This season, the teams who never win have won – and football is better for it

Tottenham Hotspur’s first trophy for 17 years. The first time Newcastle United lifted a major domestic trophy for 70 years. The first trophy in their history for Crystal Palace.

In English football, 2024-25 was the season when teams and players who never win, won. Football, and life quite frankly, has been all the better for it.

At Selhurst Park on Tuesday night, it was rocking. There were flames, cheerleaders and a sea of flags and scarves, and the structure of the old ground in South London literally shook as supporters stamped and clapped along to the soundtrack of a historic victory.

After 119 years in existence and a couple of heartbreaking near misses, Crystal Palace were finally major-trophy winners. Even the travelling Wolverhampton Wanderers fans, who were visiting on Tuesday for the first game since the FA Cup final, must have soaked in the atmosphere of a special evening and dreamed that one day soon it might be their turn.

Tuesday evening, and other life-affirming evenings like it, are good for football and for the soul.

There were similar scenes in March on the streets of Newcastle when one of the longest waits for major honours came to an end in dramatic fashion at Wembley.

Newcastle United had not won a major domestic trophy for 70 years until their famous 2-1 victory over Liverpool ended the wait.

Even allowing for any misgivings about the club’s Saudi Arabian ownership, it was difficult for fans across the country not to be affected by the scenes of delight from a group of supporters made to wait so long for the big prize they craved.

Spurs extended the trend on Wednesday in Bilbao, beating fellow Premier League club Manchester United to claim the Europa League title for their first European trophy in 41 years.

It has been a grim season domestically for both Spurs and United but football is about moments, and Tottenham fans will remember this feeling of joy long after the frustration at their Premier League struggles has faded as they celebrated their first trophy of any kind since 2008.

Even beyond team silverware, there have been rare examples of long-awaited individual triumphs this season.

It is impossible to cast Bayern Munich, the behemoth of German football, in the role of underdogs. But as they claimed the Bundesliga title for the 33rd time in their history, it gave England captain Harry Kane the major winner’s medal he has coveted for his whole career.

The man who has played more than 100 times for England and is already his country’s all-time top goalscorer had never managed to add a major club honour to his resume.

So it was difficult not to share a little in his happiness at finally landing the big prize that his talent and status as one of English football’s finest players deserves.

Elsewhere in Europe, even the Champions League will have an unexpected winner when Paris Saint-Germain meet Inter in Munich on May 31.

It is a stretch to cast one of Italy’s grand old clubs — winners of 20 domestic titles and six European trophies — or one of the continent’s wealthiest clubs who are backed by the Qatar Investment Authority as plucky underdogs, but victory for Inter would bring their first Champions League in 15 years. For PSG, it would be a first, full stop.

Either result will represent a change from the recent dominance of a brilliant Real Madrid, who have won the biggest prize in six of the past 11 seasons.

Even in the Premier League there were surprises. Liverpool might be among the country’s biggest, most storied clubs, but at the beginning of the season — with a new manager and several players whose futures were in doubt — they were behind Manchester City and Arsenal in most fans’ estimation when it came to picking a title winner.

The Merseyside club winning the league at a canter might not have been a victory for an underdog but it was a win for unpredictability in Arne Slot’s first season in charge.

Add in Nottingham Forest competing for Champions League places and, while the season might not have been awash with gripping drama, it has been rich with unexpected stories.

Down in League One, Leyton Orient — a London club in the shadow of West Ham United and with average attendances of under 8,000 — could still reach the Championship via the play-offs, where they face Charlton Athletic.

And AFC Wimbledon, a club only founded 22 years ago to restore a heritage that was lost when the original Wimbledon was wrenched away to Milton Keynes, could win promotion from League Two via the play-off final against Walsall.

Supporters of football’s serial winners might disagree and argue that they enjoy their triumphs as much as anyone.

But as Selhurst Park shook on Tuesday and Palace beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-2 in the Premier League, it was difficult to imagine how the Etihad Stadium would have reacted quite so joyously had Manchester City beaten Palace in the FA Cup final to win a 15th major honour in the past decade.

For clubs like Crystal Palace, success is that little bit more special — simply because it is so rare. And the football landscape is better for it.

(Top photo: Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images))

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