Month: September 2024

The Cups – Liverpool reached no final, so no treble or even double was possible. Well, the traditions of English football seemingly were kept alive in the Cups and the relative weakness of Liverpool somewhat hinted by their inability to reach cup final, but that have little to do with the finals.
Nottingham Forest and Oldham Athletic reached the League Cup final. Since it was England, the battle between strong top league squad against Second Division mid-table opponent had no obvious outcome. Odham fought bravely, alas, unable to score. Nottingham eventually prevailed by single goal, scored in the 47th minute by Jemson.
Too bad the underdog lost the final – Oldham really had great performance in the Cups: semi-finalists in the FA Cup, finalists in the League Cup. Nothing top be ashamed of, but it would have been wonderful if they won the trophy. At the end, there was a player going to win trophies, but not with Oldham – Denis Irwin.
Nottingham Forest won their 4th League Cup. Great, considering that Forest remained a small club – Brian Clough somehow maintained strong and competitive squad and success was deserved And also needed for the trophy room. However, there was a bit of irritation: Cough himself built a culture of easy excuse early in the 80s, when he said that his team won everything already and there was nothing to fight for anymore. Add to this the objective excuse, that Forest was small club with little cash – what can you expect, they already did miracles just staying along with the big rich clubs. But such attitude very likely stifled ambition: the squad was more than solid and capable of more than winning occasional Cup.
Manchester United and Crystal Palace at the FA Cup final. As season went, a battle between equals. As rosters went – Manchester United looked mush stronger. As ambition went… both finalists were determined to win. Their clash ended without victor after overtime: 3-3. Replay followed. And in it United prevailed 1-0. Dramatic final, the kind fans love.
One can imagine the sorrow of Crystal Palace – so close and no luck. Would have been great for them to win, for real success hardly ever came to them, but… they only came close to success.
Difficult victory to be celebrated even more because of the dramatic way it came, but… Statistically, Manchester United won its 7th Cup. They finished with a trophy in their hands. But it was not exactly cups Manchester United considered big success – the championship title was out of their reach for so long and the team had disappointing season in the bottom half the league table. And that with – arguably – a squad almost strong as Liverpool’s. The FA Cup was consolation, perhaps saving the head of Alex Ferguson, but he knew that the only good think about winning the Cup was saving heads, saving the season and boosting moral. However, there was something very important in this victory: UEFA was carefully going to permit English clubs back in the European competitions. Liverpool and Nottingham Forest still had their own bans and could not play, but Manchester United had clean sheet and was permitted. This victory opened the road to Europe, making the next season crucial: now there was big chance, a big aim, a reason to get worthy new players, to boost ambitions. Suddenly, the Cup victory had much bigger significance than saving face and adding one more trophy.
The Red Devils practically had the squad capable of more. Now they also had a big aim ahead of them. The glory days were coming and that mostly thanks to this victory.

First Division. Hardly a very memorable season – Liverpool dominated and its domination was severely getting on the nerves of everybody else. Competing for second place, at most, was hardly what the English championship was all about. Drama was lost and that in time when English teams were banned from European competitions – another thing to blame Liverpool for. English football was losing its edge, its teeth, its very qualities making the English proud. And how good Liverpool was when there was no way to see them against the top European clubs? A valid question.
Millwall – the outsider this season, winning only 5 matches. Bright young Teddy Sheringham and aging Tony Cascarino was all they had… Last and relegated with 26 points.
Charlton Atheltic – 19th with 30 points. Better than Millwall, but also a weak outsider – the squad tells it all… Relegated.
Sheffield Wedenesday – 18th with 43 points and relegated. Unlucky to be relegated only on 2-goals worse goal-difference, but… something wrong happened to them, which had nothing to do with luck – only ‘yesterday’ Wednesday was bright, promising team going up and expected to go even higher. What clipped their wings? Ron Atkinson?
Luton Town – 17th with 43 points. Lucky survivors on 2-goals better goal-difference than Sheffield Wednesday. Well, nothing more than that was expected from modest Luton.
Derby County – 16th with 46 points. Escaped relegation and that was the most expected from them Peter Shilton, still the number one goalkeeper of England, was the big name – the only big name. What a difference time makes… once upon a time Roy McFarland and Shilton played together for England, but in that time Derby County, with McFarland in defense, Derby was winning titles. Now, with Shilton (who was playing for solid and competitive, yet not winning teams back in the 1970s) avoiding Second Division was the best hope for the team.
Crystal Palace – 15th with 48 points. The usual… however, with squad like that, they managed quite well this season.
Manchester City – 14th with 48 points. Perhaps the only bright thing about them was that they finished with the same points Manchester United earned. Looked like Manchester City settled in mediocrity for ever.
Manchester United – 13th with 48 points. Ahead of bitter rivals Manchester City only on goal-difference, but even that was negative: United finished with -1. Seemingly, there was no way out even with ambitious and able manager like Ferguson… once again United had strong squad which did nothing. Less than nothing… One can easily go back almost year after year seeing the same – strong on paper squad, which underperformed terribly. However… this time may have been slightly different.
Coventry City – 12th with 49 points. Hardly ever noticed, but what amazing story Coventry was: never strong, yet, always sturdy enough to stay away from trouble. Other clubs, great clubs, went down and were relegated, some unable to recover for years; Coventry remained. Year after year, no matter the fate of others, they stayed – in the lower half of the table, but rarely in real danger of relegation.
Queens Park Rangers – 11th with 50 points. The never ending ups and downs of QPR… Now, it was up – at least on paper. With Trevor Frances as playing manager and Don Howe as his assistant and Kenny Sansom, Peter Reid, Mark Falco, David Seaman, Leslie Ferdinand… this team should have been in better position in the league. Instead, it was so-so season.
Norwich City – 10th with 53 points. Given the squad, Norwich should have been desperately fighting for survival – but sometimes one can do more with less: the boys played better than ‘promising’ QPR, not to mention studded with stars Manchester United.
Nottingham Forest – 9th with 54 points. Maintained respectful, if not strong performance.
Wimbledon – 8th with 55 points. The spirit of the team cannot be denied – and perhaps thanks to it, Wimbledon was overachieving.
Southampton – 7th with 55 points. As usual, they had veterans – Osman and Case – but also younger talent this time: Shearer, Le Tissier, and Flowers.
Everton – 6th with 59 points. Running strong still, but looked like the club fell in its own trap of lamenting imagined possibilities – this squad should have played bigger role. Even with unfortunate Norman Whiteside.
Chelsea – 5th with 60 points. Apparently, the terrible years were over and the club was stable again – and ambitious, as result. Did not have really strong team, though, and at least for the moment was close to Wimbledon: overachievers.
Arsenal – 4th with 62 points. George Graham was the right man and he built strong squad – hence, the good results. But there was still need for reinforcements.
Tottenham Hotspur – 3rd with 63 points. An illusionary season: the Spurs clinched bronze medals, although they were not up to compete for more. Yet, it was a squad capable of more – on paper. Just look at the wealth of this team: Lineker and Gascoigne together is enough of an example. And that was the illusion.
Aston Villa – 2nd with 70 points. Challenging Liverpool was not up to them, but they were much stronger than the rest of the league and finished 7 points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur. A come back? Nigel Spink was the only link to the team which won the European Champions Cup, providing inspiration for current talent like Paul McGrath and David Platt. Well, not enough for true comeback.
Familiar and irritating: Liverpool dominated the championship again, collecting easily one more title – after 23 wins, 10 ties, 5 losses, and 78-37 scoring record, they finished with 79 points – 7 points ahead of Aston Villa and 14 points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur. Can’t deny the talent of the squad, can’t deny the talent of Dalglish, can’t deny the wise policies and ambition of the club. The only problem was boredom – year after years it was just Liverpool. And another problem was lurking bellow the surface: was this vintage truly strong compared to the top European clubs? Without playing in the European competitions there was no way to know and may be without noticing the club already took wrong direction in selecting new players. But who can blame dominant champions? This was their 18th title!

II Division. 24 teams, the last 3 relegated and the top 2 promoted. The next 4 teams in the final table went to promotion play-offs for the third promotion. And here happened quite unusual for England scandal, sadly marking the end of ‘gentlemen’s’ football: corruption engulfed the whole football world and there was no way back. Swindon Town won the promotion play-offs, but was not promoted for meantime the club and its chairman Brian Hillier were under investigation and prosecution for illegal payments. All together, the accused admitted 36 breaches of League rules, 35 related to illegal payments. Penalties followed, the biggest one was that Swindon Town remained in Second Division and Sunderland going up in their place. What could be said… winning was everything, no matter by what means. The only thing was not to get caught – Swindon Town was ‘unfortunate’: they were caught.
Apart from that – great battle for the title, decided on goal-difference.
Stoke City – last with 37 points and relegated.
Bradford City – 23rd with 41 points and relegated.
Bournemouth – 22nd with 48 points and relegated.
Middlesbrough – 21st with 50 points. Survived.
West Bromwich Albion – 20th with 51 points.
Barnsley – 19th with 54 points.
Brighton & Hove Albion – 18th with 54 points.
Oxford United – 17th with 54 points.
Plymouth Argyle – 16th with 55 points.
Watford – 15th with 57 points.
Hull City – 14th with 58 points.
Leicester City – 13th with 59 points.
Portsmouth – 12th with 61 points.
Port Vale – 11th with 61 points.
Wolverhamton Wanderers – 10th with 67 points.
Ipswich Town – 9th with 69 points.
Oldham Athletic – 8th with 71 points. Great season they had, although unable to win anything.
West Ham United – 7th with 72 points. Missed promotion play-offs by 2 points, but they were not the team they used to be in the 1960s and half of the 1970s, although having some well known players – Liam Brady and Phil Parkes, for instance. And bright young talent – Paul Ince.
Sunderland – called them lucky. They finished 6th with 74 points and thus qualified to promotion play-offs. In the first round they eliminated Newcastle United 0-0 and 2-0, but lost the decisive final against Swindon Town 0-1. But then Swindon Town was found guilty of 36 breaches of rules and punished. Sunderland was promoted to top flight in their place – well, it is not everyday the loser actually wins.
Blackburn Rovers – 5th with 74 points. Qualified to promotion play-offs, but lost in the first round to Swindon Town 1-2 ans 1-2. Obviously, an ascending club, but still nobody was able to envision what will happened in the very near future.
Swindon Town – 4th with 74 points. They qualified and won the promotion play-offs – eliminated Blackburn Rovers 2-1 and 2-1 at first and then prevailed over Sunderland at the fianl 1-0. Going up, a rare and, therefore, great success… but there was no going up. Found guilty of long list of breaches of rules, almost entirely related to payments, they were punished with staying in the Second Division. One can be sorry for Ossie Ardiles, who coached them.
Newcastle United – 3rd with 80 points. Under the old rules, they would have been promoted, but now the battle was not finished. Well, it was finished after the first round of promotion play-offs in which Newcastle, the highest scoring team (along with West Ham United) during the season was unable to score even once. They lost to Sunderland 0-0 and 0-2. Really, Newcastle had only themselves to blame: stronger than most of the league and finishing 6 points ahead of Swindon Town, they were unable to keep their strength when really mattered. Too bad.
Sheffield United and Leeds United, both teams with strong top league past, fought dramatically for the league title. They were stronger than the rest of the league, Leeds United, in particular, looked like on the road of recovery after long and dreadful decline. At the end, goal difference decided the champion.
Sheffield United lost – they ended 2nd with 85 points. 24 wins, 13 ties, 9 losses, 78-58 scoring record, which gave them +20 goal-difference – worse than the goal-difference of their rivals. Lost the Second Division title, but got promoted to the top league, which was much more important – especially because their city rivals were relegated in the same time.
Leeds United clinched the title on better goal-difference – otherwise, the records of them and Sheffield United were almost the same: 24 wins, 13 ties, 9 losses, 85 points, 79-52 scoring record. Not only the rivals had the same record of wins, ties, and lost matches, but they scored practically the same number of goals – Leeds scored only 1 goal more than Sheffield United, so the difference depended on received goals – and here Leeds was better, giving them +27 goal-difference to Sheffield’s +20. Dramatic victory, somewhat amusingly pronounced by the adds on their shirts – ‘Top man’ indeed.
Great moment, of course – the club was finally climbing back to First Division. As for glory… the old days when Leeds was one the best teams not just in England, but in Europe, were not envisioned: yes, the squad had talent, but a great team it was not – rather, a squad in promising rebuilding and that only if the process was continued: Gordon Strachan, Imre Varadi (Hungary), Mervyn Day, Gary Speed, John Hendrie, Vinnie Jones… not bad, but not exactly great. Rather, a solid backbone in need of additional good players and that only if keeping the backbone intact and in form. To stay in First Division, Leeds United seemingly needed more good players – and that to stay, not to win. However, the moment of victory was wonderful: only a year or two ago it looked like the club and even its fans were resigned to mid-table Second Division existence for good.

III Division. The last 4 – relegated, the top 2 promoted to Second Division and the next 4 teams going to promotion play-offs, the winner going up. Three teams dominated the championship.
Walsall – last with 41 points and out.
Blackpool – 23rd with 46 points and relegated.
Northampton Town – 22nd with 47 points and relegated.
Cardiff City – 21st with 50 points and relegated.
Fulham – 20th with 51 points.
Preston North End – 19th with 52 points.
Wigan Athletic – 18th with 53 points.
Swansea City – 17th with 54 points.
Chester City – 16th with 54 points.
Mansfield Town – 15th with 55 points.
Leyton Orient – 14th with 58 points.
Brentford – 13th with 61 points.
Crewe Alexandra – 12th with 62 points.
Shrewsbury Town – 11th with 63 points.
Reading – 10th with 64 points.
Rotherham United – 9th with 64 points.
Huddersfield Town – 8th with 65 points. Back: Mulhall (trainer), Shelton, Trevitt, O’Doherty, Cecere, Hardwick, Onuora, Leake, Mitchell, Duggan, Byrne, May, Bray, Williams (physio).
Front: Marsden, Maskell, O’Regan, Hutchings, Hand (manager), Withe (assistant manager), Smith, Bent, Wilson, Lewis.
Birmingham City – 7th with 66 points.
Bolton Wanderers – 6th with 69 points. Qualified to promotion play-offs, but was eliminated by Notts County 1-1 and 0-2.
Bury – 5th with 74 points and qualified to promotion play-offs. Eliminated in the first round by Tranmere Rovers 0-0 and 0-2.
Tranmere Rovers – 4th with 80 points. They reached the final of promotion play-offs after eliminating Bury, but at Wembley lost to superior Notts County 0-2 and remained in the league.
Strong season for Notts County, but they finished 3rd with 87 points and did not achieve direct promotion. However, they won the promotion play-offs – first eliminated Bolton Wanderers and after that – Tranmere Rovers.
Back row: Lund, Palmer, Law, Cherry, Yates, Davison, Short, O’Riordan, Platnauer
Middle: Newman(Asst.Man), Stant, Robinson, Pike, Norton, McStay, Fairclough, Machin, Cox, Kevan, Wilson(Physio)
Front: Barnes, Johnson, Hopcroft(Director), Mounteney(Vice Chair), Warnock(Manager), Pavis(Chairman), Hook(Chief Exec.), Turner, Draper .
A Bristol battle at the very top of the league, a matter of pride mostly.
Bristol City lost the battle by 2 points and finished 2nd. 27 wins (one more than Rovers), 10 ties, but 9 losses (4 more than their rivals). Scored more goals than Rovers – 76 – but also allowed more in their own net – 40. Yet, both teams ended with the same goal-difference: +36. City lost the championship, but was promoted to Second Division, so nothing was really lost and the battle will continue next season in the higher league.
Bristol Rovers enjoyed dramatic victory over their city rivals by 2 points: they finished with 93 and won the championship. 26 wins, 15 ties, only 5 lost games, 71-35 scoring record.
The sweetest of victories, for they snatched the title from their city rivals. Promoted up, of course, and naturally wanting to do better than City again – but that remains to be seen. Champions at the moment and enjoying it.

IV Division. 24 teams as usual. The last – relegated to Conference (Non-league); the top 3 teams directly promoted to Third Division and the next 4 teams competed for the last promotion in play-offs.
Colchester United – last with 43 points and relegated to Conference.
Halifax Town – 23rd with 49 points.
Aldershot – 22nd with 50 points.
Wrexham – 21st with 51 points. Terrible season, surely, but they were going to play in Europe – as losing finalist in the Welsh Cup. As it happened often, the winner was English team and could not represent Wales, so the losing finalist was going to play in the Cup Winners Cup.
Doncaster Rovers – 20th with 51 points.
Hartlepool United – 19th with 55 points.
Scarborough – 18th with 55 points.

Hereford United – 17th with 55 points.
Burnley – 16th with 56 points.
Torquay United – 15th with 57 points.
Gillingham – 14th with 62 points.
York City – 13th with 64 points.
Rochdale – 12th with 66 points.
Scunthorpe United – 11th with 66 points.
Lincoln City – 10th with 68 points.
Peterborough United – 9th with 68 points.
Carlisle United – 8th with 71 points. Missed promotion play-offs on worse goal-difference.
Chesterfield – 7th with 71 points. Quilified to promotion play-offs on better goal-difference than Carlisle United, but lost 0-1 to Cambridge there and remained in the league.
Cambridge United – 6th with 73 points and qualified to promotion play-offs. Did not do so well in the regular championship, but excelled in the play-offs: first they eliminated Maidstone United 1-1 and 2-0 and then, on Wembley, prevailed over Chesterfield 1-0 and were promoted to Third Division.
Maidstone United – 5th with 73 points. Great season for the newcomers – they reached promotion play-offs, had a chance to climb even higher in the professional League football. Alas, Cambridge eliminated them in the first play-off round. Still, it was great season for the club.
Stockport County – 4th with 74 points, but Chesterfield eliminated them in the promotion play-offs 0-4 and 0-2.
Southend United – 3rd with 75 points and promoted to Third Division.
Grimsby Town – 2nd with 79 points and promoted to Third Division.
Exeter City had a great season – 28 wins, 5 ties, 13 losses, 83-48 scoring record and 89 points: they finished 10 points ahead of Grimsby.
Confident champions if only of Forth Division. Of course, promoted up and hoping for better there.

England. So big was English dominance in club football that without playing in Europe for 3 years already the country ranked 12th. There was to be a big drop for the next season, but there was also the end of banishment coming. Not entirely, though… 2 teams were going to play in the 1990-91 Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Cup, but that was all – Liverpool and Nottingham Forest qualified, but were still excluded from international competitions. The domestic scene was not great either: Liverpool’s domination irritated many observers and aficionados, but there was nothing to be done about it: grumblers could not stop Liverpool from winning on the pitch and there was nobody able to challenge them. The solidifying of English football system with direct relegation and promotion between 4th and, now. 5th level brings closer attention to Non-league football, with its own complexity and variety. In general, 6 competitions stayed at the top there: 2 Cups and 4 championships. The vast realm of semi-professional football is impossible to show in full – too many teams. Like
Altrincham.
The winners should suffice:
FA Vase: Yeading
FA Trophy: Barrow
Southern League: Dover Athletic
Northern Premier League:
Colne Dynamoes.
Isthmian League: Slough Town
Football Conference: the top of the Non-league pyramid – the winner of this championship was promoted to Forth Division.
Darlington won the championship and went up to the professional system. They were just relegated in 1988-89, so climbing back right away.

The Cup final opposed lowly teams – Montpellier and Racing (Paris). For Racing winning the Cup may have been a way out of trouble – perhaps, may be, probably… for their financial problems were big. Montpellier had single success in the ancient past: they won the Cup once, in 1929. After that they had insignificant, modest at best, existence and given that, it almost a miracle they reached the final. Toa point, a battle of equals, but Montpellier was slightly better this season and managed to prevail at the final 2-1.
Racing lost the final and with that any chance to avoid destruction. Too bad… No point to evaluate the team – most of it was not going to play for Racing the next season.
Grand victory for Montpellier, immediately opening new vistas – it was not just winning a trophy at last, but going to play in the Cup Winners Cup tournament practically demanded the team to be reinforced, somehow to get more players with names, as it was ‘proper’ for a club with fresh trophy. They had a few well respected players, including Brazilian national team defender Julio Cesar, but Valderama, who played in the previous and the next season was missing. Instead, Eric Cantona was here for for a little while. Montpellier enjoyed big victory, a trophy, the boys became instant legends.
Here are the winners again – standing from left: Jean-Claude Lemoult, Franck Lucchesi, William Ayache, Daniel Xuereb, Albert Rust, Pascal Baills.
Crouching: Kader Ferhaoui, Julio César, Laurent Blanc, Vincent Guérin, Eric Cantona

First Division. 2 Teams directly relegated, the 18th going to promotion/relegation play-off against the best of second-placed teams in Second Division, still 2 points for a win. Two teams were entangled in a battle for the title, but the bitter efforts to avoid relegation involved about 8 teams. Perhaps the most bitter part of this season was the end of the ambitious project for re-vamping Racing (Paris) – it worked for a while, but only for a while.
Mulhouse – last and relegated with 28 points. Expected, to a point.
Racing (Paris) – 19th with 30 points. It was not that much a weak squad, nor it was incapable coach – Racing was not all that bad, even reached the Cup final, but money dried up again and the project to restore once upon a time strong and well respected club failed. Perhaps Paris was indifferent to the club, prefering Paris SG. And Racing was relegated, but not to Second Division – they were relegated to third level, which clearly suggested great financial troubles, perhaps at the brink of bankruptcy. What a bitter story.
OGC Nice – lost their leading role in French football many years ago and now preoccupied only with survival. 18th with 31 points – direct relegation was avoided, but they had to go to promotion/relegation against Strasbourg – luckily, they prevailed and remained in the top league.
Lille OSC – 17th with 33 points.
Caen – 16th with 34 points. Not bad for a modest club – survival was all they hoped for. A well-known in the past English striker was with them – Rix, getting old and certainly not good enough for Arsenal anymore.
St. Etienne – 15th with 34 points. No miracles… the return of Herve Herbin at the helm was helping only to keep place in the top league. Dutch star Witschge was here, but the team was generally weak – nothing in common with the great squad Herbin marshaled to glory in the 1970s. Decline was seemingly unstoppable.
FC Metz – 14th with 34 points.
Montpellier-Herault SC – 13th with 34 points. Nothing special, as usual, yet, this season happened to be their best ever. A few strong players were instrumental: young Cantona and Blanc plus grizzled veterans Rust, Xuereb, Der Zakarian and Brazilian star Julio Cesar. Coached by well-known Jacquet. Enough for success in Cup format, but not for a whole long season.
Toulon – 12th with 35 points. Presently, their coach Delio Onnis was the biggest name. There was some talent in the squad, but still too young.
AS Cannes – 11th with 36 points. Still strangers to top-league football and perhaps not caring for more or better: Cannes had its Film Festival and all movie stars, who cares about football?
FC Brest Armorique – 10th with 38 points. Modest club with sturdy attitude.
Toulouse – 9th with 38 points. Soviet defender Vagiz Khidiatoulin was the bigger name in the team, which achieved curious record: from 38 games, they had 13 wins, 12 ties, 13 losses, 39-39 goal-difference, and 38 points.
Olympique Lyon – 8th with 39 points. Trying hard to climb back from the decline, but not having yet significant squad.
Nantes – 7th with 40 points. Apparently, trying to rebuild, but new team was not ready yet. The Yugoslav already well respected coach Blazevic had a mix of well known, but aging player – Burruchaga (Argentina), Vercauteren (Belgium), Amisse (France); current French national team regulars – Le Guen and Ouedec, and talented youngsters, who became famous eventually, but at the moment were too young – Deschamps, Henry, Kombouare.
AJ Auxerre – 6th with 41 points. The magic of Guy Roux was already established as something constant and self-evident: Auxerrre was keeping highly competitive squad no matter who was moving to play elsewhere. And the Polish connection was maintained – Matysik. That was the secret for their success: Guy Roux and Polish imports.
Paris Saint-Germain – 5th with 42 points. True to its own tradition: strong, but not strong enough to be really a decisive factor, expensive team full of aging stars, coached by big name. Tomislav Ivic had his Yugoslav compatriots Susic and Vujovic, the Argentine Calderon, Bats, Bravo, Bibard, Le Roux… and was entirely out of the battle for the title.
FC Sochaux-Montbeliard – 4th with 43 points. Compared to Paris SG, Sochaux was… insignificant. Silvester Takac was good coach, but not at the level of fellow Yugoslav Ivic and he had only 2 famed players, from Yugoslavia as well: Bazdarevic and Hadzibegic. They were also a notch bellow Paris SG’s Susic and Vujovic. Yet, Sochaux finished ahead of expensive Paris SG.
AS Monaco – 3rd with 46 points. Keeping strong in their own peculiar way – not a title contenders, but got the bronze medals. Poor scorers (38 goals in 38 games), good defenders, masters of the tie (16 matches. Sure, Wenger was making his name rapidly, but Monaco was keeping only decent squad. Ettori and English stars Hoddle and Hateley were aging, but there was group of talented youngsters – Thuram, Weah, Toure. If Monaco was able – or willing – to keep them… but that was about the future.
Girondens de Bordeaux – 2nd with 51 points. Only a year ago it looked like the strong years of Bordeaux ended, but they were back. They fought for the title, the only rival of Marseille this season, but lost it – no big deal, on the surface, but a deeper look suggests that Bordeaux was on dangerous path: to stay competitive, the club was doing patchwork – getting old players for year or two instead of building a new team. Battiston was bought before the start of the season from Monaco. Both goalkeepers were veterans well over 30-years – Dropsy and Cameroonian Bell. The West German defender Manfred Kaltz. Ayache, Thouvenel, Ferreri… All of them were yesterday’s news, close to retirement. The only player for the future was Lizarazu. From this perspective, too bad Bordeaux lost the title – for it was almost certain that they were not going to be in race the next year and beyond.
Olympique Marseille prevailed over Bordeaux and won the championship with 53 points from 22 wins, 9 ties, and 7 losses. 75-34 goal-difference – attack was their main quality, scoring plenty of goals and no surprise in it, for they were captained by wonderful goalscorer at his prime – Papin. An ambitious project, based on money, and aiming at elevating Marseille to the top of not only French, but European football. And since money was not a problem – buying classy players was the answer for whatever problems emerged. If Bordeaux chose to buy old players to patch the moment, Marseille had already strong mix of old and young, foreign and domestic. Amoros was added for this season, but he, Tigana and Vercruysse were mostly for the moment – strong, famed, reliable veterans, helping those at their peak – Papin, the Brazilian national team regular Carlos Mozer, English Chris Waddle, Francescoli (Uruguay), K-H Foerster (West Germany) And along with them – young and already more than noticed Franck Sauzee, Alain Roche, Gaetan Huard, Di Meco. Second title in a row and 7th altogether for Marseille. With big promise for more.
Sitting from left: Belly (?) – masseur, Tigana, Deschamps, Diallo, Thys, Papin, Amoros, Dr. Duby – doctor.
Middle row: Gili – coach, Vercruysse, Francescoli, Di Meco, Mura, Durand, K-H. Foerster, Bernes – administrator.
Top row: Huard, Waddle, Germain, Mozer, Roche, Sauzee, Castaneda.

Second Division Group B. Four – if not five – teams fought for the first place.
Stade Quimperois (Quimper) was the outsider – last with 22 points. They won only 4 matches. Yet… no relegation.
Abbeville – 17th with 27 points. Relegated.
FC Lorient – 16th with 27 points and relegated for some reason.
La Roche sur Yon – 15th with 28 points.
FC Tours – 14th with 30 points.
En Avant Guingamp – 13th with 31 points.
AS Saint-Seurin – 12th with 31 points.

USL Dunkerque – 11th with 33 points.
SCO Angers – 10th with 33 points.
US Creteil – 9th with 33 points.
Lens – 8th with 34 points.
Chamois Niortais (Niort) – 7th with 35 points.

AS Beauvais-Marissel – 6th with 38 points.
Le Havre – 5th with 40 points.

Stade Lavallois (Laval) – 4th with 41 points. Cameroonian star Omam-Biyik will go to the World Cup shortly after the end of the season. Bulgarian Valery Kulinov was one of many East Europeans moving in flocks to play in the West at this time. The foreigners were not enough for Laval to return to top flight.
FC Rouan – 3rd with 41 points. Known to do more than expected with their modest budget, they were unable to climb back to First Division this season.
US Valenciennes Anzin – 2nd with 44 points. One more former top-league member trying to climb back to it, but losing the battle in dramatic manner: on goal-difference. They ended with +11, their rivals with +12. Such misfortune…
Stade Rennais FC (Rennes) clinched top position on one goal better goal-difference. Dramatic victory for a team which somewhat did not impress: 18 wins, 8 ties, 8 losses (Valenciennes had exactly the same record), but poor scorers: 39 goals in 34 games (8 teams outscored them, including Tours, which finished 14th ). Had the best defensive record, though, and at the end that was the difference giving them 1-goal advantage over Valenciennes. Tremendously lucky, but returned to First Division.

France. Ranked 10th along with Yugoslavia: both countries had 23,200 points at the moment, so they shared 10-11 place. Two teams fought for the title, leaving the rest far behind. Sadly, the project Racing Paris came to bitter end. On the other hand the super-project Olympique Marseille seemingly was sailing fine.
Second Division Group A. 18 teams, the champion directly promoted. Relegation depended not only on performance, but on financial and other situations. The second-best team had some chances for promotion, providing it reached promotion/relegation play-off against the 18th in First Division.
FC Montceau-Bourgogne was last with 18 points, an absolute outsider and relegated.
AS Red Star 93 (Paris) was 17th with 28 points, but was not relegated – which was just fine for the aging Soviet defender Bubnov, one of the long-time players of the strong USSR team during the 1980s. Now he barely avoided plummeting down to third level.
FC Grenoble – 16th with 28 points. They were relegated, most likely for financial reasons. Young Djorkaeff already left the club, so he was lucky.
Entente Chaumontaise (Chaumont) – 15th with 29 points.
FC Annecy – 14th with 30 points.
Louhans-Cuiseaux 71 – or Cuiseaux Louhans, this club is ever confusing, for the name is written alternatively – 13th with 30 points.
US Orleans – 12th with 30 points.
FC Gueugnon – 11th with 30 points.
CF Dijon – or Cercle Dijon – 10th with 31 points.

Istres SF – 9th with 31 points.
Olympique Avignonnais (Avignon) – 8th with 34 points.

Stade de Reims – 7th with 35 points.
SEC Bastia – 6th with 39 points.
FC Martigues – 5th with 40 points.
Olympique Ales – 4th with 43 points.
Nimes Olympique – 3rd with 43 points.
RC Strasbourg – 2nd with 43 points. Came 2nd on best goal-difference : +31. Reached promotion/relegation play-off, but lost it and remained in the Second Division.
Nancy dominated the championship and won it 7 points ahead of Strasbourg, Nimes, and Ales. 21 wins, 8 ties, 5 losses, 62-24 (second-best scorers – Strasbourg scored70 goals, but best defensive record) and 50 points. Strasbourg had better-known players, but Nancy topped them easily and was happily promoted back to First Division.