Ah the Champions League, or for those of us who dislike change, the European Cup. There's little doubt that this is the premier club competition of world football. And just like some great footballers never graced an international tournament, there are plenty of big clubs that have never won a Champions League. Then again, some past winners must look at the current era and be thankful that they already have a European triumph on their honours board.
Celtic
It is sometimes forgotten that Celtic were the first British club to win a European Cup. Back in the 1966/67 season they defeated Inter Milan 2-1 in the final, and in doing so pipped Sir Matt Busby's Manchester United to the trophy by one year. In the following ten years they narrowly lost another final to Feyenoord in 1970, and they engaged in 2 more quarter-finals and semi-finals. This all came within the dominant golden era of the manager Jock Stein, who racked up 25 trophies in his 13 years in charge.
The club can still secure decent results now, but when compared to the big teams in Europe they can no longer compete consistently enough to offer any serious threat. The near-miss of the 2003 Uefa Cup (as it was then) is a fairer reflection of the Celtic potential. Even then, if you look at the semi-final line up for the Europa League this season, it would be fair to doubt that the Scottish champions would get past any of them over two legs.
Since Jock Stein Celtic have fallen back from being regarded as a major European power. In the era of the Champions League (from 1992/93) they have reached the knockout stages on just 3 occasions. Two of these came under Gordon Strachan and the most recent was last season, when the reactions to making the last 16 made it clear that Celtic realise a second Champions League is incredibly unlikely.
Feyenoord
And so to the club that denied Celtic a second European Cup. The success made Feyenoord the first Dutch team to win the trophy, an accolade that they can treasure, however the likelihood of a repeat is even more remote than Celtic. For a start they are not often amongst the top bracket of teams competing for the Eredivisie, from 1970 to now they have had just 10 further campaigns in Europe's top tournament.
None of these efforts amounted to very much, but there is an upside for Feyenoord. They had a taste of the Champions League last season, losing to Dynamo Kyiv in qualifying, and they look set to return next season if they can maintain their current position. For now they sit second in the Eredivisie and have vastly improved under the managerial guidance of Ronald Koeman, in his first two seasons they finished 2nd and 3rd (in 2011/12 and 2012/13 respectively).
Unfortunately for Feyenoord their development may soon stall, Koeman has decided against renewing his contract and is reportedly being coveted by Swansea City. Meanwhile Fred Rutten is lined up to take over in the summer and his remit will be to push the club past Ajax and on to winning the Eredivisie for the first time in more than 15 years. This bodes well for their domestic chances, but as for repeating 1970, that's a long, long, way off!
Nottingham Forest
Every good football fan should be aware of Nottingham Forest's European Cup record under Brian Clough. Twice winners, in 1979 and defended in 1980, the former manager and his achievements continue to be a difficult act to follow. Aside from Clough's successor Frank Clark, no manager since has lasted for more than 3 years in charge, something that must put off potential applicants.
After some perseverance Stuart Pearce will return in the summer to the club that he is so synonymous with, and he will remember all too well what the place was like with Clough around. As for Nottingham Forest's European record since their triumphs, most of that was curtailed by the ban on English clubs after the Heysel disaster. Needless to say that the Forest fans would simply love to be playing top flight football again, the odds of anything greater are not worth entertaining.
Aston Villa
One of our former (and original) contributors is a die hard Aston Villa fan, and even though he was still in the womb at the time, he proudly claims their 1982 European Cup victory as an achievement in his lifetime. When mates start arguing over whose club has done what compared to yours, that technicality could help swing it!
An extra gloss on Villa's success was that they did it against Bayern Munich, the first time the German side had lost a final (it's occurred four times since). Villa's defence ended in the quarter-finals against Juventus, and that remains the last time that they played on that stage. In 1986/87 they were relegated and then bounced straight back and have remained top flight stalwarts.
Occasionally they have the potential to push on for a top four finish. Back in the inaugural Premier League season (92/93) they finished as runners up to a Manchester United ending their 26 year wait for the title. Back then there was no place in the Champions League for anyone but the actual champions so Villa lost out. More recently the Martin O'Neill era saw 3 consecutive 6th place finishes and a semblance of something building.
Alas that all fell apart immediately before the start of the 2010/11 season, with some fans feeling O'Neill tainted his legacy by leaving them in the lurch. What is certain is that the club will get nowhere near the Champions League without some very serious investment.
Hamburger SV
Like the other teams in this list, Hamburg made the most of a relatively small period when they had a very good team assembled. They lost the 1980 final that saw Nottingham Forest's second victory, with Kevin Keegan and Felix Magath their key midfielders. The current Fulham manager was still at the club when they defeated Juventus in 1983 and finally got their hands on the trophy.
Their defence ended meekly, and 2000/2001 and 2005/2006 mark their only other appearances in the competition. In many ways they are a German equivalent to Villa, with sporadic periods of prosperity that are now frustrated by the modern challenge from teams they once had the better of.
Steaua București
The Romanian champions have won more domestic titles than any of their rivals and have therefore had plenty of appearances in the Champions League and the earlier incarnation. Once again there is a pattern with Steaua in that they made two final appearances in close proximity to each other (1986 and 1989). They famously succeeded in their first, defeating Terry Venables' buccaneering Barcelona team via a penalty shoot-out.
However, the latter saw them overwhelmed by AC Milan 4-0, a side full of stars that is frankly too good to believe. The Steaua squad were nothing to be sniffed at either, they contained Gheorghe Hagi, Dan Petrescu and Ilie Dumitrescu. Nowadays, as the game has grown commercially in the last 20 years, domestic champions of less affluent countries will often find that keeping hold of their star players is much more difficult.
Red Star Belgrade
Finally there is the European Cup winners of 1991, who secured their prize courtesy of a penalty shoot-out against Marseille. The French team boasted the talents of Chris Waddle and Jean-Pierre Papin but failed to breakdown the dominant team of what was then Yugoslavia.
From 1945-1992 Red Star won 19 tiles to Partizan Belgrade's 11, and from 1956 culminating in 1991 they frequented many semi and quarter-finals across all European competitions. Since Yugoslavia broke up in 1992, Red Star Belgrade have swapped roles with their 'eternal derby' rivals who have seized 14 of the 21 league titles on offer.
Red Star last won the league in 2006/07, but as things stand they are on course to break that drought, 7 matches remain for the chance to secure the Serbian SuperLiga and a return to the Champions League. Don't expect a miracle though, following their 1992/93 run as defending champions Red Star are yet to grace a European 3rd round, despite qualifying for Europe practically every season.
All of the above victories form a crucial part of the history of the European Cup and now the Champions League. The achievements of these teams should not be doubted, they mostly consist of one-off winners and they demonstrate that less fancied clubs could build a team to become the best in Europe.
The champions roll-call of the last 20 years has had far fewer surprises, but that's not to say that it won't happen again in the future. Just don't expect any of these past winners to be making such a comeback.