You can edit almost every page by Creating an account. Otherwise, see the FAQ.

Drought (sport)

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki


In sports, a drought refers to instances in which an individual or team has gone through a lengthy period of time without accomplishing some goal. For a team, this usually refers to an extended period of time without making the playoffs or winning a championship. Droughts occur for a variety of reasons, from chronic mismanagement to bad luck. Some droughts are also popularly attributed to a curse.

North America[edit]

Droughts by sport[edit]

Cities with significant droughts[edit]

Several North American cities are considered to have championship droughts among their “Big Four” pro sports leagues:

Those who believe in the Buffalo Curse[1] cite as examples the four consecutive Super Bowl losses by the Buffalo Bills from 1990 to 1993, as well as the failure of the Buffalo Sabres to ever win the Stanley Cup. Wide Right, No Goal, and The Music City Miracle also contribute to the belief in the Buffalo Curse. In 2006, when the Sabres lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, four of their top six defensemen were lost to injury along with Tim Connolly, the leading scorer of the playoffs at the time of his injury. Even though the Sabres made it back to the conference finals the next year, they lost again, this time to the division rival Ottawa Senators. It is notable that the Buffalo Bills won the AFL championship in 1964 and 1965. The alleged “curse”, however, has not extended to the city's fringe or minor league teams—the Buffalo Bandits of the NLL have won 4 league championships (1992, 1993, 1996, 2008) and six division Championships (1992, 1993, 1994, 2004, 2006, 2008), and the Western New York Flash of the National Women's Soccer League, based in Buffalo but playing home games in Rochester, won the 2016 NWSL Championship. The Flash also won league titles in the two competitions that directly preceded the NWSL—Women's Professional Soccer in 2011 and WPSL Elite in 2012. The Flash also won the NWSL Shield, awarded to the team with the best regular-season record, in that league's inaugural 2013 season, but lost the championship final to Portland Thorns FC. The Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League won their first Isobel Cup in the 2016–17 season.[2]

The San Diego Padres have never won a World Series, believed[by whom?] to stem from the San Diego Sports Curse. San Diego's former NFL team, the Chargers and its former NBA teams, the Rockets and Clippers, never won a Super Bowl or an NBA championship when located within the city. The Padres are tied with the Texas Rangers for the most World Series appearances (two) of the seven teams without a World Series championship. The Chargers won the 1963 AFL championship and only appeared in one Super Bowl (Super Bowl XXIX, which they lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 49–26).

Some cities with at least three teams have shorter yet notable droughts. Minneapolis–Saint Paul has not reached a championship series or Super Bowl since the Twins won the 1991 World Series. This drought, like the one in Buffalo, has not extended to the market's fringe or minor league teams—two such teams, the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx and the Minnesota Stars of the current North American Soccer League, won league championships in 2011, and the Lynx claimed league titles in 2013, 2015 and 2017.

Since the founding of Major League Soccer in 1996, both Columbus, Ohio and Washington, D.C. have won all three major U.S. soccer trophies (MLS Supporters’ Shield, MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup) during their “Big Four” droughts. Toronto won all three major Canadian soccer trophies (MLS Supporters’ Shield, MLS Cup and Voyageurs Cup) in the 2017 MLS season, during its "Big Four" drought. San Jose has won the MLS Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup during its current "Big Four" drought while Portland and Salt Lake City have won the MLS Cup (but no MLS Supporters’ Shields or U.S. Open Cups) during their "Big Four" droughts. Atlanta won MLS Cup 2018 then the 2019 U.S. Open Cup during its "Big Four" drought.

All of the Canadian cities listed above have won multiple Grey Cups during their "Big Four" droughts listed above.

Notable former droughts:

Outside North America[edit]

Association football[edit]

Argentina
Austria
  • FC Red Bull Salzburg participated in 1994–95 UEFA Champions League under the name SV Casino Salzburg, yet after Red Bull takeover, the club were repeatedly knocked out during the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League, starting from 2006–07 season including eleven failed attempts. However, the club only managed to qualify directly to the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, since the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League winners qualified for the qualifying rounds via their domestic league.[6]
Brazil
  • EC Vitória has never won a national-level trophy since its fundation in 1899.
  • Ponte Preta has never won a major trophy since its fundation in 1900.
  • Internacional has not won the league since 1979, although coming second in four occasions since.
England
Finland
France
Germany
  • While 1.FC Nurnberg is one of the most successful teams in German footballing history, their last league title came in the 1967–1968 Bundesliga season.[18]
  • Hertha BSC won the German Championship, the equivalent of the Bundesliga in 1930 and 1931, but have not won the league since. As of 2020, it has been 89 years since Hertha has won the league.[19]
  • Schalke 04 have not won the German Championship since 1958.
  • Bayer 04 Leverkusen were founded in 1904, although coming second in five occasions, they have not won the German Championship.
Hungary
Italy
Mexico
Netherlands
  • The national team managed to play three World Cup finals, in 1974, 1978 and 2010, but lost all of them.
Portugal
Scotland
Spain
  • Real Betis won their only league championship in 1935. The other top-team of Seville, Sevilla FC, won their only La Liga championship in 1946. [27]
  • Real Madrid won six of the 11 first European Cups ever disputed, and then entered in a 32-year period without winning a single European top championship. This was broken in 1998, when Los Blancos won their seventh European top championship. This was followed by another two Champions League titles in the following four seasons.
  • Arenas de Getxo is a Basque team which currently plays in the Spanish Tercera División, the fourth level in Spanish football system. The team competed in the first seven La Liga seasons starting in 1929. Previously Arenas had won the Spanish Cup in 1919, so the drought is now 100 years.

Australian Rules football[edit]

In the VFL/AFL (1897–present), the longest premiership drought was that of South Melbourne/Sydney, who won their third premiership in 1933, but did not win another premiership until 2005, 72 years later.

The second-longest drought in the league was that of St Kilda (67 years), who won their first (and only) premiership in 1966; St Kilda did not compete in 1916 or 1917 due to World War I.

Melbourne currently hold the longest active drought, having not won a premiership since 1964.

Longest VFL/AFL premiership droughts (25 years or more)
Years Team Previous VFL/AFL Premiership Next VFL/AFL Premiership Grand Finals during drought
72 South Melbourne/Sydney 1933 2005 1934, 1935, 1936, 1945, 1996
671 St Kilda Never 1966 1913, 1965
62 Footscray/Western Bulldogs 1954 2016 1961
55 Melbourne 1964 Drought active 1988, 2000
53 St Kilda 1966 Drought active 1971, 1997, 2009, 2010, 2010 replay
52 Fitzroy 1944 Never 2
50 North Melbourne Never 1975 1950, 1974
44 Geelong 1963 2007 1967, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1995
37 Richmond 1980 2017 1982
36 Hawthorn Never 1961
32 Collingwood 1958 1990 1960, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1977, 1977 replay, 1979, 1980, 1981 3
29 Footscray Never 1954
274 Geelong Never 1925 5
25 Carlton 1995 Drought active 1999
25 Fremantle Never Drought active 2013

1 St Kilda did not compete in 1916 or 1917 due to World War I.
2 Fitzroy merged with the Brisbane Bears in 1996, having never appeared in another Grand Final after their 1944 premiership, to become the Brisbane Lions. The AFL deem the merged Lions as a continuation of the Brisbane Bears and not of Fitzroy.
3 This is commonly known as the "Colliwobbles".
4 Geelong did not compete in 1916 due to World War I.
5 Geelong finished runners-up in 1897, but no Grand Final was required under the round-robin finals system in place that year.

Baseball[edit]

Japan
South Korea

Basketball[edit]

Argentina

Rugby league[edit]

The Parramatta Eels hold the longest active drought in the NRL totalling thirty-three years, having not won a premiership since 1986. For reference, Parramatta's first premiership came in its 35th season in 1981. The next longest active drought is twenty-five years held by the Canberra Raiders who have not won a premiership since 1994. Between 1994 and 2019, Canberra had not qualified for a grand final until they broke their drought defeating South Sydney in the 2019 preliminary final.[28]

The North Sydney Bears held the longest premiership drought in the NSWRL/NRL with a total of seventy-seven years. This lasted between their second premiership in 1922 up until the end of 1999 when they began a short-lived merger with Manly-Warringah known as the Northern Eagles. North Sydney also had the longest drought waiting for the next grand final appearance which stood at fifty six years. Their last grand final appearance was against Newtown in 1943.[29] This merger was dissolved after three seasons resulting in North Sydney being expelled from the league. As of 2020 they are still applying for re-entry.

The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks won their first premiership in 2016 after 50 seasons of NSWRL/ARL/Super League/NRL competition – the longest wait for a first title that any club has endured. Prior to this, the Sharks had played in four Grand Finals (including a replay in 1978) for one draw and three losses.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs won 20 premierships in the NSWRL from the league's inception in 1908 until 1971, but had to wait to win their 21st title (their 1st in the NRL era) until 2014, a drought lasting 41 years (the Rabbitohs were inactive in 2000-01).

The Gold Coast itself as a city has suffered a premiership drought of sorts. The original Gold Coast side was founded in 1988 as The Gold Coast-Tweed Giants and then were rebranded three times. First as The Gold Coast Seagulls, then Gold Coast Gladiators and then The Gold Coast Chargers. In 2006, The Gold Coast Titans entered the competition. Since 1988, no Gold Coast team has made a grand final or won a premiership. The best season for any of the franchises was in 2010, when Gold Coast Titans made the preliminary final.[30]

Hull F.C. lost seven consecutive Challenge Cup Final appearances at Wembley Stadium between 1959 and 2008.[31] The team won two Challenge Cups during that time, but the final victories were at Elland Road (1982 replay) and the Millennium Stadium (2005, while Wembley was being rebuilt).[31] Hull finally ended the drought in 2016 by beating Warrington at Wembley before beating Wigan at Wembley in 2017 to win back to back Challenge Cups.

Warrington Wolves were founded in 1876 and have won three premierships in their history with the last being in 1955. Out of all the current teams in The Super League they have waited longer than any other team to win their next premiership. As of 2019, it has been 64 years since Warrington had won the premiership.[32][33]

The Castleford Tigers currently hold the record for the longest time to win a premiership in either The Super League or The NRL. Founded in 1926, Castleford have only played in three grand finals (1938,1969 & 2017) and for the first time in their 92-year history they finished first in The 2017 Super League season to claim their first ever league leaders shield. Castleford's drought of 93 years to wait for a first title eclipses The Cronulla Sutherland Sharks record in The NRL of 49 years who had the longest drought of any professional rugby league team in Australia to wait for a first title.[34][35][36]

Rugby union[edit]

In France, ASM Clermont Auvergne had a championship history arguably as tortured as the most "cursed" teams in North America or Australia. From their formation in 1911 through 2009, they had never won a national title despite making the championship final 10 times, and had come within a converted try in six of those games.

The drought culminated in three consecutive title-game losses in 2007 through 2009, and Les Jaunards finally broke through in 2010 to win their first title after 91 years of competition (they did not play in 1915–1919 or 1940–1942 due to World War I and World War II).

Cricket[edit]

Queensland won the Sheffield Shield in 1994/95, its 63rd season of competition, having finished second on 11 occasions in that time. In 46 of those years, only five teams competed for the Shield, as Tasmania were admitted in 1977/78 (winning the Shield in 2007/08, after 30 years).

Somerset have not yet won the English County Championship since they were admitted to the competition in 1891.[37][38] Gloucestershire have not won the Championship since it was constituted in 1890, but won three unofficial "Champion County" titles in the 1870s, the last in 1874.

Northamptonshire have not yet won the Championship since being admitted to the competition in 1905, after the club was granted first class status.

The England cricket team did not win a 50-over ICC World Cup until 2019, 44 years after the tournament was first contested in 1975, even though England founded the game of cricket.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. The Buffalo Curse
  2. "Buffalo Beauts Win 2017 NWHL Isobel Cup". March 21, 2017.
  3. "Ironworkers plant Billy Penn atop new Comcast tower to help Eagles avoid curse - Philly". Philly.com. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  4. "Yes, There's a Billy Penn Statue on Philly's New Skyscraper". NBC 10 Philadelphia. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  5. Wilson, Jonathan (26 June 2016). "Argentina on verge of first trophy for 23 years – but beware revitalized Chile". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  6. "Red Bull Salzburg erstmals in Champions League!". Kronen Zeitung (in German). 12 May 2019.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
  7. "Dalglish believes 'strongest ever' England can end 40 years of hurt". The Scotsman. 24 May 2006.
  8. "Steve Bruce desperate to end Newcastle's domestic trophy drought". The Independent. 28 June 2020.
  9. Stone, Simon (29 January 2010). "Darren Fletcher the destroyer revels in prolonging City drought". The Scotsman. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  10. "Liverpool can end title drought, says Rush". The Independent. 28 April 2009.
  11. "Sir Alex Ferguson". www.espnfc.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 30 March 2014. In the newly founded 'Premier League', Ferguson found more success; the arrival of enigmatic Frenchman Eric Cantona proved to be the final piece of the jigsaw and United finally won the league title in 1992–93, ending a 26-year drought.
  12. "Fulham football club overview". www.11v11.com.
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2017-09-13. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Everton: Most Successful Seasons in Club History". Bleacher Report. December 1, 2015.
  15. "Finland 3–0 Liechtenstein". BBC. 15 November 2019.
  16. Tyers, Alan (December 12, 2016). "AS Saint-Étienne scouting report: all you need to know about Manchester United's Europa League opponents" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2017-10-08. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
  18. "How FC Nürnberg went from Bundesliga champions to relegation within 12 months". January 12, 2017.
  19. Hassett, Sebastian. "Meet Union Berlin: Germany's fan-powered success story | The World Game". Theworldgame.sbs.com.au. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  20. "Bologna in the spotlight". Juventus.com.
  21. "Sevilla seals Europa League title with shootout win over Benfica". CBC. Associated Press. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  22. Forsyth, Roddy (31 May 2003). "Scottish Cup Final: Dundee defy sinking feeling". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  23. "Edinburgh's real disgrace? Hibs have not won the cup since Buffalo Bill was in town". Scotland On Sunday. Johnston Publishing. 20 May 2001.
  24. Wilson, Richard (21 May 2016). "Rangers 2–3 Hibernian". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  25. Halliday, Stephen (14 November 2013). "St Johnstone: Stevie May, Tommy Wright win awards". Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  26. Wilson, Richard (17 May 2014). "St Johnstone 2–0 Dundee Utd". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  27. Lowe, Sid (February 27, 2017). "Now Sevilla can think about La Liga title charge after besting Betis | Sid Lowe" – via www.theguardian.com.
  28. "Canberra Raiders end 25-year wait to reach NRL grand final with victory over Rabbitohs". The Guardian.
  29. "Who has the longest drought in Australian sport?". Sunshine Coast Daily.
  30. "The fall and rise of the Gold Coast Titans". National Rugby League. February 23, 2018.
  31. 31.0 31.1 Gibbons, Trevor (23 August 2013). "Rugby League: Will Hull FC's Wembley hoodoo strike again?". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  32. "Relive Wigan's Super League Grand Final win over Warrington". October 1, 2016 – via www.bbc.com.
  33. "NOSTALGIA: Season openers in Wolves history". Warrington Guardian.
  34. "Luke Gale in race against time to help Castleford Tigers' push for Grand Final". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk.
  35. "Castleford Tigers: Why no hullaballoo for League Leaders Shield win?". July 23, 2017 – via www.bbc.com.
  36. "Castleford win League Leaders' Shield for first time". BT.com.
  37. Pitt-Brooke, Jack (9 April 2013). "Somerset: Always the bridesmaids of the County Championship". The Independent. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  38. Berry, Scyld (23 August 2008). "Somerset scent a piece of County Championship history". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 August 2013.


This article "Drought (sport)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Drought (sport). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.