Successful clubs from smaller cities

Generally speaking, the most successful football clubs come from the biggest cities in their respective countries.

Such is the beautiful game, though, there are plenty of exceptions to the rule – as this lot will attest.

We take a look at some decorated small(er)-town teams who have won some of the biggest honours going.

Bury’s 2019 financial turmoil saw the Shakers expelled from the Football League after 125 years – a dark day indeed.

Not only that, but the club from the Greater Manchester market town famed for its black pudding were two-time FA Cup winners – beating Southampton and Derby in the finals of 1900 and 1903 respectively.

Based in the town of Kerkrade in the southeast of the Netherlands, Roda JC memorably won two KNVB (Dutch) Cups in the space of four years, lifting the trophy in 1997 and 2000.

Formed in 1962 from a merger of Roda Sport and 1955/56 Dutch champions Rapid JC, Roda finished as runners-up to European champions Ajax in the 1994/95 Eredivisie.

Champions of Poland for the second time in 2007, Zaglebie Lubin represent a city with a population of around 70,000.

Participants in the 1990/91 European Cup, Zaglebie have won multiple titles at each of the top three levels of Polish football, in fact, as well as reaching multiple Polish Cup finals.

A major force in Swedish football during the late 70s and early 80s, Osters IF won three of their four top-flight titles between 1978 and 1981.

Domestic cup winners for the first time in 1977, they play in the city of Vaxjo – home to the Swedish Glass Museum (which, thankfully, sits a safe distance from Oster’s ground, the Visma Arena).

Switzerland’s top-flight title has been shared around a fair bit over the years, and among the more successful clubs in the deep-pocketed Alpine nation is FC La Chaux-de-Fonds – a lower-league side these days but one with a rich history.

Hailing from the northwest of the country, a stone’s throw from the French border, they were crowned champions in 1954, 1955 and 1964 – and have won six Swiss Cups.

Another decorated outfit based away from Switzerland’s biggest cities, FC Lugano have claimed multiple top-flight titles and Swiss Cups, enjoying particular success during the 1930s and 40s.

Also champions numerous times in the second tier, Lugano knocked out Inter en route to the second round of the 1995/96 UEFA Cup.

Dundalk is only the seventh-biggest town in Ireland, but its football club have been crowned champions more times than anyone bar Dublin’s Shamrock Rovers.

The first Irish outfit to win away from home in continental competition – beating FC Zurich of Switzerland in the 1963/64 European Cup – the Lilywhites claimed their first League of Ireland title in 1933 and hit double figures in 2014.

Heading into the 2011/12 season, Bulgaria’s Ludogorets Razgrad hadn’t won a single major trophy; they then proceeded to win 13 league titles on the spin, doing three domestic doubles along the way.

The considerable wealth of owner Kiril Domuschiev probably has something to do with that unprecedented dominance, but that doesn’t change the fact that Razgrad is a tiny city whose population numbers barely 30,000.

Nicknamed Les Sangliers ( The Boars ) and boasting a badge featuring a stunning rendering of one of the furry wild pigs, Sedan have spent most of their history outside the French top division.

They were there from 1955 to 1971, though, and it was during those heady days that the outfit from the small town close to the Belgian border got their hands on the Coupe de France twice.

National champions twice back in the 1930s – when they also lifted the Coupe de France for the first time – Sochaux hail from Montbeliard near the border with Switzerland.

Coupe de France winners once again in 2007, the 1980/81 UEFA Cup semi-finalists’ 20,025-capacity home, the Stade Auguste-Bonal, could seat almost the entire population of the town.

They play in the lower reaches of the Italian football pyramid these days, but Novese won the Scudetto once upon a time.

That was way back in the 1921/22 campaign, when the club based in Novi Ligure, Piedemont (population circa 30,000) finished top of the Prima Categoria, a precursor to Serie A.

Scudetto winners in 1914, Casale are another historical success story to emerge from a small town in Piedmont, spending around two decades at the highest level.

Casale Monferrato’s finest were the first Italian team to beat English opposition, recording a 2-1 win over touring Reading ahead of that triumphant campaign.

Vejle Boldklub aka VB have scooped more silverware than most clubs in Denmark, winning numerous top-flight titles and Danish Cups.

Twice double winners, the team from the Jutland peninsula – who launched the career of 1977 Ballon d’Or recipient Allan Simonsen, among others – have competed in every major European competition and reached the quarter-finals of the 1977/78 Cup Winners’ Cup.

Among Hungary’s most successful clubs of the early 21st century, Fehervar won their first of multiple league titles in 2011 – having lifted the Hungarian Cup for the first time six seasons earlier.

Based in the city of Szekesfehervar (we’re glad they shortened it somewhat, we won’t lie), Fehervar came close to tasting European glory in 1985 – when, as Videoton, they lost the UEFA Cup final to Real Madrid.

Along with Rosenborg, Molde were one of Norway’s two dominant footballing forces during the first two decades of the third millennium – and their town doesn’t even sit inside the Scandinavian nation’s top 30 by population.

Champions five times between 2011 and 2022, Molde – who lifted their sixth Norwegian Cup in 2023 – have seen superstars such as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erling Haaland pull on the shirt over the years.

Hailing from a city of fewer than 70,000 people, Genk have historically punched above their weight.

Their history isn’t that long, mind you: De Smurfen (we probably don’t need to translate that one for you) were formed in 1988 through the merger of Thor Waterschei and KFC Winterslag; it took them just 10 years to lift their first Belgian Cup and 11 to win their first top-flight title.

Scottish champions in the days before the Old Firm’s unbreakable duopoly, Motherwell won their one and only title in the 1931/32 season, finishing five points ahead of Rangers.

The North Lanarkshire town with a population of roughly 32,000 has also seen its top club lift the Scottish Cup and League Cup.

Situated on the border between Spain and France, the Basque town of Irun (population just over 60,000) is home to one of numerous Spanish clubs granted the honorific ‘Real’ title.

Real Union got their hands on the Copa del Rey three times between 1918 and 1927, defeating Real Madrid on the first two occasions.

It might have been the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Strathclyde, but Dumbarton is not a big place, home to only around 20,000 people even today.

Not that size mattered to the local football club way back when: Dumbarton lifted the 1882/83 Scottish Cup – seeing off Vale of Leven in a replayed final – then claimed successive league titles in 1891 and 1892.

One of the few Scottish clubs to play in every major UEFA competition over the years, Kilmarnock also made it to the semi-finals of the 1966/67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

Champions of Scotland for the only time in 1965, Killie have won the Scottish Cup on multiple occasions and claimed their first League Cup in 2012.

Wolfsburg is most famous as the home of Volkswagen – whose workers were part of the sports club out which emerged VfL Wolfsburg.

Established in 1948, Die Wolfe ( the Wolves , obviously) clinched their first Bundesliga title in 2009 – holding off Bayern Munich to be crowned champions by two points – then lifted their maiden DFB-Pokal (German Cup) six years later.

Lens’ Stade Bollaert-Delelis has hosted games at three major tournaments – including the 1998 World Cup – so you’d think the city would be on the bigger side, no?

As it happens, the stadium could seat everyone in town with room to spare – and it’s home to a club who won the 1997/98 French title and reached the semi-finals of the 1999/2000 Europa League.

West Bromwich is by no means isolated – it’s only seven miles from England’s second city, Birmingham – but as a town in its own right, it’s not the biggest place in the world.

It is, however, home to one of the more successful clubs English football history: West Brom won the title in 1920, and spread five FA Cup triumphs across an 80-year period from 1888 to 1968.

Huddersfield have been crowned champions of England three times – and they won all of their titles in succession, between 1924 and 1926.

The Yorkshire outfit clinched the first two of those under legendary boss Herbert Chapman – who had brought them FA Cup glory in 1922 – and the third under Cecil Potter.

Auxerre’s glory days seem a long time ago, but in 1996 they were champions of France for the first time in their history.

Based in a city whose population numbers barely 35,000, the former club of Eric Cantona and Laurent Blanc enjoyed their finest hour under Guy Roux, their manager for more than 40 years – including 36 uninterrupted from 1964 to 2000 – who also delivered four Coupes de France.

Burnley is one of the smallest places to host Premier League football – but the Lancashire town’s foremost team has quite a history.

Founder members of the Football League in 1888, Burnley are one of a handful of clubs to win the title in all four professional divisions of the English game – topping the top flight in 1921 and 1960 – while they tasted FA Cup glory in 1914.

Associated with the Northern Renaissance art movement, Mechelen is home to under 100,000 people.

That makes it one of the smallest cities to boast a major European trophy winner: four-time Belgian champions K.V. Mechelen famously lifted the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1988, stunning holders Ajax in the final – before defeating treble winners PSV to claim that year’s Super Cup.

Ipswich is smaller than Norwich, the other main settlement in East Anglia, but Ipswich Town sit comfortably ahead of Norwich City in the silverware stakes.

They benefitted from some having two legendary managers at the helm: Sir Alf Ramsey – who steered the Tractor Boys to the 1961/62 First Division title – and Sir Bobby Robson – who delivered FA Cup success in 1978 and UEFA Cup glory three years later.

With a population of roughly 120,000 and situated less than an hour’s drive from Milan – home to two of the biggest clubs not just in Italy but the world – Bergamo has defied logic on the footballing stage.

Atalanta have consistently challenged for Champions League qualification in recent years, and they sealed their greatest triumph to date in 2024 by sweeping aside unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen to win the Europa League.

You could be forgiven for never having heard of Pro Vercelli – they’ve not been in Serie A for almost 100 years – but only four clubs (Juventus, Inter, Milan and Genoa) have won more Italian top-flight titles.

Hailing from a small city in Piedmont, Pro Vercelli were crowned champions seven times between 1908 and 1922.

Hailing from a town of barely 100,000 inhabitants, Kaiserslautern have been crowned champions of Germany on four occasions – twice during the 50s and twice during the 90s.

Their most recent success, in 1998, was the most remarkable: Die roten Teufel ( the Red Devils ) – who have also won the DFB-Pokal – made Bundesliga history by achieving it as a newly promoted team.

Villarreal didn’t make their LaLiga debut until 1998 – which isn’t massively surprising for a club representing a city of only around 50,000.

Twenty-three years later, the Yellow Submarine did something which must have felt impossible for most of their history: they won a major European trophy, beating Manchester United on penalties in the 2021 Europa League final – before coming agonisingly close to reaching the following year’s Champions League final.