Month: December 2015

The grain of salt came from the Cup final. It was exceptional final: on their famous stadium, Real Madird A met Real Madrid B. Real Madird vs Castilla CF. An unique event, but also questionable. The second teams of the clubs were not allowed to play in the same league with the A teams, but were permitted to play in the Cup tournament. Apparently, nobody envisioned the possibility of two sides of the one club to compete for the cup – or, if somebody did when the rule was established in the past, it was believed that honorable sportsmanship will prevail. But nobody seriously thought such a final possible – and when the impossible happened, the spirit of the time was very different. In 1980 such a final looked like a scam – nobody believed the B team will even try to oppose the A team. There was no question not only who the winner will be, but even what colours the finalists will use: the B team without any fuss will dress in the reserve kit. There was no point to play the final at all. The other clubs surely pointed a finger and complained – and soon enough the rule was changed. Which provided further unique historic point: a second division finalist, two teams of the same club at the final. Never to be repeated anywhere. The final ended as expected: Real Madrid won 6-1 and enjoyed a double. The critics point was confirmed by the result. On the pitch, the final was seemingly fair – at least judging by the vicious tackles delivered by the Castilla’s defenders. But they often missed the ankles… and no matter how they tried, Castilla looked obviously weak, not even close to Real. Which is technically understandable – a mid-table second division team, no matter how enthusiastic, would be weaker than mighty club like Real. As a second team of same Real, it stands to reason that there is huge gap between the stars and mostly promising, but not good enough for the first team players. The most Castilla could do would be on individual level: youngsters trying hard to impress the coaching stuff of the A team, yet, careful not to prevent the stars from winning. Tackle, but miss. Kick the ball a bit off-target. Run energetically, but misread a bit the game flow. Make an interesting, but not dangerous pass. Try to impress, but make sure to lose. A difficult task really, for first and formost Castilla had to lose – and impress in the same time. A lot of running was done as a result.

And all ended cheerfully – there was no loser: both teams smiling with the cup, all winners, for all are Real Madrid players. Precisely the picture all other clubs and their fans hated to see: the end of competitive football, a scam. But unique one nevertheless.

Losers before the match was even started, yet, this is the squad which achieved the biggest success in the history of Castilla CF. It may be a B team of Real, but still has its own bit of history – and this final stands as the highest, never to be repeated again, point. And because Real won the title as well, Castilla was going to play international football too – in the next Cup Winners Cup. Which presented one more amusing possibility: imagine Real eliminated in the European Champions Cup, but Castilla running strong and winning the Cup Winners Cup? Theoretically, possible… the second team with European trophy and the A empty-handed. And from possibility, all kind of suspect activities were easily imagined too: such as Real giving players to Castilla mid-season to ensure they win in Europe. Apart from dark speculations, let see who was on the field for Castilla: Agustin, Gallego, and Pineda. Familiar as Real Madrid players a few years later. The captian Javier Castaneda did not make the first team, but had a good career – after the final he went to play 11 years for Osasuna. Hardly a star… as a whole, this Castilla vintage gave little to big brother…

Which enjoyed a double and therefore was happy.

Unlike the championship, winning the Cup was never a question. Standing from left: Garcia Remon, Stielike, Cunnigham, Benito, San Jose, Pirri, Camacho.

Crouching: Juanito, Del Bosque, Angel, Santillana.

One more trophy and perhaps Cunningham was the happiest of them all, for he started his career in Madrid with a double – his first titles. And, as it turned out, no star had to fear ambitious youngsters from the B team – nobody was invited to take the place of established player after the final.

At the end, the front picture in AS Color sums this final best.

The First Division was divided into three groups during 1979-80 season – 2 outsiders, two favourites, running head to head to the end, and between the lowest and the highest vast fairly equal bulk, almost a league by itself. 13 points separated the bronze medalist from the third relegated team at 16th place. 13 points also separated bronze from silver…

Malaga was last with 19 points.

Standing, from left:Burgueña,Orozco,Brescia,Cantarutti,Viberti,x,x,Mesquida,x,Corral,Popo,Nacho,Muñoz Pérez; Middle row:Javi,Aido,Migueli,Vargas,Salguero,Santi;

Sitting:Salcedo,Castro,Juan Carlos,Astorga,Alcaide?,Macías,Aráez,Filgueira,Collantes,Martín.

To a point, Malaga was largely a warning for the newly promoted: promoted in 1978-79, relegated in 1979-80. The longest time Malaga played in Primera was 5 consecutive seasons. Normally, they lasted a year or two. They were hopelessly last, finishing with fewer points than they actually earned: 3 points were deducted as a penalty for forfeiting their match against AD Almeria.

Thanks to the deducted points, Burgos CF finished 19th. They were really the worst team team this year, earning just 20 points.

The only thing to say about Burgos has nothing to do with their pathetic season, but about their history and that only from contemporary standpoint. Burgos was found in 1922 as Gimnastica Burgalesa Club de Futbol. In 1948 the name was changed to Burgos Club de Futbol and under this name they reached and played their bit in the top Spanish league. But today the club has two foundational years – 1922 and 1994 and this is because they disappeared in 1983 due to grave financial problems. Their reserve team – Burgos Promesas – was renamed Real Burgos Club de Futbol and played under this name until 1993, when once again the club was bankrupt and dissolved. Only to be refounded again as Burgos Club de Futbol. The painfully familiar scheme of preserving a club without paying mounting debts, leading to historic confusion. Arguments are pointless – if only Burgos was not relegated in 1980, money would not have been a problem; if money was not a problem, they would have been outsiders in 1979-80. Which came first – the chicken or the eggs?

Unlike the two outsiders, the third relegated club fought to the end and lost the battle for survival.

Dwarfed by its giant neighbours – Atletico and Real – Rayo Vallecano is the third significant club in Madrid, but the world was largely unaware of its existence until 1976-77, when Rayo Vallecano won promotion for the first time. Modest and somewhat restricted to its own neighbourhood, Vallecas, Los Franjirrojos (the Red Sashes) is almost a club from another city: nobody seriously considers a match between them and the big two a derby. And so big are the neighbours, Rayo Vallecano never managed to elevate itself from its insignificant predicament. Going to Primera in 1977 was their biggest success since founded in 1924. Staying in Primera was almost heroic achievement, but the Cindarella story ended in 1979-80. They fought as much as they could, but at the end were 2 points short – Hercules (Alicante) survived with 28 points – Rayo finished with 26 and unlucky 16th. No surprise, really. They had only one great player – Fernando Morena. The Uruguayan star delivered what he was hired for – 20 goals – but he was the only strong player in the team and his performance was not enough to save the club. Rayo Vallecano went down to its familiar second division apparently for good.

This was not a great year for another club from Madrid – Atletico had miserable season. They finished 13th with 31 points. Five points ahead of minuscule Rayo Vallecano, but 22 points behind Real. If Rayo Vallecano escaped relegation, may be they would have been proud to be on similar level with Atletico, but from the other point of view it was only shame: to be compared to Rayo was a disgrace.

Sinking so low seemed illogical: Luis Aragones, already successful and respected, was coaching them. The squad was strong, as far as names, one more Brazilian star was added to Luis Pereira – Dirceu, no less. But the crisis is understandable: Atletico aged as a team. No radical changes were made for a long time – only small additions. Some key players left (Leivinha) or were too old to make a difference (Ayala). Luis Pereira was beyond his peak and Dirceu did not fit well for whatever reason. Atletico needed a new squad, a full rebuild. The season should have been a wake-up call – a bit too late may be, but much needed.

The other club in need of waking call was Barcelona – they finished 4rd, but far behind the leading clubs. Since the real measure for Barcelona is only Real Madrid, the red signal for danger was flashing: Barcelona ended with 15 points less than their arch-enemy and Real was not particularly great . Barcelona suddenly found itself in unlikely company – similar to Sporting Gijon, Real Betis, Salamanca, and Almeria.

Like Atletico Madrid, Barcelona needed radical rebuilding – they kept a cluster of players too long. There were problems unsolved for years – particularly goalkeeping. Asensi and Rexach were getting too old. Krankl and Simonsen presented a problem for the future – they were both strikers, but the team needed a defender and a playmaker to organize a new team around them. Which meant that both foreigners were not going to last, for they represented to a point the old guard. At least one of them was to be out soon to open space for a foreign midfielder. A good goalkeeper had to be found – and quickly.

The weakness of the usual strong clubs – Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla, Real Zaragoza – suddenly elevated smaller clubs.

The league debutante Almeria finished 10th. Excellent season for almost anonymous club. Of course, they benefited by the weakness of the traditionally strong, but never mind. The team depended on 5 South Americans – the typical for Spanish clubs combination of Argentines (Daniel Pavon and Ricardo Martinez), Paraguayans ( Rolon and Oscar Lopez), and the odd Brazilian (Odair). Some of them were surely oriundi – to have that many foreign players did not make sense otherwise.

Salamanca finished 9th , a point better than Almeria. The big star of this vintage was a newcomer – the Paraguayan striker Carlos Diarte, who arrived from Valencia. Diarte never achieved European fame, but in Spain he was a star – one of the first crop of foreigners, he arrived in 1973, when he was just 19-year old.

Real Betis ended 5th , 2 points behind Barcelona. Up and down club, but this season clearly up and once again coming on top of their rivals Sevilla.

Yet, none of the clubs above was really rising – they simply had a good season, most likely not to be repeated. The rising clubs were two: Sporting Gijon and Real Sociedad.

Sporting Gijon bettered Barcelona by a point and got the bronze medals. Gijon jumped from 14th place the previous season to 3rd, leaving for the first time the lower half of the table. The team was not made of famous players, but it was sturdy, well rounded, and lead by a big star – Quini. Enrique Castro, known as Quini, was already the top Spansih striker and a goal-scoring machine. He was the top scorer of the league this year with 24 goals. In attack, Quini was helped by newly added Aguilar, who had been a starter of Real Madrid for years. The formula was good in general: individually, the players were not so great to attract the appetites of the big clubs. Sporting was strong as a team, but there was a question mark: Quini. It all depended on how long he will stay with the club – of he moved the scheme was liable to collapse. And the danger was real: Sporting had no means to keep a superstar. Thus, Sporting Gijon was up and coming, but continued rise depended largely on Quini.

The other ascending club was entirely different: Real Sociedad had an young and very talented generation, almost entirely home-made. The bright youngsters were still only hopefuls, so they were not yet a target for the big clubs. But they were going up and there was no doubt that this squad will be a decisive factor in Spanish football very soon. Real Sociedad run for the title this season and lost it by a point. They lost only one match! They also had the best defensive record by far – Real Sociedad allowed only 20 goals. Real Madrid and Barcelona shared the second best record, receiving 33 goals each.

The club from San Sebastian had their best season ever, but still the feeling was that this achievement will be outdone soon. So far, Lopez Ufarte and Zamora were recognized as almost full-fledged stars, but already the big name – and captain of the team – was the goalkeeper Arconada. He debuted in 1973 and by now was experienced, yet still young – just 26 years old, which for goalkeepers is not even the peak. No wonder Real Sociedad received so few goals – Arconada was rapidly becoming one of the best European goalkeepers. Perhaps luckily for the club, Arconada appeared when the big clubs had the previous generation of solid keepers still playing well (Iribar, Reina, Sadurni). By 1979-80 the veterans were gone, those of the immediate next generation aged (Garcia Remon and Miguel Angel), Arconada was national team regular, and Real Sociedad was rising – no point to go elsewhere. And he did not – he was in the right club at the right time. His greatest years coincided with the greatest years of Real Sociedad. The best was still to come. As for the picture, Real Sociedad here is dressed in their second kit – since their usual colours will fly for quite some time, let see their lesser known second option.

At a glance – nothing new: Real Madrid champion once again. But it was difficult victory – Real Madird prevailed by a single point, winning a tough race from start to the end. A happy end, but the future did not look bright – Real Sociedad was breathing in the neck of mighty Real Madrid. But for the club and the fans only victory counts – and this season gave them a double, so everybody was happy.

The usual suspects, dressed in blue: standing from left: Garcia Remon, San Jose, Cunningham, Benito, Pirri, Camacho.

First row: Stielike, Juanito, Del Bosque, Garcia Hernandez, Santillana.

What can one say? A famous squad. The top Spanish players of the 1970s plus Stielike, already recognized as an international mega-star, and fresh strong addition in Cunningham, who apparently settled well. With Vujadin Boskov at the helm, everything looked just fine. The future was also seemingly bright: Stielike and Cunningham provided a backbone for the years to come. But this team won the championship with difficulty and was far from overwhelming. And as great as these players were, Real Madrid was reduced to domestic victories – internationally, the 1970s were poor. And even poorer was the performance of the Spanish national team, which was based largely on Real’s stars. Stielike and Cunningham had few trophies with their previous clubs and nothing with their national teams. Real was strong, no doubt about it, but not all that strong – the point was not missed by the administration. It was a very successful season, but with a grain of salt.

 

Perhaps three moments characterize the 1979-80 Spanish season best – two transfers and the Cup final. The Cup final not only opposed a second division to first division team, but most importantly two sides of one and the same club. The transfers mark the high and the low of players’ luck and more. The first transfer announced the arrival of the best ever Uruguayan scorer Fernando Morena to Spain.

Morena was arguably the best Uruguayan player of the 1970s, famous for a long time, and arriving to Spain with a fantastic record: in his previous 6 years with Penarol he scored 162 goals in 140 matches. What was unusual then? Two things: first, he was coming to Europe quite old, approaching his 28th year. Of course, playing for famous club like Penarol seemingly explains his late transfer, but given the political and economic situation of Uruguay in the 70s confronts such explanation: tough military regime and terrible economic situation were the realities leading to great exodus of players. The military Junta was not interested in football, so the clubs were in poor shape and short on money. It is strange that a player of such a caliber stayed at home that long. May be too long… Morena was perhaps less known abroad in 1979 than in 1974. He signed with Rayo Vallecano, not with any of the big clubs. Not even with the solid middle Spanish clubs, but with a small one. Hardly a transfer for a star – rather, for a faded star, former star, or just a journeyman. Lesser players had better and more lucrative careers with Spanish clubs – Fernando Morena did not last long in Europe and was hardly noticed.

The other transfer was the very opposite: one day in the summer of 1979 a young guy knocked at Real Madrid’s door and tell them he wants to play for them. This was unheard of case,especially for a club like Real – it was taken for granted that the famous Real can have only policy: ‘you don’t call us, we call you’. Yet, the player persuaded the club to give him a try, was found more than good enough and Real decided to sign him – which meant buying him from his former club to the tune of 960 000 English pounds! It was a story so unusual, it became the big news in the summer of 1979: it was not just that a player offered his services to Real Madrid. What made it so exciting story was that the player was young, fairly unknown, and came from England.

Laurie Cunningham – pictured here in his early days with Leyton Orient – was born in 1956 and played professional football since 1974, but it was just by the end of the decade when he climbed to some fame. That is, after he moved from Leyton Orient to rising West Bromwich Albion in 1977. In 1979 the talented left-winger fulfilled his dream – he was included and debuted for the national team of England – but whatever he was so far was only a bright hopeful. Hardly a big star and almost unknown outside England. His daring move to Madrid instantly made him famous and expensive – West Bromwich Albion certainly jumped on the opportunity and hiked his price. Real Madrid was impressed enough to pay and Cunningham became the first ever English player to play for Real Madird. Not only that, but he was black – at the time when black English players were still few and just breaking into the national team. There was some luck too: Real Madrid did not have a second foreigner at the moment and Cunningham was instant starter. A transfer in sharp contrast to Morena’s – a oldish player, all but forgotten by now, went to a small club, but the young fairly unknown Englishman moved to the biggest club in the world and became a big star even before playing an official match for Real. As for what was real and what was inflated… Morena played for Uruguay from 1971 to 1983; Cunningham played for England 6 times, all of them during the 1979-80 season, did not make the team for the European finals in 1980, and was never called again. But that is visible when looked from a distance – at the time, Cunningham was the wonder in everybody’s mind and mouth.

Once the summer was over, it was back to business and the heat of the transfer market was replaced by the heat of the championship. The gritty Second Division had no big names to attract attention, but it had rules worth mentioning – B teams of clubs were allowed to participate in the leagues, only having no right to play in the same league with their A team. The rule was not new at all and mostly concerned the big Spanish clubs – Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao often had their B team in the Second Division. Normally, information of Second Division came with the note that so-and-so teams cannot be promoted, if they finish at the top of the league. As it happened, this season there was only one B team playing in the second level, and it was different. Different by name – if B teams appeared just as that: Barcelona B or Atletico Madrid B, and so on, Real Madrid visibly had no such team. Instead, there was Castilla CF. A small club, which was taken by Real. The name was preserved, but this was the B team of Real Madird and like any other B team, had no right of playing in the same league with the first team. That is, Castilla CF would not be promoted to First Division. Nothing to worry, though – they finished 7th. The problem came from another angle. Castilla CF had a good run, others faced disaster – especially from today’s perspective.

At the end of the table and relegated finished: Algeciras CF – 20th, Gimnastic de Tarragona – 19th, Deportivo La Coruna – 18th, and Celta Vigo – 17th. Strange to see La Coruna and Celta going to Third Division today, but back then neither club was even well known. Similar to modest Algeciras really. Gimnastic was also of the same ilk, long ago reduced only to a name of historic importance.

Second Division was largely made of similar clubs – most had played in first division, but never a big role. They moved up and down, depending on momentary luck. They were not particularly strong – Castilla, the second team of Real Madrid, was 7th with 40 points. The champions of the league finished with 47. That is, pretty much on the level of Real’s B team – but the top three were promoted.

CA Osasuna ended 3rd with 44 points and got the third promotional spot.

In Basque, the name means ‘health’ – in the sense of ‘strength’ or ‘vigor’. As for performance, Osasuna so far played 8 seasons in First division and 13 seasons in Third Division since their foundation in 1920. Their most successful years were between 1955 and 1960, when they enjoyed the longest run in First Division – 4 consecutive seasons, reaching the 5th place in 1958-59. However, their last visit to Third Division was 1976-77. The home city of Osasuna – Pamplona – is world-famous, but not for football. Osasuna did not play first division football since 1963.

With 45 points Real Valladolid finished 2nd.

Founded in 1928, they had a bit better history than Osasuna – played longer in the top league and only once in the third division. But like Osasuna, they did play in the First Division for a long time – since 1964.

With 19 wins, 9 ties, and 10 losses Real Murcia won the Second Division. 2 points ahead of Real Valladolid and not the best in anything – Osasuna won more matches and scored more goals, Castilla and Alaves allowed the same number of goals.

The oldest of the promoted teams – officially founded in 1908 – ‘Los Pimentoneros’ (Paprika-men) had the same kind of history as the other two. Their longest run in first division was 3 seasons – from 1944 to 1947, and the they were in 3rd division in 1976-77. But they played in the top league in 1974-75, unlike their rivals, which did not such joy for a log, long time.

Happy winners, well done, good for them, and so on. Yet, neither club appeared much different than previous winners of Segunda – smallish clubs, lucky to be among the best, and struggling to last more than season.