Curse of London lives on - as Chelsea's defeat to Man Utd in Moscow proves

London is the biggest city in Europe not to have won a major trophy – the Champions League or UEFA Cup - in the past two decades. In those competitions, 49 finals have been played since Tottenham triumphed on penalties in the 1984 UEFA Cup final against Anderlecht.

No London side has ever won the European Cup since its inception in 1956, an alarming statistic considering that English clubs have triumphed on 11 occasions in that competition. There have been 53 finals in that time, but London – population of 7.5million - has never produced a team that has succeeded in them.

Fallen heroes: Chelsea players (from left) Nicolas Anelka, Juliano Belletti, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole, react after their captain John Terry misses his penalty

Local boy John Terry’s penalty shoot-out miss on Wednesday night, when a conversion would have sealed the trophy for Chelsea, added to the feeling that it is never destined to happen in the European Cup for England’s capital city.

Northern clubs such as Liverpool and Manchester United continue to dominate with eight wins between them. Even provincial, unfashionable Midlands sides such as Nottingham Forest (twice) and Aston Villa have managed it.

Contrast London with other capital sides and there are similarly embarrassing comparisons.

Spanish capital Madrid – population of 3 million - has enjoyed nine European Cup successes, while Dutch capital Amsterdam - population of 750,000 - has also seen four triumphs.

Those cities have relied on one club to deliver for them respectively – Real Madrid and Ajax – but London is spoiled for choice. Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham are all clubs with extensive, previous European experience that have failed to deliver the continent’s biggest prize.

Northern lights: Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand celebrates winning the UEFA Champions League

Tommy Docherty is one of two men in history to have managed both Manchester United and Chelsea – the other is Dave Sexton – and the Glaswegian feels that, historically, London has produced and attracted a different breed of footballer.

The former Scotland manager, who led Chelsea from 1961-7 and United from 1972-7, said: ‘Players from the north were harder. It’s part of the territory. They were brought up in a tougher environment. As a manager, I always went for northern players. No disrespect to London, but we have a phrase up here called “southern softies”. There was truth in that.’

Docherty still thinks London’s underachievement is cause for concern, though. He said: ‘London is very much a football city. I played for Arsenal and Chelsea and they are fantastic clubs. Now, the British clubs are not really British teams, though. If you are the national team coach then what’s the point of going to watch Arsenal unless you want to watch Theo Walcott?

‘But there is still softness in southern clubs. Look at Didier Drogba. Is he a ballerina or a player? Some players moan and groan and go down clutching their heads when you touch their ankles. I was George Best’s manager at United and he earned less in his career than these players make in about a week, so players were tougher and hungrier in the past.’

Manchester United and Liverpool’s recent successes have made London’s lack of silverware seem more startling, but Docherty thinks that the change in the European Cup’s format has helped the northern giants. ‘United and Liverpool have won European Cups despite not winning the league,’ he points out. ‘They call it the Champions League. Why? They should call it the Runners-Up Cup.’

London’s disappointments can be traced back to way before the format change, though. As early as 1962, domestic double-winning Tottenham went into the European Cup as favourites and were lauded as England’s greatest-ever side but they crashed out to Benfica in the semi-finals. Those feelings have been repeated in the modern failures of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal and Jose Mourinho or Avram Grant’s Chelsea. When Terry stepped up on Wednesday night, things looked about to change. Then the curse struck again.

Most successful cities in European Cup:

MADRID 9 (Real Madrid 9)

MILAN 9 (AC Milan 7, Inter Milan 2)

LIVERPOOL 5 (Liverpool 5)

AMSTERDAM 4 (Ajax 4)

MUNICH 4 (Bayern Munich 4

LONDON 0

Most successful cities in Champions League/UEFA Cup:

MILAN 12 (AC Milan: 7 Champions League, Inter Milan: 2 Champions League, 3 UEFA Cup)

MADRID 11 (Real Madrid: 9 Champions League, 2 UEFA Cup)

LIVERPOOL 8 (Liverpool: 5 Champions League, 3 UEFACup)

AMSTERDAM 5 (Ajax: 4 Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup)

MUNICH 5 (Bayern: 4 Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup)

TURIN 5 (Juventus: 2 Champions League, 3 UEFA Cup)

LONDON 2 (Tottenham: 2 UEFA Cup)