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.
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