{"id":153292,"date":"2024-02-19T14:22:40","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T14:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/19\/the-longest-winning-runs-in-football-history\/"},"modified":"2024-02-19T14:22:40","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T14:22:40","slug":"the-longest-winning-runs-in-football-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/02\/19\/the-longest-winning-runs-in-football-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The longest winning runs in football history \u2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The legendary high-water mark of 26 consecutive wins set by Johan Cruyff\u2019s Ajax side had stood for more than half a century before it was broken in Scotland\u2019s fifth tier thanks to goals from a lab technician. Or so everyone thought.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ajax had been made aware of the impending landmark and celebrated East Kilbride\u2019s 3-1 victory over BSC Glasgow in November 2016 by sending a club van onto the pitch. There were 27 crates of beer packed in the back along with a laptop that carried a video message from club legend and technical director Edwin van der Sar. Kilby manager Martin Laughlan gushed: \u201cTo surpass the legend Johan Cruyff\u2019s record with Ajax is surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guinness World Records did not get swept along in the fanfare, discounting Kilbride\u2019s run as they operated outside \u201ctop-level\u201d competition.<\/p>\n

However, Ajax were surpassed by another British club in the same year. Here\u2019s a look at all of the teams that have made it into the official standings.<\/p>\n

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10.\u00a0Barcelona \u2013 18 wins (2005-06)<\/h2>\n
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Ronaldinho was at his pomp during Barcelona\u2019s winning run \/ CESAR RANGEL\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Frank Rijkaard was focussing on his lingerie company and mulling over an offer from the Netherlands Antilles when\u00a0Barcelona\u00a0came calling in 2003. Two years later, the legendary Dutch player had entered the pantheon of great managers with an 18-game winning that propelled the club to glory in La Liga and the Champions League.<\/p>\n

Ronaldinho clicked into the best form of his entire career during this blistering sequence, directly contributing to 21 goals in 18 games.<\/p>\n

The two most famous strikes from Ronaldinho amid this run came at the Santiago Bernabeu, where he was so good the Real Madrid fans even stood up to applaud him. It\u2019s safe to say that Rijkaard would have been working with a slightly different calibre of player had he taken up the Antilles offer.<\/p>\n

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9.\u00a0Palmeiras \u2013 21 wins (1996)<\/h2>\n
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A young Rivaldo was part of the record-setting Palmeiras team of 1996 \/ Clive Brunskill\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Vanderlei Luxemburgo has a divisive reputation. The Brazilian manager led his national team to the 1999 Copa America title but became embroiled in an unsavoury corruption trial when his ex-girlfriend and colleague Renata Alves launched a smear campaign against him.<\/p>\n

Luis Figo worked with Luxemburgo at\u00a0Real Madrid\u00a0in 2005 and described him as \u201cthe worst\u201d coach of his career. Yet, for Rivaldo, Luxemburgo was \u201cthe best\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything coaches in Europe do today,\u201d Rivaldo wrote on social media in 2020, \u201cyou already did 25 years ago.\u201d Rivaldo\u2019s faith in the Marmite manager no doubt stems from their two years together at Palmeiras, with Luxemburgo leading the Brazilian giants to a national-record 21 consecutive wins in 1996.<\/p>\n

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8.\u00a0Man City \u2013 21 wins (2020-21)<\/h2>\n
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Pep Guardiola\u2019s Manchester City have regularly strung together lengthy winning runs \/ Anadolu\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Under Pep Guardiola, Manchester City are no strangers to an imperious\u00a0winning surge\u00a0in the second half of the season. Yet, even the Catalan coach was taken aback by the club\u2019s 21-win sequence during the lockdown season of 2020\/21.<\/p>\n

At the time, the next longest winning run in the history of British club football was just 14 games, which was first set by Preston North End in 1892 before penalty areas had been introduced to the rulebook.<\/p>\n

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7.\u00a0TNS \u2013 21 wins (2023-24)<\/h2>\n
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\u26bd\ufe0f @tnsfc<\/a> 3-0 win against Newtown means they have won 27 games in a row in all comps, equalling their own World record! <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfb @BBCShropshire<\/a> #BBCFootball<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qysnVIX5Sf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 BBC Sport Shropshire (@BBCShropSport) February 6, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The New Saints, almost exclusively known as TNS after being sponsored for years by Total Network Solutions, were adamant that they had broken Ajax\u2019s 26-game winning record in February 2024 with a 3-0 victory over Newtown.<\/p>\n

However, that sequence included a penalty shootout triumph which counts as a draw rather than a victory according to Guinness World Records. TNS were not impressed. \u201cAs far as we are concerned, a win is a win,\u201d a pointed club statement read.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the Welsh top-flight side \u2013 one of only two professional clubs in their division \u2013 are still rubbing shoulders with some of the world\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

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6.\u00a0Real Madrid \u2013 22 wins (2014)<\/h2>\n
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Carlo Ancelotti\u2019s expression may not have shown it but he enjoyed great success during his first spell at Real Madrid \/ GERARD JULIEN\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a very big trophy cabinet filled with the titles I\u2019ve won,\u201d Carlo Ancelotti once mused, \u201cbut if I counted the ones I\u2019ve lost, I\u2019d have a house full.\u201d<\/p>\n

Real Madrid\u00a0embarked upon their 22-match winning sequence at the start of the 2014\/15 campaign which ended with defeat in the Copa del Rey, La Liga and Champions League. Ancelotti was ushered out of the club that same summer.<\/p>\n

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5.\u00a0Bayern Munich \u2013 23 wins (2020)<\/h2>\n
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Bayern Munich were suffocatingly triumphant in 2020 \/ Pool\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccess can\u2019t be bought,\u201d Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick once said. \u201cIt\u2019s rented. And every day the rent is due.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bayern emphatically delivered the goods throughout 2020 under the stewardship of Flick, claiming four trophies before their winning streak came to an end seven months after it began.<\/p>\n

The only downside to Bayern\u2019s triumphant stretch was the lack of fans for the vast majority of their winning run, with 17 of their 23 matches taking place in empty stadiums (or ghost games as they call them in Germany).<\/p>\n

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4.\u00a0Coritiba \u2013 24 wins (2011)<\/h2>\n
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Coritiba\u2019s fans celebrate a triumphant winning sequence \/ Heuler Andrey\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Before Coritiba embarked upon their 24-game winning stretch in 2011, the club had never claimed more than ten consecutive victories.<\/p>\n

Most of Coritiba\u2019s triumphs came in the regional Parana Championship but they also reached the final of the national Copa do Brazil. Yet, by June 2011, Coritiba\u2019s wins had dried up and Vasco da Gama emerged victorious.<\/p>\n

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3.\u00a0Ajax \u2013 25 wins (1995)<\/h2>\n
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Louis van Gaal\u2019s Ajax team of 1995 was the best in Europe \/ VI-Images\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Jorge Valdano was in charge of Real Madrid during Ajax\u2019s assault on European football but has long been football\u2019s poet. Finding the right words once again, Valdano hailed Louis van Gaal\u2019s technically and physically gifted side as \u201cbeauty and the beast\u201d.<\/p>\n

Van Gaal was in his imperious headmasterly pomp at the helm of a youthful Ajax side. Seven academy graduates started the 1995\u00a0Champions League\u00a0final which was won by a teenage Patrick Kluivert.<\/p>\n

The European champions were just one game short of matching the record of Cruyff\u2019s side but \u2013 just as in his playing career \u2013 Van Gaal was forced to live in the legendary Dutchman\u2019s shadow courtesy of a goalless draw against Swiss side Grasshoppers.<\/p>\n

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2.\u00a0Ajax \u2013 26 wins (1971-72)<\/h2>\n
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Johan Cruyff (left) was the star of Ajax\u2019s record-breaking side \/ VI-Images\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Few clubs in the history of European football have ever enjoyed a campaign as successful as Ajax\u2019s 1971\/72 vintage. Released from the shackles of departed disciplinarian Rinus Michels \u2013 Piet Keizer began dancing on a nearby table when he learned that the manager had joined Barcelona \u2013 Ajax eviscerated all that came their way.<\/p>\n

Stefan Kovacs was no pushover but loosened the leash, allowing the likes of Cruyff, Keizer and Johnny Rep to flourish with the purist form of \u2018Total Football\u2019.<\/p>\n

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1.\u00a0TNS \u2013 27 wins (2016)<\/h2>\n
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Craig Harrison interviewed by @BBCShropSport<\/a> after tonight\u2019s historic win! pic.twitter.com\/GLcaeKmgie<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The New Saints FC (@tnsfc) December 30, 2016<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

They had done it. A 2-0 victory over Cefn Druids cemented TNS\u2019s footballing immortality with 27 consecutive wins in 2016. Yet, for the Welsh side, \u201cit was a bit of an anti-climax in the end\u201d according to left-back Chris Marriott.<\/p>\n

TNS\u2019s decisive win came at the end of December, halfway through another dominant season in the Cymru Premier.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had been built up and then we\u2019d done it and you haven\u2019t actually won anything really, it just goes down as a bit of ink in a book. It\u2019s not a trophy, it\u2019s nothing like that,\u201d TNS\u2019 kill-joy captain Marriott reflected. \u201cIt was just a pat on the back and \u2018See you tomorrow for training\u2019 sort of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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