WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World 

This is the seventh in our series of annual WCR Top 25 Clubs for past seasons based on formulas we have been putting together over the past decade.

This season marked the fifth time in seven years that Real Madrid topped the rankings, this time by winning the European Cup, defeating Partizan Belgrade 2-1 in the final.  The Yugoslavian runners-up did not quite qualify for the WCR Top 25 for 1965-66, but other clubs that Real Madrid eliminated along the way, like Inter Milan, RSC Anderlecht and Kilmarnock all appeared in our rankings.  Celtic returned to the rankings in second place, largely on the strength of its domestic performance and the strength of the Scottish First Division coefficient at the time.

Two clubs made the WCR Annual Top Ten for the first time, but it would be the first of many for both clubs.  Coming in at number seven was the English First Division Champions, Liverpool.  The spot below them was taken by the 1965-66 Cup Winners’ Cup Champions, Borussia Dortmund.  Both, of course,would go on to win Champions League titles and have several more appearances in our annual Top Ten.

For the second year in a row the most interesting note about the rankings involves the debutantes to the WCR Annual Top 25 in the 1965-66 rankings.  There were only four, down from eleven the year before, but it is a remarkable group.  In addition to Werder Bremen, Argentine’s first WCR Top 25 club came in in the final spot with Boca Juniors making its debut in a season that saw it win the Argentine Primera División and lose in the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores to eventual champions and compatriots Independiente.  The other two clubs to debut were future powerhouses Bayern Munich and Ajax who, between them, would be in the midst of a six-year European Cup Championship streak less than a decade later.

Below are the WCR Top 25 Clubs in the World for 1965-66, with a little information about what each club accomplished that season.

1.  Real Madrid (Esp) - Fifth Season Number One; Seventh Season Top 10; Seventh Season Top 25; 1965-66 European Cup Champions; 1965-66 Spanish La Liga second place; 1965-66 Copa del Rey quarterfinalists.

2.  Celtic (Sco) - Second Season Top 10; Fourth Season Top 25; 1965-66 Cup Winners’ Cup semifinalists; Scottish FA Cup finalist.

3.  Inter Milan (Ita) - Third Season Top 10; Sixth Season Top 25; 1965-66 European Cup semifinalists; 1965-66 Italian Serie A Champions; 1965-66 Coppa Italia semifinalists.

4.  RSC Anderlecht (Bel) - Second Season Top 10; Second Season Top 25; 1965-66 European Cup quarterfinalists; 1965-66 Belgian First Division Champions; 1965-66 Belgian Cup finalists.

5.  Peñàrol  (Uru) -.Fifth Season Top 10; Seventh Season Top 25, 1965 Copa Libertadores finalists; 1965 Uruguayan Primera División Champions.

6.  Rangers (Sco) - Seventh Season Top 10; Seventh Season Top 25; 1965-66 Scottish First Division second place; 1965-66 Scottish FA Cup Winners.

7.  Liverpool (Eng) - Second Season Top 25; 1965-66 Cup Winners’ Cup finalists; 1965-66 English First Division Champions.

8.  Borussia Dortmund (FRG) - Second Season Top 25; 1965-66 Cup WInners’ Cup Champions; 1965-66 West German Bundesliga second place.

9.  Benfica (Por) - Sixth Season Top 10; Sixth Season Top 25; 1965-66 European Cup quarterfinalists; 1965-66 Primeira Divisão second place; 1965-66 Portuguese Cup quarterfinalists.

10.  Atlético Madrid (Esp) - Sixth Season Top 10; Sixth Season Top 25; 1965-66 Cup Winners’ Cup quarterfinalists; 1965-66 Spanish La Liga Champions; 1965-66 Copa del Rey quarterfinalists.

11.  Górnik Zabrze (Pol) - Fifth Season Top 25; 1965-66 European Cup eighthfinalists; 1965-66 Polish Ekstraklasa Champions; 1965-66 Polish Cup finalists.

12. Bayern Munich (FRG) - 1965-66 West German Bundesliga third place; 1965-66 West German Pokal Champions.

13.  Werder Bremen (FRG) - 1965-66 European Cup eighthfinalists; 1965-66 West German Bundesliga fourth place; 1965-66 West German Pokal quarterfinalists.

14.  Manchester United (Eng) - 1965-66 European Cup semifinalists; 1965-66 English First Division fourth place; 1965-66 English FA Cup semifinalists.

15.  Ferencvárosi (Hun) - Second Season Top 25; 1965 Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság I second place; 1965-66 .European Cup quarterfinalists.

16.  Sporting CP (Por) - Fourth Season Top 25; 1965-66 Primeira Divisão Champion; 1965-66 Portuguese Cup semifinalists.

17.  Sparta Prague (Tch) - Second Season Top 25; 1965-66 European Cup quarterfinalists; 1965-66 Czechoslovak First Division second place.

18.  Ajax (Ned) - 1965-66 Dutch Eredivisie Champions.

19.  Dukla Prague (Tch) - Fifth Season Top 25; 1965-66 Cup Winners’ Cup eighthfinalists; 1965-66 Czechoslovak First Division Champions; 196-66 Czechoslovak Cup Winners.

20.  1860 Munich (FRG) - Second Season Top 25; 1965-66 German Bundesliga Champions.

21.  Kilmarnock (Sco) - Fifth Season Top 25; 1965-66 European Cup eighthfinalists; 1965-66 Scottish First Division third place.

22.  FC Zurich (Sui) - Third Season Top 25; 1965-66 Swiss Nationalliga A Champions; 1965-66 Swiss Cup Winners.

23.  Real Zaragoza (Esp) - Fifth Season Top 25; 1965-66 Spanish La Liga fourth place; 1965-66 Copa del Rey Winners.

24.  Vasas SC (Hun) - Third Season Top 25; 1965 Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság I Champions.

25.  Boca Juniors (Arg) - 1965 Copa Libertadores semifinalists; 1965-66 Argentine Primera División Champions.