The 2024–25 football season is almost over, with most major tournaments having already crowned their champions across the world. However, taking a step back and analysing the different competitions this season, could we say, “Football won this season?”
Here are some of the incidents.
Harry Kane and Tottenham Hotspur: the love story that matured apart
Let’s start with Tottenham Hotspur. They last won a trophy 17 years ago, the EFL League Cup back in the 2007–08 season. Spurs, considered among the Big Six of the Premier League, hadn’t done justice to that tag in recent years.
Late on Wednesday night, 21 May 2025, a solitary 42nd-minute goal from the 23-year-old Brennan Johnson was enough for the North London side to prevail in an all-English Europa League final. They defeated Manchester United 1–0 to lift their first European trophy since the 1983–84 UEFA Cup.
On a different soil, a few weeks earlier, a former Spurs star, their very own Harry Kane, won his first major trophy with Bayern Munich. Kane, who scored over 200 goals for his childhood club, Tottenham, in over 300 matches, never managed to win a trophy with them in his 14-year tenure, first at White Hart Lane and then at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The star English forward, in his 16-year senior career as a professional footballer, had come close multiple times with both club and country but had never gone the final yard to lift a trophy. That changed on 4 May 2025, when Bayern clinched the Bundesliga.
A club with a passionate following, long denied success, and a player who spent years chasing glory for them both finally claimed the silverware they so desperately sought, although their triumphs came on separate paths.
Son Heung-min, another star forward for Spurs who joined the club in 2015 and has played over 300 matches, had once said in a media interaction that he didn’t want to be called a club legend until he won a trophy with them. Finally, after they lifted the Europa League, speaking to TNT Sports, the Korean forward said, “Look, for 17 years the club has been trying with so many amazing players, but today is the day. Today, I would probably say I’m a legend.”
“Only today!” Son laughed, humble as always.
Special mention must go to Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou. His quote after a derby defeat to Arsenal last September, “I always win things in my second year,” will be etched in the memories of millions of football fans.
Palace of Gold for Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace, formed 119 years ago, finally won a major trophy at the top level, the FA Cup 2025. In a thrilling final against the heavyweights Manchester City, The Eagles held onto a one-goal lead given to them by Eberechi Eze in the first half. A brilliant penalty save by goalkeeper Dean Henderson also helped lift the coveted silverware.
Thousands of Palace fans celebrated, and chants echoed through the streets of South London:
“When I was a young boy, my father said to me; Listen here my son, You’re CPFC.
Here we are; You know us by the noise. Pride of South London; The Famous Palace Boys.”
Another underdog story, this time in Newcastle
Newcastle United lifted their maiden EFL League Cup in March. The Magpies were up against the defending champions Liverpool in the Wembley final and defeated the Merseyside team 2–1. This marked Newcastle’s first major domestic trophy since their 1954–55 FA Cup triumph.
As it almost always is, to be the champions, you have to beat the best. The 133-year-old Newcastle side defeated heavyweights like Chelsea and Arsenal to reach Wembley, and then beat the side who would be crowned champions of England in April.
Also Read: Manchester United hit rock bottom, stare at uncertain future
A 51-year wait ends for Bologna
In Italy too, the football world witnessed an underdog story to celebrate. The 115-year-old northern Italian club Bologna FC 1909 ended their 51-year trophy drought by winning the Coppa Italia 2024–25. They defeated AC Milan 1–0 in the final to lift the title. Currently eighth in the league, Bologna certainly gave their fans a long-awaited reason to celebrate.
Can Germany produce such a story?
On Saturday, 24 May, the Olympic Stadium in Berlin will host the final of the DFB-Pokal, or the German Cup. VfB Stuttgart will face Arminia Bielefeld. People may be familiar with Stuttgart, a regular contender in the Bundesliga top ten. Their opponents, however, aren’t a side quite as well-known globally. They are a side that just won the 3. Liga, the German third division, gaining promotion to the 2. Bundesliga.
They’re also a 120-year-old club based out of Bielefeld in northern Germany, and have a reputation as a ‘yo-yo club’ due to their frequent relegations and promotions between leagues.
It has been a tremendous season for the 3rd division side. They won their league and reached the German Cup final. On their way to the final, they defeated bigshots like Hannover 96 in the first round, Union Berlin in the second round, SC Freiburg in the Round of 16, Werder Bremen in the quarter-finals, and, stunning everyone, Bayer Leverkusen in the semi-final, the Bundesliga runner-up this season.
If, on Saturday, The Blues (as they’re popularly known in the Bielefeld region) get the better of Stuttgart and lift the Pokal trophy, it would be the underdog story of the year.
Stories like these from across the football world prove that even in an era dominated by big-money giants, underdogs with limited resources still have a voice. Relentless perseverance can, time and again, lead to success, as seen in the cases of Kane and Tottenham.
Last but not least, perhaps the biggest match in club football – let’s not forget that the UEFA Champions League might have a new winner this season. Paris Saint-Germain, in red-hot form, will face Italian giants Internazionale at the Allianz Arena on June 1 in the final. Inter last won the UCL in 2009–10. The world now waits to see whether Inter will claim the trophy a fourth time, after 15 years or whether a Mbappe-less PSG will lift their maiden European title.