Second Division. Two leaders, no outsiders, real battle only for third place and avoiding relegation, and yet another Cinderella story. Second Division was perhaps the place the drama of English football really unfolded – here struggled the remains of the 1970s leaders, some sinking further down, and here better adjusted to the realities of the 1980s teams pushed up.
Woolverhampton Wanderers finished last with 33 points. This was one of the terrible examples – a crisis so big, the club had only one direction: down.
Cardiff City – 21st with 35 points. Relegated, of course.
Notts County – 20th with 37 points. They played top league football just the previous season and now were going to third level. Back row: Beaver, Clarke, Dalton, McDonagh, Hunt, Richards
Middle row: Walker(Youth), Jones, Lahtinen, Leonard, O’Neill, Harkouk, Short(Physio)
Front row: Benjamin, Downing, Fashanu, Lloyd(Manager), Hodson, McParland, Goodwin.
Middlesbrough – 19th with 40 points. A bright team in the 1970s, now struggling just to keep place in the Second Division.
Sheffield United – 18th with 44 points.
Charlton Athletic – 17th with 45 points.
Carlisle United – 16th with 47 points.
Crystal Palace – 15th with 48 points.
Oldham Athletic – 14th with 53 points.
Huddersfield Town – 13th with 55 points. Sam Allardyce this and Sam Alardyce that today? That is the coach. Before the coach was the player and he played here.
Wimbledon – 12th with 58 points. Unlike other stellar teams, they moved at slower pace. Just promoted, but nothing special – only getting familiar with this division, it may be said.
Barnsley – 11th with 58 points.
Grimsby Town – 10th with 62 points. Bravely holding their ground, may be surprisingly so.
Fulham – 9th with 65 points.
Shrewsbury Town – 8th with 65 points. May be their best period.
Leeds United – 7th with 69 points. No recovery in sight… David Harvey and Frank Gray used to play European and World Cup finals, now – Shrewsbury. What a fate and what a disaster. Dennis Irwin is also here, but still very young – his fame will come with another club.
Leeds was close to the group fighting for third place this year, but slightly weaker and a credible contender.
The battle for 3rd place, giving promotion, was fierce, involving 4 teams. 2 points was the whole difference at the end.
Brighton & Hove Albion got the short stick at the end – 6th with 72 points – and one may wonder was it because they depended on aged stars. Frank Worthington, Joe Corrigan, Jimmy Case, the Dutch import Hans Kraay – a formidable bunch, but too old already.
Blackburn Rovers – 5th with 73 points. They haven’t been in the spotlights for a long, long time, so their sudden climb to the top was a bit suspect: was it a recovery at last, or just an occasional good season? They had to stay in Second Division.
Portsmouth – 4th. Unlucky, for sure – they lost promotion only on goal-difference, finishing with 74 points. Alan Ball did a great job, but the squad was not great and it was unlikely small club like Portsmouth to be able to recruit classier additions. One can be sorry for them just for that – a brave, unassuming team with limited resources really deserved promotion.
Manchester City clinched 3rd place with 74 points and slightly better goal-difference than Portsmouth – nobody thought that Manchester City will accept live in Second Division, but the squad was rather poor. It was not a big comeback at all, only a struggle to get promoted somehow. Nothing impressive, but at least the club looked like changing its old wrong ways, which led it to relegation: no more big names on their last legs. Unfortunately, no bright young talent either…
Birmingham City – 2nd with 82 points. Confident squad, trying to win the championship and losing it by 2 points, but promotion was never in doubt. Birmingham, though, was perhaps the only English team coming close to the continental ‘unsettled’ clubs – too strong for second level, too weak for the first, constantly moving up and down. Just relegated, Birmingham bounced back right away – obviously, not a squad for this league, but were they good enough for first division? Looked like they needed more than what they had. David Seaman was not yet a famous name.
Oxford United won the championship: 25 wins, 9 ties, 8 losses, 84-36, 84 points. It was fantastic success, the team worked hard and eventually prevailed over seasoned Birmingham. And it was one more Cinderella story in the age of the underdog – in the wake of Watford, Swansea, Notts County, Brighton & Hove, and Bolton Wanderers came Oxford United, just promoted to Second Division. Champions of Third Division in 1983-84, champions of Second Division in 1984-85, what a climb! And there was more – unlike the underdogs above, Oxford did not have long professional history: they debuted in the 4th Division in 1962-63, taking the place of Accrington Stanley, which resigned during the previous season. So far, nothing commended Oxford – yes, they eventually climbed to Second Division, but spent 10 years in the Third before winning the 1983-84 championship. Never played top league football – a real debutantes, which was extremely rare in English football. Would they be able to survive first division football remained to be seen, but promotion itself was fantastic achievement. And in grand style – not just promotion, but after winning the tough Second Division championship.