20 Years Later: Why Man United's Treble-Winning Season Will Never Be Bettered
8. The Treble Itself
Aside from United, no other English side has ever won the Premier League/First Division, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League/European Cup in the same season. Indeed the only two European teams to have managed the feat before Sir Alex Ferguson's men were Celtic in 1966/1967 (becoming the first British team to achieve continental success in the process, a year before Matt Busby's triumph) and Ajax in 1971/1972 and 1987/1988.
Three other teams have replicated it since - Inter Milan, Bayern Munich and Barcelona (twice), but despite all their years of dominance it was something that Liverpool could never manage. Arsene Wenger never came close and nor it is something that Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour's billions have been able to buy for Chelsea or Manchester City.
Until it is matched, the achievement is one thing that the United faithful can always cling to despite the fact that the club's status as the country's most dominant team is now a thing of the past.
This is no different to how Nottingham Forest fans still fondly talk of Brian Clough guiding them to European success despite the fact they have now lingered in football's second tier (even dropping down to the third for a few seasons) for twenty years or how Liverpudlians are still keen to point out that they have won the most European titles (five) of any English team.