Stop calling the Europa League a major trophy, it’s Europe’s version of the Championship

Before anyone gets angry, humour me for just a second…

Ever wonder why Newcastle’s long major trophy drought officially ended when they won the Carabao Cup in 2025 and not the Championship title in 2017?

Rex

You probably don’t. That’s because the answer is fairly obvious.

We can all agree the word ‘major’, loosely defined, means ‘bigger or more significant than others’.

So winning English football’s second tier has never met the threshold for a major trophy, because objectively speaking, there is a level above.

The same is true of every single second-tier competition in the world.

Oh, except one. The Europa League. Which even comes with the same prize of being promoted into the superior league.

It started with West Ham and the Conference League. Then Tottenham and the Europa League. Before we knew it, these were widely accepted as major trophies.

But here’s another thing we can probably agree on: it would be weird for Spurs to get relegated, claim the Championship title, and then mock all the Premier League teams who didn’t win a trophy.

Yet last year it was totally normal to hold the Europa League over trophyless Arsenal – who were too good to compete for it and got knocked out of the Champions League instead.

In my book, those two things are the same: bragging about winning a trophy that better teams are not eligible for – as a literal result of qualifying to compete at a higher level.

This is not about the quality of opposition. It is totally possible to get a really favourable run in the Carabao Cup and face tough teams in the Europa League.

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It might even be harder to win the Europa League one year. That is not the point.

The best teams in England compete in the Carabao Cup. Somebody has to go and eliminate Arsenal or Manchester City – whether they field a weakened team or not. Therefore, it is a major trophy.

This is not English football bias, either. In Turkey, I think Trabzonspor winning the Turkish Cup would be a major trophy success, for example.

It really is this simple: the best teams in Europe do not compete in the Europa League, and if they did, they would win it.

We all know that if Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich suddenly rocked up, they would walk it. Just like if we put Arsenal or Manchester City in the Championship.

And that is why we need to stop calling the Europa League a major trophy. By definition, it is the second tier of Europe.

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By the way, if we were to have the argument about quality, the gap between the Champions League and the Europa League is gigantic.

Aston Villa can win this thing with knockout victories over Lille, Bologna, Nottingham Forest and Freiburg in the final tonight, which is live on talkSPORT.

As of right now, those teams have an average league position of ninth. There is nothing major about this.

Major success should be reserved for winning the top cup and league competitions domestically or on the continent.

The record books can’t have Champions League and Europa League wins treated equally.

By all means, celebrate winning the Europa League. Go nuts. Trophies are great. Especially if, as a club, you are punching above your weight. Consider me the semantics police, not the celebration police.

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But are we suddenly in a world where it is better to finish sixth and win an easier tournament, than to come second and end up with nothing? If your answer is yes, why does anyone try and finish above sixth?

I would go as far as saying that getting to the Champions League semi-finals is a higher-ranking achievement than winning the Europa League. Unless you think Aston Villa or Freiburg would have got there over Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Bayern or PSG this season?

Full disclosure: I’m a Chelsea fan. It is, of course, a different level of joy to win the lesser European competitions depending on the size of your club.

And no, this is not bitterness about our imminent lack of any European football…

There might be some who argue we should define these successes based on who wins. If it’s a really great achievement relative to your club, call it a major trophy.

Chelsea winning the Conference League? Not a major trophy. West Ham winning it? Sure. But that doesn’t work.

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Lincoln City were not expected to be anywhere near the top of League One at the start of this season. Is that suddenly a major trophy because they came first over Cardiff?

These are both third-tier competitions we’re talking about, and yet nobody in their right mind would make that argument.

However, it’s a European final and Villa’s first since they beat Bayern to win the European Cup in 1982 and should they win the trophy – live on talkSPORT – it should be a spectacular occasion.

Just stop calling it a major one.