Category: 1979

1978-79 was a season of significant change in DDR – a brand new champion, which was perhaps welcomed change of status quo. It was known what ‘institution’ the new champion represented, but resentment was not so obvious yet – it was impossible to predict that this club will establish monopoly to the very collapse of the state. It was also the first victory of Berlin’s club since 1969 – 10 years is a long time indeed, but perhaps the news was not exactly hailed anywhere. More optimistic news was the slight change of guard – the new champions had a bunch of younger players, becoming the next generation stars. It was good, because so far the key figures were the heroes of 1974 World Cup and they were inevitably aging. Along with that, the number of strong clubs increased to five – not bad, the battle between 5 contenders makes a championship interesting, but in the same time firm gap between them and the rest of East German clubs was great and never bridged. Since the new champions were among the favourites for years, in fact, there was no addition to the strongest – it was only that the previously weaker of the them finally matured. Or ‘helped’ into maturity… For the moment, the season ended on positive and optimistic note. But it was just the top of the pyramid… if looking down, the picture was not so bright.

Only one of the 5 Second Division groups was really competitive – Group E, where 3 teams competed for the first place.

BSG Motor (Suhl) clinched victory by one point over BSG Motor (Weimar). BSG Wismut (Gera) ended third, with 3 points less.

The other groups had a clear overwhelming leaders:

BSG Energie (Cottbus) finished 5 points ahead in Group D. They lost only one match this season.

TSG Bau (Rostock) also finished with 5 points lead in Group A.

BSG Chemie (Leipzig) did even better in Group C– 6 points lead, although they lost 3 matches.

But the winners of Group B were astonishing.

FC Vorwarts (Frankfurt/Oder) did not lose even a single match. They tied only 4 games and won 18, scoring 77 goals and receiving mere 6 in the bargain. The next best club was 12 points behind them.

The promotional mini-league of the 5 winners was similar – FC Vorwarts won 7 matches and tied one, scoring 24 goals and receiving 6. With 15 points, they head and shoulders above the rest. The second promotional spot was tightly contested and decided by goal-difference, a curious affair, for one of the two contestant ended with negative goal-difference. Two clubs were clear outsiders – TSG Bau finished last with 3 points and BSG Energie was 4th with 4 points. BSG Motor were apparently more enthusiastic than really good: they got 9 points, thanks to 4 wins, but in the same time when their losses were devastating. With 14-19 goal-difference promotion was just a dream. BSG Chemie also earned 9 points, but 11-7 goal difference – the promotion was theirs to enjoy.

Second place and promotion for Chemie (Leipzig). Relegated from First Division in 1976, now they were coming back. Once upon a time a stronger club, Chemie was living in the shadow of Lokomotive (Leipzig) for years now. And nobody expected a change – the limited pool of East German football hardly permitted for two strong sides in one city. Chemie was expected just to fight for survival in the top division.

The winners were different story – the army club was relegated the previous season and now was coming back with a vengeance. It looked like Vorwarts – or the Army itself – were determined to restore their leading place in East German football, which they lost after relocated from Berlin to Frankfurt/Oder in 1971. And that was the only positive sign coming from second division.

The top of the league was familiar and consisted entirely of the Sofia clubs. Slavia finished 4th, a point behind Lokomotiv.

Sitting, from left: Vasko Shalamanov, Botyo Malinov, Atanas Aleksandrov, Tchavdar Tzvetkov, Christo Mladenov – coach, Vanyo Kostov, Georgy Minchev, Petar Miladinov, Ivan Chakarov.

Middle row: Trendafil Terziisky – assistant coach, Andrey Zhelyazkov, Roumen Stoyanov, Bozhidar Grigorov, Georgy Dermendzhiev, Svetoslav Georgiev, Simeon Simeonov – assistant coach.

Third row: Stoycho Stefanov, Ivan Iliev, Milcho Evtimov, Georgy Tikhanov, Ilyaz Aliev, Georgy Gugalov.

One more season contributing to the growing myth that Slavia was oppressed and blocked from winning the title by Communist authorities. The squad was at its prime, consisting of 8 mostly current national players. The attack – Aleksandrov-Zhelyazkov-Tzvetkov – was arguably the best in the country and usually best or second scoring in the championship. The strikers were aided by one of the best midfield lines – Kostov- Aliev-Minchev – who were also prolific scorers. The defense was strong and goalkeeping – decent. Mature team, playing together for long time already and at its best age – 24-27. They had one of the best Bulgarian coaches at the time – Mladenov, who lead Bulgaria to the 1974 World Cup finals. Yet, Slavia was not winning titles – at best, they were second or third. Fourth place was actually most likely finish. Certainly Slavia was blocked by orders or other schemes, but there was something else which was entirely their own fault: Slavia was traditionally and notoriously inconsistent. A fantastic match was followed by sloppy and indifferent performance. This season was no exception – Slavia was best among their city rivals: they won twice against Levski, tied their both matches against CSKA (a bit of a surprise, for usually Slavia did not put much resistance to CSKA – partly, because they also belonged to a military branch), had one win and one loss against Lokomotiv (for Lokomotiv, the match with Slavia was the most important derby), and had a win and a tie against Akademik. That is, Slavia lost a single match against the top three clubs in the league and was the best of the Sofia clubs. But they lost against equal or weaker opponents: twice against Chernomoretz (5th), twice against Beroe (7th), and exchanged a win and a loss with whole bunch of the clubs at the bottom of the table. In total, Slavia lost 1/3 of seasonal games – 10. They were not winners… they were not tough enough. And there was a bit of novelty: the veteran Bozhidar Grigorov was a playing assistant coach the previous season, but just a player this year. Playing coaches were extremely rare in Bulgarian football, but transition from coaching to mere playing in the same club is perhaps unique in the world.

Lokomotiv (Sofia) took the bronze medals. Nobody expected the champions of 1977-78 to repeat their victory – Lokomotiv ranked 4th in Sofia in terms of influence and money. Their squad was wonderful, but mostly made of second rate players – yes, a whole bunch of them played in the national team, but almost nobody was considered good enough for CSKA or Levski (the very reason they played for Lokomotiv for years). The team needed some strong additional players, if wanting to stay at the top, but was not able to get any – the reserves came largely from their own youth system, whatever said system produced. The club was more generous to its young players than most clubs, but it was out of necessity – behind the regulars there was very little, whoever was available eventually played. Yet, Lokomotiv delivered very strong season, staying in the race for the title almost to the end. They won their both matches against CSKA, not only continuing the tradition of playing their best against the army club, but adding a new element: from this season the joke started that the referee should not give a corner kick to Lokomotiv, for it was equal to a penalty – Nachko Mikhailov scored directly from the corner and came close to scoring on few other occasions from the same position against CSKA. Given their limited resources, Lokomotiv outdid itself, but the club was truck with disaster: they committed unforgivable crime in the European Champions Cup – they eliminated Lobanovsky’s Dinamo Kiev. Eliminated a Soviet team… no Bulgarian club ever dared such a thing. Punishment followed… the prime villain was the coach Vassil Metodiev, the master builder of this team, the man who shaped, tuned, and motivated his small squad, winning a title against all odds. He was sacked… Lokomotiv was forced to fire the coach. For Metodiev it was just the first taste of the wrath of Communist authorities… in the 1980s he committed the same crime against the same Soviet club one more time. Plus others… So far, it was just the beginning of long and nasty persecution of wonderful coach – and football suffered because of that. Certainly Lokomotiv suffered immediately.

The champions of 1978 were bronze medalists in 1979 – the same boys exactly. Standing, from left: Vassil Metodiev – coach, Nikola Donev, Georgy Stankov, Kiril Petkov, Angel Kolev, Ivan Vassilev, Nikola Spassov, Georgy Stefanov, Sasho Elenkov, Miroslav Grozdanov.

Sitting: Nasko Zhelev, Yordan Stoykov, Trayko Sokolov, Georgy Bonev, Ventzislav Arsov, Borislav Dimitrov, Ivan Dangov, Georgy Georgiev.

Three key players are missing: Atanas ‘Nachko’ Mikhailov, Roumen Goranov, and Radoslav Zdravkov. They, plus Kolev, Sokolov, Stoykov, Bonev, Arsov, and Dimitrov were the constant regulars. The reserves were merely reserves… some showed some promise, but did not develop (Elenkov), others flashed for short time (Dangov, Stefanov), some had middle-of-the-road careers elsewhere (Spassov), some disappeared quickly, leaving no memory at all (Georgiev, Grozdanov). Such was the prdicament of Lokomotiv… only two of the young reserves became strong players – the goalkeeper Donev and the defender Zhelev – but after a few years. Which was the whole problem of the team – some of the stars were already getting old (Mikhailov and Sokolov) and there was nobody capable of replacing them. A long term injury or a transfer of a key player to another club, and Lokomotiv was surely to collapse. Living on the edge… a lovely team may be because of that.

Moody Slavia was not a serious threat and Lokomotiv, already overachieving, was still lacking something to be taken entirely seriously, so the arch-enemies CSKA and Levski-Spartak concentrated on each other. Neither club had a particularly great season, but they were the contenders and it was breath taking because the title was to be decided in the very last round of the season in the direct derby – fans feast, to be sure, but also for the clubs. No matter how they played so far, certainly they were to be highly motivated and expected to make exciting game – it was all or nothing, no room for tricks. Levski was leading by a point and CSKA was expected to be more aggressive, for they needed a win. The leaders were expected to play more carefully, aiming at a tie. A month earlier Levski eliminated CSKA in the Cup ½ finals – irritating loss for CSKA, which dominated at first, but after scoring a goal decided to keep their lead with defensive tactic and was promptly beaten. Revenge was surely in their minds, but still the title was at stake and what better motivation than that. Strangely, CSKA sacked their coach after the Cup match and had a new one – barely 34-years old former player Asparoukh Nikodimov, with practically no coaching experience yet. His debut was in this most important match and opinions were divided – some thought it was a big mistake to change the coach at the very end of the season; others – that the change will invigorate the team. Predictions were fulfilled at first: Levski indeed played carefully and slightly defensively. CSKA was attacking, but the change of the coach did not change anything on the pitch – the attacks were monotonous and predictable: long high balls in front of the net, aimed at the tall center-forward Dzhevizov.The opposition knew that, Dzhevizov was covered well and prevented from striking. CSKA was more active and slightly dominant in the first half, but unable to score. The second half was entirely different – wanting to win, CSKA went into hazardous attacks, which in turn spurred Levski. Empty space was convenient for counter-attacks at first, but eventually Levski abandoned their initial defensive approach and played attacking football. They scored first in the 57th minute and the goal spurred them to entirely open attacking football. It was like Levski needed a win, not CSKA – but fate played its usual joke: as soon as Levski changed their tactics, CSKA scored an equalizer. Still, Levski continued to attack, eventually prevailed and was the more dangerous team and scored a second – and very attractive – goal in the 78th minute. The diminutive midfielder Barzov, assigned to neutralize Dzhevizov, scored – it was literally a victory of David over Goliath: the big striker did not score, but his small shadow, a player, who was not supposed to score, but to stay back and follow Dzhevizov. Anyhow, Levski-Spartak won 2-1 and the title.

Silver medalists, standing, from left: Georgy Velinov, Tzonyo Vassilev, Georgy Dimitrov, Ivan Metodiev, Asparoukh Nikodimov – coach, Georgy Slavkov, Ivan Zafirov, Christo Topalov, Yordan Filipov, Dimitar Penev – assistant coach.

Crouching: Dimitar Aleksiev, Tzvetan Yonchev, Angel Rangelov, Krassimir Goranov, Plamen Markov, Spas Dzhevizov, Dimitar Dimitrov, Angel Kalburov.

Retrospectively, this team is credited as beginning of an era – a very successful period of CSKA, coached by Nikodimov, who became a legend and managed to eliminate two reigning European Champions Cup holders. This was also the debut of the coach voted the best Bulgarian coach of 20th century: Dimitar Penev. In the squad is Plamen Markov – the last coach qualifying Bulgaria to a major final tournament (The 2000 European Championship). Some of the greatest Bulgarian stars of the 1980s are here – Georgy Dimitrov, Georgy Velinov, and Georgy Slavkov. But this is what can be seen in the squad today – back in May, 1979, they were losers… because for CSKA only titles count and second place is nothing. The wisdom of changing the coach so late in the season was criticized – Nikodimov was so young and without any experience to be trusted not only with a derby, but with a decisive one. Objectively, Nikodimov had limited options – he inherited a squad and so late in the season it was impossible to recruit players. It was not a selection made by the new coach, though. Denev, the star adored by the fans, was not on the pitch at the final derby – nothing was made of it right away, but soon enough the story cane out, adding new suspicions of the green coach – the story is still talked about and is still controversial, but it was more so in real time. It deserves a separate space, but later, so to placed in its proper time – it suffice for the moment that Denev is still unhappy with his former teammate Nikodimov, who dismissed him from CSKA, telling him that as a coach, he does not want to have players with whom he played together. Makes sense… in terms of establishing authority and Denev was notoriously undisciplined. But… only Denev was let out. Filipov, Zafirov, Vassilev, who were also teammates with Nikodimov stayed. At first the new coach was not exactly thrilling – at best, it looked like CSKA following Levski’s example by making a radical coaching change, placing instead of experienced coach young former players without any experience – Levski did that in 1975 with the tandem Vutzov-Zhechev and it did not work, now CSKA followed with Nikodimov-Penev and the initial result was a loss. And copying Levski never stays well with the fans of CSKA, which added additional criticism. The whole thing appeared to be a temporary measure – until ‘proper’ coach was found. And it looked this way largely because CSKA struggled a few years already, unable to build a new strong team. Players were coming and going, there was always something missing, not right… and it was a third consecutive year without a title – a record period, irritating everybody associated with CSKA. There was no trophy at all – the last time CSKA won the Cup was in 1974. Three seasons entirely empty-handed – what better prove that there was no winning squad. And the current vintage was not ‘it’ certainly – there were still aging players, getting closer and closer to retirement (Filipov, Zafirov, Denev, Dimitar Dimitrov, Nikola Christov, Vassilev), there was no right winger (Aleksiev was a mediocrity and rarely played), some were clearly second-stringers (Topalov). The very young Georgy Slavkov was promptly returned to Trakia, as a disappointment – the future European Golden Shoe winner eventually came back, but after a few years. Velinov and Georgy Dimitrov were only a promising youngsters – chances were given to them, but for the moment they were only possible replacements – in the future – of Filipov and Rangelov, still playing for the national team. It all depended on the summer transfers and whims… luckily for CSKA, Nikodimov was not replaced, as expected. It looked like he was given ‘a second chance’, still a temporary one, but this was in the future. For the moment CSKA sulked at second place.

Levski-Spartak finished in style – they won the title with match satisfying both fans and critics. However, it was not at all overwhelming season – Levski struggled especially in the fall. They played some exciting games, but also had a good deal of lukewarm games. All ended well – excellent, in fact for Levski finished with a double – and now this is considered a great season. Time changes views and builds myths… and yet, a double cannot be criticized harshly. But… after winning a double, the coach was sacked… which suggests it was not all that great performance. The problem was that Levski was lulled into a dangerous position – on the surface, gradual replacement of players was smooth: few old stars gone, few younger ones arrived. Small changes in the last few seasons, nothing radical. The bulk of the team was aging more as team than individual players, however. They were familiar to every other clubs, their game easily predictable, some already reached their peaks and it was inevitable downhill for them. There were too many attacking midfielders in the team, which was a problem when it came to selecting starters and changed the very tactical scheme: often Levski played without a center-forward, but by habit played as if they had one, which was ineffective. The form of individual players fluctuated vastly and it never certain how this or that player will play, but it was usually discovered when a match was already in progress and some star was a fluke. Unfortunately, nobody was over 30 yet and the squad appeared to be ‘deep’ – there were about 2 equally strong players for almost every position. Some newcomers were especially bright and considered to be key figures for years – they still needed a bit more experience, and the timing look right: they were expected to be at their best exactly when it was time for some current star to step down. It was too comfortable vision, making radical changes unthinkable. After all, Dimitar Enchev replaced Kiril Ivkov so well, that Ivkov went to play for Etar without any fuss – Enchev was seen as regular for the next ten years. Thomas Lafchis benched the national team goalkeeper Staykov in his very first season, still a mere teenager. Roussy Gochev, barely 20 years old, with minimal first league experience, not only adapted at once to his new teammates, but ended as the top scorer of the league. On the left wing Anton Milkov was still shaky, but his talent was undeniable and shaky or not, he was rapidly becoming a regular, pushing aside another young prodigy, Emil Spassov. Talent was there… and also inconsistency; and a need of a real center-forward, for Levski traditionally played with one, it was in the mentality of the players, the core of their game; and some players had to go simply because they were slowly starting to decline. But no radical change was made… Levski rised to the occasion when it really mattered, won the title, the declining stars still delivered at least 5-6 strong games and with good reserves, eager to get regular spots, inconsistency was fought by rotation. Rotation hided simple facts: Grancharov was no better than Tishansky, Yordanov than Borissov and none of them was actually going to improve. They were only solid and able to cover for each other. One symbolic sign was the size of the players – the tendency in Europe at that time was bigger and bigger players, but Levski was getting smaller and smaller. The fans nicknamed this squad ‘the dwarfs’ – Nikolov, Milkov, Barzov, Gochev, Kochev… the team was getting shorter, closer to the grass than to the sky. Levski was stuck. And it was going to experience a spectacular failure soon… unless radical changes were made. Nobody dared… at least not yet. Then again, why changing a winning squad?

Plenty of trophies this year… must have been a great team. Sitting, from left: Iv. Tishansky, T. Barzov, Pl. Nikolov, T. Lafchis, An. Milkov, P. Panov, Em. Spassov.

Middle row: Al. Kostov – assistant coach, Kr. Borissov, N. Grancharov, St. Aladzhov, Iv. Vutzov – coach, D. Enchev, V. Voynov, Yul. Kolev, L. Goranov – assistant coach.

Third row: Y. Yordanov, A. Stankov, G. Todorov, Vl. Nikolchev, Br. Kochev, R. Gochev.

Before winning the title, the boys won the Cup. They eliminated CSKA at the ½ finals and met Beroe (Stara Zagora) at the final. To a point, the final was also a dangerous sign – Beroe scored first, but Levski won 4-1 at the end. The big victory quickly covered the fact that Levski had to be spurred by a goal, to come back from a sleep. But it was comfortable victory, the ‘blues’ dominated the second half, Voynov did not play well, but his replacement Milkov did, Yordanov was not a starter, but Borissov was fine, and so on to the lull. It took a whole year, if not even longer, until it was realized that big reshaping was in order. It needed a string of disasters – D. Enchev suffered terrible injury after which he was never the same and had to leave the team; Anton Milkov died in car crash; and Thomas Lafchis was allowed to move to Greece, since he was an ethnic Greek. That is, the future of the team was suddenly gone… but it was still in the unknown future. For the moment a double and great joy. After all, when these really played, they were fun. And winners are winners.

Beroe had strength only for about half an hour at the Cup final. They scored and lead, but for short time. In the second half they were practically out of the game – it is quite telling that Beroe replaced their goalkeeper in the 64th minute: it was that bad. But it was a success for Beroe nevertheless . More than success – because Levski were also the champions, Beroe was to play in the European Cup Winners Cup. They liked that – and usually played well in European competitions.

The losing finalists in their traditional green and white. Sitting, from left: Georgy Georgiev, Tenyo Minchev, Mitko Nikolov, Petko Petkov – captain, Georgy Stoyanov, Angel Yanev, Tanyo Petrov.

Middle row: Ivan Tanev – coach, Kancho Kasherov, Tanko Tanev, Todor Krastev, Zlatko Vassilev, Kosta Kostov, Valentin Peev, Stefan Stefanov, Vassil Ivanov – assistant coach.

Top row: Plamen Lipensky, Christo Belchev, Stefan Naydenov, Dinko Dimitrov, Stayko Staykov, Emil Lichev.

One important player is not on the picture – the new sensation Stoycho Mladenov. The squad is a bit strange – a mix of legends, future stars, and various promising guys, who had different develeopments in the future. One thing was sure – this team appears a bit transitional and compared to the great squad of the late 1960s and early 1970s – not much. But Beroe was fantastically unpredictable team: the same squad was capable of compete with the best one year and to be relegated the next. And to climb again to great performance in the third. This season was a strong one – Beroe finished 7th in the championship and reached the Cup final. Inspiration perhaps cane from Petko Petkov, who came back after playing for Akademik (Svishtov) the previous season. The great scorer continued to score. To a point, Beroe was a decent team – Todor Krastev, a former national team goalkeeper, was declining but had enormous experience, so goalkeeping was pretty much fine: Kostov was more often a starter, but Krastev was ready to back him up. Kasherov, European champion with the Bulgarian junior team, was aleready with massive first league experience and at 22 among the best Bulgarian right full-backs. Tenyo Minchev was rapidly becoming one of the top central defenders in the league – and eventually played for the national team. He was paired with bright teenage talent – Dinko Dimitrov, he younger brother of Georgy Dimitrov, and barely 18 years old. Georgy Dimitrov made his impressive debut two years earlier and immediately snatched by CSKA – his brother covered the gap right away and just as quickly moved to CSKA as well. Beroe was regular supplier of CSKA for years, so to a point, their fate depended on that – for the moment, they were lucky to have big talent at hand, covering the loss of Georgy Dimitrov. In midfield two promising players had a strong season – Georgy Stoyanov and Stefan Naydenov. Stoyanov was seen as the better one at the time – Naydenov was soon gone to play elsewhere – but the roles changed after a few years. The attack was the strongest line – Srefan Stefanov , not good enough for CSKA, came to Beroe, and at least this season, he played well on the right wing. Petko Petkov took again his place as center-forward, his age not showing at all. At 33 he was still one of the most dangerous strikers in the league – and still had to make his mark in Austria, where he went to play in the early 1980s. His presence moved Stoycho Mladenov to the left wing. Mladenov made himself known the previous season, when he took the spot left empty by Petkov’s departure. He was lethal. This season he was lethal again – even in the presence of one of the all-time greatest goalscorers, Mladenov still ended the top scorer of Beroe – scoring a goal more than Petkov. Mladenov really became a legend of CSKA, but to a point his fate was sealed this year: originally a center-forward, he rarely played at this position, because of competition. Almost all of his career he was ‘temporary’ playing at the left wing. Beroe had a strong group of players, although all depended on carnivorous desires of CSKA and Levski. At the end, in the 1980s only Kasherov, Minchev, and Stoyanov remained with Beroe – the others for one or another reason did not last.

 

First division offered a mixed bag of goods. Some clubs were in decline and dangerously slipping down. Others struggled to establish relatively strong teams. The leaders were familiar. Decline settled in four clubs – it was detected earlier, perhaps measures were taken to stop it, but they were not effective. Akademik (Sofia) suffered the most – the very design of the club made this possible. The ‘students’ club had no way of keeping players – as long as they graduated from University, they had no right to stay with the club. The great team of the mid-1970s was another danger – Akademik was constantly raided by the big clubs and the best players taken away. By 1978 practically nobody of the strong squad was still in Akademik and the new recruits, although promising, were not at the same level. Perhaps they lacked character, perhaps they saw playing for Akademik only as means for getting easy degree, perhaps the selection was altogether wrong, but the team had no chemistry, finished 15th, and was relegated. Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) came dangerously close to relegation – they ended 14th.

From fighting for the title to struggling to escape relegation – the problems of Lokomotiv were obvious and detected a few years back: it was dangerously aging squad. There was no easy solution – the regulars were great players, lead by Christo Bonev, the best Bulgarian player of the 1970s and one of the all-time greatest Bulgarian footballers. There were also the former national team goalkeeper Stancho Bonchev, the legendary right winger Georgy Vassilev, to name but only the biggest names. Not only there was reluctance to let go legends – another problem was their form. Old, but still dangerous and much better than younger players. Thus, Lokomotiv, trying to replace other veterans, suddenly ended with strange and disfunctional squad – half of it was veterans over 30, and the other half were almost teenagers, too young and too inexperienced. The road to disaster was wide open – the strange mix did not work. Another club was going in the same direction – Pirin (Blagoevgrad), but at least for the moment they had hope for better fate: unlike Lokomotiv, they had more and better youngsters. The other club going downhill suffered from its predicament. Sliven were something like a farm club of CSKA – the ‘mother’ club was constantly sending young players to get experience with Sliven, but as soon as they played well, they were taken back. A few were actually shuffled a few times between the clubs. The result was constant uncertainty – Sliven was not in a position of building a strong team and sooner or later was to pay the prize for subservience. They finished 13th this year and although their luck could change in the next season, the danger remained – performance depended largely on what players CSKA was giving or taking away, there was no permanence. The fourth club in decline was Botev (Vratza). Like Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), they were strong in the early 1970s, but their best players aged. Botev was slowly sinking.

Front row, from left: R. Panov, L. Manov, Oleg Karchev, D. Efremov, N. Penkov, S. Dimitrov

Middle row: P. Kamenov – assistant coach, L. Kunovsky, V. Petkov, M. Goranov, V. Romansky – coach, T. Mitov, V. Toshkov, An. Tzenov, G. Kamenov – assistant coach.

Top row: Ves. Petkov, P. Dimchev, S. Venkov, P . Petrov, Val. Maldzhansky, V. Krastev, T. Arsov, S. Angelov.

It was a team still depending on the veterans from the late 1960s and the early 70s: Penkov, Tzenov, Angelov, Kunovsky, all nearing retirement and no longer at the their best. Milen Goranov, who made his name with Akademik Sofia was also in his third decade – and he was the best addition to the team! None from the promising youngsters of five-six years ago developed into a star – Toshkov and Efremov apparently reached their peak already and their best was not as great as expected. Newer recruits were not even that – the only promising additions were the goalkeeper Arsov and the central defender Maldzhansky. Arsov, although he caught the eye of CSKA and moved to the big club for a while, never lived up to expectations. Maldzhansky, not exactly a great hope at first, for he was not young at all when came from the lower leagues to Botev, was the only player who not only secured a place in the regular team, but became one of the top Bulgarian defenders of the early 1980s and eventually played in the national team. Yet, when the best new discovery is a 28 years old unknown the future does not look bright.

Four clubs in decline, but those rising were half the number… Trakia (Plovdiv) successfully changed generations with just a brief trouble, thanks to talented teenagers in their youth system. Almost the whole team was their own production and apparently there was no end of even younger talent – already 4 players, who just popped up, were taken by CSKA (Dzhevizov, Kalburov, and Slavkov) and Levski (Milkov), and it was not a problem – they were replaced by other fresh juniors. And the new boys were often even better than those who were introduced a year or two earlier. Trakia was expected to burst big, to become a title contender. They finished 8th this season, and the mid-table position was excused – the team was still too young and inexperienced. However, the place should have been alarming – it was already a second or third year Trakia was hailed as the next big thing and the middle of the table was hardly a success. Were they to become just another unfulfilled promise ,were they to settle for comfortable mediocrity? The danger of that was real. Meantime, the great Dinko Dermendzhiev, one of the best Bulgarian players of the 1960s and 1970s played his last season and retired. It was sad to see him gone, but in the same time the generational change was completed – not a single player of the older generation was in the squad, everything was in the feet of the young boys.

Trakia bursting with new talent – the most promising team in Bulgaria.

The other interesting club was Chernomoretz (Bourgas) – they returned to top flight the previous season, played well, and now – even better, ending at 5th place. Like Trakia, they depended on talented home grown youngsters. The new boys were perhaps not so talented as Trakia’s, but so far they played more seriously and successfully. Both clubs were example of an old truth: a club gets best results if building a strong youth system and producing their own stars. In a small country, with small pool of talent, this was the most efficient policy.

The rest of the league performed as usual. Marek finished 6th, no better and no worse than the previous two seasons – it was amazing, because the club depended still on the very 12 players as in their first great season two years before. And it was very risky… how long such a run would last with so limited resources? An injury, one or two transfers to other clubs, and… the team will be destroyed. If luckily avoiding that, then aging was inevitable – a quarter of the regulars were getting old already.

Beroe had a strong season, but it was also typical unpredictable Beroe – one year down, the next up, no consistency. At the bottom pf the table settled the debutant Haskovo. It was expected – they had no strong team when they won promotion and did not take strong additions. Their best efforts did not produce results – the squad was simply lacking first division quality. They earned 19 points, but were still 3 points behind the 15th place Akademik. Down they went, along with Akademik.

The Northern Second Division was more competitive at cursory glance – more recent first division members played here and some of them were expected to try going up again. The final table suggests so too – the expected ended at the top. Yantra (Gabrovo) was 5th, ZhSK Spartak (Varna) – 4th, Dunav (Rousse) – 3rd. Akademik (Svishtov), just relegated from top flight was second.

Akademik (Svishtov), keeping most of its first division squad looked like contender. They clinched 2nd place on better goal-difference, another hint of tightly contested season. Five possible winners, then… all expected. But it was not really so. The names were there, but not the fight. The winners built even bigger gap between themselves and the closest pursuer than Minyor (Pernik) did in the South. Yes, it was familiar name.

Etar (Veliko Tarnovo) were expected to win promotion every year since their relegation. So far they failed, but at last they came first and with a vengeance. Well, their record tells so – with 54 points, they were 8 points ahead of Akademik (Svishtov) and Dunav (Rousse). However, even this was misleading – having such a lead against stronger opposition says the champions were really strong, yet, Minyor (Pernik) secured their promotion ahead of Etar. Which means that at the end of the season,when little mattered anymore, Minyor took it easy and lost points in the South, but in the North it was mostly the competitors of Etar giving up early, thus helping the champions to build so big a gap.

The squad winning promotion for a second time in the club’s history. Sitting from left: Petar Shabarkov – masseur, Ivan Angelov, Petko Tzanev, Georgy Tzingov, Vassil Daskalov, Krassimir Kalchev, Stefan Pavlov, Stefan Donev – team’s doctor.

Middle row: Atanas Parzhelov – coach, Boyko Dimitrov, Nikolay Kotzev, Nikola Velkov, Georgy Simeonov, Petar Petrov, Stefan Lakhchiev, Georgy Velinov – assistant coach.

Third row: Kadir Belaliev, Iliya Marinov, Ivan Bozhilov, Kiril Ivkov – captain, Ivan Nenchev.

Among all recently relegated clubs, Etar was perhaps the only one which started – and seemingly finished – full rebuilding. Only the goalkeeper Petrov remained from the great squad of the first half of the 1970s, which played in the UEFA Cup. The new team was already made the previous year, consisting mostly of rejected by various first division clubs players and solid or promising second division talent. It sounded impressive for a second league team and included at least one player considered a national team material – the central-defender/midfielder Stefan Lakhchiev. Yet, they failed to win promotion in 1977-78 and there was a bit of suspicion about them: a solid team, but perhaps not very ambitious, since it was made largely of players failing elsewhere. The sense was that Etar needed fine tuning, perhaps a few changes. The age was not right either – the boys were mostly about 25 years old, suggesting that at their prime they greatly lacked ambition. But instead of polishing, the club decided different approach – a new coach, Atanas Parzhelov, one of the best in Bulgaria and the maker of the strong Slavia of the 1970s, and two famous veterans recruited on the suggestion of Parzhelov: Kiril Ivkov and Stefan Pavlov were just released from Levski, after years of great service. Both were 33, too old for their old club, but Etar needed class and leadership. The newcomers did not disappoint – both had strong season, leading their new teammates to victory. Kiril Ivkov was so good in fact, that he was recalled to the national team and played a few more matches a month before his retirement, thus setting a precedent – he may have been the very first second division player included in the national team. In Bulgaria it was almost unthinkable, yet, he was back. Apparently, Parzhelov had only one aim – to win the first place and nothing more. This he did, but the future did not look very bright, because Parzhelov was appointed to coach the national team right after the season, Ivkov retired and joined Parzhelov as his assistant-coach, and none of the ‘flakes’ in the squad was released. It was nice to see the ‘violets’ coming back to first division, yet, they needed a shake-up. They looked much better team than Minyor, but were somewhat ‘tranquil’, a team taking it easy, not driven by ambition. Nobody of this squad became a great player, even Lakhchiev did not fulfilled his great promise. Most of them sunk into obscurity in the next 2-3 years. The sole exception was Nikola Velkov, who eventually went to play for CSKA and was a regular – but not a star – of their strong team of the early 1980s.

The best of the second division once again did not look like strong addition of the top league, but one had to be cautious with that too – in the last few years the newcomers did not look strong, but some of them surprised everybody once among the best: Marek, Chernomoretz Bourgas, Spartak Pleven to a certain point. Still, it was scraping the bottom – with these two clubs gone, there was hardly a single decent second division club. Certainly there was none in the Southern group.

 

From the distance of time, the Bulgarian championship appears in good health, even at its peak – 40 clubs in the second division (soon to be increased to 44), and dramatic first division championship, decided in the last round. And the decisive match was a derby between the best clubs – Levski-Spartak and CSKA. But numbers and drama look better now then in real time. Second division clearly indicated stagnation – the league, divided into two groups of 20 each, provided mostly a room for so-so teams. With two-three good players they were able to stay in mid-table for years. Hardly any club really tried to build a strong squad – the solution of any problem was simply getting a couple of good players from elsewhere. In turn, many players preferred to offer their services to some unambitious small club and live in tranquility for awhile, knowing that no much effort was required from them. With good players dispersed among 40 clubs, there was no concentration of talent anywhere and even the winners were shaky. This affected the quality of first division as well, for the newly promoted clubs were seen as outsiders and likeliest candidates for relegation the next year. Meantime, a few previously strong clubs were in decline and the promising young squads of others were simply that – a promise. The biggest two suffered as well – both had hard time finding new strong players, the rebuilding of CSKA was not going well for quite some time, and now Levski had similar problem. And climbing to the top of the pyramid, the problems were very clear – the Bulgarian national team suffered defeats and was very unstable. Players came and went, often old ‘discarded’ stars were recalled again in desperation. The dramatic end of the championship was great, but hardly enough to cover deeply embedded ills.

The Southern Second Division was ‘decided’ even before the championship started: there was no competition. The few clubs from big cities, which played top league, did that in very distant time and were in decline for years. No other club was rising… thus Minyor (Pernik), relegated in 1977 from top flight, was seen as a sure winner. Of course, there were ups and downs in the league: Rozova dolina (Kazanlak) was steadily among the best teams for a third consecutive season. Dimitrovgrad, once upon a time a member of first division, also climbed up. Another club from a small town, Chepinetz (Velingrad), bravely competed for second place – and lost it to Dimitrovgrad on goal-difference. But none was a potential candidate for promotion and the reason was obvious, when one looks at their squads: Dimitrovgrad depended on two players – the defender Rasho Rashev (formerly of Beroe) and Stoil Trankov (one of the ‘eternal’ reserves of CSKA in the early 1970s). A third player eventually had a very strong season – the 20-years old goalkeeper Vlado Delchev, who was in CSKA the year before, but never played a match and was dispatched to second division. It was clear that Delchev was not going to stay in Dimitrovgrad – and he did not. Rozova dolina was the same – two or three known names, who did not make it in top flight, but had enough talent and experience to keep the team among the top. Chepinetz was the same – the veteran defender Vangel Delev was their star, playing his last days after years with Trakia (Plovdiv). The rest of the league was the same, which pretty much explains why clubs from small towns performed relatively well.

Clubs like Slivnishky geroy (Slivnitza). They finished 9th, which was yet another solid season for them. For a small city, it was great – they were among the good teams in the second division and dreaming of something bigger was unrealistic. As long as they were not threatened with relegation, everything was fine.

No wonder Minyor (Pernik) were considered without competition: to the two-three ‘stars’ of the other clubs, they opposed astonishing number of 7, including one the best Bulgarian sweepers of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Evlogy Banchev, often included in the national team. Sheer numbers made the difference… Minyor won as predicted, leaving the rest of the league far behind, and securing promotion earlier than the winners of the Northern group. Confident superiority? By the numbers – yes. Minyor finished with 50 points, 6 more than second placed Dimitrovgrad. They also scored the most goals in both second division groups – 71.

The team returning to top flight after 2 years in the purgatory. Dressed in unusual white shirts too – actually, the coaches are dressed in the standard yellow-black. Curiously, Malinov is the captain here – not Banchev, who captained them for years. Standing from left: Dimitar Kontev – coach, Amgel Slavov, Evlogy Banchev, Aleksandar Aleksandrov, Simeon Velinov, Krassimir Kovachev, Vladimir Naydenov, Georgy Ganev, Ivan Todorov, Slave Malinov, Petar Stefanov – assistant coach.

First row: Svetlin Slavov, Grigor Grigorov, Georgy Yordanov, Valentin Boyanov, Lyusien Baltov, Georgy Dorbrev, Zhorzh Staykov, Krassimir Kirilov.

The winners were not really strong and their potential was more than questionable. In post-season interview, their coach Kontev spoke with more than reservations: the key note of his answers was instability and he listed about half of his starters as moody. He praised only his three stars – Banchev, Yordanov,and Slavov, and cautiously spoke of the future – his players were young, he said, they had some potential which could be developed. He hoped not to make some impact in first division, but to survive. The uneven squad forced the coach to use very unusual tactical scheme – unusual for late 70s, unusual for a winning team, and unusual even for the traditions of Minyor:

5-3-2, with 2 sweepers, center-forward moved back as playmaker, and no left winger. Kontev hardly had a better option… his stars were aging, his better players were defenders, and he had a goalkeeper, described largely as ‘a good person’. At 28, Naydenov had plenty of experience, but his best days were already in quite a distant past – 4 years ago. He settled for comfortable mediocrity, knowing very well that he had no competition. Malinov, #2, was formerly a right full back, transformed into a sweeper. 33-years old, he was one of the most experienced players of the team with over 200 matches in first division. Tall and with intimidating look, Malinov was actually not tough defender at all and was afraid of moving into attack. Very rarely and reluctantly he joined attacking efforts, preferring to stay deep back. The other sweeper was entirely different – Banchev, also 33 years old with 200 matches in top flight, was not only a great defender, but a modern one too – he frequently went ahead and scored goals. Normally he played with number 3, but for some reason used number 5 this season. Long time captain of the team and inspiring leader, Banchev was one of the only three players really praised by their coach. As for the unusual duo of sweepers, the reason most likely was aging and the absence of good playmaker – Kontev had to improvise and with Malinov firmly in the back there was a sense of security. Banchev was free to go ahead and help midfield and attack and if slow in returning, there was a cover. Ganev, #3, was the right full back. 25-years old, he was half-praised by Kontev for having no problems with his form. Alas, his abilities were limited… he was already considered run-of-the-mill player, reaching his best a few years back when he played briefly for Levski. The left full back was a trouble – Todorov was considered a regular, his greatest asset was energetic play. However, an injury took him out for a bit of the season. He never established himself as firm regular – and was dismissed after the end of the season. The midfield was entirely uncertain – Dobrev, #8, was placed as something between a stopper and defensive midfielder. Like Ganev, he played for Levski a few years back and let go – at 24, he was also run-of-the-mill and nothing better was expected of him. As a playmaker, he was nothing – perhaps that’s why Kontev moved him further back. Kovachev (#11) and Boyanov (#6) were playing at the sides of the midfield line – both were young: Kovachev was only 20, and Boyanov – 22 – but not really promising players. They also lacked experience. Kovachev was more attacking kind of midfielder, Boyanov struggled to keep regular place. With shaky and pedestrian midfielders, the center-forward Yordanov (#9) was moved back to organize attacks. Partly, the move was dictated by his age – at 31 he was no longer the energetic striker of few years back. Vastly experienced with nearly 250 first division appearances in whihche scored about 70 goals, he contributed still well to the team’s effort, but there was a bitter taste too: without him in front, Minyor’s attack was less dangerous. With him in front … he was getting slow and not effective as before, but the real trouble was that there was nobody to actually organize attacks and give him a ball to score. At the end, Yordanov played back, as a midfielder, which left the attack disjointed – there was no center-forward and the left wing Angel Slavov (#10) was given freedom to operate on vast front, covering as center-forward. 26- years old, technical, strong, and very dependable player Slavov was one of the stars of Minyor and adored by fans. A star, but a local one… his perhaps greatest time was 4 years back, when he was taken by CSKA. And soon dismissed… May be not star on national scale, but certainly the best striker Minyor had – he scored a lot and generally was the most dangerous player of the team. The other striker was a right winger – 22-years old Baltov, who showed some promise, but was not expected to become a great player. To a point, he was just completing the starting team, stitched to the right wing, which limited the strength of the attack: better defenses concentrated on Slavov, and with him covered well, Baltov was rather useless – he was not a scorer, nor skillful enough to penetrate the enemy lines. He was mostly running on the wing and passing a high ball in front of the gate – monotonous, predictable, and hardly dangerous. The reserves were even weaker than the starters – only one was regularly used. Grigor Grigorov, a versatile player, able to play as a left full back and as midfielder, 21 years old. A physical player, hearty, usually in excellent condition, but lacking technical skills. Age was not the whole reason he was left as back-up player – rather, the constant problems of a moody and not so great squad. He was the only one able to cover different positions – so Kontev used him wherever there was an urgent need. Without even slightest competition in the second division, Minyor’s squad and tactics worked, but it was clear the club urgently needed new players – and many. The veterans were inevitably approaching retirement and there was nothing much behind them. Not even reserves at the weak level of the regulars. In fact, only one player became a known name – Grigor Grigorov. The rest were quickly forgotten.

 

Well, they were going to repeat that, reaching the Cup final. The other finalist was lowly… Panionios (Athens). A club without a single trophy in their very long history and not one of the big clubs either. Modest boys… fretting over relegation. They were 14th in league, escaping relegation by measly 2 points. They had one of weakest attack line this season and not much of a defense. The Cup was in the bag… of Panionios. 3-1!

Surprise Cup winners and getting a trophy at last. Panionios was one of ‘expelled’ clubs – like AEK and PAOK, it was found in Turkey. And very long time ago – in 1890. It was originally located in the city of Smyrna – Izmir – and moved to Greece in 1922 as part of the post-war exchange of population with Turkey. The emigrants from Smyrna settled in their own neighbourhood in Athens – Nea Smyrna – and the club too was based there. And that was all until 1979 and their famous victory.

With their first ever trophy – the joy was endless!

And still hard to believe for some… but the Cup was in their hands. A fine hour for the underdog. The heroes were not much as a team, but not entirely anonymous – they had some well known players.

Noni Lima, Mavrikis, and Anastopoulos greet the fans after winning the trophy. Mavrikis was just a local hero, but the other two were something else. Nikos Anastopoulos, 22 years old striker, was already making a name for himself. Rapidly improving, he became of the best Greek strikers in the 1980s and he was one of the very rare Greek players to attract the interest of foreign clubs at the time – he eventually played in Italy, but he was already a national team player in 1979. Of course, a new star was not to last in a modest club… and he did not last long. Noni Lima, from Cape Verde, was laready one of the respected and loved players in Greece – he arrived in 1977 and settled well. He was also loyal to Panionios, quickly becoming their star – and is a legend today. The two stars did not disapoint at the final – they scored one goal each. Interestingly, Noni Lima did not score at all during the championship – his sole goal this year came at the most important match, however. Right on target. The last curiosity was the coach – Panionios was one of few clubs in the league employing a Greek coach. A special Greek too, as becoming to an emigrant club – Panos Markovic. The name is no Greek… he was born in Drama, which had big Bulgarian population and still many people there are of Bulgarian descent. The name is more Serbian, but who knows – a full-blooded Greek he was obviously not, and one ‘displaced’ brought the victory to the other ‘displaced’ – a perfect match. A great season for Panionios. Well, their greatest, for this is still there only trophy.

A rather typical season of the Greek first division. One hopeless outsider – Panserraikos (Serres).

Pansseraikos managed exactly ½ of the points of the 17th in the league… 13. Four wins, 5 ties, and 25 games they lost. The last place was firmly theirs.

Not so for the spot just above last: 8 clubs tried to avoid it.

Egaleo (Athens) was unable to escape. They got 26 points, but needed 2 more to survive.

Four clubs had rather comfortable season – no worries at all, no ambitions either.

PAS Giannina deserves a mention. Not because they impressed – they finished 13th – but because of the curious team they maintained – the flock of South Americans kept them afloat and more: these players became more than local heroes – Oscar Alvarez already established himself as a very respected player, good enough to be desired – and taken – by Panathinaikos. At least one more followed in his steps. Giannina replaced the lost players with new South Americans – a possible new jewels for the league, or at least for the club. Interesting approach, involving scams with names and ‘roots’ for sure, but so far working and facing no protests. Perhaps because Giannina were modest club never threatening the status quo.

So, 5 clubs remained to claim top spots. Well… not really, for they were divided into 3 separate groups.

Panathinaikos suffered this year – very unusual for them. They were still far above the bulk of the league, yet not anywhere near to the title contenders.

Standing from left: Achileas Aslanidis, Vasilis Konstantinou, Nikos Kovis, Demetris Kizas, Takis Elefteriadis, Kostas Elefterakis.

Crouching: Walter Wagner (West Germany), Spiros Livatinos, Oscar Alvarez (Argentina), Christos Terzanidis, Stelios Stefanakis.

Panathinaikos had to rebuild, this was obvious a few years already. And they tried, but it was not working. The new boys were neither new, nor very young – the rebuilding was questionable largely because legends were exchanged for slightly younger players, who did not deliver. Domazos and Antoniadis were replaced just before the season started with Delikaris and Wagner. Wagner was so-so, but Delikaris, who came as a superstar, did not even become a regular. The transfers misfired. Still, the team was full of national team players – Aslanidis, Konstantinou, Livatinos, Terzanidis. Kostas Elefterakis, nicknamed ‘The Deer’, was no longer used by the national team, but still was one of the biggest Greek stars and almost the last one of the great European Champions Cup finalists to play for the club. Not very old either – only 28. Talent was recruited from elsewhere too – Greece permitted only two foreign players to play in a game, but… there were more, because they were considered Greek : Dimitris Kizas, a national team player of Cyprus, and the ethnic Greek born in Turkey, and Turkish citizen – Nikos Kovis. And another foreign player was bolted to the bench: the mysterious Antonio Gomez Benitez. On the surface, it was a squad capable of winning the championship, guided by Kazimierz Gorski. But the newcomers did not impress, may be Gorski was not really up to expectations either – he was seemingly going downhill since 1974 – but whatever was the reason, Panathinaikos settled at 5th place. 4 points ahead of the 6th, thus far above the bulk of the league, but 7 points behind PAOK, 4th this year, and they were not even close to the bronze medalists. A disastrous season for Panathinaikos.

PAOK, champions in 1976, were now good only for 4th position. They left Panathinaikos in the dust, but nothing else – with 45 points PAOK was 5 points behind their city rivals Aris.

Strong season for Aris – normally, they were among the top 6-7 clubs in the league, but not medalists. This year – bronze.

A big success, to be sure. Especially after leaving their arch-enemy, PAOK, far behind. Yet… it was good only locally… Aris were not in the race for the title at all: they ended 6 points behind the silver medalists.

It boiled down to the familiar duel between two clubs – Olympiakos was ever-present contender and their opponents, although not Panathinaikos this year, were still obvious suspects: the 3rd big club of the country – AEK (Athens), who started the championship as reigning champions. Now, Olympiakos seemingly made the same mistake as Panathinaikos – they exchanged their beloved superstar Delikaris for the legendary striker Antoniadis and were the worse for it. Like Delikaris, Antoniadis did not capture the hearts of the fans and perhaps did not really want to play for Olympiakos. Perhaps trade between arch-enemies should never be done – neither club benefited. But unlike Panathinaikos, Olympiakos did not drop down. Not a bit, in fact – they finished with exactly the same points AEK earned: 56. Then foggy thing happened: nowadays the final table suggests that the championship was decided by goal-difference. Normal practice and no sweat: Olympiakos had inferior one by far. There is no suggestion for different rule – but in the historic part of their official website AEK claim that there was to be a decisive play-off between the contenders after the season. Olympiakos failed to show and AEK won the title. This is almost unbelievable – Olympiakos, otherwise second, suddenly had a chance to win the championship and refused to play? Out of fear? Impossible – AEK were pretty much equal opponent. Hard to believe Olympiakos missed an opportunity and was left empty-handed for a second year in a row. Was it some kind of scandal, which the Greek Federation chose to keep under lid and never mention? Who knows… the fact is Olympiakos finished second and their position makes perfect sense: their goal-difference was 63-27; AEK’s – 90-30.

Perhaps a lucky victory, but victory. A second consecutive title for AEK – their 7th altogether.

A tied race to be sure, quite dramatic, but AEK were strong: they lost only 3 mathces (Olympiakos lost 4) and won 25. They scored 90 goals in 34 games. They allowed only 30 goals in their own net. Obviously in great form – which normally means good coach. Ferenc Puskas was at the helm this season, replacing Zlatko Cajkovski, but… he was fired -or left on his own – in the spring-half of the season. Strange… the fans seemingly think him instrumental for the victory today and the club does not criticize Puskas either. What really happened? Does it matter? AEK still won the title.

Champions again – considering the big transfers of the summer of 1978, AEK was the least likeliest winner. They got Mimis Domazos, 36-old veteran, most likely at the end of his wits. Not a big improvement, it seemed – especially because at the same position AEK another 36-old veteran: their own hero Mimis Papaioannou. Yet, it was solid team, one of the best in Greece – lethal attack: Thomas Mavros (who ended as the league’s best goalscorer), the Yugoslav star Dusan Bajevic, the Uruguayan Milton Viera, already very successful in Greece, and Tasos Konstantinou. Very strong midfield too – Papaioannou, Christos Ardizoglou, Takis Nikoloudis , and newly acquired Domazos; they had at least one strong defender – Christos Intzoglou; and experienced, solid goalkeeper – Lakis Stergioudas. On the surface, a squad may be a bit weaker than what Olympiakos and Panathinaikos had , but may be with a bit of luck… It was more than luck – Mimis Domazos settled at once – the change brought new life to him and he had a splendid season. The rest were in excellent form too. At the end it amazing: Papaioannou collected his 5th title (all with AEK), Milton Viera also his 5th (three with Olympiakos), but Domazos won his 10th! Nine were won with Panathinaikos, of course, but what a debut – a champion right away. Historic numbers, very hard to match – and also bringing the last laugh to AEK: some old horses they got, discarded by Panathinaikos and Olympiakos! It was wonderful – but a little less wonderful than the previous year. Back then AEK won a double.

Greek football had old problems, not really addressed, but covered instead. Corruption was perhaps the biggest problem, never really talked about and addressed properly. Evidence of it was largely found in the lower leagues… 7 clubs from the 2 Second Division groups had points deducted in 1978-79 – and points are deducted as penalties for infringement. But what the clubs were guilty of? Hard to tell… Pierikos had two points deducted for fixing games. Nothing is said about the rest of the penalized clubs, but A.O. Panarkadikos Tripolis ended with 6 points deducted. If 2 points were taken for fixing games, one wonders what this club did to be penalized three times the bribers. Except Pierikos, all clubs were lowly, 5 in the relegation zone – and relegated after all. On the surface, acceptable: trying to escape relegation, the clubs tried everything, but… practically all were still to be relegated even without penalties. Only A.O. Panarkadikos Tripolis would have been safe if 6 points were not deducted from their record. If match fixing was so wide spread, then the clubs involved must have been more – especially mid-table clubs, not worrying about anything and therefore ready to get some extra cash in exchange for the odd point. There was only one such club – Trikala. What made almost no sense at all was the penalty of the only club accused of fixing games: Pierikos finished third in the Northern Group . Looked like they tried to won promotion by illegal means. The problem is they were not in the race for the first place at all – even with full points, they were not only to finish third, but still 9 points behind the 3nd placed Olympiakos (Volos). Most likely, they decided to earn some money and offered their ‘services’ to the willing parties – but it was unlikely they were the only club: 5 clubs were penalized in the Northern Group, so match fixing appeared wide spread. But only the relegated were punished – a cover-up more than real effort to clean the game. And only second division teams were penalized – First Division was apparently ‘clean’. Was it? Most likely all depended on pulling strings, clout, scheming, and may be political influence.

Clean or not, the second division had its season – a massive affair, involving 40 clubs. 20 in each sub-division.

AO Korinthos won the Southern Group – 4 points ahead of the nearest pursuer and with excellent record – +55 goals testified for their superiority. They were going up, a rather rare achievement of the club. The real test for them was still in the future – the next year they had to try to survive among the big boys.

Similarly strong were the winners of the Northern Group – 4 points ahead of the 2nd placed, +41 goal-difference, only 4 lost matches during the season.

Doxa (Drama), established in 1918, was similar to Korinthos – they still had to prove themselves in First Division, where they played previously, but without any success. The champions left misty image of themselves.

 

 

 

An interesting Greek season – seemingly, the steady improvement of the country’s football reached a point of relative stagnation. Change of generations was a possible reason – the country’s pool of players was not very big and finding new talent was not easy. Veterans reached their peaks years ago and at least in their original clubs they were not contributing enough. Big and disturbing transfers were the news before the season started. Internal shuffling of players, not new imports. Three players were the big controversy:

Antonis Antoniadis, the legendary striker of Panathinaikos moved to the arch-enemy Olympiakos. The need was obvious – Antoniadis was already 33 years old. In a new club perhaps he was to be useful… but he was Panathinaikos’ legend and fans do not take easily such transfers. Perhaps Antoniadis did not really like playing for Olympiakos; perhaps he was no longer capable of playing for big clubs – he did not really shine in Olympiakos and did not last longer than an year.

The other big transfer involved even bigger star:

Mimis Domazos, on the left of Mavros, moved to AEK. Bigger legend than Antoniadis and captain of Panathinaikos for many years, he went to another big rival. Difficult move for both camps – Panathinaikos’ fans were not happy to see their hero playing for big rivals, but the fans of AEK had their own dilemma: not only Domazos was old, not only he was associated with the enemy camp, but he took the place of their own hero Mimis Papaioannou. Both stars were 36 years old… it was not a promising change, for there was not young and coming player coming… Papaioannou was captaining AEK for ages, he lead them to the title in 1977-78 – and suddenly he became a reserve of thye captain of Panathinaikos.

Losing two legends needed immediate compensation and Panathinaikos was involved with the third big transfer of the season: they got Giorgios (or Jiorgos) Delikaris from Olympiakos. On the surface – the most promising transfer, for Delikaris was at his prime at 27. Adored by Olympiakos’ fans, already a legend in Pireaus… going to the arch-enemy… and didn’t liking the transfer at all. Delikaris never warmed the hearts of Panathinaikos – he was quite open about not liking the transfer. He asked not to play against his former club. He greeted and chatted with Olympiakos’ fans before and after games. He was telling them that he belonged to them.

Delikaris never became a true star of Panathinaikos and even did not last long. An enigmatic person, he suddenly retired from football in 1981 and enveloped himself in silence, staying outside public eye as well.

The second compensation was a German striker, who was playing in Greece since 1974. Walter Wagner was well known name in Greek football, 29 years old at the time. Previously, he played for AEK and in 1977 was transferred to Aris (Thesaloniki). Panathinaikos got him from there, obviously to replace Antoniadis. Looked like a good deal – Wagner and Delikaris were much younger than Antoniadis and Domazos. Panathinaikos was trying to build a new team gradually replacing the old stars with… younger stars, well established, experienced, dependable… but were they really better than the old horses? Wagner joined another foreigner in attack – Oscar Alvarez, who built his reputation entirely in Greece, playing for PAS Giannina. He arrived in Panathinaikos in 1977. Just in case, a third Latin American was added – Benitez Gomez, who never played before in Greece. He did not make waves… played only in 9 games this season, scoring a single goal. Wagner did not live to expectations either – he played 17 matches, scoring three times. Alvarez on the other hand performed well – 15 goals in 33 matches. Delikaris spent the season mostly on the bench… 6 matches and 1 goal… some superstar. Panathinaikos’ scheme misfired. So did Olympiakos’: Antoniadis was a far cry from the menace he used to be – he played in only 13 matches, however his scoring abilities apparently remained intact – 7 goals. The big reshuffling worked only for AEK.

Of course there were many other transfers, but nothing so big, including the new imports, who were largely anonymous players and some of them hardly even played during the season. Like Antonio Gomez Benitez who signed with Panathinaikos. Apparently, he came from Colombia… well, at least he played there in 1975 for Deportivo Cucuta. Panathinaikos paid 2 500 000 drachmas a 26-years old striker, who appeared in 9 matches and scored 1 goal. Nobody even learned his nationality… in Greece, he was – and is – considered Argentine, Uruguayan, and Brazilian. He did not last in Athens, moving to Rodos for the next season, which was his last in Greece. He was the only mysterious flop: Panionios signed two Peruvian, whose names were misspelled – Nuniez and Ohieda. No reason to get the names right… Carlos Felipe Nunez played 13 matches and scored a single goal. Santiago Ojeda registered 14 appearances, also scoring once. The only club which managed to get good performance from previously unknown players was PAS Giannina – the club recruited a whole bunch of South Americans a few years back, played them by hook or crook – some under new Greek names, some because of real or faked Greek roots, some as foreigners – and they not only helped the small club to stay in First Division, but established themselves firmly, becoming valuable commodity – the key striker of Panathinaikos, Oscar Alvarez, was one of the first crop. PAS Giannina continued to dig their gold mine – they introduced two newcomers in 1978: called Correa and Ruiz. Added to their existing 4 Latinos, the club again a total of 6 foreigners… and played them all under rules permitting only 2 foreign players on the pitch.

It was not just foreign players, but also foreign coaches. An old practice… 13 out of 18 first league clubs had foreign coaches in 1978-79. English, Italian, Yugoslav, Polish, Bulgarian… some famous, like Kazimierz Gorski (Panathinaikos), Frantisek Fadrhonc (Panachaiki), Ferenc Puskas (AEK), some not so. AEK (Athens) did not employ a Greek coach since 1965. To a point, foreigners helped Greek football, but it also hit and miss approach – Gorski, for instance, did not achieve anything with Panathinaikos. Was it just bad luck – he coached the team during frustrating time of generational change – or was it his own mistakes – the club seemingly did not recruit really strong players during his spell – is hard to say. Foreigners were expected to win and the quick tempered Greek hardly waited longer than a season. Ferenc Puskas did not last even a season – and AEK were leading! To a point, the Greek football was slowly improving for the most of the 1970s, but reached a point of stagnation in 1978 – largely because the pool of local talent was small. Reshuffling of established players was more a necessity than a whim. The real improvement affected the national team more than the clubs – about 20-25 strong players existed, enough for the national team, but not for the whole of Greek football. And may be the national team prevented a major slump back into obscurity – the stagnation did not last long .

Fairly equal league or typically Polish championship – the intrigue of the unknown to the end. No visibly dominant team, no hopeless outsiders. Anything possible. The champions of 1977-78 were not a factor at all.

Wisla (Krakow) dropped so low, they actually fought to avoid relegation. 13th this year, ahead of only 3 clubs… and it was quite strange, because it was not only the same squad which won the championship the year before, but they were perhaps the strongest Polish squad, judging by the names of the players.

But they survived.

Gwardia (Warszawa) finished last with 19 points. The clubs was unable to re-establish itself in the top league and down they went.

Pogon (Szczecin) were 15th, also going down.

Another of the recent champions also had miserable season – Slask (Wroclaw) ended 10th. LKS (Lodz) were 11th – they also knew better days no long ago. Legia (Warszawa) was pretty much the same – the 1970s were not successful years for the club, but the club did not suffer from the absence of Deyna. They were 6th – more or less, their usual position in those years. Odra (Opole) and Szombierki (Bytom) climbed up – 5th and 4th – but, just like with the clubs who sunk, it was not sure was it a reshuffling with some permanence or just momentary good or bad season.

Szombierki (Bytom), a mid-table club at best, were a surprise, considered temporary – they had very modest squad. But they had a much bigger surprise hidden in their sleeves. Strange days for Polish football – Wisla, with their at least 7 national team players, near relegation zone and anonymous Szombierki up and going to make a real sensation soon.

The best three were also a mix – two of the best Polish clubs of the decade and a newcomer, known as a modest club so far.

Stal (Mielec) were still among the best – they finished with bronze medals. Lato, Szarmach, and the national team goalkeeper Kukla were seemingly enough to keep Stal at the top. To a point, it was even unusual – five years back, when Stal suddenly became a force, they had promising squad. Yet, they did not added a few more strong players, but it was rather the opposite. Typically, such a team should have been going down… but in Polish football 3 classy players were capable of keeping a team among the best. Stal were still a force – as long as Lato and Szarmach stayed, which was unlikely. Stal were contenders this season, but eventually dropped to third place, 3 points behind the champions.

The championship was decided by goal-difference, a tight race, exciting because of that, and also strange. Widzew (Lodz), a club similar to Odra and Szombierki so far, suddenly run for the title. Another Sinderella story… but with a difference: Odra and Szombierki had no great players and no up and coming youngsters. Widzew had Zbigniew Boniek. And a few other still unknown, but talented boys. If there was a club with potential to become a major force, it was them. They were elbowing their way up, claiming a place for themselves. Widzew were not very strong in attack, but had the best defensive record this season. They lost the least matches too – only 5. They lost the title on worse goal-difference, perhaps a sign that they were not ready yet, but clearly it was the team going to win soon. The team of the future and the positive change.

Experience won the title. Like Stal, Ruch (Chorzow) were one of the leading clubs of the 1970s. The question facing them was aging – were they able to rebuild quickly enough to maintain their strong position. Compared to their winning team of three-four years ago, change of generation was not successful… no great new player emerged and the old stars were gone abroad or into retirement. Yet, tradition, winning spirit, may be the way the club was run kept them atop. The nature of the Polish league helped that too – small things made the difference in the equal league. Wisla and Slask out of the way this year, Legia not a factor for a long time, Stal having a short team, Widzew still immature… and here it was Ruch, not overwhelming, but not giving up either. May be a bit lucky, but champions.

It was not a great squad, it was not promising either. It was not even a team able to keep good players – the young and very promising goalkeeper Henryk Bolesta, who easily edged Piotr Czaja, the last star of the earlier squad of champions, soon left Ruch and joined Widzew. This vintage was perhaps solid, but certainly not starry. However, it was enough for the moment.

The championship was not flashy, but it was dramatic – fans love close pursuits to the very end. But drama itself is not enough… Polish football was not in great shape at the end of the 1970s. None of the best teams of the championship reached the Cup final – the finalists were still a strange mix, though. Wisla (Krakow) reached the final – seemingly normal for such strong squad. Perhaps they just had a bad year, but class was class, and they were determined to save face by winning the other trophy. Considering their opponents, it should have been a child’s game… Arka (Gdynia) were one of the run-of-the-mill clubs, normally associated with the relegation zone. Nothing special this season year – they finished 11th in the championship, a bit above Wisla, but it was not because they had strong season – it was largely because Wisla had a very weak one. The final should have restored the obvious: easy victory for Wisla, spurred by wounded pride and the much stronger team anyway.

It was not to be – Arka won 2-1. Another Sinderella story.

The club with difficult full name – Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy Arka Gdynia – hails from the ship-building city on the Baltic sea coast. Not an young club, it was founded in 1929, but had modest existence. Their best ever league achievement was 7th place in 1977-78 – it is still the their best today. The Cup was their first trophy – and so far, their only trophy. One can imagine the joy of the underdog.

Well, this must be the best ever squad of Arka… since they won the only trophy in the club’s history. Local heroes, but they had two well known names: Adam Musial, a regular in the exciting 1974 World Cup Polish squad, and the member of the 1978 World Cup squad Janusz Kupcewicz. Hardly the making of a great team, but two stars were quite enough to make a difference in Polish football. The success may have been also dangerous for a modest club: very likely they attracted the interest of financially better clubs and players were lured elsewhere. The gray Baltic sea and industrial town were hardly attractive even when winning the Cup. Musial and Kupcewicz eventually left – Musial, who came from… Wisla (Krakow) in 1978, joined Hereford United (England) in 1980; Kupcewicz moved to Lech (Poznan) in 1982. Unfortunately, the destiny of Arka was to remain a modest club.