The Double

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For the novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky, see The Double: A Petersburg Poem.

The Double is a term in football, which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season. It can also mean beating a team both home and away in the same league season, a feat often noted as doing the double over a particular side.

[edit] The Double

[edit] England

In football, particularly in England, The Double is generally used to refer to the winning of the top tier domestic league title (currently the Premier League) and the primary domestic cup competition, the FA Cup.

List of teams who won¹ The Double in England:

The Aston Villa team of 1897 that won The Double.

Preston North End in 1889
Aston Villa in 1897
Tottenham Hotspur in 1961
Arsenal in 1971
Liverpool in 1986
Manchester United in 1994
Manchester United in 1996
Arsenal in 1998
Manchester United in 1999 as part of The Treble
Arsenal in 2002

[edit] League and League Cup Double

A rarer, and less coveted, double in English domestic football is that of winning the League championship and the League Cup. This feat was first achieved in 1978 by Nottingham Forest. Liverpool achieved this double three times in succession (1982, 1983 and 1984). The latest team to achieve it were Chelsea in 2005 when they won the English Premier League and League Cup.

[edit] Double Double

The Double Double is a term describing he defence of The Double (winning back to back Doubles) in the subsequent season. It is yet to be achieved, but there have been several near instances, notably Arsenal F.C. in 2003 who came runners-up in the Premier League and won the FA Cup and Manchester United in 1995 who came runners-up on the last day of the league season to Blackburn Rovers and subsequently lost the FA Cup final to Everton FC.

Manchester United chose to enter the FIFA Club World Championship in the 1999-00 season rather than defend the FA Cup, hence could not complete the Double Double (or another Treble) - despite winning the Premier League in 2000.

[edit] Other countries

One notable double-winning team in 2006 was Bayern Munich in Germany, which became the first team in the country's history to successfully defend a double. Inter Milan in Italy earned the double in an unusual manner in the same season, being awarded the Serie A title to go along with their on-field win in the Coppa Italia after initial league champions Juventus were stripped of the title in the aftermath of the 2006 Serie A scandal.

CSKA Moscow in Russia won the Russian Cup and Premier League in 2005.

In Japan, Urawa Red Diamonds won the J. League and the Emperor's Cup in 2006, and Kashima Antlers won in 2007.

In the United States, the double consists of winning the MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup. D.C. United accomplished this in 1996, followed by the Chicago Fire in 1998.

The all-time leader for domestic doubles is Linfield, from Northern Ireland, United Kingdom — with 20 as of May 2008.

[edit] Denmark

Only four teams have won the Danish Double. Aarhus GF in 1955, 1957 and 1960, Vejle Boldklub in 1958 and 1972, FC Copenhagen in 2004 and latest Brondby IF in 1998 and 2005.

[edit] Greece

Club	Number	Years
Olympiakos	13	1947 , 1951 , 1954 , 1957 , 1958 , 1959 , 1973 , 1975 , 1981 , 1999 , 2005 , 2006 , 2008
Panathinaikos	7	1969 , 1977 , 1984 , 1986 , 1991 , 1995 , 2004
AEK Athens	2	1939 , 1978

[edit] Netherlands

Club	Number	Years
Ajax	7	1966/1967, 1969/1970, 1971/1972, 1978/1979, 1982/1983, 1997/1998, 2001/2002
PSV	4	1975/1976, 1987/1988, 1988/1989, 2004/2005
Feyenoord	3	1964/1965, 1968/1969, 1983/1984
AZ '67	1	1980/1981
HVV	1	1902/1903
RAP	1	1898/1899

[edit] Domestic Cup Double

A Domestic Cup Double consists of winning both domestic cup competitions in a single season or calendar year. Examples include:

Arsenal in 1993, when they beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in both games.
Liverpool in 2001, winning three trophies along with the UEFA Cup.
Chelsea F.C., in 2007

[edit] European Double

In the same spirit as The Treble, the European Double consists of winning the top tier European tournament (currently the UEFA Champions League) and domestic league title in a single season or calendar year. This has been achieved on 22 occasions by 15 clubs from 53 European competions. Ajax Amsterdam have achieved this on the most number of occasions (3).

Real Madrid 1957, 1958
Benfica 1961
Celtic F.C. 1967 (as part of The Quadruple)
Inter Milan 1965
Liverpool F.C. 1977, 1984
Ajax Amsterdam in 1972 (as part of The Treble), 1973, 1995
Hamburger SV 1983
FC Steaua Bucureşti 1986
PSV Eindhoven 1988 (as part of The Treble)
Red Star Belgrade 1991
FC Barcelona 1992, 2006
AC Milan 1994
Manchester United 1999 (as part of The Treble), 2008
Bayern Munich 1974, 2001
F.C. Porto 2004

[edit] Continental Double

A Continental Double is identical to the European Double, but for sides outside the UEFA confederation winning the primary continental cup competition and the domestic league title. For example, the Copa Libertadores and top tier domestic league title in the CONMEBOL confederation would form a Continental Double. The Continental Double may be won in a calendar year, rather than a single season.

[edit] Other

A a combination of domestic league or cup and a lesser European trophy, usually the UEFA Cup or former UEFA Cup Winners' Cup may be won in the same season or calendar year. Examples include:

Leeds United were the first English team to win a double involving European and domestic trophies. It was in 1968 when Leeds won the Football League Cup and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup^[1].

Chelsea also did a double involving a European trophy in 1998, winning the Cup Winners' Cup and the League Cup,

Everton F.C. have also completed a European double in 1985, with the club winning the League title and UEFA Cup Winner's Cup, but losing the FA Cup final just three days later.

Aberdeen won a European double in season 1982-83 when first off they captured the European Cup Winners Cup by beating Real Madrid 2-1 in Gothenburg, and 10 days later they captured the Scottish Cup with a last gasp 1-0 win over Rangers in the final. Aberdeen also went on to capture the European Super Cup at the end of 1983 to cap an unofficial treble winning year, but not in the same season.

Galatasaray won the Turkish League, the Turkish Cup, and the UEFA Cup in the 1999-2000 season. They also won the UEFA Super Cup in August 2000 by beating Real Madrid.

[edit] International Double

A country cannot win a World Cup and continental championship in the same year because they are not annual events, but one which holds both titles simultaneously could be said to have "done the double". These include:

West Germany won the 1972 European Championship and the 1974 World Cup
Brazil won the 1994 World Cup and the 1997 Copa América
France won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship
Brazil won the 2002 World Cup and the 2004 Copa América

[edit] Near Domestic Doubles

[edit] England

Many sides have come close to winning the English league and FA Cup double but have either finished 2nd in the league, lost the FA Cup final or both (an occurrence sometimes referred to as Double Horror) .

[edit] Total Number of Doubles

Club	Nation	Number of doubles
Linfield	Northern Ireland	20
Rangers	Scotland	17
Celtic	Scotland	13
Al-Ahly	Egypt	13
Levski Sofia	Bulgaria	13
Olympiacos	Greece	13
HB	Faroe Islands	12
Muharraq Club	Bahrain	12
FK Austria Wien	Austria	10
CSKA Sofia	Bulgaria	10
Dinamo Kyiv	Ukraine	10
Red Star Belgrade	Serbia	9
Jeunesse Esch	Luxembourg	8
Ajax	Netherlands	7