First Division. Two teams competed for the title, with Bohemians (Prague) still going strong, although on inertia. Two clubs were weaker than the general level of the league, but, in general, the whole league was rather equal, there were not great divides.
Plastika (Nitra) ended last with 19 points.
SKLO Union (Teplice) was the second relegated team – 15th with 20 points. Just returned from second division exile and going back there immediately.
Tatran (Presov) survived – 14th with 23 points.
ZVL (Zilina) – 13th with 25 points.
Slavia (Prague) – 12th with 26 points.
Ruda Hvezda (Cheb) – 11th with 26 points.
TJ Vitkovice – a club of the confusing kind of Petrzalka and Viktoria Zizkov: usually staying on its own, is if representing different town than the one it belongs to. In this case, Ostrava. 10th with 27 points.
Slovan (Bratislava) – 9th with 27 points.
Lokomotiva (Kosice) – 8th with 27 points.
Spartak (Trnava) – 7th with 29 points.
Inter (Bratislava) – 6th with 29 points.
Banik (Ostrava) – 5th with 35 points. Here was the only big divide in the league – the top 5 and all the rest. 6 points difference between the 5th and the 6th, but this did not mean that the top 5 were all that heavily fighting between themselves: Banik was not competing for the title, for instance. Just keeping solid performance.
Dukla (Banska Bystrica) was the pleasant surprise this season – newcomers, finishing 4th with 37 points. But this has to be taken with a grain of salt, for Dukla was hardly newcomer – they played often top league football and as an army team, their fate depended on current recruits. No big talent here, but good enough for at least one strong season.
Bohemians (Prague) – 3rd with 40 points. Bronze was good enough for them. It was clear that another title is impossible: they did their best with recruiting and the team was not bad at all, but no matter what, they were never able to compete with their bigger neighbours for first rate talent. So, it was running on inertia already and that could not last long.
But this was fun club and nobody could match their retro style.
The championship boiled down to Prague rivalry, Dukla vs Sparta. Dukla got the short end twice – they lost the final for the Czech Cup 0-3 and 0-3, and they lost the championship.
Dukla (Prague) – 2nd with 44 points. All depends on standpoint: at least in Prague, to see unpopular ‘government’ club losing was more than fine. Especially if one supports the ‘old clubs’. On the other hand – Dukla was pretty much the strongest squad at the period, so their loss posed a question about the real strength of the current generation. Well, it was not a huge drop of form – on the contrary. Dukla lost the title by 2 points, but prevailed in the direct clash with their opponent, getting 4 points – a win and a tie.
Sparta won its 14th title with 20 wins, 6 ties, 4 losses, 58-24 goal-difference, and 46 points. It was not an easy victory, but this was less important than the restoration of the leading role of Sparta: the last championship they won before this season was in 1967. The 1970s were terrible period for Sparta and they were even relegated to second division. And on top of everything Dukla recovered lost ground after 1975. But Sparta, perhaps to the envy of their traditional arch-rivals Slavia, managed to come back – and were still the leading club of the country: Dukla had 11 titles, Sparta – 14.