May be the big clubs exhausted themselves in the championship and the European tournaments, may be with the new crop of talented players the whole Belgian football was on a higher level, or may be the old ‘logic’ of cup tournaments was at play, but none of the big clubs reached the Cup final. Instead, mid-table, rather small and insignificant clubs appeared at the final – SK Beveren and Sporting Charleroi. Beveren got some notice, for they finished 5th in the championship – strong performance, if not excellent. Charleroi, however, ended 12th – nothing remarkable. But both teams excelled in the Cup, making their way to the final.
Beveren won 2-0.
To a point, playing at the Cup final was a success for Sporting Charleroi. To a point, it was not – they were not a force in Belgian football, yet, occasionally, they were able of a strong season. Sadly, they lost.
Standing from left : Mathy, Jacobs, Cloquet, Dekker, Van Toorn, Gebauer.
First row : Esgain, Royet, Vermeir, Iezzi, Bardaux, Bucci (supporter).
And their squad reveals why they lost… it was a typical mid-table Belgian team. No stars, not even half-stars. Sporting had no real sporting argument… they left an interesting picture, though: with apparently faithful supporter, Mr. Bucci. Nice recognition of the ’12th player’, usually anonymous, if photographed at all. Still, it was a team full of foreigners – 10 in total. Only the former Yugoslavian national team defender Enver Hadziabdic was known, but the veteran was well beyond his prime. The rest was mostly amusing names – the obligatory Dutch players, Chris Dekker and Mathijs van Toorn,, the anonymous Polish goalkeeper Andre Sumera, very likely a defector, for he was too young and entirely unknown for a legal transfer, an inevitable Congolese player – Victor N’Sengi-Biembi, the expected Austrian – Gerhard Bohmen, the also expected West German, Rainer Gebauer, and the mysterious Italian Antonio Iezzi. The last and biggest mystery was Muchel Esgain – a white player, but listed as Congolese. And among all that unknown players there was a young talented reserve, barely 18 years old, who was to be a star after a few years – one Alex Czerniatynksi. Too young to change the fate of his club in 1977-78.
SK Beveren were amusing winners at first – it looked like chancy victory, taking advantage of big clubs not paying enough attention, and at the end facing pretty much equal squad. At least outside Belgium it did not matter who won – both finalists were little known and they were not the type of clubs going to challenge the status quo. In retrospects, though, the win of Beveren was not so chancy – the club was quietly building strength and confidence. The same team was to produce a sensation very soon. It was sensation in 1977-78 too, but somewhat underestimated. Actually, there was no way to take them very seriously – Anderlecht, FC Brugge, and even new Standard were full of professional stars. They had world-class players. Beveren was semi-professional club – some of its players had other jobs, including a veteran defender working at the docks, a stevedore, playing football part-time. Nobody was going to take such team seriously, but it was also very brave achievement: so rare and unusual was semi-professional club to succeed in the world dominated by professionals. Most importantly, this was the first ever trophy won by SK Beveren. So far, their biggest success was winning the Second Division twice – in 1966-67 and 1972-73.
Fantastic year for the modest club, but they were different team than Sporting Charleroi – they had rising players, with big potential still not fully revealed. Jean-Marie Pfaff was between the goalposts since 1974 – soon he was to be discovered as one of the top keepers in the world. The barely 20-years old Dutch Wim Hofkens will be playing for Holland in 1983. Marc Baecke – for Belgium. Jean Janssens already played for the Belgian national team. The club may have been semi-professional, but still employed foreigners – one more Dutch, Patrick Verhoosel; a German – Heinz Schonberger, and an Argentine – Saul Lisazo. It was a curious mix of veterans and youngsters, but the young players were really the strong ones. Contrary to common sense, Beveren was not to be one-time wonder. And most importantly, it was a fine example of the new rise of Belgian football – the young hopefuls were not many, but popped up in many clubs and made an impact. Two of them belonged to the Cup finalists – Pfaff and Czerniatynski. Pfaff enjoyed his first trophy, just a taste. Beveren also tasted success – and liked it very much.