship (Tier 2)
Last Top-Flight Season:
- 2016-17
The club with the most top-flight titles currently marooned outside England’s football top-flight has a rich history with six league titles.
In total, they have lifted 10 major trophies, including two FA Cups.
Yet, since their relegation in 2017, the Black Cats have been prowling outside the Premier League, a harsh reality for a team that had often flirted with disaster before finally succumbing.
The club’s dramatic fall from grace didn’t stop there.
In 2018, they faced the ignominy of back-to-back relegations, landing in League One. This unceremonious plummet was immortalized in a candid Netflix documentary, capturing the raw and often chaotic essence of their descent.
After four seasons in the third tier, Sunderland clawed their way back to the Championship for the 2022-23 campaign.
8. Hamburger SV
- German Football Championship/Bundesliga: 6 (1923, 1928, 1960, 1978-79, 1981-82, 1982-83)
- DFB Pokal: 3 (1962-63, 1975-76, 1986-87)
- DFB Ligapokal: 2 (1972-73, 2003)
- European Cup: 1 (1982-83)
- European Cup Winners’ Cup: 1 (1976-77)
- UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2 (2005, 2007)
Current Division:
- 2. Bundesliga (Tier 2)
Last Top-Flight Season:
- 2017-18
Hamburg, once the pride of German football, now carries the unenviable title of being the only European Cup-winning club languishing outside their country’s top flight.
Since their relegation from the Bundesliga in 2017, this once-mighty club has been stuck in the second division. It’s quite the fall for a team that had been a Bundesliga fixture since the league’s birth in 1963.
Hamburg’s trophy cabinet, albeit a bit dusty now, is still impressive with 13 major honours.
The club has won the German championship six times, with their glory years spanning the 1970s and ’80s, a period that saw them win eight major trophies, including the 1983 European Cup.
The last time HSV tasted victory was with the 2007 Intertoto Cup, and they haven’t managed a top-half Bundesliga finish since 2013.
9. FC Nurnberg
- 9x German Football Championship/Bundesliga (1920, 1921, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1936, 1948, 1961, 1967-68)
- 4x DFB-Pokal (1935, 1939, 1961-62, 2006-07)
Current Division:
- 2. Bundesliga (Tier 2)
Last Top-Flight Season:
- 2018-19
Germany’s sixth-most decorated club, currently finds itself in the humble abode of the second tier, a position they’ve held since their relegation from the Bundesliga in 2019.
Nürnberg’s golden days are but a glimmer in the rearview mirror, with just one of their 13 major trophies claimed in this century.
All nine of Nürnberg’s top division titles are relics from over half a century ago, with only one title captured post-Bundesliga’s inception in 1963.
In the roaring ’20s, this Franconian powerhouse was so dominant—snagging five titles in eight years—that they were simply known as ‘The Club’.
Unfortunately, the modern era has not been as kind, with Nürnberg spending most of the last decade outside the top tier and earning the dubious record of the most top-flight relegations in Bundesliga history.
10. Leeds United
- 3x First Division (1968-69, 1973-74, 1991-92)
- 1x FA Cup (1971-72)
- 1x League Cup (1967-68)
- 2x Charity Shield (1969, 1992)
- 2x Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1967-68, 1970-71)
Current Division:
- Championship (Tier 2)
Last Top-Flight Season:
- 2022-23
After their Championship play-off final heartbreak against Southampton, Leeds United remain conspicuously absent from the Premier League.
This grand old Yorkshire club was sent packing from the top flight at the end of the 2022-23 season, finishing a dreary 19th after a campaign that left fans at Elland Road yearning for the glory days.
Leeds’ three-season stint in the Premier League was but a brief dalliance following a two-decade exile, during which the club flirted with financial ruin and even sank to the depths of League One.
Leeds United’s trophy cabinet, however, tells a tale of better times.
The Whites have won nine major trophies, including three English top-division titles, an FA Cup, a League Cup, and two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups.
The last of these continental accolades was claimed in 1971 under the legendary Don Revie, whose tenure is synonymous with the bulk of the club’s silverware.
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