The Treble is a term in football that generally refers to a club winning their country's top tier league and two cup competitions in the same season. However, the exact meaning can vary; the cup competitions may be either "domestic" (open only to clubs from one country) or "continental" (open to the best clubs from across one continent). Regardless of variations, however, Super Cup or Charity Shield match wins do not factor as part of a treble.
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The European Treble
The most famous type of treble is the European Treble called simply The Treble. It consists of a club winning their country's top tier league, the country's major domestic cup competition, and the continental championship, the European Cup/Champions League, all within a single season. Only four teams have achieved this rare distinction:
| Club | Nation | Year Won | Titles won for the treble |
|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic F.C. |  Scotland |
1967 | Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup, European Cup¹ |
| AFC Ajax |  Netherlands |
1972 | Dutch Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, European Cup |
| PSV Eindhoven | Netherlands |
1988 | Dutch Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, European Cup |
| Manchester United F.C. |  England |
1999 | English Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League |
- ¹ - Celtic F.C. achieved their Treble as part of their Quadruple.
Continental Trebles
Continental trebles have the same definition as the European Treble but are for teams from other continents. While perhaps not as prestigious as the European Treble, they are sometimes harder to accomplish as some continental championships run during a calendar year while domestic play runs an autumn-to-spring season, or vice versa. To date, no treble has been won by a South American or Oceania club.
The Domestic Treble
This type of treble consists of a club winning their country's top tier league as well as the two most highly regarded domestic cup competitions, all during one season.
- ¹ - The League of Ireland Shield was the forerunner to the FAI League Cup.
- ² - Sun Hei's treble was part of a domestic quadruple. That season they also won the Hong Kong League Cup.
Other Trebles
There are other examples of trebles, mostly European, that do not adhere to the stricter definition above. In some cases, they represent a team winning three trophies as opposed to winning a league and two cup competitions. Some also were achieved over the course of a calendar year, not a single football season.
- IFK Göteborg - The 1982 team won the Swedish Championship, Svenska Cupen and the UEFA Cup. They also won the domestic league, Allsvenskan, which at the time did not decide the Swedish champions, but only decided which eight teams that would play the play-off for the championship. Note: the UEFA Cup and the Svenska Cupen were played in 1981-1982 (autumn-spring); the Allsvenskan and the Swedish Championship were played in 1982 (spring-autumn).
- Liverpool - The 1984 team became the first English club to win three major competitions in the same season when they won the League Championship, the League Cup and the European Cup.
- Galatasaray - The 2000 team won the Turkish Premier Super League, Turkish Football Cup, UEFA Cup.
- Liverpool - The 2001 team won a unique "Cup treble" of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.
- FC Porto - The 2003 team won the Portuguese SuperLiga, Cup of Portugal, and UEFA Cup.
- CSKA Moscow - The 2005 team became the first Russian club to win a major European Competition, the UEFA Cup. They also won the Russian Premier League and the Russian Cup.
- CF Pachuca - The 2007 team won the Copa Sudamericana, the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and the Mexican Clausura. They also finished the Mexican League in first place but in Mexico there is no trophy for such achievement. In winning both the Copa Sudamericana and the Champions Cup, they have become one of the only teams in the world to have ever won a continental trophy from more than one continent. In addition, the club won the 2007 Superliga in August 2007 which along with the CONCACAF Champions' Cup and the Mexican Clausura would be considered a calendar year treble.
Near Trebles
There have been several instances of teams just missing out on trebles. Some of the more notable occurrences include,
- Liverpool - The 1977 team won the English League, lost to Manchester United 1-2 in the FA Cup final, and beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 to win the European Cup.
- Everton - The 1985 team won the English League and European Cup Winners Cup, but lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup, 1-0.
- Olympique Marseille - The 1991 team won the Ligue 1 title, but lost in the finals of both the European Cup, to Red Star Belgrade on penalties, and the French Cup, to Monaco.
- Manchester United - The 1994 team lost 3-1 to Aston Villa in the League Cup final and won the English Premier League and the FA Cup. Had they won the League Cup, they would have been the first team to complete the English domestic treble.
- Juventus - The 1995 team won the Serie A and the Italian Cup, but lost to Parma F.C. in the Uefa Cup final.
In 1973 has won the league and finished runner-up in the Italian Cup final and the European Cup final.
In 1983 finished in the 2nd place in the Serie A, has won the Italian Cup and finished runner-up in the European Cup final. - Bayern Munich - The 1999 team won the Bundesliga, but finished runner-up in the German Cup and Champions League. Having secured the league title, Bayern went into the Champions League for their second major trophy, but it turned out to be a heartbreaking loss to Manchester United who were able to complete their treble. Bayern had led 1-0 for 85 minutes of the match but United scored 2 goals in stoppage time to claim victory (and The Treble). With the treble possibility dashed, Bayern went on to lose the Cup final as well.
- Bayer Leverkusen - The 2002 team achieved an unenviable "runners up" treble also known as the Treble Horror. In the German Bundesliga the team surrendered a five point lead at the top of the table over the last three games of the season to finish second behind Borussia Dortmund, lost the Champions League final 2-1 to Real Madrid, and lost the German domestic cup final 4-2 to Schalke 04. Five players went on to play for the German National Team after the club season ended, where Germany finished as runners-up in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
- FC Porto - The 2004 José Mourinho-coached team became champions of Portugal and won the UEFA Champions League, but lost to Benfica in the final of the Cup of Portugal.
- SC Internacional - The 2006 team won Copa Libertadores but finished second in both the Campeonato Brasileiro and the Rio Grande do Sul state championship.
- Chelsea - The 2007 team coached by José Mourinho won the FA Cup and the League Cup but finished second in the English League.
International Trebles
This section lists National Teams who have been holders of three trophies at the same time. These Trebles are impossible to achieve in a single season, and generally consist of a team's continental championship, the World Cup and the Confederations Cup.
- Brazil - In 1997 the Brazilian National Team completed a Treble of 1994 FIFA World Cup, the Copa America 1997 and the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup. This was the first Treble achieved by a national team.
- France - In 2001 the French National Team completed a similar Treble of 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2000 UEFA European Football Championship and the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup.
- Brazil - In 2005 the Brazilian National Team completed another Treble of 2002 FIFA World Cup, the Copa America 2004 and the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.
