Category: 1980

French football was rising, but in its peculiar way – no trully dominant super-clubs emerged. Thus, doubles were rarely possible and no matter how strong particular club was at any given year, they were not overwhelming. A bit shaky St. Etienne and strong, but somewhat lacking depth Nantes were good in the championship, but the cup was too much. Other clubs reached the final. One was absolute surprise, for they played a minor role in the second division. AS Monaco vs US Orleans. For a second consecutive year one of the finalists was second division club. But if Auxerre was climbing up, Orleans was not. It took overtime to overcome Auxerre the previous year – now Orleans was not a problem. Monaco won 3-1.

Albaladejo – Bodji – Plissonneau – Germain – Lemée – Viot

Berthouloux – Drouet – Loukaka – Hamerschmitt – Marette

Naturally, Orleans deserves praise – it was fantastic run for a lowly club. Unfortubately, heroics were not enough – as a smallish second-division team, Orleans lacked strong enough players. Albaladejo and Loukaka were the only faintly recognizable names. But playing at the final was great and memorable event. Too bad they had no chance of winning.

Monaco won the Cup easily, thus finishing the season on more than bright note. Onnis, Dalger, Petit, Ettori, Emon… good players, but the their number was a bit small for staying among the favourites without a boost. The Cup was the needed boost, yet, the team needed re-enforcement. Dalger, Emon, and Onnis were getting old – the whole attacking line. Beating Orleans was one thing, but for the next year at least one, may be two new strikers were a must. But never mind the next season – this one finished wonderfully.

The big news of French football was the transfer of Michel Platini in the summer of 1979. That he was destined to play for a big club was obvious – Platini was already one of the biggest European stars and playing for Nancy was out of the question. The queastion was rather for whom he will play and it turned out, perhaps logically, he went to Saint Etienne. If France had anything similar to the European grands, it was St. Etienne in the 1970s. Dominant, successful, and wealthy enough to buy players at will. The great team of the mid-70s also aged and major reshaping was in the works as well, so it was seemingly the prime destination for Platini. Along with him, St. Etienne aquaired the services of another big star – Johhny Rep, who spent the last two years with Bastia. The point was made: St. Etienne really acted as a big club: when in need, getting the best, with the clear intention to continue its dominance. With this two transfers St. Etienne appeared too strong for the French league – on paper. The championship developed differently, or, rather, in traditional terms of French football. In short, St. Etienne did not win despite appearance. There was more than that, of course, but it concerned the end of the table. Two clubs reached pretty much the bottom of a decline started a few years back – Marseille and Lyon. Again, pretty much in accord with tradition: French football did not have mighty clubs, everybody experienced ups and downs and downs often meant relegation.

Brest finished last in the championship – a team well below any other.

Standing from left: RICO, ROCH, KEDIE, CORRE, GUENNAL, DE MARTIGNY, BOUTIER, JUSTIER, BERNARD.

Crouching: VABEC, GOAVEC, KERUZORE, MARTET, LETEMAHULU, LENOIR, HONORINE.

Kind of expected – apart from Vabec and Keruzore, nobody really classy. A small club, Brest was hardly able to compete with wealthier clubs, but even so the season was pathetic. They were the only team without away win and earned only 15 points from 4 wins and 7 ties.

If Brest was expected outsider, their immediate neighbours were not. Olympique Marseille – who would think. With 24 points, much stronger than poor Brest – but 24 points also meant they were 5 points behind the 18th placed.

Looking at the squad, it is unbelievable – Tresor, Six, Berdoll, Linderoth (Sweden) going to second division? Marseille started the 1970s as the top French club, but gradually went down – perhas by 1975 the signs of crisis were visible. The club rather desperately tried player after player, all big names, and nothing worked. Instead of going up, Marseille slowly sunk and finally was relegated. Perhaps the policy was wrong – Marseille had more money than most French clubs and therefore no trouble to get stars. The stars somewhat underperformed, or did not mix well with the other players, and were gone as quickly as they came. As for relegation – Marseille played second division in 1965-66 for the last. Welcome back…

Marseille was not theonly club in decline – Olympique Lyon was in the same situation. They finished 18th, with 29 points, so not in real danger, but just above the relegation zone.

Lyon mirrored Marseille – strong in the first half of the 1970s, they gradually faded away. Like Marseille, they were unable to replace outgoing players – the newcomers were somewhat of lesser class. Point in case: the current Yugoslavian imports, Aleksic and Zivaljevic, were not stars at all. Chiesa was getting too old. Tigana was not yet the famous player. Pretty much the same make like Marseille – and clearly not working.

The other declining clubs were Bastia – 16th this year, and Nice – 15th.

Standing from left: PAPI, MARCIALIS, BURCKARDT, KRIMAU, DE ZERBI.

First row : MARCHIONI, HIARD, ORLANDUCCI, RAJKOVIC, CAZES, VERSTRAETE.

Nothing strange here – Bastia were normally found in the lower half of the table and their sudden climb to the top was unsustainable, for to stay there, the club needed stronger recruits. Buying good players was not financially possible. Keeping Johhny Rep was not possible either – and with him gone, Bastia immediately went down. Back to normal, so to say.

Nice, like Lyon and Marseille, was in decline, although their started earlier.

Having only a few strong players – Bjekovic, Bousdira, and perhaps Ferry – was no longer news. Nice was just keeping afloat and the queastion was for how long. There were no signs of improvement.

Those, who eather maintained relatively strong position or were slightly improving, were familiar names. Good season for Valenciennes – 8th place, but that only because they had worse goal-difference than Paris SG and Bordeaux.

To be in the top half of the table pretty much equals success for Valenciennes. They never had a truly strong team and this vintage was hardly more promising than earlier ones. It was even curiously strong year for a team whose most famous players were already veterans long beyond their peak – the former Polish national team defender Wrazy and the much-travelled Hungarian exile Ladinsky.

Paris St. Germaine finished 7th, which was typical. Compared to Valenciennes, Paris SG was vastly superior – they had money and therefore stars. But Paris SG had stars for years and nothing good came out of it so far – the constant underachieavers of the league. 40 points – the same modest Valenciennes earned.

What was wrong with Paris SG? Perhaps their approach… finishing lower than hoped, they discarded expensive players, bought new expensive players, underperformed, discarded, bought, the vicious cycle . One Brazilian – Abel, one Portuguese – Alves, three French stars – Bathenay, Baratelli, Huck. What was common between them? They were all getting old… just like players Paris SG had before them. Perhaps Dahleb was the true star of the team, for he survived many purges, but… the star players were the newcomers. At the end, the former Paris SG player Toko, now with Valenciennes, finished equal to the expensive bunch. Somehow, Paris SG did not learn that a group of famous names is not yet a winning team.

Also with 40 points, but with better goal-difference than Paris SG and Valenciennes, Bordeaux finished 6th. They were the only rising club – not ready to concur the league yet, but gradually going up.

On the surface, Bordeaux looked similar to Paris SG – a whole bunch fairly well known players, brought from other clubs. Some getting old, some already failing to become big stars. Lacombe, Gemmrich, Rohr, van Straelen. But here were also ambitious players, gradually becoming first rate – Giresse, of course, but also Domergue, Sahnoun, Soler, Lacuasta. Bordeaus was still shaping, but chemistry was good and the club was slowly going up. The most promising team at the moment.

The next two teams enjoyed strong years, but were not becoming big powers – they rather maintained positions. Strasbourg finished 5th.

Strasbourg, the champions of 1978-79, did what champions do – tried to enforce their team. The new big name was he top scorer Carlos Bianchi, formerly of Paris SG. Not a bad team, but the problem was age – Strasbourg was largely made of aging stars, who made their names elsewhere and were going downhill. The best such a team would do was exactly maintaining position among the best. Thus, a good season, but not in the title race – with 43 points, Strasbourg finished 7 points behind Monaco.

Which was similar to Strasbourg.

4th place was fine, but also outside of the real competition. 4 points behind the bronze medalist.

St. Etienne took the bronze – may be a bit disappointed. 54 points, good attack, leaky defense…

St. Etienne came close to the big European clubs – unusual for France and showing ambition. But there was something missing – perhaps, the attempt to keep strong squad since 1970 blinded a bit Robert Herbin: inevitably, the squad aged and although strong, the peak was reached in the middle of the 1970s. The big transfers in the summer of 1979 confirmed ambitions, but also signaled a major change of approach: Platini and Rep, perhaps the start of building a new team. Not players,who would fit in, but players to lead and conduct the play. New leaders often need time so the others to get used to the new scheme. To a point, St. Etienne finished 3rd because this was reshaping year. But they did not win a title since 1976 and their last cup came in 1977 – perhaps the team needed more new players, a whole new team, if it was to begin winning again. Indicative of that was that they, with Platini and Rep, finished behind Sochaux.

Second row from left: Jean-Luc Ruty, Joël Bats, Abdel Djaadaoui, Moussa Bezaz, Bernard Genghini, Zvonko Ivezic

Couching: Patrick Parizon, Eric Benoît, Yannick Stopyra, Patrick Révelli, Jean-Pierre Posca.

It was only thanks to better goal-difference Sochaux clinched silver, but for the usually insignificant club the season was fantastic. It was a good team, true, but nothing similar to St. Etienne – Stopyra and Bats were still promising youngsters. Stardom came a few years later. Ivezic was solid import, but ranking bellow other Yugoslavians. Genghini was fairly unknown yet too. As for Parizon and Petrick Revelli – they were let go from St. Etienne some time ago. Aging and no longer needed. The rejects finished ahead of their former club, however. All fine, but this was not a squad to take France by storm, let alone staying on top for long – one-time wonder, rather. Good, but not good enough to really run for the title.

Which went to an usual suspect – FC Nantes. Given the circumstances – some teams shaky, other not so strong, some other – not fine-tuned yet, and yet others in decline, Nantes was in shape, not ifs and buts. At the end, they finished 3 points ahead of Sochaux and St. Etienne.

Nantes was practically the only rival of St. Etienne during the 1970s, so they run similar risks: a squad established for years, slowly getting old, familiar, and may be no longer hungry. But Nantes was beginning the 80s strong and able, with little adjustments, to keep its leading position. Michel, Bertrand-Demanes, and Pecout were nearing retirement and gradually losing their edge, but Amisse, Rio, Tusseau, and particualry Bosis were in their prime – and in the national team. The foreign additions blended well – the Argentinian brothers Enzo and Victor Trossero. A squad in good shape by all means.

 

Group B were more equal than Group A and the season, if not stronger than the other group, was at least more dramatic from top to bottom. The relegated clubs are already mentioned, so let see the top. A bit of inacuracy first: FC Toulouse finished 6th.

Normally, a picture of second division club is taken at face value, but the dating of this one is wrong: the Belgian Gilbert van Binst arrived from Anderlecht in July 1980, so this starting eleven is not from the given season, but the next one. Apart from that, it is rather rare example of big name moving to the French Second division.

But inaccuracies are not the exiting mark of the season – it was the battle for the promotional first place. Cannes eventually dropped from the race, finishing 3rd with 40 points. Above two clubs finished with 44 points.

Olympique Avignon tried hard to win and return to the top league – they were the most successful in attack, winning 20 of the 34 games they played. But it was a bit of a case of ‘all or nothing’: they either won or lost. Won 20 matches, but lost 10, and usually such gamble leaves a team with too many goals recieved. Which at the end worked against Avignon. Equal points and equal goals scored, but the competition had stronger defense and Avignon took the 2nd place on worse goal-difference.

The group winners clinched the first place thanks to 16 wins, 12 ties, and only 6 losses. Their more careful aproach provided them with much better defensive record than Avignon: the winners allowed 30 goals, Avignon – 41. This gave them the edge: 54-30 was much better than 54-41. Like the winners of Group A, the champions here never played in the first division so far.

Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise was found in 1905 by a priest – Father Ernest Abbe Deschamps – and played at first in the Catholic leagues. Moving to professionalism was done much later, but the roots somehow remained – Auxerre had one of the most charismatic figures in French football, Guy Roux. The maker of modern Auxerre, but also a father figure for many of his players, who normally started playing the game in the club, moving through the youth system. The close-knit, almost family approach, perhaps close to the orginal intention of the founder, already brought fruits. Unlike Tours, seemingly coming from nowhere, Auxerre was noticed: in 1978-79 they played at the Cup final, and lost it in overtime. Now they won the Group B of Second Division, their first trophy.

Standing from left: Guy Roux – coach, Maryan SZEJA, Jean-Paul NOEL, Olivier BOREL, ?, Christian ROQUES, Lucien DENIS, ?, Dominique CUPERLY, Jean-Paul PESANT.

First row: Jozsef KLOSE, ?, Patrick REMY, Jean-Marc SCHAER, Serge MESONES, André TRUFFAUT, Paul BROT, Jean-Marc FERRERI.

This was not yet the well-known Auxerre of mid-1980s, but the foundational pillars were already at place and the team differed from most second division clubs: two Polish players provided experience, the former Polish national team goalkeeper Maryan Szeja and the father of world-famous Miroslav Klose – Jozsef Klose. Jean-Marc Ferreri would be French national team player in few years time. Some of the rest became well respected names. Guy Roux had more surprises in his sleeves too.

Rising Auxerre, but still unknown and not taken all too seriously. Like Tours, they had to face the challenge of every debutant the next year, but seemingly had better chances than Tours. After 75 years of existance Auxerre was going to play at top level. Father Ernest would have been very happy.

France with its own drama, if that is the word. Second division, still divided into two groups, was reshaped the prvious season and the same was following the end of 1979-80. Reasons are not clear, but again almost the whole Group A was moved to Group B and, correspondingly, the members of Group B – to Group A. Only Besancon and Angouleme remained in Group A and FC Paris and Thionville in Group B. Strange, but not new, and in any case the changes were for the next season. As for 1979-80, there was not much exciting chase in Group A. Three clubs ended far above the rest. At the bottom of the table was more interesting – the teams were relatively equal, but at the end ECAC Chaumont (18th) and Amicale Luce (17th) were relegated. Two relegated in this group, but three in the other – again, strange, and even more so – because of the following reshaping, two were relegated, but three promoted to Group A – and the other way around in Group B. But the top of the league mattered much more. RCFC Besancon finished 4th with 39 points. Those immediately above Besancon finished with 46 points, however.

En Avant Guingamp ended 3rd on worse goal-difference, it seems. It seems, because the second placed team is recorded with the same number of points and goal-difference must have been the dividing point.

Stade Rennes ended 2nd, but… they had 20 wins, 7 ties, and 6 losses. This makes 47 points, not 46. There is no indication for some penalty deducting a point from their record, so the only other reason would be a statistical mistake. Confusing that, for Rennes ended with better goal-difference than Guingamp and whether the points were real or not, they finished above Guingamp. But it was not important, because only one team was getting promoted and Rennes was not exactly a contender.

The group winners finished with comfortable lead of 5 points. 22 wins, 7 ties, 5 losses, 51 points. FC Tours reigned supreme this season. Much more than that actually: Tours won promotion for the first time – they never played top league in their history, so it was historic victory.

Their logo gives 1951 as founding year, but the club was much older – founded in 1919, although under different name. Which they changed, and then changed again to their present name. The city of Tours has Celtic roots and the name comes from the name of the settlers, belonging to the tribe or clan Turon. Hence the motto of the club, borrowed from the city’s motto. Sounds brave and proud, but the club was modest and remained modest. At last a victory.

A historic squad in terms of the club, but otherwise nothing much. Quite normal for second division club, which never played higher than that and not blessed with money. Excellent performance, perhaps helped by weak season of others, but this was not a squad strong enough to survive among the best. It was clear that new players were needed for the next year, so some of the heroes may stay only as second division heroes. Despite that, this was the greatest achievement of Tours to date.

 

 

Title is title, but there is also the cup.

None of the big clubs reached the final, perhaps understandably so – one team underperforming, another – not at its peak, and the third perhaps too old to handle two tournaments at the same time. On the other hand, cup formats permit smaller clubs to go ahead. Waterschei and Beveren reached the final . Both clubs were nothing much in the championship and rightly so, given the squads they had. But… those were strong years for both finalists. Beveren were surprise champions the previous year and although it was clear that they were not able to stay on top, still they had good team by their standards, perhaps the best ever. Waterschei was similar in their own terms. The final was pretty much a clash of equals and Waterschei clinched 2-1 victory.

 

A great moment of triumph. One can run joyously without shoes.

Losers, but one should not be harsh on Beveren – losing the final was not a happy moment, yet, it was a success for a modest club like Beveren. They won the title just the previous year, but were not in position to fortify the team with strong new players. So the team remained the same – Jean-Marie Pfaff was becoming a big name, but goalkeeper, however great, is not enough to keep a team on top of any league. The other big name was the team’s captain Jean Jannsens – former national team player, already 36. Which spells out the predicament of Beveren… they depended on some foreigners – Germans Dieter Weichrauch (22) and Heinz Schonberger (31), and Dutch mid-fielder Wim Hokens (22), but they were anonymous players. That was all… this bunch managed to win the title in 1978-79, they played well – as much as they could – but without new and stronger players enthusiasm could not suffice for long. Beveren had no means for buying bigger names – playing the cup final was, therefore, continuation of a good run of good for a small club team. Continued success – Cup winners in 1978, champions in 1979, Cup finalists in 1980 – perhaps even more than such a squad was really capable of. Heroic squad, really. Rarely a club could have a long successful run with so limited team.

As for the winners, they were perhaps lucky not to meet one of the top 5 clubs of the country, but Beveren – an equal opponent. They had a real chance and used it.

So far K. Waterschei S.V. Thor (Genk) did not win anything – their greatest succes was losing the Cup final in 1955. This time they won – their very trophy, so the team became instantly legendary. In terms of the club itself, of course. Playing against Beveren helped, of course, but similarly to Beveren, Waterschei enjoyed their strongets ever period and maintained the good run for awhile. The team was not much, of course – typical Belgian squad of the time: not a single star, young or old. The most famous player was the Swedish national team member Per Olov Ohlsson, a fresh addition. Most of the team was together for year, including the German duo Heinz Grundel (23) and Klaus Pudelko (32). If anything, the players knew each other well and were used to play together. The real spur perhaps was the coach – the Dutch Cor Brom was hardly a great name, but he represented leading football school and coached Ajax before joining Waterschei in 1979. He utilized whatever potential this team had, perhaps even overachieving. Great success for Waterschei -a historic one. And also giving them the edge over their city rivals Winterslag.

 

From the top 6 clubs of the Belgian league, three belonged to the bulk of league in their performance: a bit stronger than most, but playing no role in the race for the title. There was a small gap of 3 points between the 7th and the 6th placed, but 6 points divided the 4th from the 3rd. The clear mark was in the number of matches lost: this trio had double the number the top three had, going into 2-digit numbers, like most of the league. But the three almost belonging to the leaders clubs had no similarities between themselves.

Lierse finished 6th with 40 points from 18 wins, 4 ties, and 12 losses. They had the third best scoring strikers in the league, though – 72 goals. High scoring strikers, but leaky defense. Not only the worst defensive record among the top 6, but also worse than Waterschei’s and Waregem’s. It looked like Lierse played all or nothing and the approach worked.

Good season, if not exceptional, for Lierse, but the make-up of the team was not promising. They looked exactly like most Belgian clubs: no big names here. Some relatively strong veterans: the goalkeepers Carl Engelen and the former national team player Frans Janssens, 35 years old. Not many foreigners either: only the Dutch striker Ronny van Poucke, who was a reserve of Anderlecht not long ago. But unlike many of his countrymen in the Belgian league van Poucke was young. And so were the local talents Erwin van den Bergh and Walter Ceulemans. Lierse had vastly experienced coach – the West German Ernst Kunnecke, unrecognizable name, but he worked in Belgium since 1969 and knew Belgian football perfectly. With his knowledge and having ambitious young strikers, seemingly he decided to let them run free and score as much as they could, hoping to prevail over most of the teams by scoring more than the opposition. It worked, but it was also rather lucky run, one year wonder – unless the squad was reinforced with few stronger players. To a point, Lierse did not belong the the best and confirming that, they finished at the bottom of the stronger group.

If Lierse were perhaps lucky, the team above them was unlucky. More than unlucky, actually – Anderlecht had disastrous season, finishing 5th, just a point better than Lierse.

Terrible season and even inexplicable, considering what Anderlecht was internationally after 1975 and in in Belgian football – ever. One of the most exciting European teams, the biggest club in Belgium… and true to that, they had the stronger and the deepest squad, as long as names mean anything: Rensenbrink and Haan led the pack. A big group of top Belgian players: Francois van der Elst, Hugo Broos, Frank Vercauteren, Gilbert van Binst, Ludo Coeck. Dutch national team defender Johnny Dusbaba. Danish international Benny Nielsen. A new goalkeeper – the Austrian highly respected national team regular Friedl Koncilia. Speaking of internal competition, the Belgian national team prospect – and future regular – Jacky Munaron was just a back-up of Koncilia this year. And another new recruit, perhaps a bit exotic and not well known in Europe, but coming as South American champions on both national team and club level – the Paraguayan star striker Enrique Villalba. Why Anderlecht underperformed this season, then? It looked like that even if this team played at 50% of their abilities, they should have been champions, but they were not even among the title contenders. It may have been a bad choice of coach – Urbain Braems was an old hand and even coached Anderlecht before, but he was not well known name and most of his career went with smaller clubs. Perhaps he was not the right man for the job and there was no chemistry between him and the star-studded squad. Perhaps it was the squad itself… as great as Anderlecht appeared on paper, it was very familiar team for the rest of the league. Everybody knew this line for years, knew how they play, their weak points – the whole league was well adjusted to this formation, which was getting older not much as individual players, but as a team and playing philosophy. Morally old. Rensenbrink, van Binst, Broos were leading Anderlecht from the beginning of the 1970s. Haan, Coeck, van der Elst, Vercauteren were also around for many years. Some were getting long in the tooth: van Binst – 29, Rensenbrink – 33, Nielsen – 29, Haan – 32, Broos – 28. Add Koncilia, who at 32 was not exactly at his last legs as a goalkeeper, but he was winner for so many years in Austria, to be really hungry for success. Anderlecht tried to do what many wealthy clubs did, falling into their own trap eventually: they tried to replace old players gradually with young talent, and usually the scheme worked well for awhile, long enough to be satisfying and thus blinding the club to the need of general shake-up and building of entirely new team. Ajax and Bayern already suffered from this concept, agonizing and losing their leadership after 1975. It was clear from aside – as long as Haan and Rensenbrink were the key players, the team will be build around them. But they over 30 and their presence was no longer fresh – if anything, they prevented the emerging of new leaders. The newcomers, as a rule ,were not at the level of the big stars, but slightly lower and not on key positions. But how to let go players like Haan and Rensenbrink… until the team led by them really falls apart. Only then heads roll down in mass.

KSC Lokeren finished 4th , a point ahead of Anderlecht. Lokeren enjoyed strong years pretty much since 1974 when the Polish star Lubanski joined the club – they were never title contenders, but normally not below 8th place, one of the consistently strong Belgian clubs, yet not favourites. Not lucky like Lierse, not suddenly underperforming like Anderlecht, but holding their position year after year.

Lokeren had either more money or better recruiting vision than most clubs in the league – they had a good group of strong players, more than normally smaller clubs had, yet, fewer than the big clubs. This gave them the edge to stay among the best without matching the strongest. To a point, Lokeren made a wild bet, which paid off – when they signed Vlodzimierz Lubanski, it was not expected that he will be even able to play, let alone restoring his form, so severe was his injury. But not only he played, but returned to excellent form so much so, that he became the first Polish playing abroad to be invited to the national team and appeared at the 1978 World Cup finals. Lokeren benefited greatly from him, including his loyalty, for he stayed with the club which gave him a chance in a hopeless situation. Now 33 years old, he perhaps was not as dangerous as he was was, but inspirational leader nevertheless. Around him a good bunch was gathered – may be not first rate players, but not journeymen either: former national team player Bob Dalving (30 years old), current members of the national team Rene Verheyen (28) and Raymond Mommens (22), experienced Dutch goalkeeper Bob Hoogenboom (31), and three young and more than promising strikers – Scottish James Bett (21), the Islandic national team player Arnor Gudjohnson (19), and big Danish centre-forward – Preben Elkjer-Larsen (23). A strong skeleton, covering every line and quite versatile – Mommens could play in either defense or attack, for instance. Elkjer-Larsen was particularly good addition – his climb to international fame really started with Lokeren. He was already West German champion with 1. FC Koln, but without making any impression – he was a reserve and moved to Lokeren right after Koln won the title. Lokeren simply had more strong players than other clubs, but most importantly, it was good mix of experienced veterans and bright and ambitious youngsters. Of course, Lokeren faced the usual problem of any smaller club: there was no way to keep young stars for long, so they had to be constantly looking for suitable replacement and staying among the best depended on their ability to spot and recruit new players. But so far – so good.

And at the very top and apart from the rest of the league were three clubs, which battled for the title. Eventually, the champions pulled ahead and finished with comfortable lead, but trio left the league far behind – Lokeran finished with 42 points and the team ahead of them with 48 points. A second club of the same city inevitably was much weaker than the their neighbour, but there was a difference in Bruxelles: of course, RWD Molenbeek could not compete with Anderlecht, but they benefited from their formidable rival like no other Belgian club in similar situation. The 1970s were the greatest years of RWD Molenbeek and they were still running strong. Strong enough to finish with bronze medals, missing silver by a point.

Molenbeek lacked enough class to be real title contenders, but they were strong. Thanks to Anderlecht, in a way: players, no longer needed by the giant, often moved to Molenbeek – a better option than going to smaller provincial towns. Thus, Jan Ruiter (34 years old) was between the goalposts and Maurice Martens (33) in defense. Ruiter was not the only Dutch in the team – add Johan Boskamp (32) , Nico Jansen (28), and newly arrived from Ajax Hans Erkens (28). Erkens was the only Dutch in the team who never played for the national team of Holland. Molenbeek two very interesting defenders too – the Belgian Michel de Wolf (22), who was soon to be part of the exciting Belgian national team, and a player, who became even greater star in the 1980s: Morten Olsen (31), the great Danish libero. One thing Molenbeek was able to do so far was precisely that: getting enough solid players to maintain strong position. They feared less than most Belgian clubs – since their best players were either already discarded by Anderlecht, or were too old to attract the interest of the big clubs, they could simply depend on new recruits of the same kind and stay among the best, for most of the league was not able to do anything similar.

Silver medals were clinched by Standard (Liege) – they edged Molenbeek by a point, but ended well below the champions. Up and coming club, the most promising Belgian team at the moment. Standard came back after the decline in the first half of the 1970s, but were still not at their peak – they had to fight for the second place, yet, were rather easily outrun by more experienced team in the race for the title.

Standard had everything in place by now: Ernst Happel was the coach and, as usual, he delivered quickly. Of course, he had the players needed for success: Michel Preud’homme (21 years old) between the goalposts, Eric Gerets (26) and Michel Renquin (25) in defense, Gerard Plessers (21) and the Islandic national team regular Asgeir Sigurvinsson (25) in midfield, the Swedish centre-forward Ralf Edstrom (28) and the Austrian winger Alfred Riedl (31) in attack. Add sometimes Belgian national team player Willy Wellens (26), the West German veteran Helmut Graf (34), the promising young striker Eddy Voordeckers (20), the solid center-back Theo Poel (29), and the former Belgian Junior national team center-forward, listed still as a Portuguese, Luis Norton de Matos (27). It was a good selection, mixing experience and young talent. In 1980 Renquin and especially Gerets became international stars. Sigurvinsson was steadily on the road of becoming more than well respected player in the 1980s, Edstrom revived his career, after a slump, leading him back to Sweden. The team was till a bit row, still a bit unfinished, not at its peak, but it was clearly a team to reckon with and there was no doubt that second place was only for the moment.

Standard was the future, but the presence belonged to FC Brugge. Confident victory this year: 24 wins, 5 ties, 5 losses, 76-31 goal-difference, 53 points. 4 more than Standard earned. Second-best scoring record and second-best defensive record. FC Brugge was solid and experienced, the edge they had over Standard.

Confident winners, confirming once again that FC Brugge had not just few strong years, but established firmly itself as the third big Belgian club and there was no way back. Easy victory, but it was not up and coming team, like Standard – it was a bit stagnated team, familiar for years, way too experienced to win a title now, but it was not going to be easy in the future. In very near future… stability was dangerous, the team was getting old. Birger Jensen was 29, Georges Leekens – 31, Walter Meeuws – 29, Jos Volders – 31, Rene Vandereycken – 27, Paul Courant – 31, Raoul Lambert – 36. Some were no longer called to play for the national team and clearly nearing the end of their careers. They were strong enough to win the title, but the policy of FC Brugge was somewhat dangerous – having old players, they looked for more of the same kind: the English striker Ray Clarke arrived from Ajax (Amsterdam) – he was 28. Laszlo Balint, the strong Hungarian center-defender, was a good addition of course, but he was already 32. Practically, players for the future were only the Danish midfielder Jan Soerensen (25) and particularly the fantastic Belgian attacking midfielder Jan Ceulemans (23). The problem was how long FC Brugge could run on experience – sooner than later the veterans were going to retire. Anderlecht underperformed this year, but they had much deeper squad than FC Brugge, and Standard was clearly to reach its peak in year or two – in a long run, FC Brugge appeared quite limited compared to the competition. But they won the title! Again. Their 4th since 1975, missing only 1978-79 – this was much, much better than Anderlecht, which won domestic trophy for the last time in 1976 and it was the Cup. Anderlecht did not win a title since 1974, Standard – much longer.

 

 

18-team strong first division, which may be was too big for Belgian football. More or less, 6 clubs were clearly stronger than the rest, then followed a big group of fairly equal teams, and at the bottom – the outsiders, which made life comfortable for most mid-table clubs. SC Hasselt was clearly below everybody else – 16th with 10 points, distinguishing itself with atrocious defensive record: they received 94 goals. Likely the worst defensive record in Europe.

SC Hasselt, or Sporting Club Hasselt, or just Hasselt was far too weak to survive in the top league. It was not they did not try – three foreign players were engaged to help them: the Moroccan striker Larbi Hazzam (28 years old), the West German striker Peter Tomaschewski (25), and finally the Dutchman Peter Ressel, the only well known name in the team. Ressel was part of the strong Feyenoord in the early 1970s, then part of the strong Anderlecht in the middle of the 1970s, and played his bit for the national team of Holland in the glory years. But he grew old… and went to easy living in North America, joining Chicago Stings. His return to Belgium was not glorious – Hasselt obviously hoped he would help, but Ressel was already 35 years old and no longer up to important tasks.

If SC Hasselt was quite predictably too weak for the top division, the club finishing just above them was usually a mid-table performer. It may had been unfortunate season of lousy form; it may had been lack of chemistry. Decline would be too strong a word for SC Charleroi – they were never great. But given the squad, their terrible performance was surprising too.

8 wins, 6 ties, 20 losses – 22 points at the end. 4 less than the club above them and relegated. Having been much stronger than SC Hasselt was no comfort. Going to second division was even less comfortable. Charleroi were small, but hardly the outsiders and it was even stranger, when one takes a look at the team: may be their Luxembourg players were not much, but if Nico Rohmann hardly rings any bell, Nico Braun have been well respected name in France, where he spent many years. The Dutch midfielder Chris Dekker was not famous either and 35 years old on top of everything, but he also had fairly good earlier career. Their captain was West German – Rainer Gebauer was with Charleroi since 1974, but he played for FC Koln before moving to Belgium. The last and may be most interesting name was Alexandre Czerniatinski, 20-years old up and coming talent. May be the most promising Belgian youngster at the moment. Apart from going down to second division, there is something else interesting and difficult to figure out: Czerniatinski was listed as Polish, thus, in the group of foreign players. Yet, the ‘foreigner’ was Belgian-born, playing for the Belgian national youth teams, and considered a prime candidate for A-national team. Why was he listed as foreigner is unclear, but he was not alone – his team-mate Antonio Iezzi was listed as an Italian, but hist professional status was ‘Belgian player’. Same with the coach Jean Piccinin. In the same time there were players in the league with clearly un-Belgian names listed simply as Belgians. Hard to tell what made the difference, but confusing it was and is, for it was difficult to distinguish foreign imports from domestic players, especially when Eastern Europeans were concerned: who was runaway refugee, who was Belgian-born, and who was proper import? This confusing issue was also applicable to African players.

No confusion with the team which finished at the safe 16th place – Berchem Sports had no foreign players, so untypical for a Belgian club.

To a point, Berchem was good surprise: without a single recognizable name and normally playing second division football, they were expected to be relegated. But the anonymous squad fought to the end, outscoring 7 clubs. They were not even in danger of relegation at the final stage of the championship, so it was quite a success, however small. They lost 15th place on worse goal-difference.

Like Berchem, Beringen finished with 26 points, but having better goal-difference, they took 15th place. Lucky, unlucky, Beringen was historically similar to Berchem and Hasselt – more familiar with second division than the first, so nothing surprising in their final standing: they survived.

What can be said of them? An additional point to the mystery of who was and who was not domestic player: if the Polish and Italian sounding names in Charleroi were listed as foreigners, it was the opposite here. Both Zenon Ziembicki and Paolo Russo were listed as Belgians. The rest of ‘strange’ names were pure imports, suggesting better place in the final table than the actual one. They all came from Holland, the country supplying the bulk of foreign players to Belgian clubs, but two of the three were not Dutch. The Yugoslavian defender Nicola Budisic came from NAC Breda, the other two from far more impressive club: PSV Eindhoven. The Welsh Nick Deacy and the Dutch Gerry Deykers. On the surface, looked like serious recruits – unless one sees the age of the palyers: only Deacy was under 30. Budisic was 33 and Deykers – 34. Clearly, at their last legs. Which was nothing, compared to the truly big name playing for Beringen: Wilfried van Moer was 35. To most, a goner… listed as ‘ex-national team player’. His heavy injuries moved him away from spotlights and from Standard (Liege) years ago. Who could tell what was coming? Van Moer had excellent season, was included again in the national team, and was one of the greatest stars at the 1980 European Championship finals. He was Beringen, the motor, the inspiration, the reason the club managed to perform relatively well and staying in the top league. A big and very unusual revival, especially considering the lowly club van Moer played with. A true star, something rare for a lowly club at the bottom of the league.

If Beringen outdid itself somewhat, the team just above them perhaps underperformed. Van Moer made news this season, but not the players of Beerschot, as one could expect. A curious team, which mostly deserves attention for historic and political reasons. On the field, they were nothing… with 27 points, they finished 14th.

The coach was Ladislav Novak, a star Czechoslovakian national team player once upon a time, who captained the silver medalists of the 1962 World Cup. As a coach, he was coach of the Czechoslovakian in the 1971-72 and in 1974 went to work in Belgium. Beerschot was the third club he coached, after Antwerpen and Lokeren. Colourful coach with colourful players: Jan Tomaszewski joined Beerschot after the 1978 World Cup. Now he was 32, not a fatal age for a goalkeeper, but one of the most famous goalkeepers of the 1970s playing for lowly club? Popular bios of Tomaszewski claim persection: he was not allowed to go abroad before turning 30 by the Polish government. Was it true is very hard to tell: Tomaszewski is known as a very outspoken, even controversial critic both of football and usual politics in Poland, but this is largely due to his activities after 1989. Back in the 1970s the normal Polish practice was to permit players to go professional in the West after they turned 28 and were not needed for the national team anymore. Tomaszewski was the number one national team goalkeeper until the 1978 World Cup, so delay of transfer may have been due to that, but the matter was not in the hands of the Polish government, but of the Football Federation. Tomaszewski was clearly in decline at the 1978 World Cup and lost his position during the finals. He was no longer coveted player when he was permitted to go abroad, which may be explaining why he ended in Beerschot. But decisions for foreign transfers made in the old Communist countries fail logical continuity of policy, so reasons remain largely mysterious: Tomaszewski was a big name, but in 1979 another Pole joined Beerschot – Stanyslas Gzyl from Gornik (Zabrze). He was 31 at the time of the transfer and never played for Poland – a rather anonymous player. Both the star and the unknown ended in Beerschot, God knows why. As for Tomaszewski, going to Beerschot made a strange reunion too – Emanuel Sanon was a veteran of the team, playing for it since 1974. Since the 1974 World Cup, that is, when the Haitian striker scored much talked about goal against Italy. Poland and Haiti were in the same preliminary group, so the former opponents met again after 4 years, this time as team-mates. Both emerged from obscurity at the 1974 World Cup, but Sanon got a contract right away – Tomaszewski had to wait, and if for the Haitian Beerschot was more or less the highest point of his career, for Tomaszewski was a step down. May be even two steps down. Yet, the two Poles and the Haitian were not the whole foreign contingent of Beerschot: a Zairian young and talented defender was in the squad, Paul Beloy Beloy. 23 years old, who came to Belgian football after a short spell in West Germany. The usual Dutch presence – Rene Mucher, who was with the club as long as Sanon. Another very young striker arrived in 1979 – 22-years old Chilean, formerly of Colo-Colo, Luis Echeverra Mena. Unknown player, but interesting anyhow, for Mena was a rare South American joining European club north from Spain and France. If most of the foreigners were either unknown or of faded fame, another two were different: Julien Cools, already 33, but still considered a national team material, arrived from FC Brugge. Classy midfielder, may be too old for his former club, but fine for a smaller one. Cools was known as ‘marathon man’ and key player during the great European years of FC Brugge. Juan Lozano, 25 years old, played along Cools in Beerschot, still listed as foreigner. Soon the Spaniard will be naturalized and included in the Belgian national team – but fame was yet to come. Beerschot had impressive squad, it seems, but failed to deliver. The stars were over the hill perhaps and the other foreigners – not good enough.

13th, a point ahead of Beerschot VAV, finished Antwerpen. If Beerschot had players suggesting higher place, their city rivals should have been higher in the table for historic reasons – never great, but usually stronger than most Belgians clubs.

Royal Antwerp or Antwerpen, or FC Antwerp… there are always confusing variations of the names of Belgian clubs, perhaps failed to recruit strong players. May be money was short, may be vision. Compared to Beerschot, Antwerpen was almost anonymous squad, lacking foreigners. Theo Custers was the big star – national team goalkeeper, losing the competition with Pfaff, but the second-best in the country at the time. The only import was Polish veteran – Miroslav Justek, 32-years old former Lech (Poznan) striker, who occasionally played for the Polish national team. A marginal player – may be solid, but never a star, and virtually unknown in Europe. That was all Antwerpen had this year, so finishing low was hardly a surprise. Yet, they finished above their city rivals. With this ends the lower group of the mid-table clubs – slightly underperforming than the others.

There was a middle mid-table group of 6 teams, which were slightly stronger than lower group, but also slightly weaker than three clubs. Not much stronger, not much weaker… the general similarity of these clubs was in their makes: they all depended on few strong players and various foreigners, normally middle-of-the-road professionals. KSV Waregem finished 12th , 3 points ahead of Antwerpen.

Of course, nobody expected miracles from Waregem – more or less, they played as ever. Not very strong, not very weak. Strong Dutch presence, beginning with the coach – Hans Croon. The players were available in every line – Rene de Jong (goalkeeper), Henny Michielsen (midfield), Pieter de Waardt, and Roland Hendricks (strikers). Nobody recognizable, but there was a difference – if the so far mentioned clubs used old veterans, Waregem had younger foreigners. Nothing special, but experienced and at their prime. The key players of the team were domestic, however – the national team defenders Marc (30 years old) and Luc (29) Millecamps. Marc was Waregem’s captain, but immediately after the end of the season Luc became famous for his performance at the 1980 European Championship. Waregem had no great squad, heavily dependent on the form of Millecamps brothers -and two players were able to keep the team at 12th place, but hardly moving it higher.

With 32 points, SK Beveren finished 11th. The surprise champions of 1978-79 plummeted down the very next season and understandably so – the club had no means for making truly strong team. The good players were few and there were part-timers. However, this was the best period in the history of modest Beveren – there will be more about them a bit later.

KSV Cercle Brugge was 10th – 32 points, but better goal-difference than Beveren. True to their predicament – their home city, as practically every Belgian town, was hardly able to maintain two strong professional clubs at the same time. FC Brugge already was the big club, so Cercle Brugge had no chance.

They were like Waregem, the same ilk: depending on the form of one or two strong players. In their case, on the veteran Dutch defender Bram van Kerkhof, and the better known Danish national team striker Soren Skov. The best known player was also defender and Dutch – Kees Krijgh, 30-years old newcomer from PSV Eindhoven. That is, one of the regulars of the great PSV Eindhoven of the 1970s, a team already aging and getting rid of players getting too old. Krijgh was never a great star, nor he was a national team player, but was famous enough as a regular of PSV Eindhoven during its best years. With him, van Kerkhof, and Skov, Cercle Brugge was able to maintain their normal position in the league.

RFC Liégeois or RFC Liege, was 9th, a club in the same predicament as Beerschot and Cercle Brugge: the smaller club in the city. Hence, mid-table position was the most they could do and the usual too. 33 points and the same as their immediate neighbours.

The Yugoslav Silvester Takac was the coach and he is mostly interesting as a footnote in the evolution of the Yugoslavian national team – in 1972 he ans Josip Skoblar offered their services to the national team, stirring perhaps the first serious debate about inclusion of foreign based player in the national team of Yugoslavia. The offer was turned down, but a crack was opened and by 1979-80 it was common practice. Since Takac played in Belgium, he knew local football and was well known in return, so it was hardly a surprise he coached RFC Liege. As for his squad, it was typical Belgian squad… largely unknown Belgians, the inevitable Dutch – Hendrik Medik, and another Dutch, listed as already naturalized – Matthijs van Toorn. Class was provided by Takac’s countryman – Edhem Sljivo, already 30-years old former midfielder of FK Sarajevo and national team player. Sljivo was highly talented – technical, imaginative, creative – but somewhat unlucky. He was actual national team player, but his appearances for Yugoslavia were rare – between 1976 and 1982 he played only 12 games, scoring 2 goals. The problem was not his capability, but the competition – unfortunately, there were strong midfielders when he was young, when he was at his peak, and when he was getting old. He coincided with Branko Oblak, not to mention others. Perhaps that was the reason he ended in lowly RFC Liege – and jumping a bit ahead, progressed from there to France and West Germany, something very unusual for a player ‘discovered’, so to say, at 30. It could be said, that his contribution kept RFC Liege in good place.

FC Winterslag had typical for that time season – right in the middle of the table. 12 wins, 11 ties, 11 losses, but rather unusual low scoring record. Belgian league normally was above the average of most countries, so 35 goals scored in 34 games seemed quite low, especially if compared to the first 10 clubs in the final table. Only 4 clubs scored less than Winterslag and it looked like the club depended heavily on domestic matches, scoring a goal and trying to keep its minimal advantage to get the points. Away, they did not care much… their defense was leaky, they received 62 goals and only the relegated two teams allowed more goals in their net. But it was all normal at the end – 8th place, 2 points ahead of RFC Liege.

Winterslag had young talented coach – Robert Waseige – who apparently utilized a limited team to the best. The squad was typical – the inevitable almost unknown Dutch players, Vim van Woerkum and Toon Wouters, and Belgian-raised, if not Belgian-born Italians, Licio D’Onofrio and Raimond Baiamonde. The only big name was Johan de Vrindt – long time national team regular and one of the top Belgian strikers for many years. But he was already 35 and inevitably his career was going downhill: he played for FC Brugge and Anderlecht at his prime, then moved a notch down to Lokeren, and from there to Winterslag. Still, his presence was important and perhaps the riving force of the otherwise modest team.

Waterschei took 7th place, 2 points ahead of Winterslag – both clubs were often at the same level, practically running together and finishing in somewhat mini-rivalry in the middle of the league.

Waterschei were almost a copy of Winterslag – good coach, few anonymous, but reliable foreigners, and one player, who may be considered a star of the team. But Waterschei achieved much more than Winterslag this season.

With them, the bulk of the league is almost complete – fairly equal clubs of the same make, depending on largely aging domestic and foreign stars, and having practically no future stars in their squads. Two more clubs belonged to the big group, but they were different, presenting a cutting edge between the leaders and the rest, so they will be placed among the top teams.

 

Belgium was the sensation of the 1980 European Championship, but before that, there was the ordinary season of the country. Since Belgian football was on ascent for quite some time, it deserves through presentation. Big and closely watch championship it was not. To a point, the success of Belgian clubs depended on Dutch players for many years. But other foreigners played their part as well and Belgium was prime destination for foreign players for a long time – the situation was bit peculiar, for on one hand Belgium allowed larger number of imports that any other European country, and on the other hand most clubs were small and unable to afford big names. Some big names were always at hand, but most foreigners were relatively unknown or old veterans to attract wider interest. Same with coaches. Finally, Belgium enlarged its top league to 18 teams and unusual system resulted: perhaps the only country in Europe with smaller second division than the first. This, to a point, reflected the difficulties facing Belgian football: there were not enough really healthy clubs. The country was small and football competed with other sports, particularly bicycle racing, for public attention. Financially, many clubs were unstable as a result and forced into amalgamations. It appeared that the Belgian Federation was determined to organize and keep a top professional league of stable clubs and the lower levels to stay semi-professional – may be there was no other way.

16-team second division had hardly recognizable abroad members this season – as ever, really. True, many clubs played top level football, but there was hardly a rising club. There was not a famous name in decline either. Rather, smallish clubs, playing now and then in the upper echelon, but never strong enough to make a lasting impression. Current form was seemingly the decisive factor – and current form depended on money, available or not. Hoeselt VV and Royale Union were too weak for the league, and finished at the bottom, separated by the rest of the league. The same happened at the top too – KV Kortrijk ended 2nd 5 points ahead of KSK Tongeren, but also 5 points behind the champions.

KAA Gent had no rivals.

Standing from left: Jaak De Koning, Erwin Vanden Daele, Luc Criel, Guy Hanssens, Roger Coenije, Willy Quipor, André Laureyssen, Marc Temmerman (kinesist)

Crouching: Filip Benoot, André Raes, Frank Nollet, Aad Koudijzer, Franky Vanhaecke.

The ‘Buffaloes’ finished first to the delight of their supporters and won the only direct promotion. The squad is unfamiliar, naturally, but obviously superior to any other in the league: they won 18 games, tied 10, and lost 2. Best attack – 53 goals, and best defense, allowing just 13 goals during the campaign.

Instead of second direct promotion, there was final promotional tournament between the 4 clubs below the champions. Racing Jet de Bruxelles (5th), K.St.-Niklase SK (4th), and KSK Tongeren (3rd) were slightly above the lower part of the league, but they have been no match to KV Kortrijk during the season – now they had a chance to top a team stronger for the whole season. It was a chance alright, but a futile one, as it turned out. K.St.-Niklase SK lost all 6 final matches. Racing Jet and KSK Tongeren were more or less equal, so, to a point, Racing Jet delivered spirited final performance and KSK Tongeren confirmed its season-long position as he third strongest second division club. Yet, none came even close to KV Kortrijk, which simply blew away the opposition, winning every one of the final matches.

There was justice after all: the rules were against the second best team during the season and there was a chance the 5^th in the table to go up, but strong is strong: KVK Kortrijk won well deserved promotion.

The Cup final opposed Crvena zvezda to Dinamo (Zagreb) and considering how the opponents performed in the championship, the final should have been an easy walkover for Crvena zvezda. But this was a cup final played between Serbians and Croats and momentary form was not an issue. Dinamo won minimally the first leg in Zagreb – 1-0 on May 14. Ten days later they extracted 1-1 tie in the second leg and won the cup.

Tired and covered with mud Cup winners – it was not easy, but the trophy was going to Zagreb.

Losing finalists Crvena zvezda. How great is great? Crvena zvezda should have been a double winner if really great. Crvena zvezda, however good or bad, did not win the Cup since 1971. They played only twice at the final since 1971 and lost both times to Croatian clubs. Actually, only Croatians won the Yugoslavian Cup since 1971 – and only three times Serbian clubs played at the final.

Dinamo won its 6th Cup and the first trophy since 1969. Had to wait 10 years for that, but their coming back surely. The disastrous championship was compensated by winning the Cup and confidence was restored – it was important for a young squad. Kranjcar, Mlinaric, Ivkovic, Bogdan, Bonic, the squad had s strong group of talented young players, led by Velimir Zajec. Zajec had a miserable season – he appeared in only 13 matches, most likely because of injuries, and Dinamo was greatly affected by his absence. But he was one of the most important Yugoslavian midfielders at the time and there was no doubt he will be one of the greatest stars of the early 1980s – and Dinamo’s fate depended on him. The team underperformed, obviously not at its peak yet, but by winning the Cup, the team returned to the right path: it was the team for the near future. The 1980s started brightly for Dinamo after all.

First Division was strange, because it appeared upside down – traditional favourites were at the bottom of the table and weaker clubs at the top. Decline was not the only reason, for some clubs were just unexpectedly lousy this season. And as good as some of the former outsiders were in their own terms, none was really emerging as a new powerhouse – more likely was benefiting from the weakness of others, than building their own strength. The newcomers to the league, or rather returnees, for both new clubs had been first league members for years, performed at the both ends at the scale: Vardar (Skopje) had excellent season and finished 7th. Celik (Zenica) was the league’s outsider, below everybody else and sunk to the bottom, only to return back to 2nd division. The second relegated team fought to the end lost the battle by a point – Osijek finished 17th, 7 points ahead of Celik, but unlucky.

Two clubs finished at the exact the same positions they had the year before:

Zeljeznicar (Sarajevo) was again 9th and

Rijeka – 10th. Maintaining mid-table position was perhaps satisfying for both clubs at the moment. One more club maintained its normal during the 1970s position, but it was perilous one:

Olimpija (Ljubljana) played hide and seek with relegation, concerned generally with escaping it and so far survival by a hair: 16th in 1978-79, now – 15th, but both years they finished just a point above relegation zone. This was going on for years. If Olimpija stayed where they were, a group of clubs was clearly in decline: Borac (Banja Luka), Vojvodina (Novi Sad), and most alarmingly, Partizan (Belgrade). Of the three, only Borac was familiar with the bottom end of the table – the other two traditionally were near the top. Partizan was champion in 1977-78. The league was fairly equal up to the 6th position in the final table – 6 points divided Sloboda (Tuzla), 6th, from Osijek, 17th, but the group of those fretting to the end, desperately trying to keep their place in the league included not only Olimpija, the three mentioned above, one more usual outsider – Buducnost (Titograd), but, to a point, Rijeka, Zeljeznicta, Velez (Mostar), and Dinamo (Zagreb). Different cases. Partizan (Belgrade) experienced a crisis as never before: immediately after winning their last title, they dropped 15th place, escaping relegation by a single point. This season they moved two place up the table – 13th, finishing 3 points better than unlucky Osijek. But they fooled no one: the team was fighting not for the title, but for mere survival. They finished with 32 points and finished 13th thanks, losing on goal-difference to Dinamo and lowly Buducnost. Crvena zvezda fans surely enjoyed the suffering of the arch-enemy, but the health of Partizan was to a point a measure of the health of Yugoslavian football, so it was more than just club’s crisis. Just above them, edging Partizan only on better goal-difference, finished Dinamo (Zagreb), which perhaps was even more puzzling, if not alarming:

In the previous season Dinamo lost the title only on goal-difference and were considered favourites, for the club finally made a strong new team and were perhaps the most promising side. Instead of winning the title, they struggled to stay in the league… However, Dinamo was different than Partizan – in their case, the weak season was due to the fact that the team was still young and unstable. A momentary slip, yet, a very dangerous one – and, hopefully, a good lesson for the talented bunch.

Similarly, although not to the same frightening point, the other great Croatian club underperformed: Hajduk (Split), the champions of 1978-79, underperformed a bit too and finished 5th.

Hajduk had one of the strongest, if not the best, squad in the country, but a certain tiredness was detected after 1975 – a fate they shared with Velez (Mostar). No longer improving, but rather maintaining their position, slowly moving down. The usual difficult to judge situation, preventing the club from taking big steps into rebuilding: key stars were around, leading the club, solid players assisted them, and young talent was constantly included. Tomislav Ivic was coaching them. Surjak and Muzinic were the stars, famed from the last Yugoslavian appearance at World Cup finals. But it was in 1974… and the stars had few teammates of the same year still: Rozic, Luketin, and Salov. The next generation grew up along the quartet of not old yet ‘veterans’ – Katalinic was a prime representative, for he reached the national team, but in the same time competition – Budimcevic – was elbowing him. And there was the newest generation at hand: Zoran and Zlatko Vujovic, Ivan Gudelj, Davor Cop. Something was not quite right… and few experienced players were added: Boro Primorac from Velez (Mostar), for instance. It was not like Hajduk – the traditional policy was dependance on home grown talent, not on stars recruited from elsewhere. A good team, yet, not at the level of the team of the first half of the 1970s, when players like Salov and Luketin were mere reserves, not key starters. Velez (Mostar) was in similar position too.

So, which were the improving teams? Sloboda (Tuzla) surely.

Second row from left: Verlasevic, Meskovic, Dzafic, Mujezinovic, Divanefendic, Mehinovic, Mulahasanovic, Cvetkovic, Hadzic M, Dzambic, Miljanovic.

Crouching: Hadzic I, Huseljic, Smajlagic, Sabitovic (fizio), Kovacevic, Sarajlic, Gerum (coach), Gogic, Memisevic, Tomic, Malisevic, Ibric, Geca.

Normally a lowly club, Sloboda experienced a great period at the end of the 1970s – they were 8th the prvious season, now they finished 6th. A strong team by their measures, enforced by the former Hajduk (Split) goalkeeper Rizah Meskovic, who returned from Holland, but compared to Hajduk, the squad was very limited. Strong by local measures, but on national scale rather taking advantage by the weakness of others. Sloboda already moved to the upper part of the table, so nothing really new – the big jump ahead was made by two other traditionally lowly clubs: Napredak (Krusevac) and Radnicki (Nis). They finished with 39 points each, so 3rd and 4th place were decided by goal-difference.

Napredak was unlucky and ended 4th, but what a season they had! The previous year they were still fighting for survival and finished 14th, safe only by a single point. This season they jumped 10 places higher, losing bronze medals by chance.

Radnicki (Nis) clinched 3rd place, but they already moved up, so it was rather a continuation of strong period. Strong period? This was their greatest year in history – never before Radnicki got medals! Such achievement usually stay forever in the memory of club and fans, but apparently nobody thought this squad really capable of finishing that high – there is not a single photo of it circulating today! A season, surprising everybody, then… and not so great team, but rather using fortunate circumstances. Radnicki managed to prolong their good play, but the only great player they had was the goalkeeper Dragan Pantelic, who was not stay for long with the club.

Pantelic was noticed not only for his goalkeeping skills, but for his goals – with 7 goals, he was the third scorer of Radnicki this season. At that time it was highly unusual for keepers to score goals.

The up and coming teams were not really strong – neither Sloboda, nor Radnicki, nor Napredak – they had to enjoy their short success, grateful, if good luck lasted a little longer (and clubs like Partizan remained in shambles for a year or two).

At the end, there were only two clubs competing for the title – if that is the word, for the champions finished 7 points clear of the silver medalists. Unusual season, indeed – one team had strong first half of the championship and another – the second half. Inconsistency seemingly ruled.

FK Sarajevo finished as the leader at the end of the fall season. Not exactly a big surprise – they had a good squad, led by arguably the best Yugoslavian player at the moment, Safet Susic. Predrag Pasic was the second big star, young and rapidly establishing himself as one of the very best. There were also Faruk Hadzibegic, Zoran Lukic, Zelimir Vidovic, Haris Smajic, perhaps a few more. Good squad, led by fantastic player, but not a great squad and actually coming short in almost every line. Not enough depth too – especially when compared to Crvena zvezda. Sarajevo finished firt before the winter break, but in the spring Crvena zvezda stepped on the pedal and quite easily left Sarajevo in the dust.

19 wins, 10 ties, 5 losses, 54-26 goal-difference, 48 points and 13th title. Familiar victor – Crvena zvezda. Not point even counting their trophies, even when the number is fatal 13.

Good coach and studded with national team players squad. Perhaps not as great as some previous generations, but Crvena zvezda had most of the current Yugoslavian stars at their peak – at the best age, vastly experienced, well fitting together, coming from the best international season of the club – they played at the UEFA Cup final in the previous season. Most importantly, this was squad with depth: Vladimir Petrovic was the leader and the great star, and around him – Savic, Sestic, Djurovski, Krmpotic, Milosavljevic, Jovin, Jurisic, Jovanovic (in the fall), Muslin, up and coming Repcic and Filipovic. Well rounded team, competitive players, strong reserves, the best squad at the moment. A bit sluggish in the fall, they were flying in the spring. Inevitable foreign transfers seemingly were not going to affect the team, because there were just as good players behind the current stars and Crvena zvezda was always able to get talent from other Yugoslavian clubs. Seemingly, supreme.