English Football Clubs With the Longest Trophy Droughts

Winning silverware is the thing that the vast majority of football fans want to see their teams do. Some seem to win things on a regular basis, with both Manchester United and Liverpool managing to pick up trophies even during the ‘poorer’ spells that they have endured over the years.

Of course, that is why they are the two most successful clubs in English football history, with the Merseysiders just pipping their fierce rivals when it comes to major trophies won. The same is not true for all teams, however, with some clubs lasting quite some time between silverware.

What We’re Looking At

It is important to note that we are specifically talking about major trophies here. Yes, there is a trophy awarded to the winner of the Championship as well as the team that wins the play-offs, but we’re more interested in what you might consider to be a ‘big’ competition, which we’re classing as the Premier League, the FA Cup, the League Cup or any of the European competitions that are worthy of the title.

That means that we will accept the European Cup / Champions League, the UEFA Cup / Europa League and the Europa Conference League, but something like the Charity Shield doesn’t count.

The Teams

If you are an Everton supporter then you might be fearing the worst reading this page, given the fact that the Blues haven’t won anything since the FA Cup in 1995. The good news is, though, that there are teams significantly worse off than you when it comes to major silverware. In fact, there are as many as 19 different teams that haven’t won anything for more than 40 years, which means the 30 years that Everton have remained without a trophy pales in comparison.

Newcastle United’s League Cup win in 2025 saw them removed from the list, thanks to the money injected into the club as part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s sports-washing plans, with other clubs also having won things in recent years to mean that they don’t feature. It is also important to say that we’re specifically looking at teams that have gone many years between trophy wins, as opposed to those that have never won anything of note.

Here is a look at the teams:

Taking a Closer Look at the Top Five

Here is a more in-depth look at the experiences that each of those teams has suffered through across the amount of time it has been since their last major trophy success:

Notts County – 131 Years

Notts County fans might well point out that their team won the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1995, but it is fair to say that that doesn’t tick our box of being a major trophy. Nor, for the record, do wins in the Second Division, which is now known as the Championship, nor the Fourth Division, which would be known as League Two to modern-day fans.

As a result, Notts County have had to wait more than 100 years for a trophy, in spite of the fact that they are one of the oldest professional football teams on the planet. It was 1894 when they defeated Bolton Wanderers to lift the FA Cup, having also had to watch neighbours Nottingham Forest win the biggest trophies in the business during that time.

Sheffield United – 100 Years

It has been a century since Sheffield United players got their hands on the club’s fourth FA Cup, which went into the trophy cabinet alongside their First Division title win from 27 years earlier. If you’d have told supporters then that they would have to wait 100 years before the trophy cabinet doors would open again, they doubtless wouldn’t have believed you.

They have played in the Premier League, been relegated to the lowest professional division and all things in between in the years that have passed since, but the one thing that they haven’t done is win any more silverware. Realistically, the state of the English Football League is such that they’re unlikely to again any time soon either.

Huddersfield Town – 99 Years

Ask a fan of Huddersfield Town what they’ve been able to celebrate over the past 99 years of the club’s existence and they would doubtless point to the Championship play-off final victory in 2017. Whilst that was a great chance for supporters to pop the champagne corks, it doesn’t tick our box of being a major trophy worthy of the name.

As a result, we have to look all the way back to 1926 to see their last piece of silverware that you would consider to be ‘major’. The fact that it was the First Division title probably tells its own story about the state of both the club and also the English game in general in the years that have passed since.

Cardiff City – 98 Years

In some ways, Cardiff City are incredibly unlucky to be featured on this list. Yes, when you look at the pure statistics, you will see that they haven’t won a major trophy since their FA Cup victory in 1927, but they made it to the final in 2008, losing to Portsmouth, and lost to Liverpool in the League Cup final in 2012.

The club’s supporters would also no doubt point to the fact that the Blue Birds are the only non-English team to have won the FA Cup, defeating Arsenal in that 1927 final. Getting one over on the English like that is worth its weight in gold, so the fans probably don’t mind having had to wait nearly 100 years and seen no other trophies.

Preston North End – 87 Years

The story of Preston North End can seem like a slightly tragic one, if you let it. The Lilywhites were the first team ever to win the ‘double’ of the FA Cup and First Division, going unbeaten in the process to becoming the first ‘Invincibles’, only to see that title more closely associated with Arsenal. They’re also the only former First Division winner never to play in the Premier League.

Supporters might also be quick to point out that they won the Football League War Cup in 1941, but it is the FA Cup from three years earlier that we’re considering to be a major piece of silverware. It was another of the teams on this list, Huddersfield Town