Time to rise? Ranking European football's sleeping giants
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Not just a football hipster's holiday hit-list, but a sample of erstwhile headline acts who have returned to their respective top flights in recent years. You can throw Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Schalke and Malaga into the mix too. But with such footballing royalty back in the big time, where can you find Europe's current sleeping giants? Which once-mighty sides are still snoozing? We first need to establish some criteria - history, heritage, fanbase, stadium. Clubs with huge potential who currently exist outside the top flight. Calling a big city home helps, but it is not a deal-maker - sorry to fans of Bristol City and second-tier Russian outfit FC Ufa, where the local population tops one million. Likewise, some clubs with good-sized stadiums have not made the cut. Bari, whose Stadio San Nicola is the third-largest in Italy and was built for Italia '90, stands out, though some of their calcio colleagues outside Serie A also have grounds of more than 30,000 - Hellas Verona, Messina and Palermo among them. There's a plethora of ex-Premier League teams with top-flight worthy arenas and storied pasts, while Germany is stacked full of historic clubs with huge homes who arguably deserve a spot - Fortuna Dusseldorf, Wolfsburg, Hannover 96 - but we can't include them all. A sleeping giant must have experienced some element of former glory and Pro Vercelli are the obvious candidate there, winning seven Italian titles by 1922. But, despite being under new ownership, the third-tier side boast neither the ground nor local population to awaken that historic status any time soon. The other nuance is, that success cannot have come too recently. West Ham, for example, won a European competition three years ago, Wolves are recent top-flight regulars; likewise Stade de Reims, twice European Cup runners-up, and eight-time French champions Nantes. Leaving out Steaua Bucharest was another big call. European Cup winners 40 years ago and Romania's most dominant club, they now play in Liga II. But, following a deeply divisive split, many of the traditional fanbase follow top-flight FCSB. So who really owns that legacy? And there was a case for Boavista, title winners in 2001 but whose existence now hangs by a thread. Facing financial ruin, despite fans' best efforts, they have been ejected from Portugal's professional leagues. Anyway, let's get on with this. Piped through the matrix above, here are my top 10 European sleeping giants - you can have your say in the comments, too. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Bursaspor's Centennial Ataturk Stadium is shaped to look like a crocodile League titles: One (2009-10). Domestic cups: One (1985-86). Division: 1.Lig, second tier. Stadium: Centennial Ataturk Stadium (43,361) Historically dominated by Istanbul's elite teams, Bursaspor snapped that long-running streak by becoming only the second club from outside of the city - and first since Trabzonspor almost three decades earlier - to clinch the Turkish title in 2010. That meant Champions League nights against Manchester United and Rangers, but in 2024 the Green Crocodiles dropped into the fourth tier for the first time in their history. Based in a city of about 2.5m people - Bursa sits in the north west, south of Istanbul, near Mount Uludag - and with a unique crocodile-shaped stadium that can house 43,361 fans, Bursaspor have soared up the pyramid since and are looking to return to the Super Lig for the first time since 2019. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Dynamo Dresden last played in the Bundesliga in 1995 League titles: Eight (most recent East German DDR-Oberliga 1989-90). Domestic cups: Seven (most recent 89-90). Division: 2.Bundesliga, second tier. Stadium: Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion (32,085). Without wanting to turn this into a 2.Bundesliga table, this is the first of four German entries. But Dynamo Dresden, bearing a complex history and situated in the underrepresented east, feel a little different. Initially enjoying the support of the security forces before their best players were relocated to Berlin, Dynamo became European regulars and lost to Liverpool in the Uefa Cup in 1976 and European Cup two seasons later. One of East Germany's most dominant clubs, they won eight titles and seven cups and joined the Bundesliga in 1991 following reunification, but they dropped into the third tier four years later amid relegation and mounting debts. Dynamo, with alumni including Matthias Sammer, have bounced around the regional and lower leagues for many years but now sit in 2.Bundesliga. Based in a city of more than half a million people, their potential is underpinned by a large, passionate fanbase who averaged over 30,000 for home games in the second tier last term. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, A young Michael Ballack was part of Otto Rehhagel's Kaiserslautern squad that won the Bundesliga title in 1998 League titles: Four (most recent 1997-98). Domestic cups: Two (most recent 95-96). Division: 2.Bundesliga. Stadium: Fritz-Walter-Stadion (49,327) With their 1997-98 success, Kaiserslautern remain the only side to win the Bundesliga immediately after promotion, albeit following a surprise relegation having also been champions in 1991 and enjoyed cup triumphs in 1990 and 1996. European regulars in the 1990s and early 2000s, it is now almost 15 years since they competed in the Bundesliga, spending four seasons in the third tier before a promotion in 2022. Despite modest league finishes, the club continue to record average crowds of more than 46,000 and almost pulled off another shock in 2024 when they reached the German Cup final, losing to Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Ron Atkinson's Sheffield Wednesday, on their way to earning promotion back to the top flight, beat Manchester United to win the League Cup in 1991 League titles: Four (most recent 1929-30). Domestic cups: Four (most recent 90-91). Division: League One, third tier. Stadium: Hillsborough (39,732) Sheffield United fans may argue that they, not city rivals Sheffield Wednesday, should make this list. But the Owls edge it on history and heritage - even if the most recent of their four league titles came almost 100 years ago. Wednesday were League Cup winners in 1991, and in living memory for many gave us magical moments from the likes of David Hirst, Chris Waddle and Paolo di Canio. Yet they now sit in the third tier after entering administration and enduring relegation last season, before a US consortium bought the club in May. The Owls, boasting England's 12th biggest club stadium, were relegated from the top flight in 2000, but fans are fuelled with fresh optimism that a reawakening is possible. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly was part of the Hertha side who won the short-lived German League Cup competition in 2001 and 2002
Source: BBC Sport
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