Truro City became the 10th most successful club in English history as they tied Sheffield Wednesday on four league titles in 2045. However, Perran Trevelyan’s side suffered the heartbreak of back-to-back Champions League Final defeats.
Heading into a shortened summer, Trevelyan had earmarked his 23rd season at his hometown club as his last. He was targeting success at the Club World Cup ahead of aiming to win a 5th successive Premier League, ending the European pain and adding another domestic cup.
Truro City at the Club World Cup
Truro flew out to Australia in mid-June to get their first taste of the Club World Cup. And they got a relatively easy draw as they took on Bayern, Egypt’s Zamalek and Vanuatu minnows Tafea.
They kicked off with the toughest game, taking on Bayern in Brisbane, and striker Maurício Genofre’s goal earned a point. Four days later, they headed over to Adelaide to face Tafea in Trevelyan’s 1,200th match in charge of Truro. They only took 8 minutes for Genofre to score but were severely wasteful as they racked up 28 shots en route to leading 3-0 at halftime. They kept the pressure on, having 57 shots and 23 on target, hitting the woodwork six times, racking up 7.91 xG and winning by a new club record 13-0, including Ilja Isbouts’ perfect hat trick and first senior goals for homegrown 17-year-old defender Barrington Byrne. Trevelyan rotated the entire first 11 to face Zamalek back in Brisbane, and they won 3-0 while Bayern put a ludicrous 20 past Tafea.
That teed up a second round tie against Villarreal in Perth, and a tight game was decided by Genofre’s suprb backpost header after half an hour. Next up, they were back to Adelaide to face Inter Milan, who knocked out city rivals AC 4-0, in the quarters. Another tight game saw Truro waste chances and finish 0-0, then score all of their penalties to edge the shootout 5-4. A more familiar foe followed as a repeat of the Champions League Final saw Truro face Man UFC in the semis. But Truro gained revenge as left back Bruno Veloso and Isbouts earned a comfortable 2-0 victory.
That teed up a Club World Cup Final against PSG, who defeated Leipzig 1-0 in the semis, at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. truro started slowly and went behind after 12 minutes. Trevelyan laid into them at the break and moved to a wide 4-3-3, which worked as right back Enzo Parra’s cross was headed in by Genofre. The game looked to be going to extra time until wonderkid Martín Larrosa’s low cross was turned in by Genofre to nick a 93rd-minute winner.
Truro City were Champions of the World!
Truro Chase Five Successive Titles
Trevelyan’s plans for his final season took a huge blow as Genofre was ruled out for six months as he broke his leg in a friendly. He bolstered the squad with midfielder Daniel Gheorghe for up to £45m from Benfica and striker Dorde Babic for £6m from Partizan.
Trevelyan’s final season began with captain Alejandro Silva and Genofre’s replacement Stuart Wilson earning their fourth successive Charity Shield against FA Cup winners Reading. They kicked off the new campaign in style as Isbouts, Parra and wonderkid midfielder Mihai Marius Andries secured a 3-0 win at Stoke before midfielder Terje Gronningen’s second-half hat trick, which matched his entire goal tally of last season, led a 7-0 hammering of Brighton. A strong start was crowned by midfielder Joao Paulo’s goal nicking a 1-0 win over UFC to take Truro for the first time in early November.
Genofre marked his return with the only goal at Bristol City in mid-December, and they headed into Trevelyan’s final six months of management with a 3-point lead over UFC. A 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford in early March teed up an intriguing title race, taking UFC 6 points behind with two games in hand – both of which they won to rack up 13 successive league wins and go top on goal difference. A rotated team won 4-2 at bottom-side Brentford and Genofre and Sascha Ablinger braces downed Leicester 4-0 to stay behind UFC by 11 goals.
Game 1 – Liverpool (12th, away): The run-in began with another Genofre double leading a 4-1 thumping of Liverpool. A 10-man UFC lost for the first time since early December 1-0 at Bristol City to take Truro 3 points clear.
Game 2 – Bristol City (16th, home): Trevelyan had to rotate but the backups got the job done as Wilson scored the only goal on 76 minutes. UFC thrashed Chelsea 4-1 to stay 3 points behind.
Game 3 – Newcastle United (3rd, home): The toughest game of the run-in and, as it happened, Trevelyan’s final ever match in Truro, was navigated with ease. Genofre struck twice in four minutes to defeat Newcastle, who scored their only shot on target, 2-1.
Game 4 – Chelsea (8th, away): For some reason, Truro played their penultimate game before UFC played their 36th. Genofre was at the double again to secure an easy 3-1 win at Chelsea. UFC then scored a 93rd-minute goal to nick a 2-1 win at Newcastle but, a few days later, only drew 1-1 at home to Arsenal. That secured Truro’s fifth successive Premier League title!
Truro set a new record for most wins in a Premier League season, surpassing Man City’s 32 in 2018. They racked up a high of Trevelyan’s reign, finishing on 100 points after 33 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats, scoring 82 and conceding just 21. Genofre was the best player in the league with an incredible 7.72 average rating, scoring 19 in 17 games. That was followed by Ablinger, who was the top assister with 12, on 7.52, and David Navalón broke his own clean sheets record with 22, only conceding 18 in 35. Ablinger won the Football Writers Football of the Year and PFA Player of the Year, Trevelyan won his fourth Manager of the Year award, and Navalón, Parra, Euan Whyte and Veloso made Team of the Year.
Truro Make Progress in the Cups
Truro got a tough FA Cup fourth round draw and Trevelyan had to rotate, which saw them lose 4-1 at Newcastle. However, they’d breezed through the early rounds of the Carabao Cup with rotated teams before facing Leicester in the semis. They earned a 0-0 away before Genofre scored the only goal at Truro City Stadium to reach a third final in nine years. Surprisingly, Stoke beat UFC 3-0 in the semis to tee up an intriguing final. Gronningen was suspended so Trevelyan lined up:
Navalón; Parra, Edílson, Whyte, Veloso; Atkinson, Silva; Paulo; Ablinger, Isbouts; Genofre
Subs: Babic, Kasong, Larrea, Gheorghe, Byrne, Riviere, Caro, Wilson, Larrosa
Truro bossed the early stages and went close as Paulo hit the post before Edílson volleyed home as Abolinger’s shot from a corner was parried by the keeper. The game changed as Kane Atkinson was harshly shown a straight red for a challenge from behind after half an hour, and Genofre had a goal disallowed for offside 3 minutes later. Trevelyan brought on Gheorghe for Isbouts and kept things solid, which worked until the 95th minute when Stoke’s striker forced a great save out of Navalón. But in reality, Stoke didn’t deserve anything and Truro held on for a narrow win.
Truro City won their 2nd Carabao Cup!
In the Champions League, they nicked a 2-2 at Inter before winning five on the bounce and dominated PSV 3-0 on the final day to qualify in 5th. Genofre and Paulo earned a 2-1 win in Dortmund before Andries nicked a 1-0 for a fully rotated team in Cornwall. A favourable quarter-final draw saw Truro face Villarreal, and Whyte and Ablinger strikes were enough for another 2-1 first-leg success before Genofre’s 72nd-minute header nicked a 1-1 in Spain. That teed up an all-English semi with Newcastle, while Spurs faced Sociedad. A long trip northeast was up first, and Ablinger’s late strike rescued a 1-1. Back in Truro, Paulo and Gronningen’s first-half strikes were enough for a dominant 2-1 win to book Truro’s fourth successive Champions League Final.
Trevelyan’s final match in management was an opportunity to secure a famous quintuple against Sociedad, who beat Spurs 5-4 on aggregate at Baki Olimpiya Stadionu in Baku. He had a few defensive issues with Larrea out injured and Edílson just about ready. So he lined up:
Navalón; Parra, Whyte, Edílson, Veloso; Atkinson, Gronningen; Paulo; Ablinger, Isbouts; Genofre
Subs: Larrosa, Kasong, Riviere, Gheorghe, Andries, Silva, Caro, Wilson, Byrne, Delmás, Babic, Weir
Truro completely bossed the first half but were wasteful and went into halftime at 0-0. They continued to dominate after the break and eventually made the breakthrough as a neat passing move ended up with Ablinger crossing for Isbouts to turn home from six yards. Eight minutes later, the lead was doubled as Sociedad failed to deal with Navalón’s clearance and Ablinger passed inside for Gronningen to smash home from the edge of the box.
Truro City were Champions of Europe for the second time!
Trevelyan Signs Out From Truro In Style
Trevelyan signed out of football management after 23 years at Truro City by winning the Premier League, Champions League, Carabao Cup and Charity Shield after lifting the Club World Cup. He was delighted with the team’s performance in his final season, and believed they’d truly cemented themselves as the best club in the world.
Genofre was again Truro’s top scorer with 27 in 32, despite missing five months through injury, followed by Ablinger (14), Wilson (13), Isbouts (12) and Paulo (10). Ablinger led the way with 20 assists, followed by Isbouts (13), Wilson and Parra (9), Andries (8), Silva (7) and Gronningen, Paulo and Genofre (6).
The improving Gronningen became the first Truro player to win the Kopa Trophy in October. The same day, Genofre was voted 3rd in Ballon d’Or and later came 2nd in Goal50, in which Veloso was 10th and Isbouts was 39th. Navalón won his fourth World’s Best Goalkeeper award and was joined by Parra and Veloso in the World XI.
We’ll return for one final time to review Trevelyan’s time at Truro and take a look at the football world in 2046. Join us on Saturday for a review of this successful Cornish Crusade.
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