The unpredictability of football is one of the reasons why the beautiful game is so popular unless the finances in football press hard to make a bit of a closed shop at the highest level.
The last few years prove that it is still possible for minnows to rise and giants to fall.
According to George S. Patton who says “Success is measured by how high you bounce when you hit bottom” this statement simply depict the situations of some of the biggest football clubs in Europe who at one point tasted success in their respective leagues or the UEFA competitions. But now couldn’t bounce back to the top having hit the bottom.
No wonder why football is considered as one of the unpredictable sport, which makes it possible for giants to fall and minnows to rise and punched above their weight.
For every ‘Halcyon Era’ of a football club, there is always a need to manage that era properly in terms of success achieved, to avoid a disastrous decline that could be very hard to correct.
Meet 8 of the European football clubs who have suffered the steepest decline.
1. Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk – Ukraine
Isn’t it odd that a team that once played in the final of the 2015 UEFA Europa League, and a serial contender for the Ukraine league in 2009-10, 2015-16, 2016-17 campaign is currently playing in the Ukraine Amateur League?
Well, that is the kind of disastrous decline they’re currently facing now.
In May 2015, Dnipro punched above their weight by getting to the final of the UEFA Europa League but narrowly lost to Sevilla. Having scaled the hurdle of Saint Etienne, Olympiacos, Ajax Amsterdam, Club Brugge, and Napoli en route to the final in what was the finest achievement of the club’s history, and to some extent in the history of Ukrainian football.
The beginning of the end for Dnipro started with the changes in the format of the Ukrainian league for the 2016-17 campaign due to the military conflicts in Ukraine.
As such that coincided with their decline which was already looming, specifically with their controversial owner Ihor Kolomyskyi who was ready to pull out all funding and his support for the club.
The current situation at Dnipro is a very tough one which shouldn’t be associated with Dnipro considering what they’ve been able to achieve so far in Europe and specifically on the home front.
As it stands their decline is so worst that the Amateur League is now their place, having suffered multiple relegations in Ukraine’s tier leagues before the club announced in 2019 that they’re liquidated.
2. Monaco – France
The former Ligue 1 Champions, hit the ground running in the 2016-17 campaign, which got them a lot of praises from the media, fans, and the world at large. Specifically reaching the Champions League semifinals against Juventus, with the full support of their Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev who bought the club in 2011.
That Monaco side had a lot of decent players who were playing scintillating and swashbuckling football with players such as Fabinho, now with the current champion of the English Premier League Liverpool, Thomas Lemar now in Spain with Atletico Madrid, the duo of Benjamin Mandy and Bernardo Silva now with Manchester City, Tiemoue Bakayoko, and world cup winner Kylian Mbappe amongst others.
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Following their exploits in the league and champions league, the core of the team was sold to bigger teams in top leagues across Europe. The aforementioned players moving to various teams respectively, cashing out on those players was a good business for Monaco which brought in more than £300m into the coffers of the team.
The money acquired from the transfer of the outgoing players were invested in new players with the hope that the new players would build on the success of their predecessors. Unfortunately, the majority of the players couldn’t build on it, as the money spent in the transfer ended up been a waste, and since they won the league and came second the following season.
Then the story of Monaco’s success has been more like the one on a decline, especially when they finished 17th in the league table in 2019, which was their worst performance since 2011.
3. Kaiserslauten – Germany
There are a lot of German clubs that have fallen from grace to grass, among them is one of the revered clubs in Germany from a city that has the lowest population, Die Roten Teufel won the Bundesliga in the 1997-98 season. A year after winning the Bundesliga 2, eight seasons later, Kaiserslautern finished the season in 16th position which led to them been relegated to the Bundesliga 2.
Surprisingly, following their relegation to the Bundesliga 2, they won the Bundesliga title in 2010, but unluckily they were relegated back having spent just two seasons in the top flight once again.
And as it stands the side from the Western part of Germany is currently playing in the 3rd division of German football following their relegation from Bundesliga 2 to the 3rd division in 2018.
Kaiserslautern’s relegation to the third division marked the first time in the history of the club since it was founded in 1901. The club will be playing in a league that is as low as the 3rd division, as it stands Die Roten Teufel is not likely to return to the highest level anytime soon with the situation they’re in now, with that the club can be considered to be a football club in deep decline.
4. AC Milan – Italy
Once upon a time, the Italian giant was a team studded with great champions and gladiators who were always ready to win, with great players such as the legendary Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Seedorf, among others.
The beginning of a disastrous era began for the Rossoneri in the 2013-14 season when they finished 8th in the Seria A, which was their worst league performance since 1998. To further lay claim to their decline, the following season they fell even further behind the pecking order in 10th position in the league.
The Rossoneri won the Seria A in 2010-11 season, finished second the following season, and third after that and since 2013, Milan have failed to finish in the top four in the league, plus their long time absence in the Champions League has really dealt the Italian giant a heavy blow and decreased their chances of winning a trophy anytime soon.
Albeit, Milan has been investing a lot of money in some decent players in the last couple of seasons with their former defender Maldini at the helm, yet some of the players have turned out to be mediocre who in the first place shouldn’t be playing for Milan.
While some have blended in perfectly, but then their performances aren’t still enough to push Milan back to their glory days. However, post-COVID-19, the Rossoneri have been enjoying a great form in the league, perhaps that form could ginger them back into the top four soon, but then only time would tell.
5. West Ham United – England
West Ham may not be the best team in the league this season, but then the 2003 relegated squad were arguably the best and most talented squad to drop out of the Premier League with players like Freddie Kanoute, Joe Cole, Jermaine Defoe, Glen Johnson, and Paolo Di Canio, all failed to keep the London side in the top flight.
Following their reign in the Championship, many of the big players in the team left for another team, leading to a transitional first season away from the top flight for the London side. However, some decent players brought into the team which did help the team in returning back to the top flight, the Premier League.
Unfortunately for West Ham, thunderstruck once again in 2011 when they slipped back out of the top flight after a controversial takeover, but they returned back immediately to the Premier League.
Since then, they’ve never been faced with the challenges of fighting to stay back in the top flight, but as it stands the London base side is more like a team on a decline as gradually flirt with a relegation position in the league.
6. Anderlecht – Belgium
The Belgian giant under club legend Vincent Kompany ain’t looking like a giant they use to be before, with no European football for the first time in 56 years and the unrest off the pitch.
Anderlecht hired the former Manchester City skipper as player-manager at the beginning of the 2019-20 season to bring them out of the mess they’re in, caused by the mismanagement of the owner Marc Coucke.
Some decent players were brought into the team to change the fortune of the Belgian side, such as Nacer Chadli, Samir Nasri, and Landry Dimata. Despite the great signings their form on the pitch didn’t change, and it even gets worse than their previous season in the league where they struggled behind league rivals Club Brugge, Gent, and Genk.
Although the Belgian league has been canceled due to COVID-19, if not for that perhaps they may have turned around their poor form in the league. Even if the Belgian FA decided to let the season continue, it doesn’t seem like the Belgian giant would make it to the playoff with their current poor form since the playoff was introduced over a decade ago.
With clubs like Genk, Gent, and Club Brugge dictating the pace in the Belgian league, the decline of Anderlecht keeps getting worse.
7. Espanyol – Spain
April 23, 1994, will always be a great day that Catalonia based side won’t forget in a hurry when their darling team led by Antonio Camacho sealed their promotion to the Spanish top flight. Since then, Espanyol has lasted in La Liga for over 27 years as one of the historic team in Spain with the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, and the Mestalla based side Valencia.
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Without a doubt, Espanyol’s 27 years in Spanish football has been filled with a lot of tales, and they’ve gone through a lot of pains and gains in their 27 years up there in the top tier. Lifting two trophies, reached finals, changed their home grounds from the Sarria Stadium in 1997, to the Olympic Stadium until 2009, before they now moved to where they’re currently based, the RCDE Stadium.
They’ve also seen investors come and gone, and overall, over twenty-five managers have passed through Catalonia based side with different success tied to their names.
Without mincing words, it won’t be out of place to say a team that has won the Copa Del Rey twice in their 27 solid years up in the top tier, with a team that had the legendary Raul Tamudo, Ivan De La Pena, the tricky Albert Riera, Pablo Zabaleta, Dani Osvaldo, and Luis Garcia.
8. Werder Bremen – Germany
The former Bundesliga Champions Werder Bremen just avoided relegation from the German top-flight via away goals after a 2-2 draw against a second division side Heidenheim a few days ago. Seeing the former champions who at a point won the DFB Pokal six times, the DFL LigaPokal once, the DFL Supercup thrice, the European Cup winner’s Cup once, and the UEFA Cup finalist in 2008-09.
That gives credence to how fast the team is declining, and with the fact that they just played a match in the relegation playoff battles.
Bremen first leg promotion-relegation playoff ended in a stalemate, which gave them a lifeline going forward into the second leg, and fortunately for them in the second leg they took the lead twice with an early own goal from Heidenheim defender Norman Theuerkauf before the home side equalized through Tim Kleindienst in the 85th.
Augustinsson restored the visiting side’s lead with a 94th-minute strike, despite Kleindienst scoring a penalty eight minutes into stoppage time, which made Werder Bremen celebrated their stay in the Bundesliga.
Having fought well to stay up, we still can’t forget the fact that Werder Bremen is a team on a decline, perhaps that may change come next season if the management of the club invested in the squad to take them back where they belong.
The River Islanders still have some recognizable players in Nuri Sahin, Milot Rashica, and Davy Klaasen, Werder Bremen flaunts a strong midfielder most Bundesliga clubs would want.
Milot Rashica, Josh Sargent, and Leonardo Bittencourt are three youngsters who have bright futures.
