First Division had surprising season – both on top and bottom.
That Sigma (Olomouc) was the outsider and last with 16 points was not a surprise. But Zbrojovka (Brno) at 15th place with 23 points was – not long ago they were champions. True, the team was not all that strong and nothing was added to it, but this was not a club usually trying to escape relegation. An unusual slump, ending with relegation.
The likelier candidate for relegation – Plastica (Nitra) – survived this time. 14th place with 26 points. For them – strong season.
Slovan (Bratislava) was clearly in crisis – it was already noticed, but there was no improvement. 13th.
Spartak (Trnava) was also in bad shape, but this season managed to stay in the middle of the table. 8th with 30 points.
On the other hand, modest and even unlikely first division member TJ Vitkovice was gaining strength – they were 7th with 31 points. Hardly noticeable achievement and to a point the rise of Vitkovice remained hidden.
The eternal sufferers Slavia (Prague) continued to suffer – one more unimpressive season, 7th.
Dukla (Prague), however, did no better – having one of the strongest squads at the time, they finished 6th and that only thanks to better goal-difference than the one Slavia had. The other strong team – Sparta (Prague) – was also miserable: they were 3rd, but not in the title race at all. 36 points.
Thus, the league was reduced to a race between two teams – Banik (Ostrava) and Bohemians (Prague). Banik was not a surprise – they were continuously strong, but eventually had to settle with 2nd place. 40 points were just not enough. Bohemians had 2 points more.
A Cinderella story, if you like. Old, respected, but never winning anything. No matter what, Bohemians ranked 4th among the Prague clubs, never having the resources of Dukla and eventually Sparta, never having the popularity of Slavia and Sparta. Modest club with modest stadium, so far having only one claim to fame – Antonin Panenka. But the living legend was no longer with his beloved club – he played in Austria. Thanks largely to him, Bohemians was relatively strong, even climbing up, since, roughly, 1975. When Panenka left, the reasonable expectation was that Bohemians would suffer and quickly drop down. Perhaps the traditional modesty of the club blinded everyone, for the recruit of good players was practically missed. Suddenly Bohemians had a solid group of regulars and out of the blue was run for the title. Some of the new masters were pretty much old hands – Bicovsky, aging, but still a key member of the national team. Dusan Herda was once upon a time big promise, but eventually Slavia gave up and let him go. Sturdy second-rater by now, but finding second breath in Bohemians green and white. But along the veterans flourished younger players – Jakubec, Borovicka, Hruska, Nemec, Cermak, Prokes, Chaloupka, Dolezal. They were somewhat overlooked by the big clubs and suddenly Bohemians had a winning team. They lost major, but lonely star, getting a champion squad. 18 wins, 6 ties, only 6 lost games, 69-31 goal-difference, and 42 points. They outscored all other teams by far – Slavia, the second-best scorers managed only 56 goals – and only Dukla had better defensive record (24 goals received).
Bohemians was in haven – their 1st ever title. Long wait, against the odds, but finally done. Too bad their greatest season was without their greatest ever player, but on the other hand now Bohemians had 2 legends – a legendary player and a legendary squad. Simply great year. And unfortunate too… now the focus was on them and bigger clubs surely wanted some of the players. Bohemians faced a huge problem immediately after sobering from celebration: how to keep competitive team. They had little to offer. Lovely underdogs.