First division more or less confirmed the current reality: the permanent crisis of some formerly leading clubs – Spartak (Trnava) and Slovan (Bratislava). Now Zbrojovka (Brno) joined them. On the positive side was Bohemians (Prague). But the favourites were still those leading in the last few years – Banik (Ostrava) and Dukla (Prague). Nothing new, really.
FK Dukla (Banska Byrstrica) was the outsider, finishing with 17 points. Expected.
ZTS Petrzalka, the league debutant, was unable to survive. They tried, but were too weak – 15th with 22 points and relegated right after getting promoted.
Spartak (Trnava) barely survived – 14th with 24 points. Only Dusan Keketi remained from their wonderful team almost ten years ago.
Ruda Hvezda (Cheb) was pretty much trying only to keep a place in the league and managed to secure it for one more year – 13th with 25 points.
So did Tatran (Presov) – 12th with 28 points. They lost the higher place on goal-difference to Zbrojovka (Brno). The champions of only few years ago were now merely fighting for survival. 10th was Slovan (Bratislava), by now in the same boat with Spartak (Trnava), only a bit stronger.
A success story of sorts: 9th place was hardly something to brag about, but not if this is your very first season among the best. TJ Vitkovice performed well, determined not to be one-time wonder. If they had better goal-difference, they would have been 7th, but no matter – it was very satisfying first season.
Inter (Bratislava) was 8th thanks to better goal-difference, but fooling no one – their best days were gone.
Slavia (Prague) ended 7th, having the best goal-difference of the three teams with 30 points. Their squad appeared stronger on paper, but as usual did not deliver. Slavia was seemingly doomed to be a mid-table club, much to the dislike of their fans. Apart from the legend of persecution, their fate could be read by the names of the players: Herda, Zlamal, Jarolim Kriz were considered very promising talents when they started playing. The years passed and they stuck… To a point, the same could be said for Miroslav Paurik too – he was not invited to the national team for many years already. One big new talent – Ivo Knoflicek. Still too young to make a difference and it was too early to say what could be his fate: an empty promise, as his elder teammates, or a true star.
Sparta (Prague) was 6th with 31points. Nothing special and seemingly like their rivals Slavia. Lokomotiva (Kosice), an up and down team, was still continuing their good spell – it was uneven at a glance, but they were generally in the upper part of the table. This year – 5th with 32 points.
TJ Plastika (Nitra) was perhaps the pleasant surprise of this championship – they finished 4th with 36 points. Normally, Nitra, if playing at all in the top division, was desperately trying to avoid relegation. Now they were among the very best. Still, relatively modest squad prevented them from really competing for the medals. A season to remember nevertheless.
Bohemians (Prague) ended with bronze medals – they lost silver on worse goal-difference, but confirmed their already noticed good form. It was a bit surprising, for Bohemians did not have particularly exciting squad – when they climbed up about two years back, nobody really believed that they will stay there for long. It was still the same attitude now – a pleasant team, a good run of the underdog, most likely to end right now. Not enough first rate players, cannot keep pace with stronger teams for long. Really?
Banik (Ostrava) edged Bohemians and finished 2nd, which was expected – the champions of the previous two years and one of the strongest and most successful Czechoslovakian clubs after 1975. Still strong – it did not matter they were not champions: they were not showing signs of decline, that mattered.
With 18 wins, 6 ties, 6 losses, and 54-20 goal-difference Dukla (Prague) won the championship. 42 points gave them 4 points lead at the end, but they were not really superior and that was the question mark. True, Dukla managed to climb back to leading position after 1975, but the ‘new golden era’ somewhat did not materialize – they won in 1979 and had to wait until 1982 for another one: nothing like their dominance until 1967. And that was strange, because Dukla had the best group of players in the country. Lead by Zdenek Nehoda, the squad included the biggest number of current Czechoslovak stars – Vizek, Kozak, Netolicka, Stambachr, Rott, Fiala, Macela, up and coming Rada. Banik (Ostrava) was not even close in terms of players, the rest of the league did not even count. Yet, Dukla was not winning regularly… But even if a second golden period was not happening, they were champions – their 11th title.
