Category: 1978

The Cup final opposed Trabzonspor to Adanademirspor. The Northerners were force to reckon with already. Strong season, plenty of ambition, and classy enough. Adanademirspor were nobodies… they finished 13th with 25 points the championship. But one has to recall the great season of their city neighbours, who ended 4th. The city of Adana not only had wonderful season, but added new strength to the provincials. Was another Trabzon coming rapidly to disturb the old dominance of Istanbul?

There is a bit of confusion about the name: it is written Adanademirspor, Adana Demirspor, and Demirspor. The problem is obvious, although not well known: there are clubs with the same name in Turkey, so the name of city is included to make clear which one is meant. Relatively old club by Turkish standards – many clubs were formed in the 1960s, either new or amalgamated old and forgotten since then ones. Foundation in 1940 appears ancient in contrast, but Demirspor had more than modest existence so far. They were champions ones – in 1951, when Turkish football was still amateur. Not bad, but nothing good happened after the league was professionalized. Their nickname – Mavi Simsekler (Blue Lightning) – sounded like a joke. So far. Now they had a chance to win a real trophy.

The two-legged final started in Trabzon and Demirspor lost 0-3. Back home they managed only a scoreless tie, 0-0.

Losing finalists – yet, this team is well remembered in Adana: this is the highest ever achievement of the club.

As for the winners – 4th trophy since 1975. No doubt about them.

Winning the Cup looked easy, they were certainly dominant. Their coach was instrumental and must be named: Ahmet Suat Özyazıcı.

Surely not a famous name, but he made Trabzonspor a strong and successful club. Not many win 4 trophies in three years after all.

And here are the winners, rightly nicknamed ‘Karadeniz Firtinasi’ (Black Sea Storm). They were taking Turkish football by storm. Long lasting storm.

The picture on the top was both familiar and not. Besiktas slipped to 5th place. They were entirely outside the championship race and not even competing for medals. Temporary weakness, but also telling – the provincial clubs were getting stronger.

Adanaspor (Adana) had a strong year. Not at the level of the best three, but better than Besiktas.

A good example of the new winds in Turkish football: sponsorship and dependable foreigners. Perovic was not a star in Yugoslavia, but still competent and reliable player. He was not elevating the club single-handed, but was a valuable addition with professional attitude. Adanaspor finished 4th, earning a place in the UEFA Cup. They were three points ahead of Besiktas. And most interestingly, they were not the only club from Adana excelling this season.

Galatasaray was third. With 38 points, they finished 3points ahead of Adanaspor, but also 3 points less from the silver medalists. Perhaps not the stronger season of the club, but they were failing either. Still, ‘Cimbom’ were not champions since 1973 – a rather long dry spell so far and as it turned out, there were many more years without a title ahead. This was the first season playing with sponsor’s name on the shirts and the it was Volvo – but the great name of the Swedish car makers did not help.

New winds – Volvo and foreigners. Bosko Kajganic, the goalkeeper of Crvena zvezda (Belgrade), born in 1949, arrived this season. He is considered the best goalkeeper Galatasaray ever had, but he died in tragic car accident at the end of the season.

His impact was great – here is his replacement Nihat Akbay playing with shirt displaying not Volvo, but the name of dead Yugoslavian. Meantime another Yugoslavian arrived – the 26-years old midfielder Esref Yasarevic from Sloboda (Tuzla).

Two clubs contested the title, chasing each other to the end. Trabzonspor clearly confirmed its addition to the big three of Turkish football, making them four. With a double the previous year, Trabzonspor wanted more. The title they lost by a single point, having the best defense in the league – they received only 16 goals in 30 games. They also won most matches – 18, but unfortunately lost 7. The same number as the Adanaspor, 4th, but 2 more than the record of Galatasaray and Fenerbahce. Their attack was second-best. Trabzonspor were clearly determined to stay on top – a provincial challenge to the status quo.

Standing from left: Mehmet, Şenol, Necati, Hüseyin, Güngör, Ahmet.

Crouching: Necdet, Turgay, Serdar, Yaşar, Orhan.

Successful season for Trabzonspor – second place was not a disappointment and there was still a trophy won.

Fenerbahce cliched the title by single point. 9th professional title for ‘Sari Kanaryalar’ (The Yellow Canaries) or 12th total.

Naturally, it was great to leave the arch-enemy Galatasaray in the dust, but now the real danger came from the Black Sea coast – Trabzonspor. Defeating the provincials was not easy. The duel lasted the whole season, but the Canaries were victorious at the end.

Like Galatasaray, Fenerbahce added new foreign players in 1977 – the rivalry continued in the recruit of new players: Galatasaray shopped from Crvena zvezda, Fenerbahce – from their bitter rivals Partizan (Belgrade). Cimbom bought a goalkeeper and so did Sari Kanaryalar: Radmilo Ivancevic, born 1950. Plus Radomir Antic, a defender born in 1948. Like their rivals, Fenerbahce did not buy really famous players – Ivancevic never played for Yugoslavia and Antic only once in 1973 – but solid and reliable ones. They helped, but did not stay long – Antic moved to Real Zaragoza (Spain) after the end of the season. Ivancevic returned to Yugoslavia a bit later and generally disappeared from sight. As for Antic, who would guess back in 1977 that he was to become a famous coach. Spells with both Barcelona and Real Madrid happen very rarely. But it was Turkish title in the spring of 1978.

One more look at the champions.

 

Slowly progressing Turkey, but progressing nevertheless. More consistent import of foreign players – not stars, but reliable ones, mostly Yugoslavians; shirt sponsorship, bringing revenue. More professionalism added to fanatical support from the stands. Of course, the big three from Istanbul dominated the scene, but it is safe to add a forth club by this time: Trabzonspor. And provincial clubs were no longer just a décor to the battles between Fenerbahce and Galatasaray. Second Division football was quite behind, of course, but had its own drama.

There were clubs better known today than in the 1970s –

Like Gazientepspor. Back then – nothing much.

 

Goztepe (Izmir) won promotion – a quick return to top flight of the old club, relegated the year before. Not a surprise – Goztepe more or less belonged to the best.

The second promotion was a surprise, though:

Kirikkalespor (Kirikkale), a young club founded in 1967 and not exactly from a well known hometown. Modest by all means, but they had a good season and bravely won promotion.

May be photo of the unlikely winners, may be not… There is little information about the club, however, the quad has the look of the time. Kirikkalespor never played first division football – true debutantes, bringing only one question: were they able to survive? But this was for the next year – they enjoyed the present and rightly so.

At the bottom of First Division five teams fought for survival. Two inevitably went down. One was a bit of a surprise:

Ankaragucu had good years behind them. They were a likely addition to the big trio from Istanbul – a club from the capital challenging the old guard was logical. True, Ankaragucu were not the only club in Ankara, but seemed best positioned. Yet, they finished 15th and were relegated. Instead of challenging Istanbul, Ankara was to be without any representative in top flight.

Dead last was more or less expected club.

Mersin Idmanyurdu (Mersin) had strong years, but also weak ones, and it was not surprising to see them in second division. Up and down, more likely down – 21 points they had, earned mostly by draws. Three wins was nothing, so it did not matter that Mersin did not lose more than ½ of their championship matches. 15 ties – exactly every second match they played this season – was a league record, but it also meant relegation.

Nothing good can be said about the last in the league. The only interesting point is their sponsor – a bit funny to see Opel, the giant automakers, relegated.

The bulk of mid-table teams was quite large – 7 teams, almost half of the league. Still unstable – up and down, depending on particular season.

Bursaspor, a typical example. 10th this year with 28 points, but they had better stronger year not long ago. Perhaps clubs like Bursaspor were the most important: their development meant the general improvement of Turkish football – if able to maintain stability, sooner or later they were to challenge the big clubs dominating the league. Bursaspor were perhaps a bit down this season, yet, remained among the mid-table clubs – this was perhaps most important: not to plummet to relegation after strong a season or two.

The Cup final opposed two of the best clubs this year: Malmo FF and Kalmar FF.

Kalmar FF never won a trophy. They were quite modest for years, no strangers to second division football, and hardly the club easily coming to mind.

Now they had more than a chance – local business consortium decided to help the club with some cash and thanks to that Kalmar FF bought Lars Roger ‘Benno’ Magnusson from Hertha (West Berlin). A big transfer surely – no Swedish club was buying players from the big West European leagues. It was the other way around: Swedish clubs losing easily players to others. Magnusson, still 24 when he came back to Sweden, was one of the great youngsters who made Atvodabergs FF champions. He, like the others, quickly left to play abroad. Like Edstrom he came back to play in Sweden, and like his former teammate, it was not for his original club. There was no more great talent in the squad – perhaps only the local legend Johnny Erlandsson – but it was enough to propel Kalmar FF high. A unusually strong period for the club started – and now trophy was possible. No doubt, the club wanted to win. They had a chance and ambition, played a second consecutive strong season.

But it was not enough – Malmo FF won the final 2-0.

It may have been a case of ambition vs experience, but Malmo FF were the steadiest and most successful Swedish club in the decade. May be this year they were not good enough for a title, but ending without a trophy was not like them. It was their 9 since 1970! Five titles and now 4th Cup. There was one more motivating factor: so far Malmo FF won the Cup 9th times. A round 10 was much desired – a record, why not? They made it.

As for the squad, it was familiar recitation of names since 1970. Including the coach Bob Houghton – he was very young when he took the reins of Malmo FF. He was still young… a feature so familiar, that his age was even surprising: Houghton looked like he will retire with Malmo. Eternal coach… equals ancient coach. Houghton was only 40 in 1978. Thanks to him, another young Englishman arrived in Sweden – Houghton helped his friend, someone called Roy Hodgson, to take over Halmstads BK in 1976.

So these two were the newly promoted – they were to replace Vasteras SK and Orebro SK.

Vasteras SK were another modest club, which generally meandered between first and second division. Nothing really surprising they finished 14th – last in First Division. They were not hopeless outsiders, but still lost – 18 points was simply one point short of safety.

Orebro SK also finished with 18 points, but with better goal-difference than Vasteras SK. Did not matter… they too went down. Unlike Vasteras SK, Orebro had good reputation and it appeared a bit surprising to see them relegated. But Swedish football hardly had ‘big’ clubs and ups and downs were frequent. A decline or just temporary bad luck – it was hard to say.

Decline was the situation of another club: Atvidabergs FF. Champions in the beginning of the 1970s, having few of the brightest young stars of the time, they were too small to be able to stay on top – the stars left and the club gradually went down. Lower every next year, but still staying in First Division. They barely survived this season – 12th with 19 points – but the future was obviously dark. Relegation was easy to see coming. The stars were coming back to play in Sweden – but not for their former club.

Most of the league shuffled depending on momentary squad – ups and down were the norm.

Halmstads BK were great a few years back – now they were 8th. So was the case of most clubs – often the availability of bright player or his departure spelled the fate of a club in a particular season. Things could change the next – for better or worse – and then again after that. Halmstads BK were relatively down, but they were to play a local derby the next season. At least that.

The top competed largely for silver and bronze medals – Kalmar FF finished 4th with 31 points. Worse goal-difference left them without medals, but the club enjoyed strong period.

IFK Goteborg clinched third place. If Atvidabergs FF was clearly in decline, IFK Goteborg was rising. The 1970s were bleak years for the club – they won absolutely nothing since 1969. Now there was a sign of improvement – not just the odd good season, but long-lasting.

IFK Goteborg already had the great Bjorn Nordquist, they had a bunch of talented youngsters, and they recruited another star in 1977 – Ralf Edstrom. The club appeared ambitious and serious – they seemingly wanted to become a major force in Swedish football. They seemingly had the financial means to invest in long-term project: Edstrom was not cheap. On the surface it looked like the wonderful forward was fading away, but he was still young, still a national team player, and even he was no longer considered good enough for big European clubs, he had a lot to contribute at home. Perhaps going to IFK Goteborg revived his career, but the benefits for the clubs were obvious: the international success in the early 1980s was forged in the late 1970 – this was just the beginning. As for ending… so far, there is no sign of ending. IFK Goteborg are still the strongest Swedish club – the project started around 1978 was very good one. But it was still in its early days – and IFK Goteborg made its first move by winning bronze medals.

One point left them without silver – second place was won by Malmo FF. Remarcably long-lasting squad – almost the same players made Malmo FF the most successful Swedish club in the 1970s. Still no sign of wearing out, still a force. They were not real contender this year, but maintained their leading position nevertheless.

The champions were new – and overwhelming.

Osters IF (Vaxjo) were relatively familiar name, but not really the first coming to mind. Founded in 1930, they had a single trophy so far: Swedish champions in 1968. Ten years later they won their second title and overwhelmingly so: 6 points more than second-placed Malmo FF. They lost half the number Malmo FF had – only 3 losses, but the most wins in the league – 15. They did not have the best defense – Malmo FF had it, receiving 15 goals to Osters 20; their attack was topped by Djurgardens IF – 50 goals to Osters’ 46; but they had the best goal-difference by far: +26. The second-best, Malmo FF, was +14. Much deserving champions.

And also typically Swedish champions – no big stars here. The players are largely unfamiliar. A new striker was recruited for this season – the 25-years old national player of Island Teitur Thordarson. Foreigners were still few in Sweden and the new striker did not even come from first league football – he arrived from the second division Jonkoping. He was a national team player since 1972, but Islandic players meant nothing in the 1970s. Yet, Thordarson is significant – one of the early successful players from the island, one of those making Islandic players respectable and desired by European clubs. He helped Osters to their title, a nice addition. The other one was a debutant, whose name was even more obscure than Thordarson’s: a very young goalkeeper, named Thomas Ravelli. Only 18 years old. One perhaps would make a mistake pointed him at the photo: the known Ravelli had little hair on his head… but this is Goran Hagberg on the picture. Of course, nobody knew in 1978 that Ravelli will be the most capped Swedish player… What a great beginning of exceptionally long career – a title in its very first season. Ravelli stayed with Osters 10 years and he called it quit also in his original club in 1999. Ravelli was still years away of any possible records – he earned his first cap for Sweden in 1981. The fantastic 148 appearances would not be even a dream in the 1970s.

Another quiet season in Sweden – no scandals, no big news. Yet, there were changes – some long-lasting. Sweden was going towards full professionalism without fuss. Some big names already were lured back. Foreign players were arriving – still in tiny numbers, but coming. A realistic approach – Sweden was in a position to develop really big clubs and keep her best players in the domestic league. So, the development was to be modest, emphasizing on home grown talent. The second division was relatively weaker, so the winners there were not expected to shake up the upper league.

IS Halmia won the Southern Second Division. An old club, as Swedish clubs usually are, founded in 1907, but hardly known. Their best years were in deep past – between 1944 and 1950. ‘Success’ really meant steady playing in first division… after 1950 the club was mostly playing second division football. The second and smaller club in their home town, Halmstad. Halmstads BK were bigger and more successful, but the local derby was mostly called that in jest: Halmstads BK and IS Halmia were seldom in the same division. They were to be in 1979, after IS Halmia won promotion.

The winner of the Northern Second Division was another small club:

IFK Sundsvall. If there was a club from this city playing top league football, it was usually GIF Sundsvall. Now they were also in second division and finished 6th, 10 points behind their city rivals. Unlike the Southern group, which was either more competitive or just the clubs were of relatively same strength, only 2 clubs competed in the North – IFK and IK Brage. Brage lost by a point.

Good for IFK Sundsvall and perhaps a rare moment of finishing much better than the city rivals, but a typical second-tier team. They were to face the test of their survival skills the next year. It was clear that cities like Sundsvall and many others were not able to build strong and successful teams – two or more clubs were just too many for the limited local resources, but like Poland, Sweden did not fancy amalgamations. The Swedes obviously preferred tradition – better two small clubs than one perhaps better off, but lacking identity.

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Yet, Polish football was not in great shape – the overwhelming leaders of the championship did not excel in the Cup tournament. The impression of relative, but low-quality parity was confirmed by the Cup finalists. No current or even former big name there. No leaders. Zaglebie (Sosnowiec) were 9^th in the league. But they at least were first division club – the other finalist was almost unheard of second division club. Piast (Gliwice). 9^th in the weaker Northern Second Division league. Good for them, surely, but… a club so weak reaching the final? Does not speak favourably for Polish club football. True, there had been even lowlier Cup finalist – the reserve team of ROW Rybnik – which did not win the Cup, but still got to play in the European Cup Winners Cup.

Piast (Gliwice) had the chance of European appearance only if winning the Cup – the opponents were lowly enough, so the losing finalist had no chance of participation in the Cup Winners Cup. Piast had a chance to win – before the final was played. Zaglebie was not much, but still was first division club. They won 2-0.

Zaglebie was not much 1977-78, but they had good past – it was not their first trophy. They never won the championship, but the Cup was already theirs three times – the last time was the previous year. 4^th Cups, two consecutive – not bad? Not bad for an old club, established in 1906 , but in town better known for ice-hockey?

Not bad… but the squad was too modest. Mazur was the star player – a local star, no more. Miracle happened not once, but twice, yet one cannot depend on miracles. This was the last trophy won by Zaglebie. May be a local legendary squad, but that was all. A nice final victory of underdogs.

First league table shows an interesting picture: 12 clubs were very close to each other – 4 points divided the 4th from the 15th placed. The last clubs were either way above or bellow the bulk of the league. It was not much different the previous years, so nothing new. Occasional slip or lucky strike seemed to be decisive factors. Fairly equal clubs, which could be easily at the top one round and in relegation zone the next. Not very strong teams, unfortunately – those at the top were not so much strong, but rather happy to survive. The outsider was unusual club:

Gornik (Zabrze) were among the favourites a couple of years ago. They were perhaps the closest to a truly dominant team Polish football ever produced – the successful squad of 1966-72. Decline settled after that, at first unnoticed, but inevitable. Aging slowly reduced the number of the stars and no new talent stepped in. Szarmach moved to Stal (Mielec) in 1976. By 1977 only Jerzy Gorgon remained from the old great squad. Still, to see Gornik at the bottom of the league was shocking – somewhat, it was sudden collapse. They earned only 23 points, winning just 6 matches. However, their goal-difference was unusual for rock bottom team: 25-30. Polish league was strange… not much goals were scored, the results were minimal and the records were similar to Gurnik’s.

Jerzy Gorgon in 1970, just getting noticed as an young talent in the very talented Gornik of that time. Top defender, national team regular, one of the few internationally known Polish players before 1974, and going to his second World Cup finals with Poland in 1978. However, unable to save his club from relegation… must have been very disappointing and frustrating season for the 28-years old star. Going to second division and the World Cup finals at the same time.

Zawisza (Bydgoszcz) took the 15th place and joined Gornik on the way down. Zawisza finishing low was no surprise – unlike Gornik, they were lowly club. Unlucky too – four clubs finished with 27 points. If goal-difference was the decisive factor, Zawisza would have been safe – Szombierki (Bytom) had the worst goal-difference in the league (25-35). But it was head-to-head record deciding the position of those with equal points. Szombierki finished 12th and Zawisza 15th.

Just above them ended surprising club – Ruch (Chorzow), one of the best Polish clubs in the 1970s. Champions or near-champions… they were expected to be among the contenders, even more so than Gornik. Instead, Ruch barely survived. Like Gornik, they were unable to find strong replacement of aging stars, who either retired or went to play abroad. Unlike Gornik, whose decline was slow and long, Ruch suddenly plunged down. Which may have been better for the club – so great a shock required urgent measures to be taken.

There was little else of great import across the league – Stal (Mielec) ended 8th with 29 points. Not really a collapse, but somewhat predictable outcome for a club which had just 6-7 really good players in their best seasons. Now they were simply like the most of the league. So were Legia (Warszawa) for few years already – nothing special, an ordinary club. Having Deyna was not making any difference… Gornik had Gorgon and still was relegated. Legia ended 5th with 31 points. Pretty good position in the final table, unless one remembers the points – Legia was only 4 points away from Zawisza (Bydgoszcz). Legia won 12 matches – the 15th placed had 11 wins. Relegation was much closer possibility for Legia than winning the title. LKS (Lodz) edged Legia, thanks to head-to-head matches, taking the 4th place, also with 31 points. Another one-man team… LKS depended on the goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski.

And three clubs were high above from the whole league. They competed for the title to the end – 2 points was the final difference, deciding who ends where. Two clubs were generally expected to be contenders – Slask (Wroclaw), the champions of the previous season, were at their peak as a team. Wisla (Krakow) were stable for years and among the best. Lech (Poznan) was the newcomer in a sense – a rising team, but still questionable one. They finished 3rd with 37 points. 12 wins, 13 ties, 5 losses. 29-25 scoring record… rather measly for high finisher. Less than a goal per game average.

The squad perhaps explains their rise: a good group of players here – Gut, Chojnacki, Mowlik, Napierala. Other clubs had one or two stars by now – Lech had more and younger ones too, just nearing at their peak. Stars, but no great stars, so the future of the club was still questionable. It did not look like great squad. The potential was strong, but still only a potential. Good season, but the more important was the next one: were they to keep developing or were they just one time wonder? Lech was in the situation of Slask (Wroclaw) of two years ago – impressive season, but the team had to prove itself in the future still.

Slask probably was fully recognized exactly this season: they already won the Cup and the championship, and finishing second was not equal to victories, but this was third strong year already, they were contenders, they remained strong – truly strong.

Yet, Slask remained relatively unknown outside Poland. The reason was the making of the squad –

A good team, well balanced, not getting old yet, but largely for domestic consumption. Only Zmuda was world class. A number of players here played for Poland, but who remembers them now? It was a good squad for that particular time, when Polish football was actually slightly weaker than a few years before. And that is why Lech (Poznan) was not immediately recognized as a strong team – they were similar to Slask. Given the strength of the league, Slask were to stay on top perhaps a few more years.

But not this one – Wisla bested all. It was not a great victory – the champions finished with 39 points. 13 wins, 13 ties – quite conservative approach. Three clubs scored the same as or more goals than the champions – Odra (Opole) was 6th (35 goals – the same as Wisla) and Pogon (Szczecin) was 11th (36 goals). That was the warning sign – the champions were better in attack than the rest of the league. They had the best defensive record, however, receiving only 23 goals.

Not an overwhelming victory, but well deserved nevertheless. Wisla were consistently strong, potential winners for some time, so finally they did what was expected and hoped of them. A good squad by Polish measures – the well known since 1974 A. Szymanowski, K. Kmiecik, and Z. Kapka, all in their prime, plus additional younger talent – Maculewicz and Nawalka. Kazimierz Kmiecik was the league top scorer of the season – he scored only 15 goals, but bested Andrzej Szarmach and Zbigniew Boniek. Wisla was perhaps the club in best position to add new quality to their team – located in big city, perhaps having more money than most clubs, and having bunch of great players who were fun to play with. Wisla was attractive club for talented players located elsewhere, so the chances of Wisla staying strong were big. As for the club, it was the end of long, long suffering – it was their 6th title, but they had to wait 27 years for it. First title since 1951… a few more victories were certainly needed to remedy the dry years. The team looked more than capable of doing just that.

 

 

 

Poland, highly reputed since 1974, qualifying for the 1978 World Cup finals, having a bunch of players well known around the globe – and a weak championship. On a club level the 1960s were seemingly stronger years, but it was interesting championship for it was unpredictable one. A rare case anyway – there were no few powerful clubs dominating the league, the capital city had a minor role, and no club really concentrated the top players whether by government decree or by financial strength. The negative side was lower quality and the trouble was sufficient for concerns. After this season the second division was reorganized because of that: so far it was divided geographically in two groups – Northern and Southern. Seemingly, the Northern was much weaker and the new division was the between East and West, hoping to make the groups more competitive. But this was to happen in the next season. There was no reduction of the number of participants, though. Apart from structural changes, the other interesting thing about Polish club football was the determination of standings of clubs with equal points: unlike the general practice of the time – goal-difference – head-to-head results determined positions in Poland.

The Second Division went through its normal trials and tribulations. Here one more reason for the relative weakness of the Polish clubs could be found: many cities had more than one club. It was surprising in some places, but made understandable why Polish clubs went up and down quite often – resources were not pulled together. Gdansk, for instance, had no representative in First Division, but two clubs – Lechia and Stoczniowiec – played in the second. Lodz had LKS and Widzew in First Division and Start in the Second. So was the case with Warszawa, Krakow, Poznan, but if it appeared normal for big cities, it was unusual for smaller ones: Bydgoszcz, for instance, had Zavisza in top flight and BKS in the second division. Lubin had a second division club – Motor – and another one – Zaglebie – just promoted from Third Division for the next season. Bytom had two clubs if First Division (Szombierki and Polonia) – the only other city with two clubs in the top league was Lodz. Often there was no telling which club was the leading one in their home town – fate changed frequently: Baltyk represented Gdynia in second division and Arka in the first, but roles easily changed. Anyhow, the general situation had little to do with the actual season.

GKS Katowice had no rivals in the Northern Group – they left the nearest one, Gornik (Walbrzych) 6 points behind. GKS were returning to top flight, possibly not briefly, but to be a force. Hutnik (Krakow), not stranger to first division, went the opposite direction – they finished 14th and relegated to Third Division.

The Southern Group duplicated the Northern one – two clubs left the rest of league far behind. They also fought for the coveted promotional place to the end. Baltyk (Gdynia) were third – 18 points behind the second! Lechia (Gdansk) had to try again… they lost the race by a point, finishing with round 50 points.

Gwardia (Warszawa) clinched the first place with 51 points. Another returning to first division club, but unlike GKS, Gwardia played stronger role in the past. It was even strange to see them down at second level – strange, compared to other Communist countries. But it was not only Gwardia down on their luck – Polonia (Warszawa), strong club once upon a time, had sedated existence in the second division too. They finished at 12th place, just above the relegation zone. Gwardia did much better indeed.

 

At the end, it was the usual picture at the very top – four clubs, painfully familiar, way above the rest of the league and competing among themselves. The biggest of all had weak year to a point.

Olympiakos finished 4th. 44 points were great when compared to the those bellow – PAS Giannina had only 38 – but nothing when compared to the real favourites. Olympiakos was not in the race for the title for the first time in years.

Perhaps Olympiakos struggled with the eternal problem of changing generations and building a new squad; perhaps they were short of cash, but it was not a strong team when compared to what they had two or three years back. Their foreign recruits were puzzling: the Danish midfielder Niels Sorensen, coming from the small Dutch club Zwolle, and the Northern Irish striker Derek Spence (his name is misspelled on the photo) from Blackpool, just relegated to Third Division. Not exactly the kind of players to influence teammates and help winning trophies. Spence appeared in 21 matches and scored 6 goals – not an impressive debut. And both players did not last after this season – Spence moved back to Blackpool and third division football; Sorensen went to Grazer AK (Austria).

Panathinaikos finished third. Not a memorable season – the only comfort perhaps came from finishing ahead of the arch-enemy Olympiakos. One point better and at least with medals.

Very similar to Olympiakos – looked like changing generations was not going well. On the picture only Kapsis remains from the team reaching the European Champions Cup final in 1971. But this is not a full-squad photo: the veterans were more – Domazos, Antoniadis and Eleftherakis were still in the team. Konstantinou, Gonios, Papadimitriou, Dimitriou were also from the old great squad. And that was a clear picture of the problem: few aging, may be declining, may be suffering from injuries veterans and few more, who were just reserves in the glory days. And not enough bright young talent – perhaps only Terzanidis, the new midfielder just acquired from PAOK. And the foreign recruits were not very flashy… a mysterious ‘Giorgievits’ appears above, but there was not such player in the roster. Most likely this is Djordjevic, a little known Yugoslavian player, who arrived in 1976. He played only 2 matches this season… but stayed with Panathinaikos longer and generally contributed to the team. Alas, not a star. The Argentine Oscar Alvarez, one of the PAS Giannina Latin American stable, was much better addition this season. He was clearly bought because of his scoring abilities – according to some sources, he scored 77 goals for Giannina since 1974; according to other info – 41. He delivered, though – with 18 goals, he finished the second best scorer of the league this season. But his goals were hardly enough…

Not enough to overcome PAOK – riding still on their sturdy team, which won the championship two years ago, PAOK finished 2nd. They were not a title contenders, but finishing above Olympiakos and Panathinaikos was satisfying success.

Perhaps the poorest of the big 4 clubs, PAOK was not in a position to make big transfers, but the team was experienced and dependable. The success story was the foreigners: both Fortoula and Guerino Neto were anonymous players at home, but really flourished in PAOK, becoming the backbone of the team and two of most respected footballers playing in Greece at that time. The only problem was fundamental – PAOK was not wealthy enough to build really strong squad. The title was clearly out of their reach – they finished with 46 points, 7 points behind the champions.

And the champions are easily guessed by now: only AEK (Athens) was not mentioned so far. AEK had some of the biggest Greek stars of the time – the veteran midfielder Mimis Papaioannou, playing for AEK since 1963, and the top striker Thomas Mavros, recently acquired from Panionios. Mavros ended the league scorer of the season with 22 goals. He was only 24 years old, but playing his 7th professional season. Dusan Bajevic, the biggest transfer not only of this season, arrived from Velez (Mostar), adding more power to the attack (Bajevic did not have great first season, but eventually settled in his new club and lived up to his reputation). And one more big name was added along with Bajevic – the midfielder Milton Viera, already famous in Greece as Olympiakos players. And AEK had the former coach of the national team of Holland, Frantisek Fadrhonc, at the helm. Alas, AEK started badly and Fadrhonc was fired after the second round. Andreas Stamatiadis coach provisionally the team for the next two rounds until suitable replacement of the old Czech was found. It was another veteran with truly great reputation: the master builder of the great Bayern, the man introducing Beckenbauer, Muller, and Maier to the world. Zlatko Cajkovski. The legendary Yugoslav delivered – under him, AEK did not stumble. They lost only 2 matches this season and won 21. They scored 74 goals. And they left the league back in the dust – AEK finished 7 points ahead of PAOK.

Dominant champions. And it was not all – AEK reached the final for the Cup, where they met again their closest pursuer in the championship, PAOK. The best teams of the year clashed one more time. Bajevic scored in the 50th minute and exactly half an hour later Mavros made sure who was really best. PAOK was defeated 2-0. AEK finished with a double.

High flying eagles, indeed – 6th title and 8th Cup. A fine season for the club founded by refugees from Constantinople (Istanbul).