GENEVA — The joy that flowed across north London for Arsenal clinching a Premier League title capped a European soccer trend this season that started in a Swedish fishing village.
From stunning first-time champions to teams ending their decades-long run without a league title — it was a season like no other in modern European soccer, sparking euphoric celebrations by fans who hardly believed their success would ever happen or feared it never would again.
Arsenal fans' wait through 22 years of mostly underachievement for another Premier League title ended late Tuesday when second-place Manchester City drew a must-win game at Bournemouth.
It had been 40 years in Denmark for AGF from Aarhus to regain the title this month and 61 years in Austria for LASK from Linz.
Unheralded Teams Rise
First-time champions included 128-year-old club Thun in Switzerland and 87-year-old Mjällby in Sweden, who set the ball rolling in October.
A more democratic and low-cost access to knowledge and data about running clubs and scouting players has helped, Olivier Jarosz told The Associated Press. He advises potential investors and teams across Europe.
Scandinavia Sets Trend
First it was Mjällby, then weeks later Viking sealed its first Norwegian title for 34 years. That was in November, when Nordic soccer seasons end to avoid the midwinter weather.
If Mjällby was a Cinderella team that played in the third tier nine years earlier, Viking's story was the revival of a past champion from decline.
Viking had to topple the new power in Norway, Bodø/Glimt, the Arctic Circle team that itself wrote Champions League lore this year by beating Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan.
Denmark made it a hat trick this month when AGF was guided to success by coach Jakob Poulsen, like Mauro Lustrinelli at Thun, a former star player who came back to his old club.
Dominant Clubs Dethroned
Three of the most dominant clubs in European leagues were dethroned:
- Ludogorets won 14 straight titles in Bulgaria
- Qarabag won 11 of the past 12 in Azerbaijan
- Ferencvaros was a seven-time defending champion in Hungary
The new Bulgarian champion is Levski Sofia, whose previous title was 17 years ago, just weeks after the club was bought by a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, Atanas Bostandjiev.
In Azerbaijan, Sabah won its first title just nine years after the club was created. Second-place Qarabag played in the Champions League this season, and beat Benfica which led to Jose Mourinho returning to coach his former club.
There was another power shift in Hungary this spring. Ferencvaros, coached by Ireland great Robbie Keane, was edged by one point by Győri ETO, whose previous title was 13 years ago.
Other Title Winners
LASK is the new champion in Austria, which was in Salzburg's grip for a decade before the Red Bull-affiliated club went into decline three years ago.
In Romania, Universitatea Craiova won its first title since 1991, with 11-goal top scorer Assad Al Hamlawi from the Palestinian national team.
Near-Miss Heroes
Two of the best stories just missed a Hollywood ending in France and Scotland.
Lens chased the financial juggernaut of Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain all the way into May pursuing a first title since 1998.
Heart of Midlothian suffered the most emotionally crushing end, leading the Scottish Premiership standings from September until the 87th minute of a showdown at Celtic on Saturday. It was the third last-day heartbreak for the low-budget, fan-owned Edinburgh club since its previous title in 1960.
No two titles were exactly alike but a trend across the 54 national leagues in Europe could be seen.