Month: November 2015

 

From the top 6 clubs of the Belgian league, three belonged to the bulk of league in their performance: a bit stronger than most, but playing no role in the race for the title. There was a small gap of 3 points between the 7th and the 6th placed, but 6 points divided the 4th from the 3rd. The clear mark was in the number of matches lost: this trio had double the number the top three had, going into 2-digit numbers, like most of the league. But the three almost belonging to the leaders clubs had no similarities between themselves.

Lierse finished 6th with 40 points from 18 wins, 4 ties, and 12 losses. They had the third best scoring strikers in the league, though – 72 goals. High scoring strikers, but leaky defense. Not only the worst defensive record among the top 6, but also worse than Waterschei’s and Waregem’s. It looked like Lierse played all or nothing and the approach worked.

Good season, if not exceptional, for Lierse, but the make-up of the team was not promising. They looked exactly like most Belgian clubs: no big names here. Some relatively strong veterans: the goalkeepers Carl Engelen and the former national team player Frans Janssens, 35 years old. Not many foreigners either: only the Dutch striker Ronny van Poucke, who was a reserve of Anderlecht not long ago. But unlike many of his countrymen in the Belgian league van Poucke was young. And so were the local talents Erwin van den Bergh and Walter Ceulemans. Lierse had vastly experienced coach – the West German Ernst Kunnecke, unrecognizable name, but he worked in Belgium since 1969 and knew Belgian football perfectly. With his knowledge and having ambitious young strikers, seemingly he decided to let them run free and score as much as they could, hoping to prevail over most of the teams by scoring more than the opposition. It worked, but it was also rather lucky run, one year wonder – unless the squad was reinforced with few stronger players. To a point, Lierse did not belong the the best and confirming that, they finished at the bottom of the stronger group.

If Lierse were perhaps lucky, the team above them was unlucky. More than unlucky, actually – Anderlecht had disastrous season, finishing 5th, just a point better than Lierse.

Terrible season and even inexplicable, considering what Anderlecht was internationally after 1975 and in in Belgian football – ever. One of the most exciting European teams, the biggest club in Belgium… and true to that, they had the stronger and the deepest squad, as long as names mean anything: Rensenbrink and Haan led the pack. A big group of top Belgian players: Francois van der Elst, Hugo Broos, Frank Vercauteren, Gilbert van Binst, Ludo Coeck. Dutch national team defender Johnny Dusbaba. Danish international Benny Nielsen. A new goalkeeper – the Austrian highly respected national team regular Friedl Koncilia. Speaking of internal competition, the Belgian national team prospect – and future regular – Jacky Munaron was just a back-up of Koncilia this year. And another new recruit, perhaps a bit exotic and not well known in Europe, but coming as South American champions on both national team and club level – the Paraguayan star striker Enrique Villalba. Why Anderlecht underperformed this season, then? It looked like that even if this team played at 50% of their abilities, they should have been champions, but they were not even among the title contenders. It may have been a bad choice of coach – Urbain Braems was an old hand and even coached Anderlecht before, but he was not well known name and most of his career went with smaller clubs. Perhaps he was not the right man for the job and there was no chemistry between him and the star-studded squad. Perhaps it was the squad itself… as great as Anderlecht appeared on paper, it was very familiar team for the rest of the league. Everybody knew this line for years, knew how they play, their weak points – the whole league was well adjusted to this formation, which was getting older not much as individual players, but as a team and playing philosophy. Morally old. Rensenbrink, van Binst, Broos were leading Anderlecht from the beginning of the 1970s. Haan, Coeck, van der Elst, Vercauteren were also around for many years. Some were getting long in the tooth: van Binst – 29, Rensenbrink – 33, Nielsen – 29, Haan – 32, Broos – 28. Add Koncilia, who at 32 was not exactly at his last legs as a goalkeeper, but he was winner for so many years in Austria, to be really hungry for success. Anderlecht tried to do what many wealthy clubs did, falling into their own trap eventually: they tried to replace old players gradually with young talent, and usually the scheme worked well for awhile, long enough to be satisfying and thus blinding the club to the need of general shake-up and building of entirely new team. Ajax and Bayern already suffered from this concept, agonizing and losing their leadership after 1975. It was clear from aside – as long as Haan and Rensenbrink were the key players, the team will be build around them. But they over 30 and their presence was no longer fresh – if anything, they prevented the emerging of new leaders. The newcomers, as a rule ,were not at the level of the big stars, but slightly lower and not on key positions. But how to let go players like Haan and Rensenbrink… until the team led by them really falls apart. Only then heads roll down in mass.

KSC Lokeren finished 4th , a point ahead of Anderlecht. Lokeren enjoyed strong years pretty much since 1974 when the Polish star Lubanski joined the club – they were never title contenders, but normally not below 8th place, one of the consistently strong Belgian clubs, yet not favourites. Not lucky like Lierse, not suddenly underperforming like Anderlecht, but holding their position year after year.

Lokeren had either more money or better recruiting vision than most clubs in the league – they had a good group of strong players, more than normally smaller clubs had, yet, fewer than the big clubs. This gave them the edge to stay among the best without matching the strongest. To a point, Lokeren made a wild bet, which paid off – when they signed Vlodzimierz Lubanski, it was not expected that he will be even able to play, let alone restoring his form, so severe was his injury. But not only he played, but returned to excellent form so much so, that he became the first Polish playing abroad to be invited to the national team and appeared at the 1978 World Cup finals. Lokeren benefited greatly from him, including his loyalty, for he stayed with the club which gave him a chance in a hopeless situation. Now 33 years old, he perhaps was not as dangerous as he was was, but inspirational leader nevertheless. Around him a good bunch was gathered – may be not first rate players, but not journeymen either: former national team player Bob Dalving (30 years old), current members of the national team Rene Verheyen (28) and Raymond Mommens (22), experienced Dutch goalkeeper Bob Hoogenboom (31), and three young and more than promising strikers – Scottish James Bett (21), the Islandic national team player Arnor Gudjohnson (19), and big Danish centre-forward – Preben Elkjer-Larsen (23). A strong skeleton, covering every line and quite versatile – Mommens could play in either defense or attack, for instance. Elkjer-Larsen was particularly good addition – his climb to international fame really started with Lokeren. He was already West German champion with 1. FC Koln, but without making any impression – he was a reserve and moved to Lokeren right after Koln won the title. Lokeren simply had more strong players than other clubs, but most importantly, it was good mix of experienced veterans and bright and ambitious youngsters. Of course, Lokeren faced the usual problem of any smaller club: there was no way to keep young stars for long, so they had to be constantly looking for suitable replacement and staying among the best depended on their ability to spot and recruit new players. But so far – so good.

And at the very top and apart from the rest of the league were three clubs, which battled for the title. Eventually, the champions pulled ahead and finished with comfortable lead, but trio left the league far behind – Lokeran finished with 42 points and the team ahead of them with 48 points. A second club of the same city inevitably was much weaker than the their neighbour, but there was a difference in Bruxelles: of course, RWD Molenbeek could not compete with Anderlecht, but they benefited from their formidable rival like no other Belgian club in similar situation. The 1970s were the greatest years of RWD Molenbeek and they were still running strong. Strong enough to finish with bronze medals, missing silver by a point.

Molenbeek lacked enough class to be real title contenders, but they were strong. Thanks to Anderlecht, in a way: players, no longer needed by the giant, often moved to Molenbeek – a better option than going to smaller provincial towns. Thus, Jan Ruiter (34 years old) was between the goalposts and Maurice Martens (33) in defense. Ruiter was not the only Dutch in the team – add Johan Boskamp (32) , Nico Jansen (28), and newly arrived from Ajax Hans Erkens (28). Erkens was the only Dutch in the team who never played for the national team of Holland. Molenbeek two very interesting defenders too – the Belgian Michel de Wolf (22), who was soon to be part of the exciting Belgian national team, and a player, who became even greater star in the 1980s: Morten Olsen (31), the great Danish libero. One thing Molenbeek was able to do so far was precisely that: getting enough solid players to maintain strong position. They feared less than most Belgian clubs – since their best players were either already discarded by Anderlecht, or were too old to attract the interest of the big clubs, they could simply depend on new recruits of the same kind and stay among the best, for most of the league was not able to do anything similar.

Silver medals were clinched by Standard (Liege) – they edged Molenbeek by a point, but ended well below the champions. Up and coming club, the most promising Belgian team at the moment. Standard came back after the decline in the first half of the 1970s, but were still not at their peak – they had to fight for the second place, yet, were rather easily outrun by more experienced team in the race for the title.

Standard had everything in place by now: Ernst Happel was the coach and, as usual, he delivered quickly. Of course, he had the players needed for success: Michel Preud’homme (21 years old) between the goalposts, Eric Gerets (26) and Michel Renquin (25) in defense, Gerard Plessers (21) and the Islandic national team regular Asgeir Sigurvinsson (25) in midfield, the Swedish centre-forward Ralf Edstrom (28) and the Austrian winger Alfred Riedl (31) in attack. Add sometimes Belgian national team player Willy Wellens (26), the West German veteran Helmut Graf (34), the promising young striker Eddy Voordeckers (20), the solid center-back Theo Poel (29), and the former Belgian Junior national team center-forward, listed still as a Portuguese, Luis Norton de Matos (27). It was a good selection, mixing experience and young talent. In 1980 Renquin and especially Gerets became international stars. Sigurvinsson was steadily on the road of becoming more than well respected player in the 1980s, Edstrom revived his career, after a slump, leading him back to Sweden. The team was till a bit row, still a bit unfinished, not at its peak, but it was clearly a team to reckon with and there was no doubt that second place was only for the moment.

Standard was the future, but the presence belonged to FC Brugge. Confident victory this year: 24 wins, 5 ties, 5 losses, 76-31 goal-difference, 53 points. 4 more than Standard earned. Second-best scoring record and second-best defensive record. FC Brugge was solid and experienced, the edge they had over Standard.

Confident winners, confirming once again that FC Brugge had not just few strong years, but established firmly itself as the third big Belgian club and there was no way back. Easy victory, but it was not up and coming team, like Standard – it was a bit stagnated team, familiar for years, way too experienced to win a title now, but it was not going to be easy in the future. In very near future… stability was dangerous, the team was getting old. Birger Jensen was 29, Georges Leekens – 31, Walter Meeuws – 29, Jos Volders – 31, Rene Vandereycken – 27, Paul Courant – 31, Raoul Lambert – 36. Some were no longer called to play for the national team and clearly nearing the end of their careers. They were strong enough to win the title, but the policy of FC Brugge was somewhat dangerous – having old players, they looked for more of the same kind: the English striker Ray Clarke arrived from Ajax (Amsterdam) – he was 28. Laszlo Balint, the strong Hungarian center-defender, was a good addition of course, but he was already 32. Practically, players for the future were only the Danish midfielder Jan Soerensen (25) and particularly the fantastic Belgian attacking midfielder Jan Ceulemans (23). The problem was how long FC Brugge could run on experience – sooner than later the veterans were going to retire. Anderlecht underperformed this year, but they had much deeper squad than FC Brugge, and Standard was clearly to reach its peak in year or two – in a long run, FC Brugge appeared quite limited compared to the competition. But they won the title! Again. Their 4th since 1975, missing only 1978-79 – this was much, much better than Anderlecht, which won domestic trophy for the last time in 1976 and it was the Cup. Anderlecht did not win a title since 1974, Standard – much longer.

 

 

18-team strong first division, which may be was too big for Belgian football. More or less, 6 clubs were clearly stronger than the rest, then followed a big group of fairly equal teams, and at the bottom – the outsiders, which made life comfortable for most mid-table clubs. SC Hasselt was clearly below everybody else – 16th with 10 points, distinguishing itself with atrocious defensive record: they received 94 goals. Likely the worst defensive record in Europe.

SC Hasselt, or Sporting Club Hasselt, or just Hasselt was far too weak to survive in the top league. It was not they did not try – three foreign players were engaged to help them: the Moroccan striker Larbi Hazzam (28 years old), the West German striker Peter Tomaschewski (25), and finally the Dutchman Peter Ressel, the only well known name in the team. Ressel was part of the strong Feyenoord in the early 1970s, then part of the strong Anderlecht in the middle of the 1970s, and played his bit for the national team of Holland in the glory years. But he grew old… and went to easy living in North America, joining Chicago Stings. His return to Belgium was not glorious – Hasselt obviously hoped he would help, but Ressel was already 35 years old and no longer up to important tasks.

If SC Hasselt was quite predictably too weak for the top division, the club finishing just above them was usually a mid-table performer. It may had been unfortunate season of lousy form; it may had been lack of chemistry. Decline would be too strong a word for SC Charleroi – they were never great. But given the squad, their terrible performance was surprising too.

8 wins, 6 ties, 20 losses – 22 points at the end. 4 less than the club above them and relegated. Having been much stronger than SC Hasselt was no comfort. Going to second division was even less comfortable. Charleroi were small, but hardly the outsiders and it was even stranger, when one takes a look at the team: may be their Luxembourg players were not much, but if Nico Rohmann hardly rings any bell, Nico Braun have been well respected name in France, where he spent many years. The Dutch midfielder Chris Dekker was not famous either and 35 years old on top of everything, but he also had fairly good earlier career. Their captain was West German – Rainer Gebauer was with Charleroi since 1974, but he played for FC Koln before moving to Belgium. The last and may be most interesting name was Alexandre Czerniatinski, 20-years old up and coming talent. May be the most promising Belgian youngster at the moment. Apart from going down to second division, there is something else interesting and difficult to figure out: Czerniatinski was listed as Polish, thus, in the group of foreign players. Yet, the ‘foreigner’ was Belgian-born, playing for the Belgian national youth teams, and considered a prime candidate for A-national team. Why was he listed as foreigner is unclear, but he was not alone – his team-mate Antonio Iezzi was listed as an Italian, but hist professional status was ‘Belgian player’. Same with the coach Jean Piccinin. In the same time there were players in the league with clearly un-Belgian names listed simply as Belgians. Hard to tell what made the difference, but confusing it was and is, for it was difficult to distinguish foreign imports from domestic players, especially when Eastern Europeans were concerned: who was runaway refugee, who was Belgian-born, and who was proper import? This confusing issue was also applicable to African players.

No confusion with the team which finished at the safe 16th place – Berchem Sports had no foreign players, so untypical for a Belgian club.

To a point, Berchem was good surprise: without a single recognizable name and normally playing second division football, they were expected to be relegated. But the anonymous squad fought to the end, outscoring 7 clubs. They were not even in danger of relegation at the final stage of the championship, so it was quite a success, however small. They lost 15th place on worse goal-difference.

Like Berchem, Beringen finished with 26 points, but having better goal-difference, they took 15th place. Lucky, unlucky, Beringen was historically similar to Berchem and Hasselt – more familiar with second division than the first, so nothing surprising in their final standing: they survived.

What can be said of them? An additional point to the mystery of who was and who was not domestic player: if the Polish and Italian sounding names in Charleroi were listed as foreigners, it was the opposite here. Both Zenon Ziembicki and Paolo Russo were listed as Belgians. The rest of ‘strange’ names were pure imports, suggesting better place in the final table than the actual one. They all came from Holland, the country supplying the bulk of foreign players to Belgian clubs, but two of the three were not Dutch. The Yugoslavian defender Nicola Budisic came from NAC Breda, the other two from far more impressive club: PSV Eindhoven. The Welsh Nick Deacy and the Dutch Gerry Deykers. On the surface, looked like serious recruits – unless one sees the age of the palyers: only Deacy was under 30. Budisic was 33 and Deykers – 34. Clearly, at their last legs. Which was nothing, compared to the truly big name playing for Beringen: Wilfried van Moer was 35. To most, a goner… listed as ‘ex-national team player’. His heavy injuries moved him away from spotlights and from Standard (Liege) years ago. Who could tell what was coming? Van Moer had excellent season, was included again in the national team, and was one of the greatest stars at the 1980 European Championship finals. He was Beringen, the motor, the inspiration, the reason the club managed to perform relatively well and staying in the top league. A big and very unusual revival, especially considering the lowly club van Moer played with. A true star, something rare for a lowly club at the bottom of the league.

If Beringen outdid itself somewhat, the team just above them perhaps underperformed. Van Moer made news this season, but not the players of Beerschot, as one could expect. A curious team, which mostly deserves attention for historic and political reasons. On the field, they were nothing… with 27 points, they finished 14th.

The coach was Ladislav Novak, a star Czechoslovakian national team player once upon a time, who captained the silver medalists of the 1962 World Cup. As a coach, he was coach of the Czechoslovakian in the 1971-72 and in 1974 went to work in Belgium. Beerschot was the third club he coached, after Antwerpen and Lokeren. Colourful coach with colourful players: Jan Tomaszewski joined Beerschot after the 1978 World Cup. Now he was 32, not a fatal age for a goalkeeper, but one of the most famous goalkeepers of the 1970s playing for lowly club? Popular bios of Tomaszewski claim persection: he was not allowed to go abroad before turning 30 by the Polish government. Was it true is very hard to tell: Tomaszewski is known as a very outspoken, even controversial critic both of football and usual politics in Poland, but this is largely due to his activities after 1989. Back in the 1970s the normal Polish practice was to permit players to go professional in the West after they turned 28 and were not needed for the national team anymore. Tomaszewski was the number one national team goalkeeper until the 1978 World Cup, so delay of transfer may have been due to that, but the matter was not in the hands of the Polish government, but of the Football Federation. Tomaszewski was clearly in decline at the 1978 World Cup and lost his position during the finals. He was no longer coveted player when he was permitted to go abroad, which may be explaining why he ended in Beerschot. But decisions for foreign transfers made in the old Communist countries fail logical continuity of policy, so reasons remain largely mysterious: Tomaszewski was a big name, but in 1979 another Pole joined Beerschot – Stanyslas Gzyl from Gornik (Zabrze). He was 31 at the time of the transfer and never played for Poland – a rather anonymous player. Both the star and the unknown ended in Beerschot, God knows why. As for Tomaszewski, going to Beerschot made a strange reunion too – Emanuel Sanon was a veteran of the team, playing for it since 1974. Since the 1974 World Cup, that is, when the Haitian striker scored much talked about goal against Italy. Poland and Haiti were in the same preliminary group, so the former opponents met again after 4 years, this time as team-mates. Both emerged from obscurity at the 1974 World Cup, but Sanon got a contract right away – Tomaszewski had to wait, and if for the Haitian Beerschot was more or less the highest point of his career, for Tomaszewski was a step down. May be even two steps down. Yet, the two Poles and the Haitian were not the whole foreign contingent of Beerschot: a Zairian young and talented defender was in the squad, Paul Beloy Beloy. 23 years old, who came to Belgian football after a short spell in West Germany. The usual Dutch presence – Rene Mucher, who was with the club as long as Sanon. Another very young striker arrived in 1979 – 22-years old Chilean, formerly of Colo-Colo, Luis Echeverra Mena. Unknown player, but interesting anyhow, for Mena was a rare South American joining European club north from Spain and France. If most of the foreigners were either unknown or of faded fame, another two were different: Julien Cools, already 33, but still considered a national team material, arrived from FC Brugge. Classy midfielder, may be too old for his former club, but fine for a smaller one. Cools was known as ‘marathon man’ and key player during the great European years of FC Brugge. Juan Lozano, 25 years old, played along Cools in Beerschot, still listed as foreigner. Soon the Spaniard will be naturalized and included in the Belgian national team – but fame was yet to come. Beerschot had impressive squad, it seems, but failed to deliver. The stars were over the hill perhaps and the other foreigners – not good enough.

13th, a point ahead of Beerschot VAV, finished Antwerpen. If Beerschot had players suggesting higher place, their city rivals should have been higher in the table for historic reasons – never great, but usually stronger than most Belgians clubs.

Royal Antwerp or Antwerpen, or FC Antwerp… there are always confusing variations of the names of Belgian clubs, perhaps failed to recruit strong players. May be money was short, may be vision. Compared to Beerschot, Antwerpen was almost anonymous squad, lacking foreigners. Theo Custers was the big star – national team goalkeeper, losing the competition with Pfaff, but the second-best in the country at the time. The only import was Polish veteran – Miroslav Justek, 32-years old former Lech (Poznan) striker, who occasionally played for the Polish national team. A marginal player – may be solid, but never a star, and virtually unknown in Europe. That was all Antwerpen had this year, so finishing low was hardly a surprise. Yet, they finished above their city rivals. With this ends the lower group of the mid-table clubs – slightly underperforming than the others.

There was a middle mid-table group of 6 teams, which were slightly stronger than lower group, but also slightly weaker than three clubs. Not much stronger, not much weaker… the general similarity of these clubs was in their makes: they all depended on few strong players and various foreigners, normally middle-of-the-road professionals. KSV Waregem finished 12th , 3 points ahead of Antwerpen.

Of course, nobody expected miracles from Waregem – more or less, they played as ever. Not very strong, not very weak. Strong Dutch presence, beginning with the coach – Hans Croon. The players were available in every line – Rene de Jong (goalkeeper), Henny Michielsen (midfield), Pieter de Waardt, and Roland Hendricks (strikers). Nobody recognizable, but there was a difference – if the so far mentioned clubs used old veterans, Waregem had younger foreigners. Nothing special, but experienced and at their prime. The key players of the team were domestic, however – the national team defenders Marc (30 years old) and Luc (29) Millecamps. Marc was Waregem’s captain, but immediately after the end of the season Luc became famous for his performance at the 1980 European Championship. Waregem had no great squad, heavily dependent on the form of Millecamps brothers -and two players were able to keep the team at 12th place, but hardly moving it higher.

With 32 points, SK Beveren finished 11th. The surprise champions of 1978-79 plummeted down the very next season and understandably so – the club had no means for making truly strong team. The good players were few and there were part-timers. However, this was the best period in the history of modest Beveren – there will be more about them a bit later.

KSV Cercle Brugge was 10th – 32 points, but better goal-difference than Beveren. True to their predicament – their home city, as practically every Belgian town, was hardly able to maintain two strong professional clubs at the same time. FC Brugge already was the big club, so Cercle Brugge had no chance.

They were like Waregem, the same ilk: depending on the form of one or two strong players. In their case, on the veteran Dutch defender Bram van Kerkhof, and the better known Danish national team striker Soren Skov. The best known player was also defender and Dutch – Kees Krijgh, 30-years old newcomer from PSV Eindhoven. That is, one of the regulars of the great PSV Eindhoven of the 1970s, a team already aging and getting rid of players getting too old. Krijgh was never a great star, nor he was a national team player, but was famous enough as a regular of PSV Eindhoven during its best years. With him, van Kerkhof, and Skov, Cercle Brugge was able to maintain their normal position in the league.

RFC Liégeois or RFC Liege, was 9th, a club in the same predicament as Beerschot and Cercle Brugge: the smaller club in the city. Hence, mid-table position was the most they could do and the usual too. 33 points and the same as their immediate neighbours.

The Yugoslav Silvester Takac was the coach and he is mostly interesting as a footnote in the evolution of the Yugoslavian national team – in 1972 he ans Josip Skoblar offered their services to the national team, stirring perhaps the first serious debate about inclusion of foreign based player in the national team of Yugoslavia. The offer was turned down, but a crack was opened and by 1979-80 it was common practice. Since Takac played in Belgium, he knew local football and was well known in return, so it was hardly a surprise he coached RFC Liege. As for his squad, it was typical Belgian squad… largely unknown Belgians, the inevitable Dutch – Hendrik Medik, and another Dutch, listed as already naturalized – Matthijs van Toorn. Class was provided by Takac’s countryman – Edhem Sljivo, already 30-years old former midfielder of FK Sarajevo and national team player. Sljivo was highly talented – technical, imaginative, creative – but somewhat unlucky. He was actual national team player, but his appearances for Yugoslavia were rare – between 1976 and 1982 he played only 12 games, scoring 2 goals. The problem was not his capability, but the competition – unfortunately, there were strong midfielders when he was young, when he was at his peak, and when he was getting old. He coincided with Branko Oblak, not to mention others. Perhaps that was the reason he ended in lowly RFC Liege – and jumping a bit ahead, progressed from there to France and West Germany, something very unusual for a player ‘discovered’, so to say, at 30. It could be said, that his contribution kept RFC Liege in good place.

FC Winterslag had typical for that time season – right in the middle of the table. 12 wins, 11 ties, 11 losses, but rather unusual low scoring record. Belgian league normally was above the average of most countries, so 35 goals scored in 34 games seemed quite low, especially if compared to the first 10 clubs in the final table. Only 4 clubs scored less than Winterslag and it looked like the club depended heavily on domestic matches, scoring a goal and trying to keep its minimal advantage to get the points. Away, they did not care much… their defense was leaky, they received 62 goals and only the relegated two teams allowed more goals in their net. But it was all normal at the end – 8th place, 2 points ahead of RFC Liege.

Winterslag had young talented coach – Robert Waseige – who apparently utilized a limited team to the best. The squad was typical – the inevitable almost unknown Dutch players, Vim van Woerkum and Toon Wouters, and Belgian-raised, if not Belgian-born Italians, Licio D’Onofrio and Raimond Baiamonde. The only big name was Johan de Vrindt – long time national team regular and one of the top Belgian strikers for many years. But he was already 35 and inevitably his career was going downhill: he played for FC Brugge and Anderlecht at his prime, then moved a notch down to Lokeren, and from there to Winterslag. Still, his presence was important and perhaps the riving force of the otherwise modest team.

Waterschei took 7th place, 2 points ahead of Winterslag – both clubs were often at the same level, practically running together and finishing in somewhat mini-rivalry in the middle of the league.

Waterschei were almost a copy of Winterslag – good coach, few anonymous, but reliable foreigners, and one player, who may be considered a star of the team. But Waterschei achieved much more than Winterslag this season.

With them, the bulk of the league is almost complete – fairly equal clubs of the same make, depending on largely aging domestic and foreign stars, and having practically no future stars in their squads. Two more clubs belonged to the big group, but they were different, presenting a cutting edge between the leaders and the rest, so they will be placed among the top teams.

 

Belgium was the sensation of the 1980 European Championship, but before that, there was the ordinary season of the country. Since Belgian football was on ascent for quite some time, it deserves through presentation. Big and closely watch championship it was not. To a point, the success of Belgian clubs depended on Dutch players for many years. But other foreigners played their part as well and Belgium was prime destination for foreign players for a long time – the situation was bit peculiar, for on one hand Belgium allowed larger number of imports that any other European country, and on the other hand most clubs were small and unable to afford big names. Some big names were always at hand, but most foreigners were relatively unknown or old veterans to attract wider interest. Same with coaches. Finally, Belgium enlarged its top league to 18 teams and unusual system resulted: perhaps the only country in Europe with smaller second division than the first. This, to a point, reflected the difficulties facing Belgian football: there were not enough really healthy clubs. The country was small and football competed with other sports, particularly bicycle racing, for public attention. Financially, many clubs were unstable as a result and forced into amalgamations. It appeared that the Belgian Federation was determined to organize and keep a top professional league of stable clubs and the lower levels to stay semi-professional – may be there was no other way.

16-team second division had hardly recognizable abroad members this season – as ever, really. True, many clubs played top level football, but there was hardly a rising club. There was not a famous name in decline either. Rather, smallish clubs, playing now and then in the upper echelon, but never strong enough to make a lasting impression. Current form was seemingly the decisive factor – and current form depended on money, available or not. Hoeselt VV and Royale Union were too weak for the league, and finished at the bottom, separated by the rest of the league. The same happened at the top too – KV Kortrijk ended 2nd 5 points ahead of KSK Tongeren, but also 5 points behind the champions.

KAA Gent had no rivals.

Standing from left: Jaak De Koning, Erwin Vanden Daele, Luc Criel, Guy Hanssens, Roger Coenije, Willy Quipor, André Laureyssen, Marc Temmerman (kinesist)

Crouching: Filip Benoot, André Raes, Frank Nollet, Aad Koudijzer, Franky Vanhaecke.

The ‘Buffaloes’ finished first to the delight of their supporters and won the only direct promotion. The squad is unfamiliar, naturally, but obviously superior to any other in the league: they won 18 games, tied 10, and lost 2. Best attack – 53 goals, and best defense, allowing just 13 goals during the campaign.

Instead of second direct promotion, there was final promotional tournament between the 4 clubs below the champions. Racing Jet de Bruxelles (5th), K.St.-Niklase SK (4th), and KSK Tongeren (3rd) were slightly above the lower part of the league, but they have been no match to KV Kortrijk during the season – now they had a chance to top a team stronger for the whole season. It was a chance alright, but a futile one, as it turned out. K.St.-Niklase SK lost all 6 final matches. Racing Jet and KSK Tongeren were more or less equal, so, to a point, Racing Jet delivered spirited final performance and KSK Tongeren confirmed its season-long position as he third strongest second division club. Yet, none came even close to KV Kortrijk, which simply blew away the opposition, winning every one of the final matches.

There was justice after all: the rules were against the second best team during the season and there was a chance the 5^th in the table to go up, but strong is strong: KVK Kortrijk won well deserved promotion.