Football used to be very different in the first half of the past century, and some of the clubs that were multiple champions of their respective leagues are now struggling in the lower tiers of their national football pyramids. This article is about 3 of those clubs, to challenge you to wake them up in FM20 from their decades long sleep.1. F.C. Pro Vercelli 1892 (Italian Serie C/A)
For a town of 46,000 people, Vercelli can be proud of its football club, Pro Vercelli 1892. The Piedmontese club, located just between Turin and Milan, has won 7 Italian national championships, the first in 1908, the last in 1922. As a comparison, when Vercelli was winning its seventh title, the neighbouring Milan had 3, Inter – 2 and Juventus just 1. With 7 titles, Pro Vercelli was until 1923, when Genoa won it’s 8th title, the most time winners of the Italian league.
But the introduction of professionalism reversed Vercellis’s fortunes, playing their last Serie A season in 1934-1935, and in 1947-1948 they were relegated from Serie B also. Since then Pro Vercelli bounced between Serie C and Serie D, until 2011-2012 when they played again in Serie B for just one season. Recent years have been better for Pro Vercelli, playing 4 more seasons in Serie B, between 2014 and 2018. In the previous season, Vercelli finished 5th in Serie C / Group A, barely missing out on the promotion play-offs. Hopes are high though in the small Piedmontese town, with the announced ambition of reclaiming a Serie A spot. Can you guide the forgotten champions back to glory?
2. Le Havre (French Ligue 2)
Founded in 1872, Le Havre was the first club outside Paris to win the French USFSA Football Championship, back in 1899. Two more titles followed in 1900 and 1919 for Le Havre, since then only winning one French Cup in 1959. With constant spells in Ligue 1 in the late 80s (1985-1988), most of the 90s (1991-2000) and two one season spells in the 2000s (2002-2003 and 2008-2009), Le Havre has been a good Ligue 2 club, finishing around the top of the season but failing to achieve another promotion to Ligue 1.
The club enjoys a great youth setup, with the likes of Benjamin Mendy, Ibrahim Ba, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Lassana Diarra, Riyad Mahrez, Steve Mandanda, Vikash Dhorasoo, Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet coming through the ranks of the Norman academy. With such a legacy, it’s high time for Le Havre to find its way back to Ligue 1.
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3. SpVgg Greuther Fürth (German 2. Bundesliga)
The last champions of the German Empire (1914) and two times champions of the Weimar Republic (1926 and 1929), Fürth struggled after the Second World War, remaining a mediocre first division side until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, when they failed to get chosen as one of the 16 clubs to play in the new German top tier. The club fell as low as the Landesliga (4th tier) in the late 80s, but has recovered since, slowly climbing the ladder of German football, returning to the 2. Bundesliga in 1997, and even playing for one season in the Bundesliga (2012-2013).
After the Bundesliga relegation, SpVgg Greuther Fürth only managed to challenge for promotion only in the following season, since then becoming a mid-table team. The Kleeblätter (Cloverleaves) have briefly tasted Bundesliga football, but for them to become German champions again it will take a lot of patience and hard work. It’s a good thing you’ll be in charge.
