Title is title, but there is also the cup.
None of the big clubs reached the final, perhaps understandably so – one team underperforming, another – not at its peak, and the third perhaps too old to handle two tournaments at the same time. On the other hand, cup formats permit smaller clubs to go ahead. Waterschei and Beveren reached the final . Both clubs were nothing much in the championship and rightly so, given the squads they had. But… those were strong years for both finalists. Beveren were surprise champions the previous year and although it was clear that they were not able to stay on top, still they had good team by their standards, perhaps the best ever. Waterschei was similar in their own terms. The final was pretty much a clash of equals and Waterschei clinched 2-1 victory.
A great moment of triumph. One can run joyously without shoes.
Losers, but one should not be harsh on Beveren – losing the final was not a happy moment, yet, it was a success for a modest club like Beveren. They won the title just the previous year, but were not in position to fortify the team with strong new players. So the team remained the same – Jean-Marie Pfaff was becoming a big name, but goalkeeper, however great, is not enough to keep a team on top of any league. The other big name was the team’s captain Jean Jannsens – former national team player, already 36. Which spells out the predicament of Beveren… they depended on some foreigners – Germans Dieter Weichrauch (22) and Heinz Schonberger (31), and Dutch mid-fielder Wim Hokens (22), but they were anonymous players. That was all… this bunch managed to win the title in 1978-79, they played well – as much as they could – but without new and stronger players enthusiasm could not suffice for long. Beveren had no means for buying bigger names – playing the cup final was, therefore, continuation of a good run of good for a small club team. Continued success – Cup winners in 1978, champions in 1979, Cup finalists in 1980 – perhaps even more than such a squad was really capable of. Heroic squad, really. Rarely a club could have a long successful run with so limited team.
As for the winners, they were perhaps lucky not to meet one of the top 5 clubs of the country, but Beveren – an equal opponent. They had a real chance and used it.
So far K. Waterschei S.V. Thor (Genk) did not win anything – their greatest succes was losing the Cup final in 1955. This time they won – their very trophy, so the team became instantly legendary. In terms of the club itself, of course. Playing against Beveren helped, of course, but similarly to Beveren, Waterschei enjoyed their strongets ever period and maintained the good run for awhile. The team was not much, of course – typical Belgian squad of the time: not a single star, young or old. The most famous player was the Swedish national team member Per Olov Ohlsson, a fresh addition. Most of the team was together for year, including the German duo Heinz Grundel (23) and Klaus Pudelko (32). If anything, the players knew each other well and were used to play together. The real spur perhaps was the coach – the Dutch Cor Brom was hardly a great name, but he represented leading football school and coached Ajax before joining Waterschei in 1979. He utilized whatever potential this team had, perhaps even overachieving. Great success for Waterschei -a historic one. And also giving them the edge over their city rivals Winterslag.