The 2024-25 season has seen several sides across Europe – and one notable player – break long trophy droughts to write themselves into history
There could be more on the horizon. Tottenham Hotspur are aiming to end a 17-year wait for a major trophy in the Europa League final, while trophyless-since-2007 Stuttgart face an Arminia Bielefeld who have never won a major trophy in the German Cup final.
In a season of surprise successes, we’ve looked at four teams and one player who have ended long trophy droughts in 2024-25.
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace fans could be forgiven for thinking they’d never see their side win a major trophy.
The mercurial club from south London had gone 119 years without lifting a major pot, with two FA Cup final defeats in 1990 and 2016 to their name.
But 2025 proved third time lucky after beating Manchester City 1-0 on a gloriously sunny afternoon at Wembley.
Eberechi Eze’s first-half goal proved decisive, while Dean Henderson saved an Omar Marmoush penalty to keep Palace’s lead intact.
There were unconfirmed of localised flooding in the Wembley area, thanks to the happy tears of Palace fans, and many neutrals wept alongside them.
Palace will play in the Europa League next season, marking the club’s first sojourn into European football.
Newcastle United
Newcastle had their fair share of near misses in the modern era, with agonising runners-up finishes in the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup across the last three decades.
But all that changed on a chilly Sunday afternoon in March, as Eddie Howe’s team beat Liverpool 2-1 in the League Cup final.
Goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak sealed Newcastle’s first piece of domestic silverware in 70 years, sparking wild scenes on Tyneside.
The shadow of Saudi Arabia over Newcastle’s success made what should have been a heart-warming tale feel cold for many neutrals, but the club’s fans understandably didn’t give a solitary eff.
Bologna
Bologna exceeded all expectations last season to secure Champions League football and have defied the exit of head coach Thiago Motta and key players to thrive again in 2024-25.
They have ended a 51-year trophy drought with Coppa Italia success. Dan Ndoye’s 53rd-minute goal was the difference as Bologna beat AC Milan in Rome.
It was a fine moment for head coach Vincenzo Italiano, after Coppa Italia and two Europa Conference League final losses in charge of Fiorentina. They will be in the Europa League next season.
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Harry Kane
One of the best goalscorers of his generation, Kane entered his 30s without major silverware after a string of near misses with both Tottenham and England.
Even a move to Bayern Munich in 2023 didn’t initially bear fruit, as the Bundesliga giants lost their league title to Bayer Leverkusen.
But the natural order has been restored this year, with Bayern easing to the Bundesliga crown and Kane scoring 26 league goals along the way.
“It was an amazing experience, to be honest,” Kane told BBC Sport about breaking his trophy duck.
“Obviously I’ve seen celebrations like this from afar but, until you experience it yourself, it’s hard to put into words.
“It was almost like a switch went off, and all of a sudden it was just a lot of emotion, a lot of joy.”
Go Ahead Eagles
Go Ahead Eagles were closing in on a century without a trophy before upsetting the odds to win the Dutch Cup this season.
The Deventer-based outfit knocked out PSV Eindhoven in the semi-finals, before squeezing past AZ Alkmaar on penalties to win their first-ever Dutch Cup.
In a dramatic final in Rotterdam, AZ opened the scoring through Troy Parrot’s penalty before Mats Deijl equalised for Go Ahead Eagles with a spot-kick of his own in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
Unable to be separated in extra time, Go Ahead claimed the cup when Mayckel Lahdo missed for AZ. It was their first major honour since last becoming Dutch champions in 1933.