The Most Painful Active Droughts In Sports

Well, despite 56 million raving mad English football fans screaming in our collective ears for a month straight that it was ‘coming home’, I can confirm for the M2 audience that it did not, in fact, come home. England’s pursuit of their first major trophy in 55 years fell one leg short as they went down in a gut-wrenching penalty shootout to Italy in the UEFA Euro final on Monday morning (NZT). While England football fans are undoubtedly one of the more famous tortured fanbases in the world of sport, they’re far from the only group that has been forced to suffer heartbreak time and time again. Here’s four other teams searching for either their first title in decades, or their first title ever. 

 

New Zealand Warriors

This one will undoubtedly hit home for a lot of readers. While technically not the longest drought in the NRL (the Parramatta Eels last lifted a premiership in 1986, before the Warriors even existed), our beloved New Zealand Warriors arguably hold an even worse distinction; they are the oldest NRL team and one of only two active in the entire competition to have never won an Australian rugby league premiership title. The 26-year drought has seen a handful of close calls, with two Grand Final losses in 2002 and 2011 and eight overall finals appearances in that time. As the 2021 season has thus far not proved fruitful for the Auckland-based club (they currently sit in 13th with 8 games left) and another year without finals football potentially on the cards, it seems as though the drought will surely grow to 27 by the time the 2022 season rolls around next year. 

 

New York Knicks

Despite being named the 3rd most valuable sports team in the entire world according to Forbes’ 2021 list, the New York Knicks are one of world sports most famous underachievers and are currently in the midst of 48-year championship drought. Without an NBA title since 1973, the Knicks infamous history is a phenomenon similar to the aforementioned England football team, in that their high-profile status and rabid fanbase has made their failures seem somehow more dramatic and pronounced, despite their drought not being quite as long as other, smaller clubs. It certainly doesn’t help that the team has been a dysfunctional mess for the past two decades, with only four playoff appearances since the 2005 season. A return to the playoffs in 2021 has seen a renewed optimism among the fanbase that a third championship banner might finally be on the way to Madison Square Garden soon, but with the Knicks, it’s often best to expect the inevitable meltdown. Credit to Spike Lee, who has been courtside for just about every bit of it and still shows up to cheer on his city (and trash-talk the other teams stars). 

 

France (Rugby Union)

A perpetual World Cup threat but never quite able to get over the line, the French national rugby union team are surely the best rugby nation yet to get over the line at the ‘big dance’. Les Blues has racked up three runner-up placings at the Rugby World Cup, coming closest in the famous 2011 final at Eden Park where they were undone by just one point and an iconic Stephen Donald penalty goal. The French have made the semi-final on three other occasions, making them one of only three teams to have reached the semi-finals six times (New Zealand and Australia, respectively). After absorbing another heartbreaker in the quarters against Wales in 2019, Les Blues will be finally looking to change their fortunes on home soil in 2023.  

 

Buffalo Bills

The Bills make the list of most painful droughts due to an incredible unique run where it seemed impossible that they could come out of it without silverware to their name. Title-less since 1964 (so long ago it precedes the American Football merger and creation of the Super Bowl in 1966), the Bills went through a purple patch in the mid 1990’s that saw them appear in four straight Super Bowls; only to be defeated four times in a row. The first loss in that streak was particularly painful; a one-point loss to the New York Giants where Bills kicker Scott Norwood’ missed a late-second field goal that would have ended their misery at a mere 26 years. The following three decades have been far less promising for the Bills and despite returning to contention with a conference championship appearance this year, the drought has ballooned to an agonizing 56 years.

 

Top image: Presidenza della Repubblica