5 football clubs who were relegated in the same season they won a major trophy

4) FC Kaiserslautern (1995-96)

FC Kaiserslautern players celebrate after winning the DFB Pokal in 1996

FC Kaiserslautern became the runners-up in the first German League after World War II but were crowned champions three years later in 1951. The German club has put up memorable performances in recent times too; reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in the 1998/99 season was their first major achievement in the global arena.

In 1996, Marin Wagner’s 42nd-minute goal in the final of the DFB Pokal at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin against Karlsruher SC was enough to secure their second German Cup title. Having finished 4th in the 1994-95 season of the Bundesliga, they were expected to perform consistently. But things don’t always happen the way you imagine, FC Kaiserslautern fell two points short of the relegation cut-off and eventually had to play in the second tier.