Argentina. The 1988–89 Argentine Primera División was the 99th season of top-flight football in Argentina. The season ran from 13 August 1989 to 22 May 1990. This tournament was the last played under the double round-robin system. Since the following season, the “Apertura and Clausura format would be introduced, crowning two different champions within a year. The 1989–90 Argentine Primera B Nacional was the fourth season of second division professional of football in Argentina. A total of 22 teams competed. If the championship was simple and clear, promotion and relegation was another matter and quite complicated. In due course it will be introduced.
II Division. The champion was directly promoted to I Division, but the second team to go up was the winner of post-season qualification in which the teams from 2nd to 10th place in the final standing plus the champions of Primera B Metropolitana and Zonales Noroeste and Sureste from Torneo del Interior played. It was cup-format tournament in which the 3rd placed in the championship qualified for the second round and the 2nd placed team – to the ½ final. The winner won promotion to I Division.
Promotion to and relegation from II Division were more complicated. The separate 3-year relegation table existed, of course, but depending on which part of the country the teams in it were, there was direct and indirect relegation – direct for those affiliated with AFA and then went down to Primera B Metropolitana for such clubs were all from Greater Buenos Aires. Those with indirect affiliation with AFA – that is, provincial clubs – went down to their regional leagues. However, the relegation table made distinction between the two groups of teams, so depending on affiliation with AFA the lowest placed from Greater Buenos Aires and the separately the lowest provincial teams went down. However, the provincial teams did not go down just like that – there were 3 promotion/relegation play-offs in which those in danger of relegation played against their regional champion, theoretically a two-leg play-offs, but if the team from II Division, hosting the first leg, won it, there was no second leg. In case two legs were indecisive still, a third leg was played and if there was still no winner, the II Division team kept its place. So, let’s start from that.
Fernandez Oro from Liga Desportiva Confluencia, Rio Negro Province, Zonal Sureste, lost 0-8 to Cipolletti. Standing from left: Gastón González, Claudio Gallucci, Fernando Iglesias, Horacio López, Daniel Villarruel, Alejandro Martini. Crouching: Aníbal Iachetti, Fabio Gallucci, Hugo López, Mirko Ledesma, Nelson.
Cipolletti remained in II Division.
Guemes (Santiago del Estero) from Liga Santiaguena de Futbol managed a 0-0 tie in the first leg against city rivals Central Cordoba, but lost the second leg 1-3.
Central Cordoba (Santiago del Estero) remained in II Division.
Atletico Concepcion from Liga Tucumana de Futbol also was unbetaen in the first leg – 0-0 away against Atletico Tucuman – but no goal was scored in the second leg – 0-0 – and third match was scheduled, in which finaly a goal was scored, but in the net of Atletico Concepcion. Atletico Tucuman won 1-0 and remained in II Division.
Thus, all teams from Second Division playing at promotion/relegation play-offs preserved their places. Only those facing direct relegation went down – that is, teams affiliated with AFA.
Deportivo Armenio was last in the season with 22 points. They were also last in the relegation table and since they were a team from Greater Buenos Aires, were directly relegated to Primera B Metropolitana. The team photo is most likely from the 1990-91 season, but since that is not entirely sure… let stay here.
Olimpo ended 21st with 30 points. They were 21st in the relegation too and subject to indirect relegation to Liga del Sur. However, there is no record of promotion/relegation ply-off, so they must have been directly relegated. Standing from left: Miguel A. Suárez, Antonio Mércuri, Alberto F. Ehulech, Alfredo E. Torres, Horacio Robledo, Daniel Ronco. Front: Alfredo Oviedo, Luis A. Díaz, Marcelo Paolucci, Francisco O. Vargas, Raúl Schmidt.
Cipolletti – 20th with 33 points. 19th in the relegation table and subjected to promotion/relegation play-off which they won and kept their league place.
Defensa y Justicia – 19th with 35 points. 15th in the relegation table and safe.
Talleres (Remedios de Escalada) – 18th with 35 points. 14th in the relegation table and safe. Second row from left: Máximo Pizzarulli, Marcos G. Leiva, Rubén Urquiza, Luis Agli, Daniel Franceschini, Walter Cuadra. Crouching: Claudio Chiodi, Omar González, Omar Castro Villasenín, Alfredo O. Videla, Aldo Noblea.
Deportivo Maipu – 17th with 35 points. 18th in the relegation table and safe.
Central Cordoba (Santiago del Estero) – 16th with 37 points. They had 2 points deducted for violence acts. 16th in the relegation table and subjected to promotion/relegation play-off, which they won and kept their place.
Los Andes – 15th with 38 points, but they were 20th in the relegation table and were directly relegated to Primera B Metropolitana. Tough luck.
Almirante Brown – 14th with 39 points. 12th in the relegation table and thus perhaps safe even after the next season, for there were others bellow them from Greater Buenos Aires.
Tigre – 13th with 41 points. 17th in the relegation table, but that was worry for the next season.
Atletico Tucuman – 12th with 43 points. 10th in the relegation table, but since geography played a role… they were the lowest from their own geographical region and went to promotion/relegation playoff – luckily, they won it and remained in the league. Standing from left: Colalillo, Suárez, Morales, Doroni, Salomón, Cáceres. First row: José L. Acosta, Lugo, Scime, Pacheco, Walter O. Jiménez.
With them end all relegated and almost relegated teams, so there is no need to give more relegation-table places.
Villa Dalmine – 11th with 44 points.
Colon – 10th with 45 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff.
Sportivo Italiano – or Deportivo Italiano – 9th with 46 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff.
Banfield – 8th with 46 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff. Standing from left: Jorge L. Ávalos, Luis A. Oriolo, Daniel Bolognese, Juan C. Doná, Andrés Lizarraga, Néstor Lo Tártaro. Front: Horacio García, Fabián Berruti, Daniel Delfino, Marcelo Martino, Marcelo Benítez.
Belgrano – 7th with 47 points and qualified to Promotion Playoff.
Atletico Rafaela – 6th with 47 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff. Second row from left: Esteban Bernasconi, Otero, Dante Fontana, Hugo Querini, Ramón Jaquet, Oscar Manis, Gustavo Alfaro. First row: Pablo Quiroga, Julián Pascual Alastuey, Juán Poelman, Víctor Grillo.
Lanus – 5th with 47 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff.
San Martin (Tucuman) – 4th with 48 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff.
Douglas Haig – 3rd with 51 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff.
Quilmes – 2nd with 53 points and qualified for Promotion Playoff. Standing from left: Carlos Karabin, Hugo Ayala, Héctor Almandoz, Alberto Rodriguez, Emilio Kalujerovich, Carlos Castagneto. Front: Abel Blason, Jorge Gáspari, Omar Gomez, Luis Ernesto Sosa, Marcelo Rufini.
Huracan won the championship with 60 points. 24 wins, 12 ties, 6 losses, 70-32 goal-difference. Confident winners and promoted back to top flight, where they more or less rightly belonged. Standing from left: Cúper, Wiktor, Puentedura, Brítez, Montero, Amodeo. First row: Wolheim, Mohamed, Herrero, Carrió, Saturno.
Promotion Playoff. 9 teams qualified from Second Division plus 3 teams from the lower level: Deportivo Moron, Deportivo Laferrere and Atlanta. 10 teams started in the first stage.
Deportivo Laferrere was eliminated by Lanus 1-2 and 1-1.
Deportivo Moron was eliminated by Atletico Rafaela 0-1 and 2-1. Why they were eliminated is a mystery – both opponents won their away leg and since Deportivo Moron scored 2 away goals, they should have been going up. If away goal rule was not applied, then a third match should have been played. But no and they were out.
Colon lost to Belgrano 2-1 and 0-2.
Banfield lost to Sportivo Italiano 0-3 and 2-1.
Atlanta lost to San Martin 2-3 and 0-4.
Second round – now Douglas Haig entered. And lost to Sportivo Italiano 2-2 and 0-3 (at home).
Belgrano eliminated San Martin 1-0 and 0-0, and Lanus destroyed Atletico Rafaela 3-0 and 5-2.
Semifinals – Quilmes entered and eliminated Sportivo Italiano 1-1 and 2-0. Lanus eliminated Belgrano by the rules: in case of no winner, the higher-placed team in the championship final table went ahead – the results were 0-1 and 2-1, so Belgrano was out.
Final: still two legs and away goals did not count. In case of a tie, penalty shootout followed. And that was the case at the end: Lanus won 2-1 at home, but lost 0-1 in Quilmes. However, the hosts were shamed in front of their own crowd – Lanus won the penalty shootout 4-1.
Thus Lanus earned promotion to First Division, a great success for them. Was it fair is an academic question… they were only 5th at the end of the regular championship. Yet, they benefited by the rules and rules are rules, so promotion was great at the end. Standing from left: Cordero, Meske, Alcides Herrera, Schurrer, Armando González. First row: Bertolini, Bidevich, Néstor González, Guillermo Alonso, Angelello, Villagrán.
Yet, it would be unfair to end with Lanus – after all, they were only the second promoted team and not champions.
Huracan (Buenos Aires) was the Second Division champion and even if they were a far cry from the great team led by Luis Cesar Menotti more than 15 years ago, they were winners and climbing up – returning to First Division was all the old and respected club craved at the moment and they triumphed.