Brighton Make Europa League Knockouts
Brighton and Hove Albion fired themselves into the knockout phase of the UEFA Europa League with a 1-0 win at AEK Athens on Thursday. Joao Pedro’s 55th-minute penalty was enough to ensure the Premier League side qualified with a game to spare, and could still top Group B if they beat Marseille in the final game.
Manager Roberto de Zerbi told UEFA.com: “It was a historic day for Brighton, for the club, for our fans.
“It is a massive evening for the club and everyone involved, the players and the fans, a result we will always remember.”
But despite the jubilant celebrations from players and fans alike, they will of course be hoping to go further in the competition than just the next round. This then got us wondering: Has an English side ever gone all the way in their first-ever European competition?
Has An English Side Ever Won Their First European Competition?
The short answer is yes – but not for a very long time. The first team to ever do so were Tottenham, who lifted the UEFA Cup Winners Cup back in 1962/63. Spurs defeated Rangers 8-4 on aggregate in the first round, before knocking out Slovakian outfit Slovan Bratislava 6-2 in the quarter-finals.
They then beat Serbian side OFK Beograd 5-2 in the semi’s to book a place in the final against Atletico Madrid. Spurs won that game 5-1 with two goals from club legend Jimmy Greaves, becoming the first English side to win silverware on their European debut.
Just two other clubs in English football have managed the same feat before, with West Ham also winning the Cup Winners Cup two years after Spurs’ triumph. The Irons beat Belgian side Genk 2-1 in the first round, then knocked out Sparta Prague 3-2 over two legs.
A thrilling 6-4 quarter-final tie against FC Lausanne–Sport of Switzerland and a 3-2 victory over Real Zaragoza in the semi’s set up a final with 186o Munich at Wembley. They defeated the German side 2-0 with a brace from Alan Sealey to lift the trophy.
West Ham themselves booked their place in this year’s Europa League knockouts alongside Brighton with a 1-0 win at Serbian side Backa Topola on Thursday night. Like Brighton, they will top the group with a win in their final game against Freiburg.
While West Ham and Tottenham both won the UEFA Cup Winners Cup at the first attempt, just one English side has lifted the UEFA Cup or it’s predecessor competitions on their European debut.
Winning The Europa League At The First Attempt?
Newcastle United triumphed in 1968/69, lifting the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Existing from 1955-1971, the competition is regarded as the original form of the UEFA Cup – now the Europa League.
The Magpies saw off Feyenoord 4-2 in the first round, before a 2-1 aggregate win against Sporting CP. A 4-4 draw with Real Zaragoza saw them sneak through the third round on away goals, followed by a 6-4 win in the quarter-finals against Portuguese side Vitória de Setúbal. Beating Rangers 2-0 in the semi-finals, they went on to win 6-2 over a two legged final with Hungarian club Újpest.
Two other sides have actually won the UEFA Cup in their first appearance, Tottenham in 1971/72 and Liverpool in 1972/73. However, both clubs had previously played in other European competitions.
Is Nottingham Forest’s European Cup Win The Best Ever?
Only a few sides have ever won back-to-back European Cups/UEFA Champions Leagues. But not only did Nottingham Forest do so, they managed it in their first two appearances in Europe’s top competition. Liverpool are the only other English side to achieve such a feat to date, and were going for three in a row when they lost to newcomers Forest in the 1978/79 first round.
But under the management of legendary boss Brian Clough, they followed their first round victory over reigning champions Liverpool with wins against AEK Athens, GC Zurich and Koln.
The final took place on 30 May 1979 at Munich’s Olympiastadion in front of 57,500 fans. Forest ran out 1-0 winners thanks to a Trevor Francis goal, and repeated the feat a year later, beating Hamburger SV 1-0 for their second straight title.
Forest had played in Europe twice before, though. They qualified for both the 1961/62 and 1967/68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, losing in the first and second rounds respectively.
Whilst Brighton have a long way to go to match some heroic European performances of yesteryear, the Seagulls are certainly giving a good account of themselves. It remains to be seen if they can go all the way, but should they manage it, they would join an elite group of first-time winners in European competition.
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