First Division. In a nut shell, 5 teams way above the rest of 16-team league, two hopeless outsiders, and Olympiakos having a weak season. 10 of league members hailed from 3 cities – 5 from Athens, 3 from Saloniki, and 2 from Piraeus. Nothing new about that and ultimately the championship was the familiar rivalry between these three cities and their biggest clubs.
Pierikos (Katerini) was last with 12 points.
Aigaleo (Athens) was the second ousider – 15th with 13 points. Both clubs were very weak from the start of the season and their relegation was sure thing, so everybody else had relaxed season.
Panachaiki (Patras) was 14th, but with 21 points – weak or not, they had nothing to worry about during this season.
Doxa (Drama) – 13th with 22 points.
Apollon Kalamarias (Saloniki) – 12th with 24 points.
Apollon (Athens) – 11th with 25 points.
OFI (Iraklion) – 10th with 26 points.
Ethnikos (Piraeus) – 9th with 27 points.
Panionios (Athens) – 8th with 30 points.
Aris (Saloniki) – 7th with 30 points.
AE Larissa – 6th with 35 points. Excellent season for Larissa, although they were not among the leaders.
And above the bulk of the league were 5 teams, relatively equal.
Iraklis (Saloniki) – 5th with 41 points. Good and stable, but even when they were good, it was a team really able to run for the title.
Olympiakos (Piraeus) had slightly weaker than usual season, but still they finished ahead of Iraklis – 4th with 42 points. That was how weak and strong compared objectively. Subjectively, Olympiakos saw this season as a disaster.
AEK (Athens) took 3rd place with 43 points. Yes, they were a bit disappointed, for the title was not in their hands, but they secured a UEFA Cup spot, so it was not so bad.
Panathinaikos (Athens) also finished with 43 points, but they had better goal-difference than AEK and took 2nd place. They scored most goals in the league – 61 – but were unable to win the championship. Thus, the season was seen as a failure. If there is anything to say about them, it would be about a mystery, kept under lid to this very day: there Bulgarian-born goalkeeper Thomas Laftsis. He was clearly with Greek citizenship by now – like his German-born teammate Maik Galakos – for Panathinaikos used as regulars both plus the 2 allowed foreigners, the Yugoslav Zaiec and the Argentine Rocha. Unlike Galakos Laftsis was not able to play for the national team of Greece, because he played for Bulgaria before moving to Greece. But his transfer was and is murky: he was permitted to emigrate to Greece because of his ethnicity. But in the recent years it had been hinted that he was not simply permitted to emigrate, but was sent there with some spying mission. It makes sense, since he was player of Levski-Spartak in Bulgaria, the club belonging to the Police – and the Secret Police naturally had a lot to do with it. Technically, he was a Police officer of Bulgaria. What possible secret mission a football player may perform is almost a ridiculous question, but the Greek career of Laftsis is little known – Laftsis returned to Bulgaria after 1990 and remain there. He almost never talks about his playing days and in general provides little about his Greek years in interviews. He built a business – that is all he says. He may mention playing for Panathinaikos, but hardly ever about playing for his previous club, OFI. He may say occasionally he was a star in Greece – but 1984-85 was the really the only season he was regular of Panathinaikos. Well, that is all and whatever the real story was, one thing is sure – with him between the goalposts Panathinaikos won nothing this season. Not his fault, but hardly a story of success.
PAOK (Saloniki) won the championship after 19 wins, 8 ties, and 3 losses. 54-26 goal-difference and 46 points. Three points more than Panathinaikos and AEK had. Not domineering and perhaps a bit opportunistic victory, due to the relative weakness of Panathinaikos, AEK, and Olympiakos. The squad was hardly superior to the squads of the rivals – PAOK always had Greek stars, but never in the numbers the three big clubs had. Iosifidis, Damanakis, Kostikos, and Dimopoulos were national team players, yet, not the greatest Greek stars at the moment. Compared to the foreigners the competition had, PAOK’s paled – Ivan Jurisic and Rade Paprica were at best second-rate Yugoslavs. Even their coach, the Austrian Walter Skocik was not a well known name. But it was obviously stable combination, which took advantage from the shaky performance of the rivals and came on top. From local point of view it was fantastic season – PAOK won its 2nd title, almost 10 years after winning the first one. Beating the big clubs from Athens and Piraeus was just great – this was even fans of Aris and Iraklis can be proud of, for Saloniki beat hated Athens. Successful underdog is always lovely.