7 Promising Seasons Which Ended In Disaster

[@Cees_Veerman]

Neverkusen couldn’t even get first place in the top 7 bottlejob video, another loss for Neverkusen…

[@mrsov0185]

Poor munchen fan lmao

[@theoneandonlybosable]

@@mrsov0185Bayern fans have enjoyed 12 titles since 2010, they are fine.

[@DrZaius3141]

But they either win some titles this season or at least the top spot in this ranking.

[@МирјанаЕфремовска]

​@@theoneandonlybosable2012 bottled league pokal ucl. Neverkusen 2024 meister. Bayernunlucke

[@lenon3579ify]

That reminds me of the old joke "we searched the statistics for the pilot with more second places in the history of F-1. Rubinho Barrichello got second place in that list."

[@joaopedrodemacedofreitas1928]

The worst thing about Botafogo, is that their owner is now claiming that they lost the league because of matchfixing, and say he has concrete evidence of that. Said evidence apparently comes from leading experts he hired and analysis by AI. And he hasn't shown any of that evidence so far, only keeps mentioning it everytime someone brings it up

[@KimiFan2002]

It’s Brazilian football, never rule it out

[@maciejbala477]

"Brazil is not for beginners" meme also applies to football shenanigans

[@MrChernobyl22]

And it just gets more and more humiliating for Botafogo

[@cockatoo010]

I just still can't get over that they lost to el Junior de Barranquilla (celébralo, curramba!) 1-3 at home... What happened

[@queenzoroark]

I wouldn't doubt the matchfixing, but it definitely didn't affected Botafogo, I believe CR7 is more responsable for it than any referee 😂

[@aidanlevangie2927]

Leicester bottling two top-four finishes in a row effectively sent us down

[@man4437]

My favourite moment of the 2019-20 season that no one talks about is how Leicester bottled top 4 against United on the final matchday (this was in July) where Fernandes scored a penalty that would've already sealed third for United and fifth for Leicester, but then at literally the last minute Jesse Lingard gets a lucky bounce and scores what was his only goal of the season in garbage time against an already-defeated Leicester. Really put the whole season into a nice package lol

[@aaaabbbb2483]

Selling Kasper Schmeicel was Leicester’s biggest mistake

[@aidanlevangie2927]

@@aaaabbbb2483 while I don't necessarily disagree, the trajectory of the club was already hurtling downward by then

[@aaaabbbb2483]

@@aidanlevangie2927 But Leicester finished 8th the season before they were relegated. Not having that true leader in the dressing room changed everything for the worse. You don’t just go from finishing 8th to 18th for no reason

[@saxbend]

If Leicester don't finish in the top two this season that will have been a far bigger collapse than merely slipping down the Premier League table, which happens to nearly everyone at some point.

[@shanemcgaley8322]

Probably the worst season for Michael Ballack with Leverkusen as he would go on to lose the World Cup final with Germany that season too.

[@ezraezra2928]

To add more insults, Ballack was suspended for the World Cup Final after receiving yellow cards in the semifinal.

[@TheKowanow]

Not only Ballack, but Oliver Neuville, Carsten Ramelow and Bernd Schneider too.

[@mashiah1]

Carlisle United 74/75. Their only season in top flights. They won their first 3 matches including champions Derby County 3:0, and were on top of the table. This ended in relegation from last place and Carlisle never were close to the top flight again

[@patrykmarzec5439]

I live here !!!

[@yesyesyesimdoingallthetime2770]

Cost Everton the title

[@RaiyanReetom]

How is that a bottle? That seems pretty run off the mill.

[@discreetelite]

Wouldnt call that a bottle, you havnt achieved anything after 3 games.

[@badgermanization]

The fact that Newcastle haven't won the league in nearly 100 years or any trophy in nearly 70 years is actually insane. They must be the biggest underachievers in British football history, given the size of the city and the clubs fanbase. I'd love to see you do a deep dive video on this subject, just like you did for Tottenham Hotspur.

[@sonofskeletor33]

Spurs have won 14 major trophies since Newcastle last won one - let that sink in.

[@franze4]

according to brits any english club is a huge club

[@badgermanization]

@@franze4 I meant big in relation to the UK, not necessarily Europe.

[@strykah92]

Their last major honour was actually in 1969, albeit that was still over 50 years ago. So I grew up in the period where Newcastle were regularly qualifying for Europe and made a couple of cup finals, and as such thought their relegation in 2009 was as unthinkable as any of the current 'big 6' being relegated. But looking at their overall history they have always been fairly inconsistent. As such I think myself and many other people within my age range fell into a similar false sense of security regarding Leeds in that period. Note that Sheffield Wednesday have a comparable trophy cabinet in their history but nobody seems to bat an eyelid at them only winning a single League Cup in the last 88 years. My best attempt at a blanket statement would be financial recklessness, but I think it would take local Geordies who are old enough to have supported them pre-PL era to offer a deep understanding for their misfortunes.

[@dpe180]

They won the championship

[@AqueleGamer]

"Botafogar" became a verb here in the same vein as the "Spursy" adjective. It means a bottle job for the ages. People talked about Leverkusen earlier this year before they spanked Bayern saying that they might Botafogo the league lmao

[@JustKrin]

Bottlefogo

[@minervadetauro7646]

In Mexico the term "Cruzazulear" is used in similar fashion. It's used to refer to a team either bottling up a season or choking in an important match, born out ot their infamous 24 years long league title drought in which they were almost consistently contenders and ended up punting 6 league finals throughout that stretch

[@obuzbiayniedzwiedz658]

Wisła Płock in 22/23 was the leader after 8 matches and ended up getting relegated by the end of the season

[@gregrockv]

17 points in 8 games 20 points in 26 games

[@AchaiR622]

@@gregrockvthats crazy😂😂

[@igor_figueiró_bueno]

My SC Internacional did the same in the 2016 brasileirão campaign. So, nothing special, just a classic nightmare season.

[@Luanfcn]

Not me sitting here until the last one thinking Alfie was about to mention Flamengo's 2023 season but ignore Botafogo's throw! 🤣

[@mikeoxlong246]

That Insinge joke 16:27 was unexpected 😂

[@ezraezra2928]

Agreed, especially given the fact that Napoli were so close to win the Scudetto twice with him back in 2015-16 and 2017-18. On both occasions, Napoli were on top of the table for the first half, only to be stopped by Juventus' domination in the Serie A. They only won the Scudetto on the last season, which was after Insigne left 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Black-Mal]

@@ezraezra2928poor Insigne

[@pattamon9432]

Honourable Mention. Bayern Munich 2011/12. 2nd behind Klopps´ Dortmund. Lost the important Match 0:1 including a missed Penalty by Arjen Robben. Lost against Borussia Dortmund 2:5 in the DFB-Pokal FInal (3 goals by Robert Lewandowski, back than still at Dortmund) and finally... Champions League Finale against Chelsea..... that was a painful season. To be fair it was basically the catalysator for sheer dominance the years following this humiliating end of the season. Something that could have potentially break a club was turned into something incredible.

[@jamavra]

Yes..yes. yes. I was mad during the workday.

[@carlosbarton763]

For those who aren't aware the UCL final was at the Allianz... yes Bayern bottled the final in their own stadium. Though as the OP implied their 12/13 season defied description

[@ezraezra2928]

@@carlosbarton763 The ironic thing is that it was Dortmund who tasted its own defeat a year later against Bayern in the UCL Final, which resulted in Bayern winning the Treble. Also, the game was played at London, the city that represented the said 2012 winners, Chelsea, despite the fact it was played at Wembley Stadium. The next year, the UCL Final will be played at Allianz Arena, and there is a possibility that Bayern could bottle it again.

[@dervertica]

That team did beat Jose Mourinho’s team, apparently it was so good that he even cried after getting knocked out.

[@ezraezra2928]

@@dervertica And in the next season, when they won the Treble, Bayern demolished Barcelona 7-0, who were in its peak with Lionel Messi. That's incredible!

[@randomhooman3236]

ac milan 2004/05 they were almost first on the table from GW 25 till GW 34 but didn't manage to win a single game in last 4 matches in the coppa italia they were knocked out by udinese 4-1 after they won 3-2 in the first leg in the champions league final they gave away a 3 goal lead to liverpool to give the greatest comeback in history of the game that squad has the likes of dida, maldini, cafu, nesta, stam, gattuso, pirlo, seedorf, kaka, crespo, shevchenko, rui costa, costacurta, inzaghi, etc.

[@strykah92]

One thing I wondered for a long time, are there any reasons or theories as to why Milan tend to underperform in the Coppa Italia? I believe they are the only club in Europe to have won their domestic cup less times than the Champions League/European Cup.

[@daarom3472]

​@@strykah92AC Milan has underachieved domestically in general, apart from 2 more dominant spells (1950-1962 5 titles and 87-99 6 titles). They won only 3 league titles in the last 25 years, including only 1 title being won by that amazing 2002-2008 team with the likes of Seedorf, Kaka, Scheva, Crespo etc.

[@strykah92]

@@daarom3472 that's the thing though, they do at least have way more scudettos than CLs. Even in those domestically dominant periods you would think they would have won a few more Coppa Italias along the way. Baresi still holds the record for the most apps in the competition and he actually never won it at all. It's not really a bad thing, just seems very odd lol.

[@ezraezra2928]

@@daarom3472 They also won the Scudetto in 2011 with the magic of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but some of veteran players (Nesta, Seedorf, Inzaghi, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Gattuso) were retired after this triumph, whereas Maldini was retired 2 years prior.

[@daarom3472]

@@strykah92 yea good point. I guess in truth very few teams care that much about national cup competitions. For instance Wenger won 6 trophies between 2013-2017 (3 FA cups and 3 community shields) but no one would say it was a glorious time for Arsenal ^^

[@olm8829]

I think Bayern's 11/12 season is also worth being in this seven. They lost both the Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal to Dortmund, and then somehow lost the UCL Final in München to Chelsea despite dominating the whole game, out-shooting them 35-9, going 1-0 up in the 83-rd minute and having a penalty in the extra-time

[@ezraezra2928]

Worth noting that the UCL Final was played at their own backyard, Allianz Arena.

[@complexfellow4961]

The ongoing Freddy Adu joke, makes me laugh every single time :D

[@baldassodouniversoparalelo6972]

Botafogo's collapse was so big and so hilarious, that we now have a comission in parlament to investigate possible match fixing. Though if there was fixing, Grêmio would be the most harmed, they drew 4-4 against Corinthians in a game they had a clear penalty not given for them, with those 2 points they would be champions instead of Palmeiras.

[@gabrielmeireles8851]

One of the best lists I've seen recently in the Channel. As a Brazilian and, specially, as a Fluminense Fan, last year conclusion couldn't be more satisfactory: winning both the Campeonato Carioca (the 4 x 1 battering mentioned in the 7th spot) and our First, so long persuited Copa Libertadores; meanwhile, two of our biggest state rivals, Botafogo and Flamengo, went to collapse across the season. I really did like that at the end Alfie went into some details about Botafogo results through their downfall. Like, really, you europeans can't imagine how many unbelievable scripts happened in those games. It was almost sadistic to their supporters. Just to give you a little hint: in the 4x3 comeback they suffered from Grêmio, Luís Suárez scored a Hat-trick. However, they had to host their game in Vasco's satdium, 'cause their own was hosting a concert by mexican group Rebelde ("RBD" - the telenovela one). However, If they actually played in their Nilton Santos, Suárez would've not get on the game, due to the fact that has a synthetic pitch and the uruguayan was suffering knee problems. Also, against Palmeiras, they were thrashing them in the first half, 3x0. Only then for Endrick to proceed to demolish Botafogo in the second half.

[@davidnastoassis]

It is without a doubt, the biggest bottlejob in the history of football

[@AdamMiligan]

Always nice to find another brazilian here haha

[@rohithraman6488]

Honourable mentions: Real Madrid 14/15. This team scored 118 La Liga goals, and got 92 points. Had the chance of a League Title and Champions League double under Ancelotti, just one year after La Decima, they went on a 22 game winning streak at the start of the season, including a 3-1 win over Barcelona, but then a defeat at the Camp Nou in March contributed to them missing out on the title by two points, and an injury to Modric also proved costly as they also lost to Juventus in the UCL semi final with former player Morata scoring in both legs. Barcelona 18/19. This was one of the saddest seasons in Messi's career in my opinion. Yes they won La Liga, but this could have been a treble winning season and it was just wasted. This was the first season after Andres Iniesta left and so Messi became team captain, and he carried the team on his back all year. They won the league but then threw away a 3-0 first leg lead against Liverpool after resting all their players for the La Liga game due to the title already having been won, whilst Liverpool were still in a tense title race with Man City and were without Salah and Firmino for the Barcelona second leg, and then they lost the Copa Del Rey final against Valencia

[@ezraezra2928]

To be honest, Real Madrid's fate after that downfall seems to be certain, as they proceeded to win 3 Champions Leagues in a row with Zinedine Zidane as a manager. Barcelona had an endless downfall after losing 0-4 to Liverpool at Anfield, starting from the infamous 2-8 game against Bayern Munich to Lionel Messi's shock departure.

[@Jbkeditz]

​@@ezraezra2928at least we are finding our juju again.

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

​@@ezraezra2928prime barca was destroyed by Bayern Munich much earlier. When they lost 8-2 in 2013

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

Cristiano Ronaldo in 14/15 was god. He was champions league top scorer along with Neymar and messi even though he didn't played the final

[@rohithraman6488]

@@ShubhamMishrabro 7-0 not 8-2

[@valterpenasribeiro5183]

That Benfica season I think it had the best football played by the team in all my life time... It's worth to mention that all points we dropped had goals concided with individual mistakes by our goalkeper who was good(ish) but he wasn't world class as the ones who followed (Julio Cesar, Oblak and Ederson). That Ivanovic goal at the 92nd minute after playing better than Chelsea all game.. 😢 it still stands as one of the saddest moments of my life.

[@joegannon4212]

I wonder if the curse that Benfica had placed on them was a factor in that season turning into disaster

[@duartecaseiro8654]

Fortunately, in the next season, we did the opposite and won almost every trophy

[@valterpenasribeiro5183]

@@duartecaseiro8654 the almost may have to do with the curse 😅 (or sevilla's gk having 2 yards of advantage)

[@duartecaseiro8654]

@@valterpenasribeiro5183 i think the combination of both, plus, penalties not given to Benfica during the game

[@NKJonSnow]

Please do a vid on the 7 biggest teams that flopped. Teams that were expected to dominate and yet completely and utterly failed. I think of the galacticos and psg when I imagine this.

[@SilliusSodus]

Chelsea :((

[@harsha8964]

Burnley to an extent too

[@ernotuominen1581]

Everton with James Rodriguez and Carlo Ancelotti

[@T.E.S.S.]

too vague

[@T.E.S.S.]

@@ernotuominen1581 who expected them to dominate? people who have been legally declared insane don't count.

[@AfricanCorn-np8jt]

Could you do a video on how there is so much violence in South African football. Last night a football player (R.I.P to him) was gunned down and there is also the story of a football player called Marc Batchler who was a legend for one of the biggest clubs in the country who involved himself with one of the biggest crime boses in the country before he too was also shot dead

[@thejoulesthief6841]

Terrible news. RIP Luke Fleurs

[@DBoy38]

And Andrés Escobar, who scored the infamous colombian own goal at the 1994 World Cup and got murdered one month later because of it.

[@JayTechZM]

Senzo Meyiwa as well

[@T.E.S.S.]

he was killed in a carjacking. that's not "violence in football"

[@12thMandalorian]

Chelsea 2007/08 - Lost the League Title, lost League Cup Final and Champions League Final

[@ezraezra2928]

It was a very unlucky season for Michael Ballack as well, just like when he played for Bayer Leverkusen in 2001/02 season. Also, he lost an international finals with Germany (they lost 0-2 to Brazil in the World Cup Final, with Ballack being suspended, while Spain defeated Germany 1-0 in Euro Final).

[@faeembrugh]

When I was a kid in the 1970s, Leeds United seemed to be always just about to win the league or even get the double and would end up falling at the last hurdle. They did eventually manage it in 1974 of course. Then in the 1980s, Manchester United were forever being touted as finally making a League come-back but would just fritter away the season but maybe get something in the FA Cup. The 1990s were a bit different of course...

[@thomasfrost3087]

One that sprung to mind whilst watching the video was Sheffield Wednesday in 2019-20. On Christmas Day 2019 my team, Stoke City, were bottom of the table with 18 points trailing Wednesday who were in 3rd, by 21 points. We played each other on Boxing Day. They were 2-1 up in the 90th minute but we won 3-2. Suffice to say it was a turning point in both seasons as they would pick up just 17 more points for the rest of the season whilst we picked up a further 35 from this point on. We would finish on the same amount of points, 56, with us finishing 15th and them 16th on goal difference. From Boxing Day onwards they were 2nd bottom in the form table, with only Hull City, with 12 points, picking up less points.

[@shaf621]

Great list Alfie, I'd also throw in Arsenal 07/08 this was a season in which Arsenal were in 1st place for the majority of the season and were playing brilliant football even as far as Pele saying that they were his favourite team to watch at the time. Even in the CL they were very strong, they beat Milan who were the holders at the time 2-0 on aggregate in the R16 to then face Liverpool in the QF, they were unlucky to lose but it was a blockbuster of a game. A lot of fans argue that the turning point was the game against Birmingham City, which was also the game that Eduardo suffered a broken leg and they went onto draw that game and from then on, their form derailed and they lost crucial games against Chelsea and Man United who were their key title challengers that season. The final table said it all really, only 2 points separated the top 3 in the table, Man United - 87, Chelsea - 85 and Arsenal - 83, what could have been if Eduardo didn't get that injury.

[@rohithraman6488]

As a Chelsea fan I was mad hyped at the start of the 21/22 season. I actually thought we were going to compete for a quadruple 😭😭

[@ezraezra2928]

Yeah, until February 24th happened (Russia invades Ukraine).

[@JayTechZM]

Same here. The night against Juventus I genuinely thought we were the best team in the world and we'd go all the way, then Chilwell and RJ get injured and honestly I think from that point till date we haven't recovered as a club. Sanctions notwithstanding.

[@rohithraman6488]

@@JayTechZM Since the Real madrid 2nd leg in 2022 we never came back

[@ezraezra2928]

@@rohithraman6488 That night still hurts the Chelsea fans a lot. They were 3-0 up at Bernabeu after losing 1-3 at Stamford Bridge, and if Chelsea's defenders kept Real Madrid attackers in bay after that scoreline, you know that Chelsea could defend the Champions League title by beating Manchester City and Liverpool instead.

[@conzinho1905]

I was quite surprised that we weren’t on this list to be fair. When we won the champions league I was convinced we were going to win the league with lukaku 🤣

[@BrianStorm742]

Honourable mention to Ajax, who in the 2015-16 season only needed to beat relegation-bound De Graafschap to clinch the title, and then didn't.

[@PatrickvanStokken]

Second worst day of my life 😅

[@BrianStorm742]

@@PatrickvanStokken as a PSV fan, I remember it fondly.

[@PatrickvanStokken]

@@BrianStorm742 Got absolutely smashed in an Amsterdam bar not even considering not winning was possible. Same for Spurs (second half) at home. Anyway, congrats on the upcoming title!

[@BrianStorm742]

@@PatrickvanStokken thanks! Try to remember the good times in these difficult days.

[@IOSALive]

This is great! I liked it and subscribed!

[@swinno007]

Middlesbrough 96/97 unbelievable signing signings top striker 2 cup finals however we get deducted 3 points lost both cup finals and got relegated

[@davidbell5528]

and a midfielder signing for 3m, connected to Barcelona and Valued then at £12m+ (when British record was £15m,) whose form then fell off a cliff, and another still getting premier league player of the year

[@davidbell5528]

and of course extending it we also lost the next cup final from the championship

[@skottitohotti]

Eintracht Frankfurt 2010/11, they were on 7th with 26 Points after 17 Games when they own President stated "Were going for europe as we can't get relegated anymore"...Then they got relegated.

[@fangdog291]

Wtf😂😂😂

[@ezraezra2928]

Imagine a team winning the Europa League only 11 years after getting relegated 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@cyrilbutcher6970]

Millwall 95/96 season in the 2nd tier. Went from automatic promotion contenders at the start of 96 to relegation by the end of the season

[@supaa4512]

LAFC 2023: Eliminated from the US Open Cup at home in the R016 against rivals La Galaxy in May Lost the CONCACAF Champions League final at home against a mediocre Leon team in June Eliminated from the Leagues Cup in the quarterfinals after bottling a 2-0 lead to Monterrey in August Lost the Campeones Cup final at home on penalties to Tigres in September Lost the MLS Cup final to Columbus in December A memorable year for us LAFC fans 🔥

[@ezraezra2928]

Sad that Giorgio Chiellini hanged his boots after failing to win any kind of silverwares. What an unlucky thing for the Italian legend 😭

[@GuyJames]

sorry but the 'piano' tie at 18:43 was probably the reason that Leverkusen bottled the season, one of the worst items of clothing I've ever seen, and it must have seriously demoralised the players to see their manager sporting that 🤣

[@debarghyahazra7086]

Man Utd 91-92. Top of league table after 39th matchday and then losing to arch rivals Leeds. Man Utd 2011-12. Drawing against Everton in Old Trafford while leading 4 - 2 till 83rd minute and then Agueroooooooo.......

[@ezraezra2928]

You can also include the 97-98 season as well. They were in contention of winning the Double (Premier League and Champions League) by March, 12 points clear of Arsenal, but during the mouth-watering clash between them at Old Trafford, Marc Overmars scored the only winning goal for Arsenal. After this defeat, Manchester United dropped 8 points on their last 7 games, whereas Arsenal won every games at the same time, giving them the first Premier League title under Arsene Wenger. United also crashed out in the quarterfinal of the Champions League at the hands of Monaco by the virtue of away goals, whereas Arsenal won the domestic double that year.

[@cloverisfan818]

Not against Everton. I think it is against Sunderland.

[@ezraezra2928]

@@cloverisfan818 Wrong fact. United also lost their penultimate derby game against City at the Etihad, after the infamous 1-6 at Old Trafford. Both sides were tied on points after 37 games, and United must hope their results must not being matched by City's on the final day of that season.

[@Anthony-Elliott]

​@@ezraezra2928 Man Utd had a season to never forget the following year in a good way

[@ezraezra2928]

@@Anthony-Elliott What's the good way? It was the last time they won the league, bruh. Nowadays, they finished 8th, the worst Premier League finish, and still won the FA Cup 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Edit: Sorry, I mean the first Premier League title in 92-93.

[@Chadd7618]

Listening to this whilst on my 7k morning walk. Thanks for the good contents as usual.

[@stormfang_music]

And now Leverkusen has broken the streak

[@jakov_]

I love the in-depth research that goes into these videos and Alfie's way of storytelling. Listening to these videos makes walking in the sun even more enjoyable.

[@luizstenio1818]

As a Brazillian and Flamengo Fan, I was not expecting Alfie’s inclusion on the last spot, but yeah it was a frustating year for us haha, cheers!

[@Ese96Agboaye]

Special mentions - potentially Leicester City, and Chelsea Women.

[@GuyJames]

I think Chelsea women will win the FA Cup but that will be it, so not a total disaster, but still disappointing overall

[@Ese96Agboaye]

@@GuyJames One thing I was happy about is, United and Chelsea weere drawn to face each other in the semis.

[@ezraezra2928]

Liverpool this season would be a major collapse on Jurgen Klopp's final season.

[@gabrielwall1822]

Yoooo I remember seeing the comment suggesting this video concept like 10 videos ago. Cool to see HITC really listening to viewers

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 620) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

[@ThomasCro]

doing some real important work there

[@yasin_GD]

alfie is a meanie at this point

[@fillipinern7588]

stop asking then

[@adampark4238]

Any that played for kaiserslautern

[@anotherguy3082]

​@@yasin_GD its just not a very interesting video idea.

[@stevencooke6451]

What a season in Brazil. Two epic collapses and neither was probably the biggest story with Santos being relegated.

[@eliaticca]

For me, you could have mentioned 2001/02 season, not for Bayer Leverkusen, but for Inter Milan, when they lost the chance of winning the Italian Championship at the last match of the season, falling 4-2 to Lazio

[@ezraezra2928]

Real Madrid also deserved this list that season. Despite winning the Champions League, they could have been the Treble contenders at the beginning of 2002, the year the club celebrated its centenary. But in the end, La Liga went to Valencia and Real Madrid finished 3rd with the lowest tally points overall (until 2018-19 campaign), plus they got humiliated by Deportivo La Coruna in front of home fans at Bernabeu in the Copa del Rey Final. But I think 2003-04 is far worse than 2001-02. Finishing 4th in La Liga and without any kind of major silverwares, despite being the better sides by the end of February, is still a big failure.

[@Uzair_Of_Babylon465]

Great video keep it up you're doing amazing things 😁😀

[@dervertica]

Ecuador won their first 4 qualifying matches for World Cup 2018 but then they ended up failing to qualify.

[@AussiDrummerboi]

Alfie! Great video as always. Any chance of a video of showing the opposite? 7 disastrous starts of seasons to promising endings?

[@daprowuztb4043]

Can't be this early to a HITC Sevens video. I must be dreaming! Great video Alfie

[@arnemente6346]

Schalke 2019-20. 4th and a Champions league spot after the first half of the season to go on a winnless streak lasting all the way into the following season and get them relegarted

[@franohmsford7548]

Wolves in 2001-02 has to be up there.... After beating Gillingham on the 2nd of March we had 76 points from 37 games and were 10 points clear of West Brom with 9 games to go. West Brom won 7 and drew 2 of those last 9 games whilst Wolves managed only another 10 points finishing 3 points behind our local rivals. We then went and lost 3-2 on aggregate to 6th placed Norwich City in the Play-Offs who to add insult to injury then went and lost to Birmingham City {on penalties} in the Play-Off Final.

[@jon-michaelharris5840]

Would love to see Alfie do a video on the history of Dos a Cero

[@mousecop7024]

16:27 insigne while saying in short is gold. keep up the great work alf

[@zedias2046]

In Portugal, during the 1996 97 season, one of the promoted teams, Espinho, was in 4th halfway to the season with 27 points , and ended up being relegated with a awful second half (33 points) . On the other hand, another promoted team, Rio Ave, had only 2 points in 10 matches, was red lantern halfway with 7 points, and yet managed to avoid relegation, with 35 points, ahead of Espinho.

[@tempestadeiwobi7372]

Well, Rio Ave accepted their fate and told to the supporters they would start to prepare the next season.

[@ruigarrido2881]

I'm a Benfica supporter, and I had a season pass, the only one I bougth I my live, it was that season. It took me 10 years to go back to the stadium, I went back to see them win the league VS santa clara.

[@davidschlichting5203]

watching this rn while Botafogo leads the Brazilian League after 25 matches...

[@denni-sl.c]

I remember that Benfica 2012-13 who lost the league "invincibility" as well that was really really bad.. Star player Oscar Cardoso ended up fighting with Jorge Jesus at the end of that Portuguese Cup defeat..

[@gabrieldutra3162]

I have to add those: Chelsea 07/08: runner-up 4x in the same season; also kicked out from the FA Cup to a far worse team Milan 04/05: greatest XI Milan side in 21st Century, runner-up in both UCL and Serie A; also knocked out Coppa Italia to a far worse team United 09/10: Bottled it in 3 competitions. Score 3x0 Bayern in UCL still eliminated; knocked by Leeds at Old Trafford in the FA Cup and lose the chance to win PL 4x in a row for the first time ever. Bayern 11/12: literally was runner-up in both Bundesliga and Pokal by Dortmund; the ice on the cake is the UCL final lost at home. Real Madrid 82/83: f*cking runner-up in FIVE competitions.

[@Podaling]

There's also Adana Demirspor this season, which was 3rd for 9 straight matchdays, and at the start, was cooking in the Super Lig with them being actually good, being in the top 5 for the first half of the season. But then, they absolutely collapsed around January and now are in 12th. In the Turkish Cup, they lost in the fifth round against 2.Lig (Turkish 3rd tier) side 24 Erzincanspor on penalties, being the best Turkish team to be eliminated in the fifth round. Keep in mind they had Balotelli and Nani in their team, making it a teensy weensy bit more embarrassing for them. Edit: They're 8 games deep in the season currently so far, and they sit last place with 0 wins, 1 draw, and 7 losses. They also only scored 7 goals so far and conceded 20, with -13 GD so far.

[@TheNormalJuan]

To be fair with the Brazilian inclusions, the schedule of the Brazilian league (May to December) has often lead to very strong teams during the first half of the season, losing some of their best players that have impressed international scouts, and at times their coaches/managers, during the summer, when the European leagues are recruiting for their next season, and while in some cases they might find reasonably good replacements, often those brazilian clubs end up looking weaker for the second half of the season. Take Endrick as an example, who will join Real Madrid in July. Palmeiras have made it clear they hope to keep the talented youngster on loan until December, but Madrid have denied those requests and won't consider any kind of loan for Endrick.

[@Percevalko]

Hey Alfie, this may seem random but I wanted to say thanks for never doing sponsorships. I hope it stays that way.

[@scotmorley8526]

peterborough United, 4-0 up after the first leg of the the league one play off semi-final, 2022/23 season and losing, in a penalty shootout to Sheffield Wednesday, has to be considered as one of the biggest bottle jobs.

[@HistoricFootballz]

Day 3 of asking for a video about the 7 greatest european ties by away goals Day 1 of asking for the best 7 last minute moments of al' time(You could make a top 50 of this

[@Time12366]

I think Alfie's mentioned Freddy Adu more than any other person on this channel

[@seandelap8587]

Newcastle United throwing away a 12 point advantage to hand Man Utd the title in the 1995/96 season would be a candidate they hadn't won a major trophy many years before that and haven't won a major trophy since and no I'm not counting a 2nd tier championship among them

[@gdinitiate4775]

You do realise they are in this video right?

[@dannyh9290]

Why not? The Championship is a major trophy. And Newcastle destroyed the everybody twice. It's sad to only count the Premier League as a "major" trophy when barring a freak season once a century, only City and one of Liverpool/Arsenal are going to realistically win it for the next decade.

[@jarvis911]

​​@@dannyh9290 the championship is literally a second-tier trophy. When people say major trophy in England they generally mean the PL, FA Cup or CL, the Carabao Cup and Europa League are even debatable but I think they count personally.

[@strykah92]

​@@dannyh9290non-top flight leagues = not major trophies. The only thing the Championship has in common is using a replica of the trophy design used before the Premier League was founded.

[@bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

Day 4 of: In the light of Georgia qualifying for their first major tournament in history, could you make a video about Georgian football? Or even a video about Georgian Football in the USSR considering the fact that 60s-80s were the golden era of football in Georgia Thank you for the magnificent content Alfie

[@needfoolthings]

A Newcastle and Udinese half-and-half scarf looks like a Newcastle or Udinese full scarf.

[@FabulousKonate]

7 Bundesliga legends that DIDN'T play for Bayern München would be an interesting video

[@T.E.S.S.]

yes

[@rlrequena]

Great video, Botafogo really did earn the spot by a large margin. And to add insult to injury, last year Botafogo fans had to watch their rival Fluminense winning their first Copa Libertadores, thus making Botafogo the only Rio team (and the only of the so-called Brazil "greats", at least those in the general consensus) to never have won the title

[@vexohaitianbridgette8502]

ngl i think athletico pr is better than botafogo

[@HugoAntonioli]

Bordeaux 2009-2010, from 1st with a big advance and 1st in Champions League group stage in front of Bayern and Juve to 6th and miserable elimination against a mediocre Lyon.

[@ezraezra2928]

And 12 years later, they were relegated to Ligue 2.

[@HugoAntonioli]

@@ezraezra2928 of course and Alfie made a good video about that (except from some bad french pronounciation 😅).

[@lllordllloyd]

Granit Xhaka sent by Arsenal to deny Harry a trophy.

[@jamieloudon6691]

Man Utd I’m 1985/6 under Ron Atkinson won their first 10 games and 13 of 15. They finished 4th. Ron was sacked the next season. Fergie replaced him.

[@nandraclan1493]

Cheers Alfie, excellent research!

[@bury_the_elite65294]

Norwich City 1994-95. They were 7th at Christmas & looking good for a top-6 finish (and a UEFA Cup place). Then their no. 1 goalie Bryan Gunn got injured, and Norwich's form plummeted. After they defeated title-chasing Newcastle Utd 2:1 on New Year's Eve at Carrow Road (their last good result of the season), the Canaries' only other win in the remaining 20 matches was 3:0 over East Anglia rivals Ipswich Town in March 1995. Then it got worse - they picked up just 1 point in their last 8 matches, including a 7-match losing streak (in which they lost 1:5 at Arsenal). They finished 20th (in a 22-team EPL) and were relegated to the then 1st Division (now The Championship). Only Leicester City, and NCFC's bitter rivals Ipswich Town, finished below them. Crystal Palace (19th) were also relegated. This was after the Canaries had narrowly missed out on winning the EPL title two seasons earlier...

[@ezraezra2928]

Forgot to mention that the Canaries had even upset German kings Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup, when they won 2-1 at Munich's Olympiastadion!

[@dionisiosmarinos4285]

Can you make a video on PSV ? This season they were unbeaten in their league for 26+ games only losing 5 days ago for the first time

[@scottcraze6346]

Liverpool are the most decorated English club.

[@baquithemonkey5330]

As someone from Colombia, I follow or at least stay updated with many south American league. I remember hearing and reading online about the botafogo collapse that i already it was going to be either first or second. And it could've been only second to leverkusen collapse which many are familiar with

[@DitzyNizzy2009]

Millwall were top of what is now the Championship on 28 October 1995. They finished third-bottom and hence relegated to what is now League One. So if any Birmingham fans are reading, it could have been worse.

[@ezraezra2928]

It happened. Birmingham were somewhere in playoff spot for the pronotion to the Premier League when John Eustace was sacked, and in the end, they were now playing in League One the next season.

[@DitzyNizzy2009]

@@ezraezra2928 - I know: I believe I posted that after their relegation was confirmed.

[@goursaol6463]

Fenerbahçe 09/10 could be a homorable mention, losing the title in the last fixture, losing domestic cup final and getting knocked out in first knockout round after winning 5 of 6 games in Europa League groups

[@swidr5626]

If only polish football was more widely known you could put Wisła Płock's last years capagin. From leading after 8 games to getting relegated. That was very painful to watch for a local

[@atyj1]

Oh man I wish so much you showed the moment Jorge Jesus collapsed and knelt after Kelvin scored

[@paulvinten7672]

Honourable mention, Portsmouth 18-19. After escaping League 2 under Paul Cook in his second season, Pompey established themselves as an upper mid table team in 17-18 under Kenny Jackett with Brett Pitman lethal up front. Playing functional, direct, effective football we went into our second season under KJ with hopes that we might tickle the play offs if we were lucky, having just signed the unknown (if we're honest) Ronan Curtis. A front 4 of Pitman, Jamal Lowe, Olly Hawkins and Ronan Curtis propelled Pompey to 1st in the table with a massive 8 point gap to 3rd on Xmas Day 2018. Then, Ben Thompson went back to Millwall. We fell off the pace big time, with a woeful February in 2019, big defeats to Luton, Charlton and the most painful one to Peterborough after we'd pulled it back from 0-2 to 2-2 before Viv Soloman-Otabor forgot the offside rule for a winner only for Ivan Toney to go up the other end and score the winner for the posh. Although we didn't lose many, we drew too many games in the second half of the season, including throwing away a 3 goal lead away to Southend to draw 3-3, at home to Barnsley when Omar Bogle decided to take Ronan Curtis's penalty instead of him (and missed), the last game of the season when we sat back against Accrington instead of going for the throat to draw 1-1. Win any one of those and we go up instead of Barnsley on goal difference. Followed by the worst pompey play off performance I've ever seen (Jackett left Jamal Lowe and Ronan Curtis on the bench against Sunderland when we were 1-0 down), you'll see why now, despite being 7 points from promotion and 8 points from the League One title, many of us are still a little nervous about getting over the line. Love the channel, Alfie.

[@BenSquires-k7m]

You boys got 6 points in 20 games, wowzers.

[@benficademacaufan]

I know it’s not football, but in the beginning the buffalo bills could have used a good shout for being the only nfl team to ever reach 4 straight super bowls. The bills lost all 4 Super Bowls and have never made another since.

[@0101_root]

"In short" ....... Shows a picture of Insigne... i almost choked 😂😂😂😂

[@Herotwo1]

The Kane curse is real

[@amirilan4435]

How about a video about best last minute winners? Such as aguero against QPR, Hapoel Tel Aviv 2009, United vs Bayern 2001 etc

[@mgramsdale]

Kudos for including United's 71/72 season!

[@matthewedwards9423]

I can remember Millwall being top at Christmas with Birmingham second (second tier obviously), Milwall got relegated and Brum finished just above them. Can't remember which season, late 90s I guess, I lose track of the relegation battles Birmingham get involved in.

[@Captain-Cardboard]

That's the first thing that sprung to mind for me, too. 1995/96, it was. Honourable mention for Bristol Rovers, 1999/2000. Top of the league after 35 games; missed out on the play-offs in the last game of the season!

[@gm2407]

How is that even a posibility? Was it a low points season in general? Usually Top spot in a 46 game and 3 points for a win season would be safe from relegation even with relegation form.

[@adamfysh-foskett961]

Yeah, that one was my first thought too. Happy memory for me though as a Pompey fan, because we snatched the lifeboat of 21st place from them on the last day of the season.

[@maxsimonis3470]

it should be mentioned that a few leverkusen players around captain michael ballack also lost the world cup final in the same year😢

[@ezraezra2928]

To make matters worse for Ballack, he didn't even played in the World Cup Final because of yellow card suspension. Also, Ballack lost the Premier League, League Cup, and Champions League Finals with Chelsea and Euro Final with Germany in 2008.

[@BALHAM69]

#thepeopleschannel a video on the Bangladesh premier league and the rise of Bashundhara kings would be good A team who went into the top flight after promotion and won the last four league titles now! Are they the next Newcastle? Are they a team to keep a eye on next few years? Thanks Alfie 😊

[@ArnoldPLO]

What is the difference between Rapid Wien (an Austrian club) and Bayer Leverkusen? Rapid was German champion once.

[@joachimhovgaardramlau3064]

He has also made a video about their German championship

[@Red_Tsar]

Well... I do have news...

[@riccardopinna2231]

From the perspective of an Italian, I would've also picked two seasons which are the essence of a bottle job in this video. In one occasion, Inter sank in the final day of the season at the hands of a squad with whom they're twinned, Lazio. They surrendered a 2-1 lead starting a self sabotage and a selfdestruction in the dying mins of the 1st half, when centre-back Gresko committed a blunder and a goofed delivering the ball to a Lazio's striker(Poborsky if I'm right). The clamour and glamour was raised by yhe fact that even Lazio's fanbase was rooting for Inter and addressed insults and chants to their own players on the awareness they've tried their hardest and in addition Inter were a title contented of Roma, Lazio's archest rivals. They were cheering with a passion to obstacle, weigh out and put some form of hindrance to Roma, putting away them from being crowned Italian champions. The conclusion testified Juventus, the 3rd team in question and in contention between Inter and Roma, sealing the scudetto. Inter's players crying all the way down to the pitch and fans incredulous and totally disheartened and broken-hearted. One of the biggest and most significant negative page in the history of a glorious team like Inter. To twist the knife to their wounds they also collapsed in the Uefa Cup semifinal courtesy of a loss to Feyenord cos when it rains it pours. Here in Italy we call it ''to do a 5 Maggio 2002(5th of May 2002, the date in which Inter fell completely apart in the ultimate league game)''. Inter rose from the ashes and in 2010 claimed the treble and this season they've the mouth watering opportunity to become Italian champions in front of and at the expense of hated fellow-citizens AC Milan. A vivid event like that might happen and take place, mostly if they're capable of making easy and light work of the red and black shirts turning things around, and adding salt to the injury it would be their 20th title, in Italy there's the usance to add a star in the kit of a squad every 10 scudettos. Milan standing-still and stuck at 19(1 star) and Inter approaching their 2nd with potency and powerfully. Inter fans would've a licence to banter, mock, take the mike out of, pull the legs of Milan's set of fans. And I'm a Milanista, so I'm struggling, I'm through the ringer, I'm suffering. My innermost feelings are hurt. But this is another story. The drought and hiatus of Milna in derbies has to draw to a close asap if they're all about to relish the challenge to stop the rot. And now I've the burden to introcude what it is the most painful and devastating occurrance in football's history from my pov, cos I'm a die-hard Milan faithful from the core, Milan my childhood and boyhood club: the famous, notorious and renowned 2005 final of the UCL hosted in Istanbul. As everyone knows, Milan threw away a 3-0 lead in 5 mins. An unexpected and unprecedented implosion. The rossoneri eroded at their best and sobbed. An unbelivable implosion. Players' mindest proved to be utterly and factually amiss and hogwash in the 2nd half, the pawns in Milan's uniform lacked humility and showed too much overconfidence, arrogance and moreover they believed and thought it was done and dusted, the game put to bed. After looking brilliant, shining, shimmerful, dazzling, sontuous, sparkling, razzle-dazzle and I've all but depleted all the adjectives to describe their performance, they forgot to turn up in the 2nd hald allowing Liverpool back in the encounter. Milan dominated, outclassed and outplayed Liverpool for 80 mins+30 of extra time, but the Reds proved them wrong exuding, oozing and trickling down an outstanding resilience. Earlier in that season Milan had lost the title race to Juventus, who overcame us in that battle(although they were stripped, deprived and destituted of that scudetto when in 2006 the ''Calciopoli'' scandal occurred in Italy, and as a conseuence and as a matter of fact the 2005 ended up not awarded to anyone and the rest is history), and much ado for nothing. A resounding, stellar, rdundant Milan side terminated their season trophyless and empty-handed, holding their bag, adding fuel to the fire. Milan rolled up their sleeves, dug deep and took revenge over the reeds two season in the making, throwing back to 2007 our very last European cup for now.

[@tomasjurogutierrez2294]

Why Milan was relegated in 1979/80 Serie A despite finished in 3rd place?

[@peterfighter]

@@tomasjurogutierrez2294 Because of Totonero (match-fixing scandal)

[@riccardopinna2231]

@@tomasjurogutierrez2294 cos they got caught red-handed and flagrant fixing and rigging matches that year

[@bumblepiggi]

Could you do a video on the 7 best seasons following a promotion to the top division?

[@RichP879]

Sunderland's 2 x 7th place finishes in 1999-00 and 2000-01. At turn of each year, we were challenging for the title and safely in position for European football. Alas, collapses in form in the second half of both of those seasons meant us missing out on a European place for what would have been the first time since 1973. These downturns in form proved to be an ominous partent of what was to come in the following seasons which culminated in the 19 pt season, and some years later the 15 pt season.

[@yatman6305]

Suggestion Video: The 7 most impressive newly promoted clubs seasons

[@滋榎本]

Without del Bosque, the superstar players placed together failed to form a cohesive footballing unit, indicating that having a large number of very talented, renowned individual footballers did not effectively translate into a great footballing team.

[@theawfulgambler]

One season we (Millwall) were top at Xmas but for relegated at the end of the season.

[@WhiteHartDane]

I still remember that. Mid-90's?

[@silvesta5027]

A double clearly isn’t a disaster, but Liverpool 21/22. This was possibly the closest a club has come to winning a quadruple only to fall just short They won the FA cup and Carabao cup but came 2nd in the league by a single point. Then came the UCL final where they lost 1-0 to Real Madrid. It could’ve been so much more, and this is why Klopp’s Liverpool legacy is so much greater than his trophy cabinet suggests

[@ezraezra2928]

That's great. Just imagine his farewell party this season ended up with only Carabao Cup as its sole prize, while they didn't win the Premier League and Europa League!

[@Fisher1874]

Great video as always. Would be interesting to see a part 2. Suggestion for said list I’d say (as much as it hurts me) hearts season 1985/86. After only 2 wins from our first 9 league matches (1/4 of the season) we went undefeated for the rest of the season until the final league match of the season. Only needing 1 point away to Dundee to win the league and celtic (the only other challengers) needed hearts to lose and they win with a 4 goal swing - hearts lost 2-0 with both goals scored with less than 10 minutes to play and Celtic won 5-0 against st mirren. Hearts then faced aberdeen a week later in the Scottish cup final and lost that 3-0. Might not be as big as bayer or Real Madrid but going 31 matches undefeated to losing 2 cups in a week is pretty bad

[@JayTechZM]

Heres a Chelsea list of sad collapses; 2007-08: Recovered after Jose's sacking to close the gap against Man United, and beating United at Stamford Bridge to be level on points with 5 games left only needing 12 points from a possible 15 to win the league. Dropped silly points to Wigan and then Bolton on the final day and even United dropped more points than us yet we didn't win it. Knocked out by Barnsley from the FA Cup, bottling the league cup against spurs and if course Moscow. 13-14: Jose's second coming. We were perfect against the top sides beating City and Liverpool home and away, destroying Arsenal and in the last seven games of that season we had the title in our hands. But losing to Villa, Stoke, Palace, drawing at home to a relegated Norwich and crucially losing to Sunderland and ending Jose's unbeaten home run cost us the league which was a tonic to win it virtually unchallenged the following year. 21-22: Probably the most blatent collapse. Coming off the back of winning the Champions League, we lost only 1of our first 12 games of the season in the league, lead for a majority of the first half of that season and absolutely battered Juventus at home in the Champions League, only for injuries to Chilwell and James amongst many factors derailed the season and compounded by the Russian invasion we practically limped to the end of the season losing both cup finals to Liverpool. Honourable mention the 03-04 UCL season when we bottled it to Monaco 🤣 98-99 season which is remebred for the United treble but Chelsea were firmly in the title race till around March April when it all fell apart and we weren't experienced enough yet at the time to maintain a solid title charge.

[@ezraezra2928]

I think 21-22 season also changed Chelsea's whole reputation as the most successful clubs in Europe at all. The club changed its ownership, and despite spending 1B pound with Todd Boehly, they were now practically the Championship team, being on the bottom half of Premier League right now!

[@gugga2745]

alfie meeting freddy adu would be like when ksi finally met heskey

[@lenon3579ify]

I saw the title, I thought "which spot will Botafogo be in?", and was surprised to see Flamengo right at the start. Then I thought you wouldn't have included Botafogo, and then being surprised by it being first... But yeah, they deserved it. That's one title for them, at least.

[@lenon3579ify]

But the 2023 season for Brazilian football was really wild. I watched almost all the matches of my club (Grêmio) and I still, to this day, don't understand how did we ended second place, with a chance to get the title until the last match, ending 2 points away from the winners. We had one of the worst defences of the league, with 56 goals conceded - only three of the relegated teams had conceded more goals than that. That season was crazy.