Planet Football

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.

READ NEXT: The best Premier League teams that never won a trophy: Arsenal, Leeds, Newcastle…

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name the year these 26 English clubs last won a major trophy?

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.

The Premier League possesses some of the most athletically gifted players in world football, with Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham stars recording some of the top speeds ever seen.

Among the fastest players in the English top flight are wingers, midfielders, centre-backs and full-backs.

Between the top speeds from top to tenth, there’s less than a hundredth of a second. Here, we have assessed the fastest players in Premier League history, after data started being recorded in 2020-21.

=10. Matheus Nunes

Nunes might not have had the chance to show his impressive sprinting skills had he stayed in Manchester City‘s midfield.

He’d played there the majority of his City career before this season, when he’s been deployed at right-back on 15 occasions.

As a wide defender, the Portuguese has had to battle with some powerful wingers, and clocked a highest speed of 36.70 kilometres per hour this term in doing so.

=10. Brennan Johnson

Johnson’s nature as a direct winger has seen him impress at the highest level of English football with both Nottingham Forest and Tottenham.

It was with the former club that he set his fastest Premier League speed of 36.70km/h.

He did so against champions Manchester City in 2022-23, against a back line containing Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte and speed demon Kyle Walker.

A footballer so quick that he sometimes decides running normally isn’t effective enough, and decides to start pumping his legs higher as if he’s riding a bicycle, Rudiger is blessed with great physical attributes.

@fifaworldcup Rudiger. 🏃‍♂️💨 #FIFAWorldCup #Germany ♬ original sound – viciousftbl

At Chelsea, this saw him become one of the fastest players in Premier League history – but running more like a normal person this time.

The German defender set a top speed of 36.72km/h against Brighton in the 2021-22 campaign.

There was not an awful lot to shout about from a Burnley perspective in the 2023-24 Premier League season. The Clarets were relegated with a total of 24 points.

Perhaps O’Shea’s blistering pace does little to make their fans feel any better about the campaign, but it at least puts him fairly high up the list of fastest Premier League players.

The Irishman ran at 36.73km/h against Crystal Palace, though it didn’t count for an awful lot, as Burnley lost 2-0.

It’s not massively common to see a central midfielder move as quickly as Liverpool man Szoboszlai’s top speed.

He’s in fact one of only two players in his position in the top 10 fastest Premier League speeds of all time.

The Hungarian travelled at 36.76km/h against Wolves in September 2023, with Reds fans believing that was achieved when Szoboszlai was tracking back from a corner, preventing a 1v1 attack against his side.

Moder spent the first few months of the 2023-24 season sidelined with an ACL injury. But when he came back to action for Brighton, he was clearly in top shape.

The midfielder set a blistering top speed of 36.84km/h, pipping Szoboszlai as the quickest Premier League central midfielder of all time.

One of the most direct wingers in the Premier League, Chelsea man Neto gets most of his success from knocking the ball past full-backs and beating them for pace.

That’s the case now he’s at the Blues, and the same was true when he was at Wolves.

That was where he set the fifth-fastest Premier League sprint of all time – 36.86km/h. He did it against Luton during September 2023.

Elanga has had the most separate sprints in the Premier League’s top 100 during 2024-25 of any player. His most memorable came against former club Manchester United, when the winger was said to have covered 85 metres in nine seconds.

He clocked around 36.20km/h in that sprint, and later in the same game, beat that by travelling at 36.70km/h.

It was the second fastest speed clocked in the league in 2024-25, though he had already gone one better in his career previously, with a top speed of 36.91km/h.

Luton have been featured on this list already, but on the wrong side, with explosive winger Neto putting them to the sword with his electric pace.

But they’ve also possessed some of their own speedsters, with Ogbene the fastest of them. Only two players in the history of the league have clocked a faster pace than the winger’s 36.93km/h, which came a week before Neto scorched Luton’s grass.

To the eye, one of the fastest footballers in the history of the game, and Walker’s stats back it up. At every level, his defending has been helped by his blistering pace, and he’s had an illustrious career because of it.

Frequently helping Manchester City get back quickly in transition, he was on top running form against Everton in May 2023, setting a fastest pace of 37.31km/h, in a game it’s little surprise the Toffees failed to score in.

For years, there was little question that Walker was the fastest player in the Premier League.

But when Tottenham signed Van de Ven from Wolfsburg – a player who had run 36.66km/h in the Bundesliga – there was a chance that status was under threat.

It did not take the Tottenham centre-back long to make his mark in England. On three separate occasions, the Dutchman has run faster than 36.70km/h. One of those was enough to beat Walker’s 37.31km/h.

Van de Ven did so against Brentford in early 2024. Racing back to catch Keane Lewis-Potter, the Tottenham man set a new record as the fastest Premier League player ever – 37.38km/h.

READ NEXT: Crouch? Bellamy? Cole? Finding the ultimate Premier League journeyman

Mikel Arteta has now taken charge of as many Premier League matches at Arsenal as Mauricio Pochettino did at Tottenham. But how do their records stack up against one another?

We’ve taken a closer look at the league records set by two wildly popular figures on either side of the North London divide – and they’re actually remarkably similar.

Arteta and Pochettino never actually locked horns in a North London derby, having just missed out on overlapping. Pochettino was sacked by Spurs in November 2019, just a month before Arteta was appointed by Arsenal.

But the two coaches do have a shared history – having shared a dressing room during their younger days at Paris Saint-Germain.

“He’s one of the most [influential team-mates of my playing career],” Arteta told reporters ahead of a meeting with Pochettino, when he was Chelsea manager, in April 2024.

“I was 17 or 18 in Paris with no experience in professional football. He doesn’t like me saying it but to me he was like a father, he took me under his arm, he gave me incredible advice and protected me, he inspired me and I learned so much in our two years together.”

Like Pochettino, Arteta has had a transformative effect at his club – rebuilding them and turning them into a side that regularly finish in the top four.

“When I had to make a decision I asked him and explained the situation and he gave me some advice and he was needed,” Arteta added.

“I admire what he’s done in his career and he’s someone I’ve looked to because he was impactful to me in the most important stage of my career. As a role model I can’t pick anyone better.

“He doesn’t need to help me about tactics. The best influence he has had on me is the way he speaks about his life, his professionalism, his family and who he was as a figure in the dressing room and the passion and love he has for the game.

“That for me is the most important things which I learnt from him.”

Technically speaking, there is a slight discrepancy in how different stats sites judge Arteta’s total number of Premier League games as a manager.

Arsenal have played 203 matches since he was appointed as their manager in December 2019, but he was forced to miss the Gunners’ 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on New Year’s Day 2022 after testing positive for Covid-19.

For the purposes of clarity, we’ve not counted that match in Arteta’s total tally. But that’s why there might be a slight difference in the numbers you might see elsewhere.

Here’s how Arteta’s Premier League record at Arsenal stacks up against Pochettino’s at Tottenham after the same number of games.

Mikel Arteta’s Premier League record at Arsenal

Games: 202

Wins: 120

Draws: 38

Losses: 44

Win Percentage: 59%

Loss Percentage: 21%

Points: 398

Points Per Game: 1.97

Goals For: 382

Goals Against: 204

Goal Difference: +178

Goals Per Game: 1.89

Goals Conceded Per Game: 1.01

Clean Sheets: 75

Mauricio Pochettino‘s Premier League record at Tottenham

Games: 202

Wins: 113

Draws: 43

Losses: 46

Win Percentage: 56%

Loss Percentage: 22%

Points: 382

Points Per Game: 1.89

Goals For: 376

Goals Against: 206

Goal Difference: +170

Goals Per Game: 1.86

Goals Conceded Per Game: 1.01

Clean Sheets: 69

READ NEXT: 12 incredible North London derby moments: Gazza, Bentley, Henry…

Tottenham Hotspur have a fine reputation for youth development – but not every youngster has made the grade at the club.

Back in 2015, Spurs had a bright and talented squad under Mauricio Pochettino, supplemented by the signing of Son Heung-min from Bayer Leverkusen.

The club also let plenty of players go, including seven youth prospects who headed for pastures new. Here’s where they ended up.

Daniel Akindayini

Akindayini spent a year at then-Championship side Brighton before joining Margate in 2016.

The striker has enjoyed an eclectic career, playing in the Netherlands and Norway, and is now turning out for Haringey Borough.

Jordan Archer

Having left Spurs in 2015, Archer made his biggest impact at Millwall where he won the club’s Player of the Year award in 2015-16 and helped the club win promotion to the Championship.

His career has been dogged by injury since, with the goalkeeper making no more than six league appearances in a single campaign since 2019, and is currently on the books at Portsmouth.

Aaron McEneff

Tim Sherwood remarked that McEneff reminded him of ‘a young Roy Keane’, but that didn’t prevent Spurs from releasing the midfielder in the summer of 2015.

After spells in Scotland with Hearts and two years at Perth Glory in Australia, McEneff is back in his native Ireland and playing for Shamrock Rovers.

Cristian Ceballos

Signed by Tottenham from Barcelona, Ceballos never made it onto the pitch for Spurs in a competitive game before being released to join Charlton Athletic.

The Spaniard only managed five league appearances for the Addicks and now plies his trade for Azerbaijani club Sabah.

READ NEXT: The 18 players to have won a major trophy after leaving Tottenham since 2015

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Tottenham’s top 30 goalscorers in the Premier League?

Alexander McQueen

McQueen is currently without a club after leaving Oxford City at the end of the 2023-24 season.

But the defender remains a Grenada international and currently has 14 caps for his country, which is pretty cool.

Jonathan Miles

The second player on this list to currently be playing for Haringey Borough in the Isthmian League North Division, Miles is a goalkeeper who has flitted around the lower leagues in the south of England after leaving Spurs.

Lloyd Ross

Following his release by Spurs, Ross moved to America and signed for Franklin Pierce Ravens, a university team in New Hampshire.

Little is known of his career trajectory since and the attacking midfielder appears to have slipped off the footballing map. Fair play, in a way.

Mathys Tel has done a U-turn and signed for Tottenham on loan after reportedly turning down the club in the closing days of the January 2025 transfer window. But the French forward wouldn’t have been the first to decide against a move to Spurs.

For whatever reason, Tottenham have failed to attract the calibre of player needed to ascend to the next level but that certainly isn’t for a lack of trying. Whereas Daniel Levy has been a roadblock with his strict financial dealings, there have been many reasons why players have avoided a move to North London.

Here are eight players who rejected a move to Spurs during the Daniel Levy era.

Fikayo Tomori

Beginning with a very recent rejection, the AC Milan centre-back was targeted to help end their defensive crisis that has left 18-year-old midfielder Archie Gray to play a significant role in the absence of both Cristian Romero and Micky van den Ven – with the added headache of Radu Dragusin suffering an ACL injury.

Tomori, a star figure in the Rossoneri’s Scudetto triumph in 2022, has started just 10 league games this season in total. Never given a fair chance at Chelsea, Spurs tried to bring him back in January 2025 only to be rejected. The 27-year-old may secure an exit in the summer but it is unlikely to be Spurs he links up with – especially considering he came through Chelsea’s academy.

Willian

“He got the call from Abramovich, and off he went to Stamford Bridge. He hates Tottenham, he hates Tottenham…”

His rejection was so famous that it sparked one of Chelsea’s most memorable chants.

A star at Anzhi Makhachkala and Shakhtar Donetsk before that, Willian had his choice of multiple clubs. He was at Spurs’ training ground, set to put pen to paper when he was told of an offer from Chelsea. He later called it the ‘best decision of his career’ and after winning the Europa League, the Premier League twice, the FA Cup and the League Cup, it’s safe to say he won’t have any regrets.

Marcus Rashford

Having been made available during this window, many clubs were alerted to the news given Rashford’s past form and quality. Spurs inevitably asked the question and hoped to be in the running but fell away in the home stretch as he agreed a deal with Villa, rejecting Spurs.

At this moment in time, with the promise of Champions League knockout football, Villa’s offer was evidently more appealing. If it was a few seasons ago, then Spurs would have surely been the right choice for Rashford. A blow to miss out on a player who you can imagine thriving under Postecoglou.

READ NEXT: 7 forgotten Tottenham academy graduates who became cult heroes elsewhere

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name these Tottenham academy graduates from their Wikipedia career page?

Eden Hazard

The Lille winger had every club in Europe after him in 2012 after he had just starred in Ligue 1 for three years. With offers on the table from multiple English clubs, Hazard took his time and evaluated the landscape, even before the summer window had even opened.

Harry Redknapp claimed to have Hazard in his hotel room for over an hour but following Chelsea’s Champions League win, which relegated fourth-placed Spurs to the Europa League and simultaneously confirmed Chelsea’s place in the competition for the following year, he opted to sign for the European champions, confirming his move with a now-famous tweet.

Axel Disasi

Chelsea have been looking to offload the French centre-back in the January window but haven’t been able to find a suitor as of yet. Spurs, needing a centre-back, threw their hat into the ring but the former Monaco defender was quick to dismiss his current employer’s London rivals.

The latest news suggests that there is no wiggle room or chance of a turnaround with Spurs reportedly ending their interest in the defender and Aston Villa moving to sign him on loan. Let’s see if he and Rashford can kick over the next few months under Unai Emery.

Rivaldo

Heading back to 2002, Spurs were looking for a big statement signing and the Brazilian superstar was available on a free transfer. It is said that Spurs were close to completing a deal but he opted for AC Milan.

He even sent a letter explaining why he chose the Italian club, which was a touch of class, but no matter how close he was, this one always seemed like a pipe dream.

David Raya

This is certainly an interesting example of one who got away from Spurs. After being told it was £40million or no deal by Brentford, Raya was then able to leave to join Arsenal for a fee of around £27million.

A frustrating deal for multiple reasons, losing a player of his quality to their North London rivals hurt and it was made all the worse given how Guglielmo Vicario has struggled with injuries across his time at the club.

Randal Kolo Muani

In another recent deal that went askew, the Paris Saint-Germain forward was there for the taking after being told he was allowed to leave in a temporary loan deal by the French club after falling out of favour with Luis Enrique.

He opted for Juventus, a club with strong prestige, a young and progressive manager and a team still in the Champions League rather than join struggling Spurs. Having netted three goals in two games so far, we can’t imagine he’ll be looking back with any regrets.

Tottenham’s academy has produced some sensational players over the years, including some modern-day greats of the game. But can you tell us the Spurs academy graduate from their career path?

That’s the challenge we’re setting you here in the latest edition of our Wikipedia footballer quiz.

You know the drill by now; below you’ll find 10 screencaps of a footballer’s Wikipedia career path section. Your task is to tell us which player it is. This week’s theme is that they all came through the youth ranks at Spurs.

While we’ve left out mega-obvious answers such as Harry Kane here, there are some big names you really ought to know.

There are also less distinguished players in here. Most you’ll have to piece together from their career paths elsewhere, while one Spurs legend in particular you’ll have to work out entirely from the dates, appearances and goals.

To answer the question, all you need to do is to type their name. The surname will suffice. The score to beat from the Planet Football office for this one is 8/10.

If this puts you in the mood for another quiz, have a go at naming every manager to take charge of Tottenham in the Premier League.

If you enjoy our quizzes, head to our new Football Games home where you can search an archive of over 1,000 quizzes and play them all in beautiful full-screen mode.

Good luck, and don’t forget to tweet us your scores @planetfutebol.

Since beating Manchester City back in November, Tottenham have only won one of their last 11 Premier League matches and have slipped to 15th in the table.

During their last 11 league matches, Spurs have averaged a mere 0.45 points per game which if averaged over an entire season would be worth just 17 points.

While injuries have crippled Ange Postecoglou’s side in recent months, a number of their fit senior players have also dramatically dropped off.

“It’s just injuries,” is what Postecoglou told reporters when discussing Tottenham’s dismal run of form.

“I mean you can walk outside and say, ‘Jeez it’s really bright’, and say to yourself maybe it’s not the sun. But it is the sun, mate, we’ve just got injuries.

“Every decision that is made is from me. I am responsible for this.

“If you want a head on a stick, take mine, but I am absolutely 100 per cent confident that we are in a better place as a football club today than when I started.”

Tottenham’s latest defeat against fellow strugglers Leicester City was particularly painful as Postecoglou’s side slipped to their fourth consecutive loss in a row.

Deafening boos rang around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at full-time as Leicester claimed their second away win of the season.

“We are going to look at a lot of things, but in terms of effort I can’t ask anymore of this group, things just didn’t go our way today,” Postecoglou told Sky Sports at full time.

“The players are giving everything they can. That is all we can ask for as a football club and me as a manager. They are trying their hardest and that is all anyone can ask for.

“I know it will turn. We’ll get some players back, we were short again today but in the next couple of weeks there’s some really important players coming back that I know will help this group.”

READ NEXT: 7 forgotten Tottenham academy graduates who became cult heroes elsewhere

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Tottenham’s top ‘not Kane or Son’ scorer for every season since 2010?

Since getting the better of Man City at the Etihad, only Southampton have accumulated fewer points than Tottenham in the Premier League.

During that run of form, Spurs have still averaged 1.73 goals per game, but worryingly, they’ve also conceded an average of 2.2 goals per game.

To illustrate just how poor Spurs have been in recent weeks, this is what the Premier League table looks like since they beat Man City 4-0 back in November:

Note: each team has played 10 games unless otherwise stated.

Tottenham have produced plenty of world-class players over the years, although not all of them make the grade at the club.

For every Ledley King or Harry Kane, there are countless examples of other Spurs academy graduates who forge a career for themselves elsewhere.

We’ve looked through the players Spurs have produced in the past and have found seven of them who became cult heroes elsewhere.

Quinton Fortune

Fortune had the misfortune of joining Manchester United shortly after they won the treble, meaning there was little room in the first team for him.

Nevertheless, he proved to be useful to the club, providing cover all over the pitch. He spent seven years there, making 126 appearances and playing in three title-winning campaigns.

But it’s little known that the South African began his career at Spurs, spending four years in the youth team before making his name in Spain with Mallorca and Atletico Madrid.

Cameron Carter-Vickers

Formerly a perennial loanee, going out on loan to no fewer than seven clubs while on Tottenham’s books, it never looked as though USMNT international Carter-Vickers was ever going to break through and stake his claim at his parent club.

He never made a Premier League appearance for Spurs and his only opportunities came in the various cup competitions.

However, the defender made a big step up during his final loan away, playing a vital role as Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic took the Scottish title back from Rangers.

Carter-Vickers remains an important player at Parkhead and has helped Celtic cement their status as the dominant force in Scottish football.

Marcus Edwards

Another Englishman impressing abroad, Edwards made headlines back in 2022-23 by scoring against boyhood club Tottenham in the Champions League for Sporting Lisbon – and almost nabbed a Puskas-worthy second in the same match.

Away from the spotlight of the English media, the 26-year-old – once compared to Lionel Messi by Mauricio Pochettino – has quietly developed into a very good player out in Portugal.

There have been plenty of Premier League links over the past few years, including a move to Crystal Palace and a romantic return to Spurs, but a player of Edwards’ ability is too good to be sitting on an English bench.

Troy Parrott

Despite being highly rated by Spurs fans and coaches, Parrott was never able to break into the first team and his time with the club was spent out on a series of forgettable loans in the EFL.

But his final loan spell, in the Eredivise with Excelsior Rotterdam, was the striker’s lightbulb moment; despite their relegation, Parrott scored 17 goals and earned himself a permanent move to AZ Alkmaar.

The Republic of Ireland international hasn’t looked back since. Parrott scored four times in AZ’s 9-1 rout of Heerenveen in September 2024 and currently has 12 goals in 26 appearances for his new club.

READ NEXT: Where are they now? Jose Mourinho’s Spurs XI which thrashed Man Utd 6-1 at Old Trafford

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Tottenham’s top 30 goalscorers in the Premier League?

Adam Smith

A stalwart of Bournemouth’s rise from the nether regions of the Football League to part of the Premier League furniture, it sometimes feels like Smith will simply carry on playing forever.

But the defender actually started out at Spurs; his sole Premier League appearance came under Harry Redknapp in 2012 and Smith needed to cut his teeth at perennial second-tier menaces Leeds United and Millwall.

While few have yearned for the 33-year-old to return to Spurs over the previous decade, Smith’s career is testament to the belief that there is the right club for every player.

Kyle Walker-Peters

Walker-Peters was on the fringes of Tottenham’s first team throughout his time in north London, making 24 appearances in all competitions, including the Champions League.

In January 2020, the full-back joined Southampton on loan and made the move permanent that summer.

He has since established himself as a solid Premier League full-back, making over 140 appearances for the club and helping the Saints win promotion in May 2024.

QUIZ: Can you name every player Mauricio Pochettino signed for Tottenham?

John Moncur

A proper throwback, even during his 90s pomp, Moncur became a cult hero at both Swindon and West Ham for his commitment, occasional flashes of brilliance and maverick personality.

But the midfielder came through the ranks at Spurs, making a handful of appearances before Glenn Hoddle bought him to Swindon in 1992.

Manchester City and Liverpool have hoarded silverware in recent years as clubs across the rest of the country have enviously watched on.

Even as they’ve otherwise struggled, Manchester United have lifted both domestic cups in back-to-back seasons and Chelsea’s Champions League victory remains fresh in the memory. Even West Ham have got their mits on European silverware.

But where does that leave everybody else? We’ve identified the nine clubs in the country who are most desperate to win something.

Tottenham

A lot of people scoff at Spurs’ inclusion in the Premier League’s “big six”, given how little they’ve got to show for it in their trophy cabinet going back to their 2007-08 League Cup under Juande Ramos.

But over the past 15 seasons, Spurs have finished in the Premier League’s top six more frequently than Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.

They’ve got the stadium of an elite super-club and have finished runners-up in both the Premier League and Champions League.

But it’s now four successive defeats in major finals since they last won one, and with every passing year it gets harder to shake that Spursy tag. What it would mean to stop being nearly men.

Arsenal

“We won the Charity Shield twice, no? So we’ve won three trophies,” Mikel Arteta responded when recently quizzed over Arsenal’s trophy record during his tenure.

Sorry Mikel, counting the Community Shield is a bit too late-period Mourinho. You don’t want that.

Still, Arteta does have a real trophy under his belt as a manager, and the 2020 FA Cup was an against-the-odds triumph. Four seasons without silverware is nothing compared to the other clubs in this list.

But it looks as though a third successive second-place finish in the Premier League is in the offing this year. Arteta has built a brilliant team, one that has notched mammoth points tallies to push Manchester City all the way in the past couple of years.

The only thing missing from this project is something tangible to show for it, but as things go in football that’s pretty damn important.

Pointing to annual league tables and being oh-so-close while enduring trophyless campaigns? Arsenal are in danger of becoming everything they derided at Pochettino-era Tottenham if they don’t lay their hands on silverware soon.

Newcastle United

With apologies to Shola Ameobi, Albert Luque and the rest of the Magpies’ 2006 squad, the Intertoto Cup (obviously) doesn’t count.

So you have to go all the way back to 1955 for Newcastle’s last major honour, their FA Cup final victory over Manchester City. Nobody under the age of 69 has seen the club win a proper trophy. That’s mad.

It’s been long overdue for Newcastle to put their hoodoo to bed for as long as we can remember. Is this their year?

QUIZ: Can you name every English club to win a major trophy since Newcastle last did?

Aston Villa

Unai Emery has worked wonders to turn Villa from lower-half stragglers to a Champions League side capable of mixing it with Bayern Munich and Juventus.

Given that, we feel a bit churlish pointing out that last season was a bit of a missed opportunity to go and emulate their claret and blue brethren, West Ham, and get their hands on the UEFA Conference League trophy.

They’re a genuinely quality side and with Emery’s track record for European knockouts, they ought to have beaten Olympiacos in the semis.

There have been defeats to Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City in domestic cup finals over the past 25 years, but their last major honour came from beating Leeds in the 1996 League Cup final, when it was sponsored by Coca-Cola.

Fulham

Arguably the biggest club in England to have never won a major trophy, the Cottagers are starting to establish themselves as a secure top-flight force once again after a period of yo-yoing.

Marco Silva has done a wonderful job at Craven Cottage, keeping Fulham competitive and improving them even after losing important players like Aleksandar Mitrovic and Joao Palhinha.

He’s got little left to prove, but a cup run would be welcome given that their Premier League status is already pretty much sealed for another year.

They reached the League Cup semis last term and the FA Cup quarters the year before, but little can compare to the unforgettable 2009-10 Europa League campaign.

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Crystal Palace

Fans of clubs across the country would kill to trade places for the humdrum, midtable existence of Crystal Palace.

But you can see why things get almost existential after 11 successive seasons of unflinchingly finishing somewhere between 10th and 15th with a points tally always, without fail, somewhere in the 40s. Is this living?

Palace’s run to the 1990 FA Cup final, and Alan Pardew’s infamous dance in 2016, will live long in the memory. Those heartbreaks mean that making it one step further will be all the more meaningful, should it ever happen.

Brighton

The last of the Premier League’s quartet of ‘never won a major trophy’ clubs we’re including (sorry Brentford, we’re patronisingly classing you as still just ‘happy to be here’ for another season or two) here.

Brighton, like their aforementioned M23 rivals, are now firmly ensconced in the Premier League’s warm midtable bosom.

After the Chris Hughton years of consolidation, they’ve since made great strides forward, astutely appointing a series of forward-thinking coaches in the dugout and even qualifying for Europe.

The Seagulls came agonisingly close to making the FA Cup final in 2023 after losing on penalties to Manchester United.

But deeper forays into the latter stages of the domestic cups ought to be expected now they’ve shown they’ve got what it takes to mix it with the big boys.

Leeds United

We know what you’re thinking. Walk before you can run. Leeds ought to focus on getting back (and established this time) in the Premier League before they can harbour any delusions of grandeur over lifting silverware.

To be fair, that’s exactly what the club hierarchy are doing. It’s been ages since the Yorkshire club went on any kind of cup run, even underwhelming under Marcelo Bielsa when they finished ninth in the top flight.

But for a club of a city of that’s home to a million people, 33 years – since the ’92 league title – is an age without silverware. Bringing home a first FA Cup since 1972 or a first League Cup since 1968 would mean everything.

Bradford City have been in a major cup final more recently than Leeds. That can’t be right, can it?

Sunderland

Sunderland fans already have bragging rights over Newcastle United, having seen their club lift a major trophy more recently than their hated local rivals.

But given the famous 1973 FA Cup final was over a half-century ago, it’s fair to say the sheen is fading. Can you really brag if you’re a 50-year-old Wearsider who wasn’t actually alive for Jim Montgomery’s miracle double-save?

The Black Cats were close to a more up-to-date reason to boast back in 2014. They were leading Man City at half-time in the League Cup final at Wembley but Yaya Toure’s outrageous long-range strike inspired a 3-1 comeback for Manuel Pellegrini’s heavy favourites.

Like Leeds, Sunderland’s second-tier status absolves them of any urgency of delivering silverware. But that didn’t stop them in ’73, did it? Have some belief.

Ange Postecoglou is facing the pressure at Tottenham after their recent results have left them increasingly adrift in the race for Champions League qualification.

Having come from behind, Spurs were unable to hold onto their lead against Wolves on Sunday and ended up drawing 2-2. It’s now just one win from their last seven Premier League outings, a run of form that leaves them languishing in the bottom half of the table.

The recent form leaves Postecoglou second in the bookmakers’ odds for the next Premier League manager to be sacked. He’s under no illusions himself over what a continuation of this form would mean for his future at the club.

“The reality is there is no job security,” the Australian told reporters at a press conference back in October.

“I don’t know what job security looks like. What is the average tenure of a manager these days?

“If you think I’m going to be around for five years that is highly unlikely.

“If you worry about those things and I think you end up chasing your tail a little bit and probably making decisions for the wrong reasons.”

But how likely is it that Postecoglou will be replaced in the Tottenham dugout in the coming days? We’ve taken a look at how Spurs’ recent record under the 59-year-old compares with the final days of his predecessors.

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Here’s how Postecoglou’s recent results compare to Conte’s, Nuno’s, Mourinho’s and Pochettino’s before they left Tottenham:

Ange Postecoglou

Position in table: 11th

Points off top four: 11

Cup status: Semi-finals of League Cup, 9th in Europa League table

Last 10 results in Premier League:

Won: 3

Drawn: 2

Lost: 5

Goals scored: 23

Goals conceded: 18

Goal difference: +5

Points: 11

Antonio Conte (March 2023)

Position in table: 4th

Points off top four: (two clear of fifth)

Cup status: Out of League Cup (second round), out of FA Cup (fourth round)

Last 10 results in Premier League:

Won: 4

Drawn: 1

Lost: 5

Goals scored: 15

Goals conceded: 15

Goal difference: 0

Points: 13

Nuno Espirito Santo (November 2021)

Position in table: 8th

Points off top four: 5

Cup status: Conference League group stage (four points from three games), League Cup Quarters

Nine results in Premier League:

Won: 4

Drawn: 1

Lost: 4

Goals scored: 18

Goals conceded: 10

Goal difference: +8

Points: 13

Jose Mourinho (April 2021)

Position in table: 7th

Points off top four: 5

Cup status: League Cup final, eliminated in FA Cup fifth round, eliminated in Europa League Round of 16

Last 10 results in Premier League:

Won: 4

Drawn: 2

Lost: 4

Goals scored: 18

Goals conceded: 15

Goal difference: +3

Points: 14

Mauricio Pochettino (November 2019)

Position in table: 10th

Points off top four: 3

Cup status: Eliminated in League Cup third round, Champions League group stage (two wins, one draw, one defeat)

Last 10 results in Premier League:

Won: 2

Drawn: 4

Lost: 4

Goals scored: 13

Goals conceded: 14

Goal difference: -1