A thread full of Mahoosive European clubs not playing in the top flight

[Austrian Gull]

We all know about the poor unfortunates such as Forest, Leeds etc. from over here but who are the giants of other countries currently fallen on hard times?

I will start the Euro ball rolling with Real Betis - I'm sure they used to be one of the biggest and best clubs In Spain. Never been the same since signing that circus act, Denilson.

 

[Simster]

Osasuna
Hertha Berlin

 

[Was not Was]

Brighton

 

[Simster]

Norwich

 

[New Carpet?]

Nantes - French Champions in 1995 and 2001.

Currently just hovering above the relegation zone in the French Second division (though ridiculously, are only ten points off the top spot of their league table).

They have a 37,000-capacity stadium, though it is lucky to be a third-full these days given their fall from grace.

 

[tonymgc]

Hungarys biggest club & 1965 Fairs cup winners Fernecvaros spent three years out of the top flight untill last season.
AC Torino, Once on of Italys biggest teams currently play in Serie B
Hellas Verona who won Serie A in 1985 & once had players like Camoranesi, Frey, Mutu & the great Craig Davies(!) are currenty playing in Italys equivilent of League One.

 

[driller]

Sheffield Wednesday
southscumton

 

[Austrian Gull]

Nantes - French Champions in 1995 and 2001.

Currently just hovering above the relegation zone in the French Second division (though ridiculously, are only ten points off the top spot of their league table).

They have a 37,000-capacity stadium, though it is lucky to be a third-full these days given their fall from grace.

Good call. Les Canaris were once Poyetesque in their tippy-tappy style - really fallen on hard times.

Could be joined in Ligue deux by Monaco and/or Lens next year who have both won the French title in the last 10 years or so.

I saw Royal Antwerp play at Wembley in the Cup Winners Cup final in the mid nineties - they have been marooned in the Belgian second division for most of the time since.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

Extremadura - when managed by one Rafa Benitez. Made it through the ranks to La Liga but unfortunately folded recently.

Also Cádiz, now at the third level, who beat Betis 2-0 in Seville recently. Currently third, hopefully play offs but not as straight forward as the playoffs in UK. More like a mini league.

 

[The Large One]

Stade de Reims. In two of the first four European Cup Finals.

 

[Gully]

RFC Liege in Belgium.

Currently playing in the third division, it has a long history and was the fourth club to register with the Belgian Football Association, it is the only club to have played all the seasons at a national level. The club is also known today for being 'homeless' and for its refusal to release Jean-Marc Bosman after his contract ran out in 1990, which in turn led to the Bosman ruling, a European Court of Justice decision that caused major changes to the structure of European football.

At the end of the 1980s, the RFC Liège played in European competitions (notably against Benfica, Juventus, Rapid Vienna, Hibernian, Werder Bremen and Athletic Bilbao) and also won a Belgian Cup in 1990. Unfortunately, after that, bankruptcy was inevitable, and their stadium was sold and destroyed to build a cinema. Since then the club have been homeless, a similar situation to the Albion in that they hope to move to a new stadium, though there the similarities end as they play in blue and red stripes.

 

[les dynam]

wimbledon. former fa cup winners now playing non league football. having said that, they did come from the non league scene and even in their glory days plough lane held about 12,000 tops.
hertha berlin - don't know much about their history, but they are a huge club, now playing in the german second tier
dynamo dresden and hansa rostock - jumbo names when the east german league existed, but also in the bundesliga when the country reunified, both now playing in the third tier
real betis. big boys swiming with the minnows in the spanish second

 

[captainmorganrum]

In the Netherlands

(1) Sparta Rotterdam, 6 Dutch titles, 3 Dutch Cups and you can count the number of seasons they've been out of the top flight on your fingers, but their in the Dutch 2nd division now - and they are mid-table mediocracy.

(2) Fortuna Sittard - big club, big name in the Netherlands, played Everton in Europe back in the 80s - currently in danger of relegation into the amateurs.