Treble (association football)
The term treble or Treble is used in association football to refer to a team winning three trophies in a single season. Honours usually considered to contribute to a treble are the top-tier domestic league competition, domestic cup competitions, and continental tournaments; although this depends to some extent on the structure of the football pyramid in a country. Trophy competitions which consist of a single match or a two-leg match (e.g. the FA Community Shield, the Recopa Sudamericana, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup) are generally not counted as part of a treble.[1][2][nb] Nor is the now defunct UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Of the various ways of completing a treble, the more prestigious combinations include the 'continental treble'[3] (top tier league, primary domestic cup or other secondary tournament and highest level continental competition) and the 'domestic treble' (league and two domestic secondary tournaments).[4][5]
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[edit] Continental trebles
This kind of treble consists of a club winning their country's top tier league and a major secondary competition (The Double), in addition to the continental championship, all within a single season. This was first achieved in 1962 by Santos, winning the Campeonato Paulista (state league), Taça Brasil (national league) and Copa Libertadores (continental tournament). Santos remain the only South American club to have achieved a treble, with Colo-Colo and São Paulo coming remarkably close in 1991 and 1993, respectively. Most countries in the region do not have a domestic cup to enable a domestic double. Some associations' cups are recently inaugurated and/or were held sporadically in the past.
Since then, eight teams have matched the feat in Europe, while nine other clubs have also won the treble: six African clubs, one Asian club and two North American clubs. Raja Casablanca's 1999 season has also been called a "continental treble", as they won the CAF Champions League, the CAF Super Cup and the Afro-Asian Club Championship.[6] Egyptian club Al-Ahly are the only side to have won this kind of treble more than once, and they did so in consecutive seasons, completing the feat in 2005 and 2006. Of the European sides, AFC Ajax have come the closest to defending all three titles, retaining the Dutch Eredivisie and European Cup in 1973, but failing to win the KNVB Cup.
In 2003, Jose Mourinho's F.C. Porto became the sixth club, and first Portuguese club, to win a European treble, adding the victorious 2003 UEFA Cup Final to the Portuguese League and Portuguese Cup conquests of the same year. In winning the 2009 Champions League final, Barcelona became the seventh club, and first Spanish club, to win a European treble, having already won the La Liga title and Copa del Rey in 2008–09.[7] After winning the 2010 Champions League final, Internazionale Milano became the eighth club in Europe, and first Italian club, to win a European treble, having already won the Serie A title and Coppa Italia in the same season. This achievement gave Jose Mourinho the unique distinction of being the first manager to win two European Trebles. It was the second consecutive season that a European treble was achieved. Samuel Eto'o played in the third Champions League final of his career, and with Internazionale's triumph over Bayern Munich became the first player to win two consecutive trebles in consecutive seasons. In 2011, Portugal's F.C. Porto became the first club to win two continental trebles.
- a Santos also won the Intercontinental Cup that season, completing a quadruple.
- b Celtic F.C. also won the Scottish League Cup and Glasgow Cup that season, completing a quintuple.
- c FC Barcelona also won the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Supercup and Supercopa de España that season, completing a sextuple.
[edit] CIS Treble
Comparable to some extent, to a contiental treble, the CIS Cup is contested amongst clubs mostly from the former Soviet Union. It therefore stradles two continents and brings together clubs from both UEFA and the Asian Football Confederation. It should be noted that many clubs will field a weakened team of youth and/or reserve players. The fact that three former Soviet clubs have recently won the UEFA Europa League and that they and others have often got to the knock-out stages of the UEFA Champions League has caused some Russian and Ukrainian clubs to view the CIS Cup as a trophy not worthy of best effort. Nevertheless, there have been five occasions when a club has won its domestic double and the CIS Cup; Dinamo Kiev are the only club to repeat the achievement, and Pakhtakor Tashkent are the only Asian club to complete this treble.
Spartak Moscow 1994
Dinamo Kiev 1996 & 1998
Pakhtakor Tashkent 2007
Sheriff Tiraspol 2009
[edit] Domestic trebles
This type of treble consists of a club winning their country's top-tier league as well as the two most highly regarded secondary competitions, all during one season. Many countries do not have a second domestic (league cup) competition, so achieving a domestic treble is impossible. Brazil has an unofficial "Triple Crown", a name given to a team that wins the national league, the national cup, and their state league.
- b1 b2 - The League of Ireland Shield was the forerunner to the League of Ireland Cup.
- c - Linfield's 2006 treble was part of a domestic quadruple. That season they also won the County Antrim Shield.
- d - Sun Hei's treble was part of a domestic quadruple. That season they also won the Hong Kong League Cup.
[edit] Cup trebles
Occurs when a team wins three knock-out competitions. This has proved to be a rare achievement, partly because so many teams are not involved in more than two knock-out competitions in the same season, and also because teams have on the whole tended to place less emphasis on their domestic cup(s) than on their domestic championship and/or European honours. In addition there is the issue of player fatigue, because of the large number of fixtures to be played in addition to the fixed number of league games.
| Club | Country | Confederation | Year | Titles won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic |  Scotland |
UEFA | 1966–67[s] | Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup, European Cup |
| Liverpool |  England |
UEFA | 2000–01[l] | FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Cup |
- s As Celtic also won the league this year, this was achieved as part of their aforementioned quadruple (see above), and consequently is seldom referred to as a cup treble.
- l Liverpool also won the subsequent FA Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup, making them the first club to complete a treble and then win both domestic and European Super Cups in the same calendar year.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- nb Note how the following source does not count Santos' league/continental double and Intercontinental Cup win as a treble. Similarly, the Community Shield and the European Super Cup are separated from Liverpool's 2001 treble.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Raja aiming high once more. FIFA (2008-06-04). Retrieved on 2009-03-28.
- ^ a b Top ten successful seasons. Sky Sports (2009-03-24). Retrieved on 2009-03-28.
- ^ Raja aiming high once more. FIFA (2008-06-04). Retrieved on 2009-06-23 - 'continental treble' mentioned in this article.
- ^ Spiers, Graham (2008-01-30). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article3274019.ece Walter Smith demands final push as Rangers target domestic treble]. The Times. Retrieved on 2009-03-28.
- ^ Ralston, Gary (2008-09-26). Domestic treble for Rangers will make up for failure in Europe, says Pedro Mendes. Daily Record. Retrieved on 2009-03-28.
- ^ FIFA.com - Raja aiming high once more
- ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Europe | Barca clinch Spanish league title
- ^ Records and Honours. Rangers Official club website. Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
- ^ Roll of Honour. Shamrock Rovers FC. Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
- ^ Celtic Honours. Celtic Official club website. Retrieved on 2009-05-18.
- ^ Germany Enter Euro 2008 Campaign With Confidence. Deutsche Welle (2008-08-06). Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
- ^ Coach hands in resignation letter to Kedah FA
- ^ Role of Honour. Bohemian Football Club. Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
- ^ Litterer, Dave (2008-02-17). The Year in American Soccer - 1930. The USA Soccer History Archives. Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
- ^ Croatian National Sports Club history at a glance
- ^ a b "Treble in association football – theory and history", 24 Chasa newspaper, Retrieved on 2010-02-15
- ^ Derry City FC - A Concise History. Derry City Football Club Website (2009-02-08). Retrieved on 2009-03-31.
- ^ The Dynasty Begins
- ^ Relação Dos Títulos Oficiais Do Cruzeiro (Portuguese)
- ^ - Rhyl FC - Honours
- ^ Al-Sadd Trophies and awards
