Greece ranked 17th at club level – seemingly, the slow improvement during the 1970s moved Greek football to the middle level of Europe. Not bad. Yet, this season was rather low-key – nothing sensational either way. Iraklis (Thessaloniki) easily won the Northern Group of Second Division, 14 points ahead of the second best, Pierikos (Katerini), and with great goal-difference – 99-22, that is +77! In the Southern Group the intrigue lasted to the end – 2 teams were above the rest and finished with equal points: Egaleo (Athens) and APS Rodos (Rodos). With 55 points, they were 8 points ahead of Diagoras (Rodos). Egaleo ended first at the final table, having better goal-difference by 3 goals, but winning the championship was nothing yet: rules stipulated a play-off for promotion in case like that and goal-difference was not a factor. The candidates met on neutral ground, in Heraclion (Crete), and in the most important match of the year APS Rodos prevailed over Egaleo 1-0. So, Iraklis and APS Rodos were promoted.
First division, then. Atromitos (Athens) was the outsider this season, finishing 18th with 21 points. Their relegation reduced Athens presence in the top league to 5 teams for the next year. Two clubs struggled to avoid the deadly 17th place – APS Korinthos escaped relegation at the end with 27 points. Earning just 26 points, Panachaiki (Patras) went down.
AO Kavala took 15th place with 29 points.
PAS Giannina was 11th, by now a solid mid-table club.
Doxa (Drama) was 9th – nothing spectacular, but for a modest club perhaps a strong season.
Panserraikos (Serres) was 8th – like Doxa, enjoying a good season. But that was pretty much the usual shuffling in the league, leaving the top to the big clubs, as ever.
Panathinaikos greatly disappointed its fans, having a weak season and finishing 5th, 3 points behind the 4th. Out of the picture, really. The rivalry between Athens and Thessaloniki was very much alive, though. Three clubs competed for silver and bronze – AEK (Athens) and PAOK and Aris from Thessaloniki.
PAOK lost the race with 42 points and ended 4th.
A point better than their city rivals, Aris collected bronze medals, and AEK clinched silver medals also by a point, finishing with 44 points and the best attack in the league, but with very leaky defense.
No real competition for the title – Olympiakos enjoyed a smooth run and won the championship with 49 points.
Without a real rival, it is difficult to evaluate the strength of this vintage. Standing from left: Nikos Sarganis, Takis Nikoloudis, Kostas Orfanos, Nikos Vamvakoulas, Marco Novoselac, Stavris Papadopoulios.
First row: Maik Galakos, Jiannis Kyrastas, ?, Takis Persias, Thomas Ahlstrom.
Naturally, a whole bunch of national team players, but hardly a memorable squad. Novoselac (Yugoslavia) and Alstrom (Sweden) were good enough for the Greek championship, but not exactly great stars – Olympiakos had stronger foreigners in the recent past. Perhaps Galakos, constantly moving between Greece and his country of birth, West Germany, symbolizes best the team of that time: one of the top players in Greece, but never able to impress in West Germany. Olympiakos won and deserved to win, but one cannot suppress the feeling that this victory was also due to the lack of real competition.