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The football stories that defined the year 2025
Football

The football stories that defined the year 2025

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As we enter the first days of a new year, there’s no better time to take stock and reflect on the stories that dominated football in 2025.

Underdogs put an end to the long wait for trophies

It was a calendar year to remember for various parties that had previously been unsuccessful. Modern football can be accused of predictability, with the richest teams often taking the trophies, but in 2025 there were plenty of underdogs to rip up the script.

Newcastle United claimed England’s first trophy of the 2024/25 season, beating Liverpool at Wembley to claim the Carabao Cup. It had been 56 years since the Magpies won a trophy of any kind, and 70 years since their last domestic success.

Even that drought pales in comparison to Crystal Palace, whose FA Cup victory sealed the club’s first ever major silverware. The Eagles had never won a trophy in their 119 years of existence until Eberechi Eze’s goal sank Manchester City in May.

Tottenham also ended a seventeen-year wait for a Europa League trophy, while the shocking success stories were not limited to English football.

Go Ahead Eagles upset the chances of claiming the KNVB Cup in the Netherlands, breaking a 92-year-old duck, while victory in the Coppa Italia in Bologna was the first trophy in 51 years for I Rossublu.

Scenes, everywhere.

Postecoglou prophecy fulfilled before the ax falls

Whatever your opinion of Ange Postecoglou, the manager, there is no doubt that the Australian was at the box office in the media room. Under pressure early in his second season at Tottenham, Postecoglou bravely backed himself.

“I’ll correct myself: I don’t normally win things, I always win things in my second year. Nothing has changed.”

With Spurs approaching two decades without any success, it was a stunning statement from Postecoglou in an era where every comment and mistake is pounced on by social media vultures.

His brash talk failed to spark a revival in the Premier League as a woeful Spurs team limped to 17th place, but Europe provided consolation – and a prophecy fulfilled.

A gritty 1-0 win over Manchester United saw Spurs win the Europa League and fulfill the promise he made, handling the self-inflicted pressure admirably.

It is perhaps best we ignore the bold ‘series three’ joke during the trophy parade, when Spurs sacked their head coach just 16 days later. Or an ill-fated, short-lived return to Nottingham Forest, for that matter.

Paris Saint-Germain puts an end to the European wait

For Paris Saint-Germain, the Champions League has always been the holy grail. Since the club’s transformative takeover in 2011, the Qatar-backed regime had prioritized Old Big Ears above all else.

Stars came and went at the Parc des Princes, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani, Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe all passing through Paris without ending the club’s wait for the one that matters most.

MbappĆ©’s departure to Real Madrid in 2024 seemed to have made a huge dent in Paris’ hopes for success last season, while an unconvincing competitive phase only emphasized that image.

But then something clicked.

Three consecutive wins earned them a place in the knockout rounds, where compatriots Brest were knocked out 10-0 on aggregate. Despite losing the home game to Liverpool in the last 16, PSG narrowly won at Anfield, progressing on penalties in a decisive evening. Aston Villa and Arsenal were defeated to complete a hat-trick in the Premier League, followed by a final performance that will live long in the memory; Paris Saint-Germain 5-0 Inter Milan.

A record-breaking Champions League finish took the monkey off PSG in style as Luis Enrique’s all-conquering team completed a quadruple.

After the failure and vanity of superstar regimes, this was a PSG team built on a team-first ethos, energy and precocious young talent. The frightening thought for their European rivals is that it is a team that can still get better.

The tragic death of Diogo Jota

Football was turned upside down in July by the tragic deaths of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. The siblings were involved in a traffic accident in the summer, from which neither survived.

What followed was an outpouring of emotions during the match. Jota was perhaps at the peak of his professional life. He won the Premier League with Liverpool in 2025 and followed up that success in the Nations League with the Portuguese national team in the summer.

Even more important was the life he led off the field. He was a father of three and had married his long-term partner Rute 11 days before the accident that took his life.

The impact of his life and death is impossible to quantify, with the latter a tragic reminder of the preciousness of time. May Diogo and Andre rest in peace.

Lionesses go back to back at Euros

ā€œThe first time was so much fun, we had to do it twice,ā€ was Chloe Kelly’s joke as England celebrated another tournament success this summer.

The Lionesses achieved their first ever major tournament success after winning the 2022 European Championship on home soil, before upsetting their chances to play back-to-back in the summer. Sarina Wiegman’s team surprised world champions Spain in Switzerland and defeated La Roja on penalties after a nerve-wracking final ended 1-1.

England had shown incredible courage to reach the final, with electrifying comebacks against Sweden and Italy, before falling behind in the decider. An Alessia Russo equalizer forced extra time and penalties, with Hannah Hampton saving two Spanish penalties. Kelly, the hero of 2022, gave England the decisive kick.

The men’s team still has the monkey on their backs ahead of this summer’s World Cup, but the Lionesses have given them the blueprint. For Wiegman it was the third consecutive European Championship victory.

Liverpool goes bankrupt with record summer spending

There was once a time when Liverpool were called the ‘Net Spend Kings’. For those unfamiliar with the term, it’s an argument that expenses aren’t really expenses, despite expenses, where money recouped from sales counters those expenses. Are you still following?

This summer, however, Liverpool decided to flex its financial muscles. After the title success under Arne Slot, owners Fenway Sports Group have taken control. The British transfer record was broken twice, first for Florian Wirtz (Ā£116m) and later for Alexander Isak (Ā£125m) in a blockbuster deadline day deal.

Liverpool have only held the British transfer record once before, thirty years ago when Stan Collymore joined Anfield from Nottingham Forest. Now the Reds had instituted it twice in the same summer.

With Jeremy Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni also arrived, Liverpool’s remarkable recruitment campaign surpassed the Ā£400 million mark and set a new world record for a single spell. Talk of an unstoppable wave towards back-to-back titles followed, but Liverpool’s new signings have yet to thrive as hoped.

It seems there’s more to winning trophies than throwing money at them.

CuraƧao becomes the smallest country to reach the World Cup

CuraƧao made history in November after becoming the smallest country ever to reach a World Cup final. The Caribbean island nation upset its chances of reaching the 2026 tournament, finishing above Jamaica in qualifying.

Under the leadership of 78-year-old experienced head coach Dick Advocaart, CuraƧao claimed its place at the World Cup, where Germany, Ecuador and Ivory Coast now await.

For context, the island has a land area smaller than the Isle of Man, and fewer inhabitants than Warrington.

Fairytale things.

Read ā€“ 5ļøāƒ£ tough matches you need to watch this weekend šŸŒ¶

See more ā€“ Five early Premier League moves expected in January

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