Annual Rankings - Most popular for 2008
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One in a row wasn't enough for Ajax, Bayern Munich or Liverpool; what makes you think it would be
enough for Nottingham Forest? If your answer was "nothing," then you are correct. The
1980 European Champions Cup saw Nottingham Forest not only reach the final at the Bernabeu in
Madrid, it saw Forest defeat Hamburger in the final 1-0 on the leg of John Robertson, who scored
the match's only goal in the twenty-first minute.
In 1973, Ajax cemented its position as one of the all-time great clubs in European history by
becoming the first club since Real Madrid in 1956-1960 to pull a three-peat of the European
Champions Cup. It also became the first team to win the (not quite as coveted) World Club Rankings
Team of the Year for three consecutive years.
I'm not sure if 1974 is more fairly seen as a blip in the 1970s dominance of the Dutch or the year
marking the rise of the Bundesliga and Bayern Munich. Both are probably fair to some degree. After
three straight years as European champions and WCR Team of the Year, Ajax failed to win its
domestic league and fell to CSKA Sofia in the second round of the Champions Cup.
Dynasties continued to dominate, as dynasties are apt to do, in 1975. Even though it seems odd to
say that the Champions Cup, with a final between two teams from two of the top leagues in the
world, was anti-climactic – so I won't – but the final did pit the ninth-place team
from England against the tenth-place team in the Bundesliga.
In the quarterfinals of the 1977 Champions Cup, Soviet club Dynamo Kiev defeated Bayern Munich 2-1
in aggregate, ending Bayern's three-year run as European champions. Another West German club made
it to the European Cup final, but Borussia Monchengladbach fell 3-1 in the final to Liverpool in
Rome, Italy.
1972 saw Total Football become entrenched in Europe as Ajax tried to become the first club to
repeat as continental champions since Inter Milan pulled the trick in 1964 & 1965 by facing that
team in the finals. Two second-half goals by Johan Cruyff were all that were necessary, actually
the first one was all that was necessary, as Ajax defeated Internazionale 2-0.
It's been a few months since I posted an annual Top 25. The primary reason for this is because I'm
saving them for the summer when the Weekly Top 25s (and the Weekly Television Schedule for the most
part) go into hiatus. Now seems like a good time for an update, however.
1967 was the year that one of the world's most popular teams became such as Celtic defeated Inter
Milan 2-1 in the Champions Cup final to win the European championship and, incidentally, end
Internazionale's two-year run as the best team in the world.
Not to be outdone by Ajax, Bayern Munich matched the run of the Dutch club by taking its third
consecutive Champions Cup title in 1976. This time around, the game took place in Glasgow,
Scotland, and Bayern defeated St. Etienne 1-0 on a second-half goal by Franz Roth. Once again,
Bayern Munich failed to win the Bundesliga and failed to finish on top in the WCR rankings, though
they did come closer in 1976, finishing third in both.
In 1981, for the third time in five years, Liverpool took home the Champions Cup trophy. This time
Liverpool won the title by defeating Real Madrid 1-0 in Paris, France on an 82nd minute goal by
Alan Kennedy. As was the case in 1978, however, Liverpool was unable to secure the top spot in the
World Club Rankings in 1981, despite the European Championship, because of a fifth-place showing in
domestic action.
Just as 1967 saw the rise to prominence of a European champion whose fan base remains strong to
this day – Celtic – so did 1968. Despite falling in the Premiership to its cross-town
rivals, English upstart Manchester United took advantage of home field advantage, playing before
100,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, to win its first European Champions Cup.
Following in the footsteps of Ajax and Bayern Munich, Liverpool repeated as European champion in
1978. This time they did it by continuing their dominance over Borussia Monchengladbach, who they
defeated in the 1977 final and the 1978 semifinals, and over Club Brugge, who they defeated in the
1976 UEFA Cup final and again, 1-0, in the European Cup final at Wembley Stadium, with Kenny
Dalglish providing the winning margin in the 65th minute.
It's been a week of vacation here at WCR while we enjoyed holiday festivities and prepare the
forty-ninth WCR Annual Top 25. Now that we're back, here we go.
A week or so ago, I set forth the general guidelines for the annual WCR Top 25s. You can click on
that link if you want additional information, but basically, unlike the weekly top 25s, the annual
version is not a snapshot of current form but, rather, looks at the last complete season for each
league and each continental tournament.
Now that the weekly rankings have come to an end for the season, it's time to publish more of the
annual rankings that have been an occasional fixture on this site.
After seeing United Kingdom powerhouses in the making Celtic and Manchester United take the
Champions Cup titles in 1967 and 1968, the European Championship went back to the mainland in 1969.
Feyenoord won the Champions Cup in 1970, but was unable to secure the top spot in its domestic league and was, therefore, unable to claim the top spot in the WCR Top 25, settling for second. In 1971, Feyenoord was able to win its domestic title, but still had to settle for second in the WCR rankings, sitting behind fellow Dutch team Ajax
Ajax ran wild on the Dutch domestic league despite finishing second.
Liverpool was unable to follow in the footsteps of Ajax and Bayern Munich with a third consecutive
Champions Cup title in 1979 as they fell in the first round of the tournament to fellow English
club Nottingham Forest. Forest carried the national banner valiantly, however, moving past AEK
Athens, Grasshopper Club and FC Cologne on their way to the championship match.
(Note: Due to minimal action among club participants over the past week, the weekly WCR Top 25 will
be passed over for the next installment in the WCR Annual Rankings. The weekly club ranking will
return next week.)
As was demonstrated in 1982, when Uruguay's Penarol became the first South American club to finish
atop the annual rankings, the 1980s were the glory years for South American clubs in the annual
rankings.
1966 saw old champions knock long-time defending champions out of the throne to return to their
rightful spots. In the Copa Libertadores, Penarol knocked off River Plate in the finals to replace
two-time defending champion Independiente and become the first club with three titles. Likewise, in
Europe, Real Madrid knocked out two-time defending champion (and current number one)Internazionale
in the semis on its way to winning an unprecedented sixth Champions Cup.
1970 was the year that the Dutch began their domination of the early part of the decade in European
action. The Champions Cup came to Holland for the first of four consecutive seasons as Feyenoord
defeated Celtic 2-1. It wasn't quite enough to deliver Feyenoord the distinction of being the WCR
Team of the year since they managed to finish only second , behind Ajax, in domestic action.
(Note: Since there was only minimal club action this weekend involving the WCR Top 25 Clubs, I am
posting the next in my series of Annual Rankings. I hope you enjoy it – or at least find it
interesting. The WCR Top 25 Clubs list will return next week.)
In the past, I've started off writing about each year by discussing events in the UEFA Champions
Cup tournament.
In 1965, Internazionale won its second consecutive Champions Cup, defeating Benfica 1-0
in the final at the San Siro. It also marked the first time that Inter Milan finished at the top of
the annual WCR Annual Top 25. (They are seeking to do it again in 2008 as they are the current
number one in the weekly rankings.
