First Division. Three teams for the title, but the presence of Saloniki was very strong this season, so it was more of a duel between Saloniki and Athens/Piraeus than the familiar contest between Athens and Piraeus. At the opposite side of the table one team was the outsider without hope, but 7 clubs fought to avoid the next to last place in the table.
Panserraikos (Serrai) was the weakest team in the league, finishing last with 18 points.
PAS Ioannina ended 15th with 23 points, but were not directly relegated: in case of equal points goal-difference was not decisive factor, but relegation play-off had to played. So, the little brave club, which so well managed playing in the top league for a decade faced Athenean Panionios in the last chance for survival. Regular time did not provide winner, but in overtime Panionios scored twice and won 2-0. PAS Ioannina was relegated.
Panionios (Athens) barely escaped relegation – they were 14th with 23 points and better goal-difference than PAS Ionnina, but that was nothing. Luckily, they prevailed in the play-off and remained in the league for the next season.
Egaleo (Athens) fought for survival most and achieved its goal – 24 points placed them 13th.
This may or may not be picture of Apollon Kalamarias (Saloniki) of 1983-84 season, but is close enough at least. Nothing significant – they were 12th with 24 points.
Doxa (Drama) also survived – 11th with 24 points.
Apollon (Athens) was the highest placed of those with 24 points, thanks to best goal-difference: 10th.
Ethnikos (Piraeus) was also in danger of relegation, but at the end they were 9th with 26 points.
OFI Ctere (Iraklion) practically established itself as solid mid-table team by now, so no surprise here: 8th with 27 points.
AEK (Athens) lost ground, finishing outside the championship race – 7th with 30 points.
AE Larissa had, arguably, their best season in history so far – 6th with 32 points, but there was more. Clearly going up.
PAOK (Saloniki) – 5th with 35 points. Not strong enough to run for the title, but solid as usually they were.
Aris (Saloniki) – 4th with 39 points. They may have been part of the group competing for the title, but lost steam at one point. Still, they finished ahead of city rivals PAOK, which was great.
But the truly best team of Saloniki was Iraklis, ranking 3rd in the local scale. They fought bravely for the title, but finished 3rd with 42 points. It could have been exactly the complicated local rivalry preventing any club from Saloniki winning this year: all were quite equal, thus losing points in the derbies.
There was no way Olympiakos (Piraeus) to drop out of title battle, but this was not a great season for them. Finished 2nd with 43 points, but it was not very expiring year.
And who else, but Panathinaikos (Athens), then? They played strong enough football to finish 3 points ahead of Olympiakos and collect one more title. 19 wins, 8 ties, 3 losses, 46-14 goal-difference. Two teams outscored them, but in terms of defending nobody came even close.
Greece II Division
Greece. Football was improving steadily, but hand in hand with various corruption schemes. Scandals were constant feature, although only the tip of the iceberg was punished. This year was no exception. On the pitch, it was exciting enough – 4 teams competed for the title, there was also tough battle at the bottom of the table. Second Division was less competitive – three teams fought for the two promotions. That is, if actual points are considered. There was also battle for survival at the bottom, ending with unusual result: Olympiakos (Volos) finished with positive goal-difference, but 18th and relegated. The team just above them and also relegated, Panetolikos (Agriniu) had very good goal-difference for a lowly team too: -1. One can be suspicious of such interesting achievements, but since both teams were relegated anyway, why bother. Bad year for the city of Volos – both local team went down: already mentioned Olympiakos was 18th and Niki – 19th. Up the table only AO Kavala deserves a note: they finished 8th with 37 points. That was because they had 10 points deducted! What kind of crime they committed is forgotten now, but it was something big, judging by the penalty. May have been something directly related to the promotion race – if Kavala was not punished, they would have been 3rd and 2 points short of promotion. Thanks to the penalty, Agrotikos Asteras (Saloniki) took the 3rd place with 44 points. But they played no significant part in the battle for promotion. Two teams bested Kavala even if they had all their points – Pierikos and Panachaiki finished with 49 points each and goal-difference decided the Second Division champion.
Pierikos (Katerini) ended 2nd – they were the top scorers of this championship with 71 goals, but goal-difference favoured their rivals. No matter, though: they were promoted to the highest level.
Panachaiki (Patras) won the championship on slightly better goal-difference. If Pierikos favoured attack, Panachaiki had solid defensive approach: they lost only 7 matches, the only team in the league losing less than 10 games, and allowed the least goals this year too.
Switzerland the Cup
The Cup. Perhaps Servette had to right to call itself the best Swiss team this season – they reached the Cup final and Grasshopper did not. The other finalist was Lausanne-Sports, which was nothing special in the championship, but Cup final was another matter. They fought, but Servette won 1-0.
Too bad Lausane-Sports lost, but it was also right – Servette had classier players. Ambition helped as far as making difficult final and minimal loss, but a loss…
Servette played two finals this year and had a chance for a double, but since only one team can win, they had to be satisfied ending with one trophy. Small and unlucky loss for the title, small and lucky victory at the Cup final. Well, seems just right. Winning the Cup for 6th time.