Who Is The Worst UK Football Team To Qualify For Europe?
The goal for many teams in the Premier League is to qualify for Europe, and it is often a badge of pride for fans wearing their team’s colours and the players alike to represent their team against the best the continent has to offer.
However, you do not necessarily have to be the best team in the Premier League to make it into the three European competitions, as was proven by 17th place Tottenham Hotspur when they reached the Champions League by beating 16th place Manchester United in the Europa League finals.
Before kick-off, many were proclaiming whichever team won to be the worst Premier League team to ever qualify for Europe, but whilst both have had disastrous campaigns and Spurs are definitely the worst to qualify for the Champions League, there have been worse teams in Europe.
Wrexham – 1995/96 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup
Whilst currently a team on the rise thanks to a remarkable string of promotions, Wrexham in 1994/95 finished 13th in Division Two, the third tier of English Football (Now League One).
However, thanks to their geography, they qualified for and ultimately won the 1995 Welsh Cup, which gave them entry into the 1995/96 Cup Winners’ Cup (now part of the Europa League).
They lost to Romanian team Petrolul and have never been back to Europe since.
Millwall – 2004/05 UEFA Cup
Millwall have spent just two seasons in the top flight of English football, a couple of years before the Premier League, but their only ever moments in Europe were the result of a miraculous run to an FA Cup Final loss in 2004 against Manchester United, having finished 10th in the EFL Championship.
They promptly lost 4-2 on aggregate to Hungarian club Ferencvaros and have never come close to European football again.
Crystal Palace – 1997/98 Intertoto Cup
No fewer than four teams have qualified for Europe the same season they were relegated, but of Wigan Athletic’s FA Cup win despite relegation in 2013, Birmingham City’s League Cup win the year before, and Ipswich getting into Europe thanks to the Fair Play League, Crystal Palace were the clear worst.
Finishing dead last in the 1997/98 season, Crystal Palace were the highest qualifying team that bothered to apply for the Intertoto Cup. They lost 4-0 over two legs to Turkish First League side Samsunspor.
They will have a chance to redeem themselves on a much higher stage after an astonishing underdog victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup Final.