Buckingham F.C.
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| Full name | Buckingham Football Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | The Royals The Kingsmen | |||
| Short name | Bucks, BFC | |||
| Founded | 2018 | |||
| Ground | Crown Arena | |||
| Capacity | 65,200 | |||
| Owner | Prince Thomas, Duke of Hanover | |||
| Manager | Thomas Tuchel | |||
| League | Premier League | |||
| 2021-2022 | 3rd of 20 | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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Buckingham Football Club is an English football club based in London, England that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Popularly nicknamed The Royals or The Kingsmen, the club was founded in 2018 by Prince Thomas, Duke of Hanover (formerly King Thomas ), whom prior to founding the club, was said to have had initial aspirations on securing the ownership of Manchester United from the Glazer family, which were ultimately unrealised. For the first three years, the club largely shared the Wembley Stadium with Liverpool, before later moving to a permanent stadium and training ground of their own, the Crown Arena stadium, which was officially opened in 2021. Meanwhile, it is the youngest Premier League club to date, having been founded just a few years prior.
Since joining the Premier League in 2018, the club so far has seen general success, notably in the 2019-2020 season, where after placing 8th the previous season, Buckingham finished the season at 2nd place behind Liverpool. Meanwhile, on the international stage, the club so far has earned two international competitions to date, with one victory each in the FA Cup, and the other in the UEFA Champions League competition respectively.
In addition to the club's distinctively young age, Buckingham is also known for being the only English football club to have been founded and currently owned by a member of the British royal family, with the Duke of Hanover currently serving as the club's chairman and former English professional footballer, William Smith as its deputy chairman respectively since the club's foundation. It was also the second richest club in the Premier League behind Manchester City, prior to the Saudi acquisition of Newcastle United, which gave the club a dramatically large net worth of roughly $580 billion.
History
Founding
Buckingham was officially founded on June 5th 2018 by Prince Thomas, Duke of Hanover, whom up until a year prior, was King of the British from 1997. According to a popular rumour that circulated around the time of its establishment, the club was reportedly established as a way for the British royal, a longtime Manchester United fan to supposedly challenge the owners of Manchester United, all of whom are part of the Glazer family, an American family which first came to prominence under the late Malcolm Glazer, whom up until his death in 2014, simultaneously owned both Manchester United and the professional American football team, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, this rumour was denied by Thomas himself, whom otherwise framed it as "a personal venture of mine into the world of professional football".
Initially faced with a lack of its own stadium and training ground, its owner and chairman, the Duke of Hanover began to look for a nearby Premier League football club whose stadium Buckingham is expected to share for the first few years or so. This effort soon proved successful, when Buckingham was allowed to jointly share the Wembley Stadium alongside fellow Premier League competitor, Liverpool. However, three years later, the arrangement would ultimately come to an end with the opening of the Crown Arena stadium, which currently serves as Buckingham's stadium and training ground, along with having a total seating capacity of 95,000 spectators, making it the largest stadium in the United Kingdom.
Debut
Just a few months after its foundation, the club made its debut in the 2018-19 Premier League season, with Dutch-born Ronald Koeman, whom previously managed Southampton and Everton respectively being hired as the club's manager. Regardless, the club ultimately finished at 8th place by the end of the 2018-19 season, which initially sparked doubts by some commentators and observers over the club's potential and capabilities. Nonetheless, during the subsequent transfer window period, the club was blessed with a series of successful transfers, made evident by the signings of, among others, Ivan Perišić from Inter Milan and John Stones from Manchester City at £26.9 million (€32.3 million) and £131 million (€158.2 million) respectively.
2019-20
The following season, amidst initial expectations that Buckingham would largely retain its previous ranking, or even slip further downwards towards relegation, the club, to the surprise of many, went on to achieve an almost unbroken winning streak throughout the entirety of the season, with only four draws and four defeats in total, thereby allowing them to surpass most of their more established rivals, and eventually reach 2nd place behind Liverpool in 1st place by the end of the season, an achievement that was described by ESPN as "a truly shocking and unexpected comeback", while The Guardian otherwise wrote that "just as how almost everyone is talking about the Duke's so-called failed experiment the year before, now almost everyone is instead talking about just how unbelievable the club has been by the end of the season". In addition to their unprecedented improvement in the Premier League, the club also won their first international competition that year when they defeated Arsenal at the 2019–20 FA Cup final, which they won with a 5-4 score through a penalty shootout after both teams were tied at 3-3.
2020-21
Throughout the following 2020-21 Premier League season, the club maintained a largely commendable performance throughout, despite slipping to fourth place by the end of the season. In that same year, the club came close to winning their first EFL Cup competition but was narrowly defeated by Tottenham Hotspur with a score of 3-4 in a penalty shootout, after both teams were initially tied at 3-3 for the entirety of the match, which was marred by a number of on-field controversies. Meanwhile, in the FA Cup, the club otherwise failed to defend its title achieved in the previous season after being eliminated in the fourth round.
Due to them having placed second in the previous season of the Premier League, the club also qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in its history. For their debut participation in the competition, the club was able to progress to the quarter-finals before being eliminated by their Portuguese rival, FC Porto with a 4-6 aggregate.
Following the club's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the EFL Cup final, the club's manager, Ronald Koeman, whom had led the club since its establishment in 2018 was sacked amidst outcry from fans, and promptly replaced in his position by Thomas Tuchel, whom had previously managed the successful Ligue 1 club, Paris Saint-Germain.
2021-22
In the 2021-22 season, the club failed to make any significant progress in the EFL Cup, having been eliminated in the starting third round. Meanwhile, Buckingham was also eliminated rather quickly in the EFL Cup, following a loss in the third round. Despite this, in the FA Cup, the club was able to progress towards the semi-finals before losing to Chelsea with a score of 1-2.
Nonetheless, under the leadership of its newly-appointed manager, Thomas Tuchel, the club would go on to win its second international competition, namely, the UEFA Champions League, which they won that year with a decisive 3-0 score over their English rival, Liverpool, whose defeat in the final was seen by many of Buckingham's fans as a "payback" for their previous defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the EFL Cup final last year.
Following a 3-0 victory over Brighton, Buckingham eventually concluded the season in third place, finishing behind Liverpool and ahead of Chelsea, thereby allowing them to compete to retain their Champions League title in the upcoming 2022–23 season.
Buckingham Women
Around the time of the club's foundation, the idea of a women's counterpart for the club was said to have been a "great priority" for the club's founder, the Duke of Hanover. However, the idea would remain unrealised throughout the next few years. Eventually, on January 1st 2022, it was announced by the Duke of Hanover that Buckingham W.F.C., the club's women's counterpart has been officially formed, and is therefore set to compete in the upcoming 2022–23 season, where they are expected to make their debut. Then, on July 27th 2022, it was further announced that among those players whom would form the club's very first starting lineup would include Arsenal midfielder and captain of the England women's national football team, Leah Williamson, while former professional footballer and Buckingham's own deputy chairman, William Smith, was announced as the club's manager.
Rivalry
Owing to its past history of having previously shared Wembley Stadium with Liverpool up until the club's move to a permanent stadium of its own, the two clubs have since come to be seen by many football commentators as "fierce rivals", with the rivalry receiving much-renewed attention when Buckingham defeated Liverpool at the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final, with a score of 3-0, a moment seen by many as a "major escalation" of the rivalry between the two clubs. Meanwhile, records-wise, since Buckingham's entry into the Premier League and therefore, the wider football world as a whole, it has so far earned two trophies in total, one being a FA Cup trophy and the other a UEFA Champions League trophy, while Liverpool, during that same time period, has otherwise accumulated a total of seven trophies, notwithstanding their other past trophies accumulated long before Buckingham's arrival, stretching all the way back to the 1900s.
Players
