Among the key strengths of the Premier League is its competitiveness. In the last six seasons alone, seven different teams have finished inside the top four positions, with each qualifying for the Champions League along the way.
However, these places have been dominated by the ‘big six’ in England’s top flight, with the only exception being Newcastle United breaking into the top four with the injection of their Saudi financial investment. Also, although there may be different sides qualifying for Europe’s top competition in this period, one side has been at the top of the tree in five out if six of those campaigns, Manchester City.
When Manchester City’s had a clean sweep of all three domestic trophies in the 2018/19 season (not including the Community Shield, which they also won), the argument against their overall dominance was that they were yet to triumph against the continent’s best by picking up the Champions League. They overcame this hurdle in 2022/23 however, completing the top treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the process.
This has some people worried that English football is trending ever more towards being less competitive with more hegemony when it comes to those who win silverware at least.
Manchester City’s Major Trophies (2016/17 to 2022/23)
| Season | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup | Champions League |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | ✅ | ✅ | ✖ | ✅ |
| 2021/22 | ✅ | ✖ | ✖ | ✖ |
| 2020/21 | ✅ | ✖ | ✅ | ✖ |
| 2019/20 | ✖ | ✖ | ✅ | ✖ |
| 2018/19 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✖ |
| 2017/18 | ✅ | ✖ | ✅ | ✖ |
Manchester City’s achievement of winning the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup was unprecedented but was always overshadowed by their Manchester rivals in United with their Champions League treble, which they have now also matched. It’s also not just what they won, it’s the relentless nature of City’s performances during recent seasons which has most worried fans of rival teams.
The longer they can maintain the mentality imposed on the team by Pep Guardiola, the tougher it’s going to get for the chasing pack to make up the ground but the history of the Premier League is littered with teams who saw their dominance surprisingly ended. A whole host of teams have won multiple trophies in one English football season. Preston North End were the first to do so when winning the league championship and the FA Cup in 1889 and many more teams who have followed in their footsteps are similarly far away from domestic dominance.
Domestic Doubles and Trebles
When Pep Guardiola was asked what he thought about Man City’s chances of becoming the first English team to complete a domestic treble in his pre-match press conference ahead of the FA Cup final, the City manager was quick to point out that the feat had been achieved once before, by Arsenal Ladies. They did so in an incredible 2006/07 season in which the Gunners also added the Women’s Champions League but even their dominance in the domestic scene has been ended somewhat in more recent years as other clubs have begun to seriously invest in their women’s teams.
Arsenal Ladies 2006/07
| Premier League | Champions League | FA Cup | League Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
The hope among fans of teams including Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham is that Man City’s dominance will be similarly ended. The unpredictable nature of English football means it is highly unlikely that City will complete the domestic treble with any real regularity in the coming years but for now at least, their position as the best team in the country looks set in stone.
It’s not just that Manchester City have been the first team to win the domestic treble and have now arguably surpassed that with a European treble, it is more their relentless consistency. Mounting a successful defence of the Premier League title is widely seen as the mark of a great team led by a truly great manager. Since the introduction of the Premier League in 1992, there have been ten occasions where a side has retained the league title. Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson had done so six times, Chelsea once under Jose Mourinho, with City and Pep Guardiola now responsible for three of those.
Manchester United
Nobody has won back to back Premier League titles more often than Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson was the man in charge for all of United’s six successful title defences.
During that time Man United won the traditional domestic double of the league title and FA Cup three times, in 1993/94, 1995/96 and 1998/99 when they also won the Champions League. United also won both the Premier League and League Cup in 2008/09 which gives them four total domestic doubles.
| Season | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008/09 | ✅ | ✖ | ✅ |
| 1998/99 | ✅ | ✅ | ✖ |
| 1995/96 | ✅ | ✅ | ✖ |
| 1993/94 | ✅ | ✅ | ✖ |
Arsenal
Winning those four domestic doubles undoubtedly made Man United one of the teams in English football but there were never allowed to fully dominate, thanks largely to Arsenal.
The Gunners had huge success under Arsene Wenger completing a domestic double in both 1997/97 (Premiership and FA Cup) and 2001/02 (Premiership and FA Cup). Arsenal also won both the English top flight and FA Cup the 1970/71 season and became the first team to win both the FA Cup and League Cup in 1992/93 when George Graham was their manager.
| Season | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001/02 | ✅ | ✅ | ✖ |
| 1997/98 | ✅ | ✅ | ✖ |
| 1992/93 | ✖ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 1970/71 | ✅ | ✅ | ✖ |
Chelsea
Chelsea are the other team to have completed multiple domestic doubles in the Premier League era. The appointment of Jose Mourinho backed by the money of Roman Abramovic changed the trajectory of the West London club and saw them complete the Premier League and FA Cup double in 2009/10 and the Premier League and League Cup double in both 2004/05 and 2014/15.
Chelsea also became just the third club in English football history to win the FA Cup and League Cup in the same season following Arsenal in 1992/93 and Liverpool in 2000/01.
| Season | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014/15 | ✅ | ✖ | ✅ |
| 2009/10 | ✅ | ✅ | ✖ |
| 2006/07 | ✖ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 2004/05 | ✅ | ✖ | ✅ |
Liverpool
As mentioned above, Liverpool have completed a domestic double in recent years winning the FA Cup and League Cup in the 2000/01 season. They did the same in 2021/22 and were close to an unprecedented quadruple. They finished just one point behind Manchester City in the league, and were defeated 1-0 by Real Madrid that season’s Champions League Final.
Prior to the Premier League era, they won the League and FA Cup double in the 1985/86 season. This came shortly after a hat-trick of League and League Cup doubles for The Reds 1981/82, 1982/83 and 1983/84.
| Season | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | ✖ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 2000/01 | ✖ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 1985/86 | ✅ | ✅ | ✖ |
| 1983/84 | ✅ | ✖ | ✅ |
| 1982/83 | ✅ | ✖ | ✅ |
| 1981/82 | ✅ | ✖ | ✅ |
European Doubles and Trebles
Manchester City have set the standard by which the achievements of future Premier League teams will be judged and they have now closed the only gaping hole in their trophy cabinet. The club’s hierarchy desperately wanted the team to win the Champions League, suffering the agony of falling at the last hurdle against Chelsea in 2021. They rectified this is 2023, going all the way, beating Inter Milan in the final.
Many managers and fans prefer to see their team to win trophies at the continental level than domestically and you can be sure that City will prize their Champion League success far above their FA Cup or League Cup wins.
European Trebles
The Manchester United team of the 1998/99 season is the side that immediately comes to mind when thinking about English teams who combined domestic trophies with success at the highest level in Europe. Sir Alex Ferguson’s team were the first to complete the treble of the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup thanks to their famous and dramatic win over Bayern Munich.
Manchester United 1998/99
| Premier League | Champions League | FA Cup |
|---|---|---|
| ✅ | ✅ vs Bayern Munich | ✅ vs Newcastle United |
The nature of that win in the Nou Camp and the quality of Man United’s play in the Premiership and FA Cup means that time has rightly gone down in history but they weren’t the first English team to complete a treble.
That honour goes to Liverpool who beat Roma in the final of the 1983/84 European Cup to continental triumph to successes in the same season’s First Division and the League Cup. The Joe Fagan Liverpool team earned their place in history by becoming the first treble winners in English football history and Liverpool completed something similar 17 years later.
Liverpool 2000/01
| FA Cup | League Cup | UEFA Cup |
|---|---|---|
| ✅ vs Arsenal | ✅ vs Birmingham City | ✅ vs Alaves |
Liverpool 1983/84
| Division 1 | European Cup | League Cup |
|---|---|---|
| ✅ | ✅ vs Roma | ✅ vs Everton |
The treble which Gerard Houllier and his players completed in the 2000/01 season is unique. No team before or since has won three separate cup competitions with Liverpool triumphing in the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup. Liverpool finished some 11 points behind Premiership winners Manchester United that season but they were very entertaining in three separate successful cup runs in a season which will live long in the memory of every Liverpool fan who experienced it.
Although Manchester City have dominated domestically in recent years, their rivals in red in Liverpool and Manchester United could always point to their failure to lift the Champions League as a major blot on their copy book. In 2022/23 the Sky Blues secured their place at football’s top table however, winning the big domestic trophies in the league title and FA Cup, alongside winning in Europe.
Manchester City 2022/23
| Premier League | Champions League | FA Cup |
|---|---|---|
| ✅ | ✅ vs Inter Milan | ✅ vs Manchester United |
City were also close to a domestic clean sweep during this season, they were surprisingly defeated by Southampton in the League Cup quarter-finals. Saints would go on to finish bottom of the Premier League and be relegated.
European Doubles
Leeds were the first English team to complete at domestic/European double when they won the League Cup and the UEFA Cup in the 1967/68 season. Five years later, Liverpool became the first English league champions to win a European trophy in the same season when they won the UEFA Cup in 1973. They repeated that double in the 1975/76 season and followed that up the following year to become the team to win the English top flight and the European Cup in the same campaign.
| Team | Season | Trophies |
|---|---|---|
| Leeds United | 1967/68 | ✅ League Cup (vs Arsenal) |
| ✅ Fairs (UEFA) Cup (vs Ferencvaros) | ||
| Liverpool | 1972/73 | ✅ Division 1 |
| ✅ UEFA Cup (vs Borussia Monchengladbach) | ||
| 1975/76 | ✅ Division 1 | |
| ✅ UEFA Cup (vs Club Brugge) | ||
| 1976/77 | ✅ Division 1 | |
| ✅ European Cup (vs Borussia Monchengladbach) | ||
| Nottingham Forest | 1978/79 | ✅ FA Cup (vs Southampton) |
| ✅ European Cup (vs Malmo) | ||
| Everton | 1984/85 | ✅ Division 1 |
| ✅ Cup Winners’ Cup (vs Rapid Wien) | ||
| Chelsea | 1997/98 | ✅ League Cup (vs Middlesbrough) |
| ✅ Cup Winners’ Cup (vs VfB Stuttgart) | ||
| 2011/12 | ✅ FA Cup (vs Liverpool) | |
| ✅ Champions League (vs VfB Bayern Munich) | ||
| Manchester United | 2007/08 | ✅ Premier League |
| ✅ Champions League (vs Chelsea) | ||
| 2016/17 | ✅ League Cup (vs Southampton) | |
| ✅ Europa League Cup (vs Ajax) |
Additional domestic/continental doubles have been completed by Nottingham Forest in 1978/79 (League Cup and European Cup), Everton in 1984/85 (English championship and Cup Winners’ Cup) and Chelsea in 1997/98 (League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup).
Three teams have mixed domestic and European success in more recent years with Manchester United in 2007/08 (Premier League and Champions League), Chelsea in 2011/12 (FA Cup and Champions League) and Manchester United in 2016/17 (League Cup and Europa League) getting the job done.