From Huddersfield to Manchester: Teams that won a hat-trick of English Football Titles

The 2022-23 season ended with Bayern Munich winning their 11th straight league title. In Italy and France too, Juventus (9) and Lyon (7) have had long runs of success. Even in Spain, where a two-horse race is a minimum expectation, Real Madrid has won 5 consecutive titles in a row, twice.

But this is where English football has been different from its top European counterparts. While no English club has won the league titles four seasons in a row, there have been 5 different teams to have completed the hat-trick. I decided to go deeper into each of these cases, and while writing I realized that more than the club, it’s the story of some of football’s greatest managers who ended up revolutionalising the game.

Let’s have a look at each of these teams —

Huddersfield Town (1924–1926)

Huddersfield Town was a humble West Yorkshire club whose fortunes changed in 1921 when they helped overturn a financial irregularities ban on the former Leeds City (predecessor of Leeds United) manager, Herbert Chapman. Known as the first modern manager in football, Chapman brought a series of transformations to the club ranging from tactical modifications like playing a deeper center-half, encouraging wingers to cut back, and prioritizing inside passing, to off-the-field improvements in player fitness and lifestyle, recruitment policies, and youth set-up.

Chapman built a strong core, combining new singings like inside-forward Clem Stephenson, left-back Sam Wadsworth, center-forward Charlie Wilson, defender Roy Goodall, and their future all-time top scorer George ‘Bomber’ Brown, complemented by existing players like Tom Wilson and Billy Watson. Huddersfield Town’s first title charge in 1923–24 was a roller-coaster ride, winning the league on a higher goal average (1.818 to 1.794) after leaders Cardiff City missed a penalty on their final match-day. They would retain the title next year, led by Charlie Wilson and George Brown’s fantastic strike partnership that would yield 44 goals. While Chapman left in 1925, his strong foundations ensured Huddersfield Town became the first team in England to win three consecutive top-division titles. Once again, George Brown led the scoring charts with 35 goals in 41 matches.

Unfortunately, Huddersfield Town’s third league title in a row would also end up being their last. After a slow decline, they would get relegated in 1952 and fail to reach their past glories ever again.

Arsenal (1933–1935)

Herbert Chapman’s innovations at Huddersfield Town were impressive, but it was at Arsenal where he really came into his own. Joining the London-based club in 1925 for better wages and a larger crowd, his first steps were to warn the club chairmen that any form of success would take at least five years, and sign 34-year-old forward Charlie Buchan from Sunderland, who brought some innovative ideas with him.

At a time when every club was using the 2–3–5 formation, Chapman and Buchan perfected the 3–2–2–3 formation, that became popular as WM. This formation allowed the team to exploit the offside rule change in 1925 (from three players needed behind the ball carrier to two). Taking a player out from midfield into defense and pulling the inside forwards deeper gave Arsenal defensive stability while creating opportunities for counter-attacking. But Chapman’s brilliance lay not just in creating this system but also finding the right players to implement it. Andy Niel, a third-team player, was promoted to play as a withdrawn inside forward. Herbie Roberts was signed for a measly £200 to play in the center of defense, while a considerable sum was spent to replace Buchan with the sublimely intelligent Alex James.

Exactly as Chapman had promised, Arsenal got their first major victory in the form of the 1930 FA Cup (where they defeated Chapman’s former side Huddersfield Town in the final), followed by the 1930–31 League title. After finishing second behind Everton in 1931–32, The Gunners started their run of three consecutive league victories. Tragically though, Chapman couldn’t make it to the end of this glorious run, losing his life to pneumonia in January 1934. But not before leaving an indelible mark on the game of football.

Liverpool (1982–1984)

Liverpool was synonymous with English football in the 70s and 80s, winning 11 league titles across the two decades. While the foundations were laid by Bill Shankly, it was under Bob Paisley’s management that The Reds became the best team, not just in England but in Europe.

Unlike most English managers of his age, Paisley focused on possession and playing out from the back to compete with the top continental sides. He started playing midfielder Phil Thompson into defense and accompanied him with another ball-playing defender in Alan Hansen. Other key members of his side included the goalkeeper Ray Clemence, full-backs Phil Neal and Emlym Hughes, midfielders Ray Kennedy, Terry McDermott, and Graeme Souness, and forwards Steve Heighway and Kenny Dalglish. The latter topped the fans’ poll of ‘100 Players Who Shook the Kop’ in 2006. Towards the 80s, this side was reinvented with the addition of Bruce Grobbelaar, Mark Lawrenson, Ronnie Whelan, Craig Johnston, and a Welshman named Ian Rush who would go on to be Liverpool’s all-time top-scorer.

Liverpool were the reigning European champions in 1981 but they finished 5th in the league. The 1981–82 season started on a very competitive note, but a strong performance in the second phase saw Liverpool complete their 13th first-division title win ahead of Bobby Robson’s Ipswich Town. They successfully retained the league in a dominant fashion, finishing 11 points above second-placed Watford. But the club had to bid farewell to Paisley, who retired as the most successful manager in English football at that point.

Joe Fagan, Paisley’s successor, continued where he left and helped Liverpool complete the league hat-trick while also winning the club’s fourth European Cup. Ian Rush scored 47 goals in all competitions that season to win the European Golden Boot.

Manchester United (1999–2001) & (2007–2009)

When Bob Paisley ended his Liverpool career, the record for a manager with the most English titles was his at 6. By the time Alex Ferguson retired, he took the record to 13. And while doing so, Manchester United became the first club to complete the hat-trick twice.

The 1998–99 campaign was arguably the club’s greatest in their history. In a post-Eric Cantona world, United put on a remarkable show on all three fronts. In the league, they overcame defending champions Arsenal by one point, courtesy of a 2–1 comeback win over Tottenham on the final day. In the FA Cup final, goals by Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes helped secure a victory against Newcastle. The biggest cheer, however, was reserved for the UEFA Champions League final. A goal down against Bayern Munich by the end of 90 minutes, The Red Devils miraculously scored two injury-time goals and became the first English team in history to complete the treble.

The next two seasons saw United comfortably retain the league, with Arsenal again being their main challenger. The team was built on a healthy mix of generational home-grown talents like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, and the Neville brothers, combined with iconic signings like Peter Schmeichel, Roy Keane, Jaap Stam, Teddy Sheringham, and Dwight Yorke. Ferguson also maintained a strong bench and ensured constant rotation of players.

By the time we reach 2006–07, United hadn’t won the league for three years. Most of the names we mentioned above had left the club. Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal were as strong as they come. But Ferguson’s great strength lay in constantly rebuilding his squad with new inclusions. At the back, he brought in veteran Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar to operate behind the defense pairing of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. In midfield, we saw Michael Carrick and Park-Ji-Sung support Scholes and Giggs. And the attack was led by two of the best footballers to ever play in the EPL, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Wayne Rooney.

This team broke Chelsea’s short-lived hegemony to win the 2006–07 title, and then successfully defended it over the next two seasons. United even hit the esteemed 90-point mark in the league table in 2009. The period also saw them become a dominant force in Europe again, reaching consecutive Champions League finals in 2008 and 2009. United won the former against Chelsea on penalties but succumbed to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona in the latter.

Manchester City (2021–23)

The latest addition to his list is Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Since the Spaniard took charge, the team has finished 3rd, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 1st and 1st in the Premier League. Even Paisley’s Liverpool and Ferguson’s United found it difficult to achieve this level of consistent brilliance. Guardiola has raised the bar so high, that even a 90+ finish on the points table wasn’t enough for Liverpool to win the titles in 2019 and 2022.

Guardiola built a side based around players who were not just skillful with the ball but also had great off-the-ball movement and positional awareness. This included the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Ikay Gundogan, Rodri, John Stones, and Joao Cancelo among others. Even their goalkeeper Ederson fits this mold. When Erling Haaland joined the team in 2022, some people questioned if he was the right choice for this side. The Norwegian’s answer to that was scoring 52 goals across all competition in his debut season.

City had its fair share of challenges across this run. The 2020–21 title victory came relatively easy, winning the league with three matches to spare. But in 2021–22, they faced tough competition from Liverpool till the very last match-day. The next season saw Arsenal make a resurgence and lead the title race for months. But their late dip in form and City’s consistency allowed The Sky Blues to complete the hat-trick. They also won the FA Cup and the Champions League for the treble, with Guardiola becoming the first manager to achieve this feat with two different teams (Barcelona in 2009 and City in 2023). The new season however brings another new opportunity for this side to achieve the unprecedented. Can City go on and become the first English side to win four consecutive league titles?

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Thank you for reading. Here’s a small bonus, for your eyes only -

Goal by Socrates (Brazil) vs USSR at the 1982 FIFA World Cup