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The European football season kicks off next month and we’ve already seen the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Inter Milan et al, strengthen their squads significantly. Whether it be the title, or a Champions League spot, or even the ‘Ol Big Ears themselves, these teams have set their priorities well in advance - it is make-or-break time now. However, this season also sees a bunch of new boys waiting to stake their claim of the pie among the big boys. These are teams with long, and storied histories, who have been on the verge of realizing their biggest dreams, yet fell at the doorstep every time. For the five teams who will be strutting their stuff with the veterans of Europe this season, this is hopefully the dawn of a new era. While they maybe the bookmakers’ favourites for the dreaded drop next May, these teams will definitely have the support and following among the quintessential romantics that we fans are. We take a look at the newcomers among Europe’s top leagues.
#5 Gazelec Ajaccio - Ligue 1
Four promotions from lower leagues in five years. An entire seasonal budget of €4.5 million, an eleventh of what Raheem Sterling cost. And a stadium capacity of 2,885, which is going to be expanded to 5,000. In one of the most remarkable footballing stories of this century, a club which turned professional only in 2012, is going to compete with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais.
Living under the perennial shadows of their big brother SC Bastia and AC Ajaccio, Gazelec finished in the bottom of Ligue 2 at the end of 2013. However, they got promoted immediately and then went on to finish behind Troyes to reach the upper echelons of French football. With a shoestring budget of €12 million, a fortieth of that of PSG, the Corsican minnows have their task cut out to survive in the league.
However, their incredible story will always remain in folklore, irrespective of the travails they might face over the coming years. From the days when there was talk of dissolving and merging with AC Ajaccio, to the day when a John Tshibumbu brace propelled them to the promised land, Gazelec’s has been one, gutsy ride. Here’s to wishing them more glory.
#4 Frosinone Calcio - Serie A
In the eternal city of Rome, two teams rule the roost – AS Roma and SS Lazio. They’ve played out some of the continent’s fiercest encounters, making them synonymous with the capital city. However, this season sees a third team from the city making it to the Serie A – Frosinone Calcio. Far removed from the big, bad world of Roman football, the tiny provincial club gained back-to-back promotions to appear in the Serie A for the first time in their 103-year old history.
“They don’t even know that Frosinone exist!” commented Claudio Lotito, the owner of Lazio, when asked about the neighbourhood minnows playing in Serie B. However, the club he had shrugged off with contempt are going to ply their trade with his beloved Biancoceleste this coming season. And this incredible achievement stands testament to the progress the team have made over the years.
Representing a town of just 46,000 people with a stadium capacity of 10,000, Frosinone is a club with a sound financial framework and a healthy base of homegrown players. They’ve learnt from the dark times of the 1990s when they were bankrupt and spent their days in the wilderness for four seasons.
However, with the encouraging examples of Empoli and Sassuolo who have made it big in Serie A in recent years, one can expect Frosinone to give it a good fight.
#3 Carpi FC 1909 - Serie A
The town of Carpi has a population of 67,000 – roughly 13,000 less than the capacity of San Siro. However, the small town has a football club more than a century old, having experienced little to no success, with their claim to fame being Marco Materazzi, who spent a season on loan there once. All that changed in 2009 however, as a club playing in the fifth division suddenly woke up. They haven’t looked back ever since.
When they beat Bari to send a capacity stadium of 4,000 people into madness and delirium, Carpi had achieved what was thought to have been impossible – they had clinched the top spot in Serie B. The team whose stadium was only a fifth as big as the second smallest Serie A stadium had dared to dream, and showed the gumption to achieve it.
With an average age of only 24, and a total bill of less than €3 million last season, Carpi have defied every imaginable odd to give themselves a chance to hit the turf with the likes of Juventus and the Milan clubs. And with the team moving to the nearby 20,000-seater Stadio Alberto Braglia for the 2015/16 season, this could well be the beginning of even better things to come.
#2 FC Ingolstadt 04 - Bundesliga
In the summer of 2004, a football-mad Bavarian millionaire Peter Jackwerth and Audi oversaw the merger of two ancient, minnow clubs, ESV Ingolstadt and MTV Ingolstadt. 11 years later, the team has gone from playing in the Oberliga Bayern, the Bavarian league in Germany’s fifth division, to finally qualifying for the Bundesliga. In a game awash with Ripley’s stories, this surely takes the cake this season.
Playing their first ever match in front of 600 travelling fans, FC Ingolstadt has come a long way indeed. With a meagre budget of €8.5 million, the club follows the meteoric rise of Paderborn, and teams like these bode well for German football. In a town where one-fourth of the population work for Audi, Ingolstadt are selling dreams; indeed, they are about to play against the likes of Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben and Marco Reus.
The club have already envisioned a clear, long-term plan, with Audi to play a more important role in helping them financially. With their new home, the Audi Sportpark up and running, the team is here to stay for good. And with players like Australia’s Mathew Leckie and the magisterial metronome Pascal Gross in their roster, Ingolstadt may well take to the deep end of the pool like Mark Spitz.
#1 AFC Bournemouth - English Premier League
“It would be the greatest fairytale since Hans Christian Andersen wrote his last one” – Jeff Mostyn, Chairman, AFC Bournemouth.
Arguably the most high-profile success story in this list, AFC Bournemouth was a club that was docked 17 points for not adhering to FA’s insolvency rules before the start of the 2008/09 League Two season. For a club to recover from a situation so ignominious and then further recover from the verge of liquidation not once, but thrice, is an astonishing achievement in itself. But to do all that in the space of six years, and then go on to qualify for the richest league in the world, is a superhuman achievement.
And with the new Premier League broadcast deal, the club is set to earn a whopping £130 million. Uncharted waters indeed, for the smallest club in Premier League history by far. With the ambitious 37-year old Eddie Howe at the helm of their Premier League charge, the Dean Court outfit have the likes of Artur Boruc, Sylvain Distain, Tyrone Mings and most excitingly, Chelsea winger, Christian Atsu (on loan) in their lineup for the coming season.
To put Bournemouth’s achievement into perspective, they suffered a net loss of £8 million in the 2013/14 season, before qualifying for the Premier League this season. QPR, on the other hand, huffed and puffed their way to the top after suffering a net loss of £69 million before going down at the same speed. Enough said.
