From Rags to Riches: The Inspiring Stories of Football Underdog Teams
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Manchester United’s exciting new owner, is a no-nonsense kind of guy. He openly said that for the most part, football is about cash. The teams with the most revenue, and the highest investment in players, tend to win the top titles.
Doesn’t play into the romanticism of football, does it?
But to be 100% honest, he’s telling the plain truth. Just look at the ‘noisy neighbors’ next door, Manchester City. With ridiculous over-the-top transfer fees for the most expensive squad ever assembled and probably the best coach in history (handsomely paid), the Abu Dhabi-led club has been dominating both the Premier League and Europe.
And there’s no doubt they play some great stuff on the pitch. Yet that’s not what captures the fan’s imagination, the reason we started watching football in the first place. No, the public loves an underdog’s story, a Rocky that goes the distance, a team that wins against all the odds.
Thankfully, even with all the money in football today, Cinderellas still happen. These are the three most inspiring rags to riches, one-in-a-million, see-it-to-believe-it football underdog stories we’ve seen in the last few decades.
Leicester City’s Premier League Upset, 2016
In the richest league in the world, where you have clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City, it’s almost impossible to break into the existing hierarchy, to upset the standing hegemony.
But that’s exactly what Leicester City did in 2016. The club started the season well, but so had many others in seasons past. No one thought much of it. Yet they kept on winning and kept on winning.
The team didn’t have the biggest budget, far from it. It’s not always about money. This team had characters. Jamie Vardy was someone who came out of nowhere, languishing in the lower leagues just a few short years before, now suddenly breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy’s goalscoring record.
Perhaps the true talisman of the team was Kasper Schmeichel, once seen as a poor copy of his famous father, but now joining the club of the world’s top football keepers in his own right. He embodied what this team was all about low expectations, hard work, togetherness, and a small dose of luck along the way.
Cameroon World Cup, 1990
English football fans remember Gazza’s tears. Germany’s faithful, the late Andreas Brehme’s penalty to win the World Cup. Yet there’s another story that captured the hearts of every single football fan: Cameroon’s journey to the quarterfinals of the 1990 World Cup.
Led by the enigmatic Roger Milla, the Indomitable Lions were almost new to the World Cup, making only their second-ever appearance. In a group featuring Argentina, the Soviet Union, and Romania, no one expected them to get out of the group.
Their first result was enough to etch the team into legend, beating Maradona’s Argentina 1-0. In the round of 16, they faced one of the dark horses of the tournament, the exciting Colombians. Yet they would make fools of the oddsmakers yet again, despatching the South Americans in an exciting 2-1 victory.
In the quarters against England, the Lions would finally be tamed. Yet they left the World Cup having made an undoubted mark, forever entered into the annals of World Cup history. And who can forget Roger Milla’s legendary dancing at the corner flag?
Atletico Madrid, 2014
Atletico fans may feel a little insulted, as the club has a rich history. But when your neighbors are Real Madrid, you’re going to be the little brother, that’s just facts.
Atletico didn’t have the money, after some rough years. They didn’t have the Galacticos, either. Their financial troubles meant they had to sell their best players on the regular, like Fernando Torres and Radamel Falcao. They were not expected to challenge.
In 2013/14, there was just one question: Real Madrid or Barcelona? They’d been dominating La Liga for a decade, sharing every single title between them. With Messi and Ronaldo at the helm, it seems almost mathematically impossible to get in the way.
Yet it would all come together for Atleti in 2013. They had Diego Simeone, ex-player turned bulldog at the dugout. David Villa was brought in for a fraction of Falcao’s cost, yet the quality was still very much there. The club was also lucky to see players blossom at the same time, with Diego Costa, Koke, and Courtois announcing themselves on the biggest stage.
In a nail-biting final game of the season, it all came down to stopping Messi’s Barca. With a 1-1 result, a classic Simeone defensive performance, the club would grab their first title since the 1990s. They were back.
Of course, there are other stories. Greece 2004. Liverpool’s unlikely comeback in the Champions League Final. Nottingham Forest in 1978. And many others. That’s why we keep watching. Not because the big teams win it all, like usual, but because you never know what the football gods have in store for us. Money can’t buy everything.
