Interesting season in Belgium, which was running on Dutch feet as ever. The recent international successes of Anderlecht and FC Brugge suggested domestic supremacy, but… it was the year of surprises.
KSV Cercle Brugge (Brugge) won the second division – more or less, expected result, for the smaller club of Brugge was usually top league team. It was not an easy victory – with 46 points, the winners clinched promotion by a point. Their only rival this season were SC Tongeren, also recent member of top flight. The rest of the league was far behind.
But Tongeren were to be very sorry for finishing second, for the the other promotional spot was not automatic: it was to be decided by round-robin tournament between the clubs placed right after the champions – KAA Gent (3rd), FC Diest (4th), and SC Hasselt (5th). In the regular championship neither came even close to Tongeren – KAA Gent finished with 38 points. Tongeren had 45. Looked like the mini-league was not necessary – Tongeren was much better than the others. But this was during the regular season and paper does not mean much: the new chance was not to be missed by anybody and playing two matches against direct opponents was something else than regular season. Tongeren won 2 matches, tied another 2, and lost 2. They scored 10 goals – a record of the mini-league, shared with SC Hasselt, but also received a lot – 11 goals. Leaky defense and nothing much. Tongeren ended 3rd. FC Diest were obvious outsiders – they lost 5 matches and managed a single tie. The battle for promotion was between KAA Gent and SC Hasselt. KAA Gent excelled defensively – they allowed only 3 goals, but strong defense usually means weak attack – they scored 7 goals, won 3 matches, tied 2, and lost one. 8 points were good, but not enough – SC Hasselt, more attacking minded team, earned 9: 4 wins, 1 tie, 1 loss, 10- 4 goal-difference.
Surprise winners of the important mini-league – SC Hasselt.
SC – or KSC – Hasselt had a modest regular season – they were 5th with 36 points, thanks to better head-to-head record: RC Mechelen also had 36 points and far better goal-difference. For a very modest club, this was great performance as it was. They were lucky to go to the promotional tournament, but as an outsiders. Goal-scoring was obvious problem – they managed only 32 goals in the regular 30 matches of the season. Their opponents outscored them by far: FC Diest – 55 goals, KAA Gent – 56 and Tongeren – twice more: 68. But Hasselt seized their chance, played excellent final tournament and won the second promotion. Which was the best achievement of the club so far – the club was founded in 1908 as Excelsior, but merged with another local club in 1964, becoming KSC Hasselt. Even in Belgium their name did not ring a bell – they never played in first division. No famous player, nothing… a tiny club, perhaps happy just to be in the second division, if possible. Unlikely promotion, but great moment for club and fans. They were not going to last among the best, as it turned out, but those were the best years in the history of the club – and the years, in which they had some famous names: Peter Ressel (from the strong Feyenoord team of the early 1970s) and Horst Blankenburg (from the best Ajax team) joined the club for their debut at the top league. In 1980 the great Czechoslovakian star of the 1960s, Josef Masopust, arrived to coach them. But all that was in the future – presently, it was just joy.