Clarets Were First Football Side To Attempt The Quadruple
No club has ever landed the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup all in the same season, however this season that could all change as Pep Guardiola’s team Manchester City attempt a clean sweep of all four trophies. The first club in the country to attempt the “Quadruple” was the small milltown club and founder member of the Football League, Burnley Football Club are one of only four teams in english football that have been closest to winning the quadruple back in the 1960-61 season.
| Rank/season | Team | PL / Div 1 | FA Cup | League Cup | CL / EC | Bid over |
| 1. 2006-07 | Chelsea | 2nd | Winners | Winners | SF | 1 May |
| 2. 2008-09 | Man Utd | Winners | SF | Winners | Final | 19 April |
| 3. 1960-61 | Burnley | 4th | SF | SF | QF | 15 Mar |
Before the Premier League and Champions League era began in 1992, Burnley went closest to winning the quadruple in 1960-61, which was the very first season four trophies were up for grabs in England. But the Clarets lost their chance on the 15th March 1961 after losing to Hamburg in the Quarter-Finals of the European Cup.
Back then, quadruple opportunities were limited as the European Cup was restricted to just the league champions or holders and, for eight out of 10 seasons between 1961 and 1971, the clubs who qualified did not enter the League Cup. There was also no chance of completing it between 1985 & 1991 either, as English clubs were barred from Europe for five years, and League Champions Liverpool served an extra year’s suspension in 1990-91.
English teams have had the chance of a quadruple since the League Cup was established in the 1960-61 season, but from a total of 117 attempts from 15 different clubs over the past sixty years. The 15 teams that have tried to win the quadruple and the year of their best attempt are listed in the table below: –
| rank/club | Attempts | Best attempt? | Bid ended? |
| 1. Chelsea | 15 | 2006-07 | 1 May |
| 2. Man Utd | 23 | 2008-09 | 19 Apr |
| 3. Man City* | 11 | 2018-19 | 17 Apr |
| 4. Burnley | 1 | 1960-61 | 15 Mar |
| 5. Arsenal | 21 | 2010-11 | 27 Feb |
| 6. Nott’m Forest | 3 | 1978-79 | 26 Feb |
| 7. Liverpool | 23 | 1982-83 | 20 Feb |
| 8. Tottenham | 5 | 2018-19 | 24 Jan |
| 9. Newcastle | 3 | 1997-98 | 10 Dec |
| 10. Leeds | 4 | 1974-75 | 13 Nov |
| 11. Aston Villa | 2 | 1981-82 | 19 Jan |
| 12. Blackburn | 1 | 1995-96 | 29 Nov |
| 13. Derby | 2 | 1972-73 | 9 Oct |
| 14. Leicester | 1 | 2016-17 | 20 Sep |
| 15. Everton | 1 | 2005-06 | 24 Aug |
| *Does not include delayed 2019-20 season |
Guardiola side that broke the 100-point mark and set an all-time English top-flight record for most points in a single campaign in 2017-18 but they had their bid ended by Wigan Athletic, of Sky Bet League One in the FA Cup. A year later, Manchester City became the first English men’s team to do a domestic treble, but they lost to Tottenham Hotspurs in Europe. There have also been teams that ended up completely empty-handed a fate that could still befall City this year, however unlikely it seems.
This time, Guardiola’s side have breathing space at the top of the Premier League, thanks to a run of 17 wins from 18 league games. In that respect some of the pressure is off. However, the knockout cup competitions by definition will be far more difficult to negotiate. Manchester City are the bookmakers’ favourites to win each one, including in Europe, but as Guardiola will surely remind his players.
Chadwick Media 