Category: 1980

Third Division. Wimbledon finished last with 34 points. Mansfield Town was 23rd with 36 points, Southend United – 22nd with 38, and Bury – 21st with 39 points. Those four were relegated. Up the table, in safety and nothing more, were the smallish English clubs of no interest. Except one:

Sheffield United, down on its luck, was 12th.

Better fate for their city rivals – they finished 3rd with 58 points.

Sheffield Wednesday ended with just a point more than Chesterfield, but it was enough – they clinched the last promotional spot. Jack Charlton was no loser as a player, and no loser as a manager. Going up, always going up. Sheffield Wednesday did not play in Second Division since 1974-75 and saying good-buy to Third Division perhaps was not spectacularly, but the feeling was great nevertheless.

Blackburn Rovers finished 2nd with 59 points and the Third Division champions were Grimsby Town with 62 points. The top three were promoted, of course. Sheffield Wednesday was seemingly the most promising of the trio – not because of their name, but because they lost the least number of matches this season – 9, and scored the most goals in the league – 81.

England. Dominating European football on club level, but financially, the English clubs were running debts, some in dire straits already. It was this season sponsors names appeared on team shirts. There was resistance to the idea and at the beginning only a handful of clubs used adds – Liverpool, Everton, Leeds United. The number of foreign players was steadily increasing and some got approval by fans and press. The rest was business as usual – English football was still attractive show.

Huddersfield Town won the IV Division with 66 points.

(Back) Robson (coach), Hanvey, Topping, Fletcher, Sutton, Taylor, Starling, Brown, Lillis, Mellor, Gartland, Haselden (physio/coach).

(Middle) Hart, Branagan, Holmes, Sandercock, Laverick, Robins, Robinson, Gibson, Bielby.

(Front) Smith, Cowling, Buxton (manager), Brook, Armstrong.

The champions distinguished themselves with scoring record: there is nothing unusual in that most goal were scored in the lowest professional league, but 101 goals is remarcable achievement. Over 100 goals were not scored in England since 1975-76, when Lincoln Town scored 111.

Three more teams were promoted along Huddersfield Town: Walsall, 2nd with 64 points, Newport County, 3rd with 61 points, and Portsmouth.

Portsmouth was lucky to clinch the last promotional spot – they ended 4th thanks to better goal-difference. Bradford City also finished with 60 points, but had to stay in the IV Division for the next season.

The grain of salt came from the Cup final. It was exceptional final: on their famous stadium, Real Madird A met Real Madrid B. Real Madird vs Castilla CF. An unique event, but also questionable. The second teams of the clubs were not allowed to play in the same league with the A teams, but were permitted to play in the Cup tournament. Apparently, nobody envisioned the possibility of two sides of the one club to compete for the cup – or, if somebody did when the rule was established in the past, it was believed that honorable sportsmanship will prevail. But nobody seriously thought such a final possible – and when the impossible happened, the spirit of the time was very different. In 1980 such a final looked like a scam – nobody believed the B team will even try to oppose the A team. There was no question not only who the winner will be, but even what colours the finalists will use: the B team without any fuss will dress in the reserve kit. There was no point to play the final at all. The other clubs surely pointed a finger and complained – and soon enough the rule was changed. Which provided further unique historic point: a second division finalist, two teams of the same club at the final. Never to be repeated anywhere. The final ended as expected: Real Madrid won 6-1 and enjoyed a double. The critics point was confirmed by the result. On the pitch, the final was seemingly fair – at least judging by the vicious tackles delivered by the Castilla’s defenders. But they often missed the ankles… and no matter how they tried, Castilla looked obviously weak, not even close to Real. Which is technically understandable – a mid-table second division team, no matter how enthusiastic, would be weaker than mighty club like Real. As a second team of same Real, it stands to reason that there is huge gap between the stars and mostly promising, but not good enough for the first team players. The most Castilla could do would be on individual level: youngsters trying hard to impress the coaching stuff of the A team, yet, careful not to prevent the stars from winning. Tackle, but miss. Kick the ball a bit off-target. Run energetically, but misread a bit the game flow. Make an interesting, but not dangerous pass. Try to impress, but make sure to lose. A difficult task really, for first and formost Castilla had to lose – and impress in the same time. A lot of running was done as a result.

And all ended cheerfully – there was no loser: both teams smiling with the cup, all winners, for all are Real Madrid players. Precisely the picture all other clubs and their fans hated to see: the end of competitive football, a scam. But unique one nevertheless.

Losers before the match was even started, yet, this is the squad which achieved the biggest success in the history of Castilla CF. It may be a B team of Real, but still has its own bit of history – and this final stands as the highest, never to be repeated again, point. And because Real won the title as well, Castilla was going to play international football too – in the next Cup Winners Cup. Which presented one more amusing possibility: imagine Real eliminated in the European Champions Cup, but Castilla running strong and winning the Cup Winners Cup? Theoretically, possible… the second team with European trophy and the A empty-handed. And from possibility, all kind of suspect activities were easily imagined too: such as Real giving players to Castilla mid-season to ensure they win in Europe. Apart from dark speculations, let see who was on the field for Castilla: Agustin, Gallego, and Pineda. Familiar as Real Madrid players a few years later. The captian Javier Castaneda did not make the first team, but had a good career – after the final he went to play 11 years for Osasuna. Hardly a star… as a whole, this Castilla vintage gave little to big brother…

Which enjoyed a double and therefore was happy.

Unlike the championship, winning the Cup was never a question. Standing from left: Garcia Remon, Stielike, Cunnigham, Benito, San Jose, Pirri, Camacho.

Crouching: Juanito, Del Bosque, Angel, Santillana.

One more trophy and perhaps Cunningham was the happiest of them all, for he started his career in Madrid with a double – his first titles. And, as it turned out, no star had to fear ambitious youngsters from the B team – nobody was invited to take the place of established player after the final.

At the end, the front picture in AS Color sums this final best.

The First Division was divided into three groups during 1979-80 season – 2 outsiders, two favourites, running head to head to the end, and between the lowest and the highest vast fairly equal bulk, almost a league by itself. 13 points separated the bronze medalist from the third relegated team at 16th place. 13 points also separated bronze from silver…

Malaga was last with 19 points.

Standing, from left:Burgueña,Orozco,Brescia,Cantarutti,Viberti,x,x,Mesquida,x,Corral,Popo,Nacho,Muñoz Pérez; Middle row:Javi,Aido,Migueli,Vargas,Salguero,Santi;

Sitting:Salcedo,Castro,Juan Carlos,Astorga,Alcaide?,Macías,Aráez,Filgueira,Collantes,Martín.

To a point, Malaga was largely a warning for the newly promoted: promoted in 1978-79, relegated in 1979-80. The longest time Malaga played in Primera was 5 consecutive seasons. Normally, they lasted a year or two. They were hopelessly last, finishing with fewer points than they actually earned: 3 points were deducted as a penalty for forfeiting their match against AD Almeria.

Thanks to the deducted points, Burgos CF finished 19th. They were really the worst team team this year, earning just 20 points.

The only thing to say about Burgos has nothing to do with their pathetic season, but about their history and that only from contemporary standpoint. Burgos was found in 1922 as Gimnastica Burgalesa Club de Futbol. In 1948 the name was changed to Burgos Club de Futbol and under this name they reached and played their bit in the top Spanish league. But today the club has two foundational years – 1922 and 1994 and this is because they disappeared in 1983 due to grave financial problems. Their reserve team – Burgos Promesas – was renamed Real Burgos Club de Futbol and played under this name until 1993, when once again the club was bankrupt and dissolved. Only to be refounded again as Burgos Club de Futbol. The painfully familiar scheme of preserving a club without paying mounting debts, leading to historic confusion. Arguments are pointless – if only Burgos was not relegated in 1980, money would not have been a problem; if money was not a problem, they would have been outsiders in 1979-80. Which came first – the chicken or the eggs?

Unlike the two outsiders, the third relegated club fought to the end and lost the battle for survival.

Dwarfed by its giant neighbours – Atletico and Real – Rayo Vallecano is the third significant club in Madrid, but the world was largely unaware of its existence until 1976-77, when Rayo Vallecano won promotion for the first time. Modest and somewhat restricted to its own neighbourhood, Vallecas, Los Franjirrojos (the Red Sashes) is almost a club from another city: nobody seriously considers a match between them and the big two a derby. And so big are the neighbours, Rayo Vallecano never managed to elevate itself from its insignificant predicament. Going to Primera in 1977 was their biggest success since founded in 1924. Staying in Primera was almost heroic achievement, but the Cindarella story ended in 1979-80. They fought as much as they could, but at the end were 2 points short – Hercules (Alicante) survived with 28 points – Rayo finished with 26 and unlucky 16th. No surprise, really. They had only one great player – Fernando Morena. The Uruguayan star delivered what he was hired for – 20 goals – but he was the only strong player in the team and his performance was not enough to save the club. Rayo Vallecano went down to its familiar second division apparently for good.

This was not a great year for another club from Madrid – Atletico had miserable season. They finished 13th with 31 points. Five points ahead of minuscule Rayo Vallecano, but 22 points behind Real. If Rayo Vallecano escaped relegation, may be they would have been proud to be on similar level with Atletico, but from the other point of view it was only shame: to be compared to Rayo was a disgrace.

Sinking so low seemed illogical: Luis Aragones, already successful and respected, was coaching them. The squad was strong, as far as names, one more Brazilian star was added to Luis Pereira – Dirceu, no less. But the crisis is understandable: Atletico aged as a team. No radical changes were made for a long time – only small additions. Some key players left (Leivinha) or were too old to make a difference (Ayala). Luis Pereira was beyond his peak and Dirceu did not fit well for whatever reason. Atletico needed a new squad, a full rebuild. The season should have been a wake-up call – a bit too late may be, but much needed.

The other club in need of waking call was Barcelona – they finished 4rd, but far behind the leading clubs. Since the real measure for Barcelona is only Real Madrid, the red signal for danger was flashing: Barcelona ended with 15 points less than their arch-enemy and Real was not particularly great . Barcelona suddenly found itself in unlikely company – similar to Sporting Gijon, Real Betis, Salamanca, and Almeria.

Like Atletico Madrid, Barcelona needed radical rebuilding – they kept a cluster of players too long. There were problems unsolved for years – particularly goalkeeping. Asensi and Rexach were getting too old. Krankl and Simonsen presented a problem for the future – they were both strikers, but the team needed a defender and a playmaker to organize a new team around them. Which meant that both foreigners were not going to last, for they represented to a point the old guard. At least one of them was to be out soon to open space for a foreign midfielder. A good goalkeeper had to be found – and quickly.

The weakness of the usual strong clubs – Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla, Real Zaragoza – suddenly elevated smaller clubs.

The league debutante Almeria finished 10th. Excellent season for almost anonymous club. Of course, they benefited by the weakness of the traditionally strong, but never mind. The team depended on 5 South Americans – the typical for Spanish clubs combination of Argentines (Daniel Pavon and Ricardo Martinez), Paraguayans ( Rolon and Oscar Lopez), and the odd Brazilian (Odair). Some of them were surely oriundi – to have that many foreign players did not make sense otherwise.

Salamanca finished 9th , a point better than Almeria. The big star of this vintage was a newcomer – the Paraguayan striker Carlos Diarte, who arrived from Valencia. Diarte never achieved European fame, but in Spain he was a star – one of the first crop of foreigners, he arrived in 1973, when he was just 19-year old.

Real Betis ended 5th , 2 points behind Barcelona. Up and down club, but this season clearly up and once again coming on top of their rivals Sevilla.

Yet, none of the clubs above was really rising – they simply had a good season, most likely not to be repeated. The rising clubs were two: Sporting Gijon and Real Sociedad.

Sporting Gijon bettered Barcelona by a point and got the bronze medals. Gijon jumped from 14th place the previous season to 3rd, leaving for the first time the lower half of the table. The team was not made of famous players, but it was sturdy, well rounded, and lead by a big star – Quini. Enrique Castro, known as Quini, was already the top Spansih striker and a goal-scoring machine. He was the top scorer of the league this year with 24 goals. In attack, Quini was helped by newly added Aguilar, who had been a starter of Real Madrid for years. The formula was good in general: individually, the players were not so great to attract the appetites of the big clubs. Sporting was strong as a team, but there was a question mark: Quini. It all depended on how long he will stay with the club – of he moved the scheme was liable to collapse. And the danger was real: Sporting had no means to keep a superstar. Thus, Sporting Gijon was up and coming, but continued rise depended largely on Quini.

The other ascending club was entirely different: Real Sociedad had an young and very talented generation, almost entirely home-made. The bright youngsters were still only hopefuls, so they were not yet a target for the big clubs. But they were going up and there was no doubt that this squad will be a decisive factor in Spanish football very soon. Real Sociedad run for the title this season and lost it by a point. They lost only one match! They also had the best defensive record by far – Real Sociedad allowed only 20 goals. Real Madrid and Barcelona shared the second best record, receiving 33 goals each.

The club from San Sebastian had their best season ever, but still the feeling was that this achievement will be outdone soon. So far, Lopez Ufarte and Zamora were recognized as almost full-fledged stars, but already the big name – and captain of the team – was the goalkeeper Arconada. He debuted in 1973 and by now was experienced, yet still young – just 26 years old, which for goalkeepers is not even the peak. No wonder Real Sociedad received so few goals – Arconada was rapidly becoming one of the best European goalkeepers. Perhaps luckily for the club, Arconada appeared when the big clubs had the previous generation of solid keepers still playing well (Iribar, Reina, Sadurni). By 1979-80 the veterans were gone, those of the immediate next generation aged (Garcia Remon and Miguel Angel), Arconada was national team regular, and Real Sociedad was rising – no point to go elsewhere. And he did not – he was in the right club at the right time. His greatest years coincided with the greatest years of Real Sociedad. The best was still to come. As for the picture, Real Sociedad here is dressed in their second kit – since their usual colours will fly for quite some time, let see their lesser known second option.

At a glance – nothing new: Real Madrid champion once again. But it was difficult victory – Real Madird prevailed by a single point, winning a tough race from start to the end. A happy end, but the future did not look bright – Real Sociedad was breathing in the neck of mighty Real Madrid. But for the club and the fans only victory counts – and this season gave them a double, so everybody was happy.

The usual suspects, dressed in blue: standing from left: Garcia Remon, San Jose, Cunningham, Benito, Pirri, Camacho.

First row: Stielike, Juanito, Del Bosque, Garcia Hernandez, Santillana.

What can one say? A famous squad. The top Spanish players of the 1970s plus Stielike, already recognized as an international mega-star, and fresh strong addition in Cunningham, who apparently settled well. With Vujadin Boskov at the helm, everything looked just fine. The future was also seemingly bright: Stielike and Cunningham provided a backbone for the years to come. But this team won the championship with difficulty and was far from overwhelming. And as great as these players were, Real Madrid was reduced to domestic victories – internationally, the 1970s were poor. And even poorer was the performance of the Spanish national team, which was based largely on Real’s stars. Stielike and Cunningham had few trophies with their previous clubs and nothing with their national teams. Real was strong, no doubt about it, but not all that strong – the point was not missed by the administration. It was a very successful season, but with a grain of salt.

 

Perhaps three moments characterize the 1979-80 Spanish season best – two transfers and the Cup final. The Cup final not only opposed a second division to first division team, but most importantly two sides of one and the same club. The transfers mark the high and the low of players’ luck and more. The first transfer announced the arrival of the best ever Uruguayan scorer Fernando Morena to Spain.

Morena was arguably the best Uruguayan player of the 1970s, famous for a long time, and arriving to Spain with a fantastic record: in his previous 6 years with Penarol he scored 162 goals in 140 matches. What was unusual then? Two things: first, he was coming to Europe quite old, approaching his 28th year. Of course, playing for famous club like Penarol seemingly explains his late transfer, but given the political and economic situation of Uruguay in the 70s confronts such explanation: tough military regime and terrible economic situation were the realities leading to great exodus of players. The military Junta was not interested in football, so the clubs were in poor shape and short on money. It is strange that a player of such a caliber stayed at home that long. May be too long… Morena was perhaps less known abroad in 1979 than in 1974. He signed with Rayo Vallecano, not with any of the big clubs. Not even with the solid middle Spanish clubs, but with a small one. Hardly a transfer for a star – rather, for a faded star, former star, or just a journeyman. Lesser players had better and more lucrative careers with Spanish clubs – Fernando Morena did not last long in Europe and was hardly noticed.

The other transfer was the very opposite: one day in the summer of 1979 a young guy knocked at Real Madrid’s door and tell them he wants to play for them. This was unheard of case,especially for a club like Real – it was taken for granted that the famous Real can have only policy: ‘you don’t call us, we call you’. Yet, the player persuaded the club to give him a try, was found more than good enough and Real decided to sign him – which meant buying him from his former club to the tune of 960 000 English pounds! It was a story so unusual, it became the big news in the summer of 1979: it was not just that a player offered his services to Real Madrid. What made it so exciting story was that the player was young, fairly unknown, and came from England.

Laurie Cunningham – pictured here in his early days with Leyton Orient – was born in 1956 and played professional football since 1974, but it was just by the end of the decade when he climbed to some fame. That is, after he moved from Leyton Orient to rising West Bromwich Albion in 1977. In 1979 the talented left-winger fulfilled his dream – he was included and debuted for the national team of England – but whatever he was so far was only a bright hopeful. Hardly a big star and almost unknown outside England. His daring move to Madrid instantly made him famous and expensive – West Bromwich Albion certainly jumped on the opportunity and hiked his price. Real Madrid was impressed enough to pay and Cunningham became the first ever English player to play for Real Madird. Not only that, but he was black – at the time when black English players were still few and just breaking into the national team. There was some luck too: Real Madrid did not have a second foreigner at the moment and Cunningham was instant starter. A transfer in sharp contrast to Morena’s – a oldish player, all but forgotten by now, went to a small club, but the young fairly unknown Englishman moved to the biggest club in the world and became a big star even before playing an official match for Real. As for what was real and what was inflated… Morena played for Uruguay from 1971 to 1983; Cunningham played for England 6 times, all of them during the 1979-80 season, did not make the team for the European finals in 1980, and was never called again. But that is visible when looked from a distance – at the time, Cunningham was the wonder in everybody’s mind and mouth.

Once the summer was over, it was back to business and the heat of the transfer market was replaced by the heat of the championship. The gritty Second Division had no big names to attract attention, but it had rules worth mentioning – B teams of clubs were allowed to participate in the leagues, only having no right to play in the same league with their A team. The rule was not new at all and mostly concerned the big Spanish clubs – Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao often had their B team in the Second Division. Normally, information of Second Division came with the note that so-and-so teams cannot be promoted, if they finish at the top of the league. As it happened, this season there was only one B team playing in the second level, and it was different. Different by name – if B teams appeared just as that: Barcelona B or Atletico Madrid B, and so on, Real Madrid visibly had no such team. Instead, there was Castilla CF. A small club, which was taken by Real. The name was preserved, but this was the B team of Real Madird and like any other B team, had no right of playing in the same league with the first team. That is, Castilla CF would not be promoted to First Division. Nothing to worry, though – they finished 7th. The problem came from another angle. Castilla CF had a good run, others faced disaster – especially from today’s perspective.

At the end of the table and relegated finished: Algeciras CF – 20th, Gimnastic de Tarragona – 19th, Deportivo La Coruna – 18th, and Celta Vigo – 17th. Strange to see La Coruna and Celta going to Third Division today, but back then neither club was even well known. Similar to modest Algeciras really. Gimnastic was also of the same ilk, long ago reduced only to a name of historic importance.

Second Division was largely made of similar clubs – most had played in first division, but never a big role. They moved up and down, depending on momentary luck. They were not particularly strong – Castilla, the second team of Real Madrid, was 7th with 40 points. The champions of the league finished with 47. That is, pretty much on the level of Real’s B team – but the top three were promoted.

CA Osasuna ended 3rd with 44 points and got the third promotional spot.

In Basque, the name means ‘health’ – in the sense of ‘strength’ or ‘vigor’. As for performance, Osasuna so far played 8 seasons in First division and 13 seasons in Third Division since their foundation in 1920. Their most successful years were between 1955 and 1960, when they enjoyed the longest run in First Division – 4 consecutive seasons, reaching the 5th place in 1958-59. However, their last visit to Third Division was 1976-77. The home city of Osasuna – Pamplona – is world-famous, but not for football. Osasuna did not play first division football since 1963.

With 45 points Real Valladolid finished 2nd.

Founded in 1928, they had a bit better history than Osasuna – played longer in the top league and only once in the third division. But like Osasuna, they did play in the First Division for a long time – since 1964.

With 19 wins, 9 ties, and 10 losses Real Murcia won the Second Division. 2 points ahead of Real Valladolid and not the best in anything – Osasuna won more matches and scored more goals, Castilla and Alaves allowed the same number of goals.

The oldest of the promoted teams – officially founded in 1908 – ‘Los Pimentoneros’ (Paprika-men) had the same kind of history as the other two. Their longest run in first division was 3 seasons – from 1944 to 1947, and the they were in 3rd division in 1976-77. But they played in the top league in 1974-75, unlike their rivals, which did not such joy for a log, long time.

Happy winners, well done, good for them, and so on. Yet, neither club appeared much different than previous winners of Segunda – smallish clubs, lucky to be among the best, and struggling to last more than season.

 

 

The Cup final opposed Roma to Torino – a replay of 1963-64 final, the last time Roma won a trophy, after tough 0-0 match, which had to be replayed and only then Roma prevailed 1-0. The finalists were quite equal in 1979-80 – strong running Torino and up and coming Roma, neither team strong enough to win the championship. Since both teams were pretty much matched, there was no favourite. The final was played in Rome, which gave – on paper – the edge to Roma, but on the field there was no edge: the final finished 0-0, the overtime kept the parity, 1963-64 was repeating itself entirely, except that there was no longer replay, but penalty shoot-out. Back in 1964 Roma prevailed by a single goal – and the same happened in 1980: Roma won the shoot-out 3-2.

Standing from left: Terraneo, Claudio Sala, Volpati, Graziani, Pileggi, Vullo.

Crouching: Patrizio Sala, Pulici, Salvadori, Mandorlini, Pecci.

Coming close does not count… Torino lost.

Standing from left: Romeo Benetti, Turone, Ancelotti, Pruzzo, Di Bartolomei, Santarini.

Crouching: Scarnecchia, Maggiora, Amenta, Bruno Conti, Paolo Conti.

By names, Roma was perhaps a bit stronger than Torino and also they were the rising team, but in reality both opponents were equal. Shoot-outs are always a lottery – Roma was lucky winner. For the fans, it was great moment, of course – a trophy at last! Waiting since 1964 for one! But perhaps the most important aspect of the victory was confirmation of the rise of Roma.

 

 

Italian football as a whole was not in great shape to begin with, but the Totonero scandal made this season very difficult for evaluation. It was easier to judge declining clubs and the stagnated ones, but which were improving and perhaps rising? Under the dark shadow of fixed matches, there is no certainty and clarity.

Ascoli finished 5th , a great season for the small club, but one-time wonder at the end. Ascoli had no impressive players, suggesting they could stay among the best.

Perhaps the only club emerging with promising squad at the end of the 1970s was Roma.

With Liedholm at the helm, Roma somewhat quietly was going up. Since the club was not a factor for many years, no attention was focussed on it – Lazio was the Roman news during the 1970s. Roma finished 7th this season, thus continuing to stay under the radar, but a group of strong players was already gathered: Benetti, Spinosi, Tancredi, Pruzzo, De Sisti, and especially Di Bartolomei and Bruno Conti. It was not a finished and polished team, but it had strong backbone. It all depended on what the club would do in the following years – so far, there was no reason for paying close attention: the key players were quite old and perhaps over the hill. Solidity was achieved, it was a matter of adding quality. Roma was not yet ready to concur.

Without a truly ascending team, the top of the table was occupied by familiar names – traditionally strong Milan and Inter, plus the good since 1974 Torino, and the best Italian team of the 1970s Juventus. Milan finished 3rd, but was relegated for its involvement in Totonero.

With 35 points, Torino finished 4th. Led by Graziani, Claudio and |Patrizio Sala, Pulici, Pecci, Torino was still very strong, but the leading players were familar since 1975 and no new younger names emerged since then – Torino more or less reached its peak and only maintained its position.

Juventus finished 2nd, 3 points behind the champions. They won the most matches this season – 16, but unfortunately lost too many – 8. Seven of the losses were away matches – in itself, nothing unusual in a league heavily depending on home turf, but only 2 clubs lost more away games than Juventus – Catanzaro (14th) and Pescara (16th). Juventus played a bit more open football than the typical Italian team, but such approach required stronger strikers and Juventus fell short in this department: Bettega was the key figure and he was getting a bit old.

The team sticking to tradition won the title – 14 wins, 13 ties, 3 losses. Try to win at home, get a point away – the tired conservative formula. Inter did not risk and perhaps it was wise aprroach considering what kind of players they had.

Bordon, Baresi, Altobelli, Oriali – younger players, just becoming first rate stars. A bit unfinished team, a bit short of full great team, especially if compared to Juventus. But younger and hungrier. Not very exciting on the pitch, but fighting for the point and getting it. May be lucky a bit too – except Juventus, there was no well-rounded team in the league. As a team, Inter needed quite a lot to measure up to the teams it had in the 1960s – it was largely a promising team and no more. In itself, the victory was important one – the 1970s were terrible years for Inter and the last title they won was in 1970-71. At last they added one more – their 12th. Looked like revival was starting and the victory was excellent moment to reinforce the team, to add a few more classy players. There was a problem, though – seemingly, Inter decided to go for young talent, which was right. It was just that there was not plenty of young talent in Italy, especially strikers.

 

On March 23 1980 the Totonero scandal eruprted – or, rather, the Financial Police of Italy made it public. The real investigation dragged for a long time and marked not only that season, but the next one as well. Essentially, it was a scheme for fixing matches, thus affecting winning and losing lottery bets. A black lottery, but players, clubs, and officials were involved. The principal protagonists were Milan, Lazio, Bologna, Perugia, Avellino, Taranto, and Palermo. The investigation worked its way slowly, so the season continued. Then the guilty were punished. Then new facts appeared. Then the punished cried innocense and the whole legal mess led to punishments changed, some carried right away, some delegated to the next season, players found guilty, then suspencions reduced or not. The media had a feast, of course, but originally nobody thought the investigation would produce any meaningful results. Surprisingly, it did: there were no longer untouchables in Italian football. Milan was pelegated to Serie B and its president Felice Colombo was dibarred for life. Lazio’s punishment was increased – from a 10 millions fine to relegation. All other clubs involved ended with 5 points punishment attached to the 1980-81 season. 20 players were also punished, three of them were originally banned from football for life, but eventually penalties were reduced. Finally, the biggest suspencion fell on Stefano Pellegrini (Avellino) – 6 years, and Franco Colomba (Bologna) and Oscar Damiani (Napoli) recieved the smallest ban – 3 months. The biggest news was the case of Paolo Rossi, but he was not the only big name involved in the scandal: Giuseppe Wilson (Lazio) got 3 years ban, Giuseppe Savoldi (Bologna) – 3 years and 6 months, Lionello Manfredonia (Lazio) – 3 years and 6 months, Bruno Giordano (Lazio) – 3 years and 6 months, Enrico Albertosi (Milan) – 4 years. Effectively, Albertosi suffered most – his original punishment was a ban for life, reduced later to 4 years, but the European champion of 1968 was already 40 years old, so practically any suspencion was ending his career. The veteran still came back – his ban was waved in 1982, thanks to Italy winning the World Cup, and he played two more seasons, but… in 5th Division for Elpidiense. A huge drop from Milan to semi-professional football. Paolo Rossi was, of course, the biggest news and the most controvercial one too – he claimed innosence, was found guilty and banned for 3 years at first. The original punishment was later reduced to 2 years and stayed at that. Rossi not only persisted he was not guilty, but cliams so to this very day. Years later he found support in some memoirs and journalistic investigations, but nothing concluisive is established in his favour. The most irritating part of Rossi’s case was that he was needed for the coming European championship finals, but he was punished anyway. Enough for the scandal – by the end of the 1979-80, it was still unfolding and really concerns only the First Division relegations.

On the field it was business as usual, not counting the scandal – the single point was king and the low scoring. 2-goals per game average was unimaginable already in Italy – the best scoring records were achieved by Inter – 44 goals, and Juventus – 42. Ten clubs did not reach even 1-goal per game average. 13 teams finished with more than 10 ties – Lazio and Udinese finished with 15. That is, they tied exactly half of their matches. The stagnated Italian football was losing fans and money, so the clubs were pushing for lifting the ban on foreign players in the hope of attracting the fans back to the stadiums and perhaps changing the game for better. The ban was lifted after the end of the season, so the Totonero scandal run along with exciting news of and speculations on big transfers. In any case, the season was played and finished. Pescara was the outsider this year.

4 wins, 8 ties – 16 points in total. Dead last and nothing surprising about it. Pescara, if playing in Serie A at all, were a relegation candidate.

Udinese finished 15th with 21 points. Again, not a surprise.

Catanzaro took he 14th place, a bit unlucky, for they ended only a point short from safety. None of the last three teams had anything in its favour and saying goodbye to Serie A was familiar to every one of them.

Lazio topped Catanzaro with 25 points and, by the final table, escaped relegation, finishing 13th. Decline settled soon after winning the title in 1973, so their lowly place was hardly a big news. But compared to others at the end of the table, Lazio appeared much stronger – they had Wilson, Giordano, Manfredonia, and D’Amico. The remains of the champion squad were, unfortunately, just that – remains. It may look strange today to see Lazio that low, but the club was not among the big Italian clubs in the 1970s and played in second division in the 1960s, so it was hardly shocking to see them down. And down they went after found heavily involved in the Totonero scandal. Along with Milan, they were relegated as a punishment.

Milan finished 3rd and although they were not really involved in the race for the title, were nothing like Lazio – the team was strong, they won the championship the previous year. By now, Milan was strong only by contemporary Italian measures – it was not the great team of the 1960s, it was not much by European standards, it had problems, especially in the attacking line, but it had clout. Yet, Milan was relegated with Lazio and Catanzaro and Udinese were saved.

Second division, 20 teams strong, was tough and resistant to changes: the single point was king. Not even one club finished with less than 10 ties. As for the record: Pistoiese tied 22 of their 38 champiosnhip fixtures. Sampdoria followed with 21, and Bari was third with 20. Scoring was not just low – it was fantastically low. Only four teams had better record than 1 goal per game average – but how better? Vicenza was the highest scoring team – 49 goals. Monza was second with 40, and Brescia and Cesena followed with 39… All the rest had lesser than 1 goal per game average… Fortify the back, preserve 0-0 , get a point – the dominant philosophy of Italian football since the 1960s. Slight variations and may be pure luck made the final table, which ideally should have been 20 teams with 38 points from 38 ties each, and 0-0 goal-difference. But the ideal is impossible, so there were winners and losers.

Matera finished last, doomed long before the final stage of the championship. Third division was more familiar level for them anyway.

Parma finished 19th. This may sound strange today, but not at the time – Parma was practically insignificant and unknown club, meandering between third and second division.

Ternana was 18th – they finished 4 points ahead of Parma, but there was any comfort in that. The club was fading away since the 1960s, sinking lower and lower. Nothing surprising by 1979-80.

Sambenedettese was 17th. In itself, nothing unusual – the small club had been fighting for mere survival during the 1970s. Yet, too bad they lost the fight this year – by a single point – just because they were too small even by the measures of second division. This was the relegated group at the bottom of the table. Up the scale all clubs played at one or another time top level football – similar clubs with similar fate: not rich enough to make and keep strong teams, going up now and then, going back to second division, some eventually going into permanent decline. From today’s perspective the most interesting name in the league was Sampdoria.

Sampdoria finished 7th, but make no mistake about it: although Genoa ended bellow them, Sampdoria was still the second and lesser club of teh city. And first division football was not exactly familiar to them yet. More likely the club was slowly building strength.

The club going down was L. R. Vicenza – they finished 5th, but they were Italian bronze medalists just two years earlier! Relegated the next season, now played again in the painfully familiar second division.

There was no mystery – Vicenza climbed up from second division to bronze medals thanks to Paolo Rossi. But he was no longer here: a messy dispute between Juventus and Vicenza left him Vicenza’s property, but since the club was relegated – and spent huge amount of money to beat Juventus – was loaned to Perugia. Vicenza, rattled by the problems surrounding his ownership, sunk to their familiar status – the eternal fate of any small club: success, if any, was temporary and almost entirely due to a great player, impossible to keep for long. Once he moved, the club sunk. Vicenza was among the best second division clubs and came close to promotion, but finished 5th at the end.

Same was Cesena – they ended 4th, losing the promotional race by 2 points. Small differences divided winners from losers. Brescia clinched 3rd place with 17 wins, 11 ties, and 10 losses.

More aggressive approach paid off: Brescia was the only club among the top 5 which attempted to break the deadly 0-0 philosophy – they went for victory and that carried them to the third place. Hardly exciting, but promoted – and that is all what mattered.

A point ahead of Brescia finished the ultra-conservative Pistoiese, as if to mock any attempt for more open and attacking football. 12 wins, 22 ties, and only 4 losses. Not winning, not losing, point by point to promotion.

The Italian second league hardly had any known names – Pistoiese had two, however, different. Mario Frustalupi, never a great star, but well enough known, was playing his last years here. As for Marcello Lippi – he is famous nowadays, not back then as a player. Pistoiese was seen, especially abroad, almost as a surprise – the Arancioni (Oranges) were found in 1921, but were shaky and went through two refoundings – in 1937 and 1945. Arguably, their strongest years were the late 1970s, when the club climbed to second division and finally – won promotion to Serie A.

The champions of Serie B were balanced – well fortified defense, but keeping an eye for a scoring opportunity. Looking for 1-0 instead for 0-0. It worked – 16 wins, 16 ties, 6 losses. 33-17 goal-difference. Obviously, the emphasis was on defense. Como finished 2 points ahead of Pistoiese.

The champions were a bit similar to Pistoiese – they were rising by the end of the 1970s after almost 20 years of insignificant moving between second and third division. So far, the best years of Como were distant memory – they played first division football between 1949 and 1953. Going up again at last. As for the team – nobody famous, but one bright young defender, who soon will be world-famous: Pietro Wierchowod. He is often given as the most important player, the mover and shaker, bringing Como up, but this is post-factum assessment: Pyetro Ivanovich Vekhovod, the son of Ukrainian Red Army soldier, was only 21 at the end of the successful season and years away from becoming nick-named ‘the Tzar’ and considered by Maradona and Lineker their toughest opponent. Talent is talent, though – Vierchowod was with the first team of Como since 1976, when he was just 17 years old.

So, the happily promoted clubs were Como, Pistoiese, and Brescia. From the perspective of first division – hardly very dangerous team. Most likely easy pray…

And one last note on this season – changes of kit’s designs. New fashion was making room for itself – it started a few years earlier, but perhaps became well pronounced in 1979-80. The new designs were questionable, but they were to become a norm in the 1980s.

Palermo’s kit is an excellent sample – a more playful design of few hoops and sleeves coloured differently. Sometimes the design worked, sometimes not. Palermo’s seems fine may be because the club colours – pink, black, and white – can be combined in smart contrasts. Or, well, 10 years later such kits will be great, compared to the extremes of the early 1990s.

The Italian season started normally, but ended badly shaked by the Totonero scandal. Tremors were felt for the next years, but the peak was reached at the end of this season, especially because it affected the national team’s preparation for and perhaps performance at the European Championship finals. The scandal made the other big news insignificant – the coming reopening of Italian football for foreign players, which happened in the summer of 1980. As for the scandal, the unthinkable happened: Italian football was accused of wide-spread corruption for a long time. Along with that went accusation of nepotism – the clubs were too powerfull and there was no will to investigate, let alone punish culprits. At first the common opinion was that the scandal would be the usual Italian soap-opera: much noise and nothing else. Thus, the real surprise came when the Italians not only investigated, but found and punished the guilty. It was astonishing – the Italians punished even untouchables: Lazio was expelled from the first division, but also Milan! To this moment nobody really thought the investigation was serious – to punish players, to punish small clubs, to punish Lazio was going very far for a country plagued by corruption and back-room deals of dubious legality. But to expell Milan… it went beyond the wildest imagination. And the punishment was not revoked – the final miracle. Italian football ended its arguably worst decade in disgrace. In the same time it started the new decade optimistically: it looked like the Italians were determined to clean their stables and restore the tarnished image of their game. Even the lift of the old ban on imported players seemed well thought, restrained, and helpful to the sport – the clubs were permitted to have one foreign player, but that was ruling for the next season.

As for the season on the field, it was not so great even without the scandal. The old problem remained – careful, defensive football. The tie was still the king and the prime argument for permitting foreign players: they were to help changing the approach. But here were foreigners in 1979-80 and it was the same as ever… low scoring, many ties, no fun, but bitter battles for 0-0 and 1 point. Point by point… champions emerged at the end. The winners of the thrid level groups were promoted, happy teams, clubs, and fans.

Rimini – for them going to second division was big success.

Ups and downs for Foggia – from first division to third, and up again. To second division for the moment.

Catania remembered better days, but decline settled in the 1970s and winning a third division group was good enough.

And one more club similar to those above: Varese. At least they had very strong basketball team at the time… but football is the real passion.

Three of the promoted clubs played first division, but at the beginning of the 1980s perhaps only Foggia could have hardboured some hopes for climbing higher. Eventually.