Category: 1981

Dramatic as it was the Segunda Division, it was nothing compared to the Primera Division’s season. Technically, 6 teams competed for the title, but effectively they were three, dropping to two in the last few rounds and the champion became known only in the last round, bringing surprise, joy, and bitter disappointment all at once. Marvelous battle at the top, not so at the bottom. The outsiders became known early and accepted their fate, which made life easier for those having hard time, like Las Palmas , 15th, and Real Zaragoza, 14th. They had comfortable advantage and eventually Las Palmas finished 5 points ahead of the relegation zone.

Real Murcia finished 16th with 23 points, the best of the outsiders.

UD Salamanca took the 17th place, distinguishing itself with the leakier defense this season.

AD Almeria was last with 19 points, 2 points behind Salamanca, and the most lost matches in the league – 21. These three clubs were relegated and nothing surprising about that – they all were all prime candidates for the last places.

Up the table – nothing really knew or unusual, most teams finishing as expected.

Even Las Palmas, measly 16th this year, was not exactly a sign of decay – they were never in danger and, if having weak season, they still belonged to the bulk of middle-of-the-road clubs occupying most positions in the league.

The real battle raged at the very top and had a bit of a bitter twang.

Real Betis finished 6th with 40 points. Standing from left: Esnaola, Bizcocho, Biosca, Ortega, Peruena, Gordillo.

First row: Morán, López, Diarte, Cardeñosa, Benítez.

An up and down club, which had a strong year this time, but finished perhaps disappointed – one point behind Barcelona and 2 points short of a place giving a spot in the UEFA Cup. Unlucky, yes, but really they were the weakest team among the best.

Barcelona finished 5th, a terrible season for them, for they were never really in the race for the title – staying close, that was all. Yes, Barcelona ended just 4 points behind the champions and shared the best scoring record in the league with Real Madrid, but the plain fact was Barca was out. There was important change in the squad – Hans Krankl, pictured here, was still a nominal member of the team, but Barcelona bought the new European sensation Bernd Schuster, who immediately was a starter, The great Austrian scorer was already on his way out – he was loaned to lowly First Vienna the previous season and clearly his days with Barcelona were over. Getting Schuster was the right move, but it was hardly enough – the team had too many problems: aging stars, like Asensi, Rexach, Migueli, not enough class in the next generation, and going for years goalkeeping problem, still unsolved – Artola was pushing 30, but he was never a very good keeper – and still the first choice. However, good or bad, Barcelona is a kind of club looking only for results – 5th place was a disaster.

With 42 points, Valencia took the 4th place. This was their best team in a decade, and at its prime too, but, let’s face it, it was a bit short of a true winner. It depended on Mario Kempes, who, unfortunately, was starting to go down – perhaps his peak was at 1978-79. The addition of the Uruguayan great star Fernando Morena was a bit of a disappointment, if not outright mistake. Valencia was strong, but not a title contender. Yet, they finished with better record than Atletico Madrid and took 4th place only because in Spain, when teams finished with equal points, the direct matches between the rivals were the decisive factor.

If there was a table of the most disappointed, Atletico Madrid should have taken the first place – but they had only to blame themselves. Atletico was on top of the table 26 rounds. They lost the first place just 4 rounds before the end of the championship and in the remaining rounds went out of the race, dropping to 3rd position, at the end keeping it only because they played well against Valencia, their direct rival at this point. No stamina… perhaps the training plan was wrong, because just at the end other teams were at their best and Atletico was losing steam. Compared to others – not a bad team, seemingly re-built at last. The best Brazilian midfielder at the 1978 World Cup – Dirceu – joined the team, after playing in Mexico, and the controversial striker Ruben Cano was also here. But instead of a title, they were lucky to get bronze.

Atletico’s exit from the race for the title only intensified the battle – at the end and to the very last minute of the championship, it was between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad. Both teams were a bit out of the picture for the most of the season – one can find them as low as 10th – Real Sociedad – and 9th – Real Madird – at some stages of the championship, but they really stepped on the pedal at the end, when mattered most. Real Sociedad took the first place in the 31st round and never lost it – curiously, Real Madrid was not first ever this season. Their big chance came in the very last round – Real had to win and Sociedad had to lose – Madrid promptly won their match, meantime Sociedad was luckily losing. But it was no good to bet on somebody else’s misfortune – Sociedad equalized and both rivals finished with 45 points each. Which benefited the opposition. Real Madrid finished 2nd.

What a disappointment – most points, most wins, the best attack, the best goal-difference… and second. Compared to Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Valencia, Real had stronger and better rounded squad: good goalkeeper with massive experience – Garcia Remon, excellent leader of defense – Camacho, one of the best central defenders in Europe, a great motor, roving back and forth, and organizing everything – Stielike, already moving to the position of libero, and, arguably, the best attack in Spain – Santillana, Juanito, and Cunningham. May be stronger than the opposition, but still it was not a dream team… and paid the heavy price for not playing its best for a good chunk of the season. Unlucky, yes – but…

But in the last minute Real Madrid lost the title and Spain had brand new champion, a new name added to the list – Real Sociedad. They needed just a point before the last round, but face a very difficult match: visiting Sporting Gijon. Gijon was tough cookie anyway and those were strong years for club – they finished 7th in the championship and reached the Cup final. Near the end of the last match Gijon was leading 2-1. And on top of everything, the weather was difficult – it was raining. 10 minutes before the end of the match Real Madrid was getting ready to be once again champion… and then Zamora equalized. Real Sociedad kept the tie to the final whistle and after it their joy had no limits.

Modest Real Sociedad from San Sebastian was the surprise and unlikely champion of Spain. Who would expect it? Surely Real Sociedad was noticed a few years earlier as having new exciting team, climbing up, but champions? Until the 31st round their best position in the table was 2nd place, which had twice – they were 2nd after the 20th round and then once again in the 30th. But moved up after the 31st round and maintained their top position to the very end. One may argue they were lucky, because Atletico Madrid lost steam at that time, but the argument would be lame: Real Sociedad was obviously in good form and at the end of the season they were at their best. One may argue that they were not the best this year, because Real Madrid ended with better record. May be so, but Real Sociedad delivered when mattered most – their decisive game early in March, when they hosted Real Madrid and beat them 3-1. This secured a small, yet, very important lead – the first match in the fall Real Madrid won, but only 1-0. Thus, in the last round Real Sociedad needed only a tie, which they extracted from difficult Sporting Gijon. Simple calculations, not so simple to apply, but there was something else in favour of the new champions: when nobody was looking they assembled a very good squad, lead by three young bright stars – Arkonada, Zamora, and Lopez Ufarte. Why the big clubs did not snatch them is a mystery, yet, a costly one, because in 1980-81 Real Sociead emerged with star players for the future – unlike the aging stars Barcelona and Real Madrid had. This was a big opportunity not just for the club, but for Spanish football as a whole, for now, when the boys were champions, there was no way the club would sell them – on the contrary, Real Sociedad had every reason to add more strong players to its squad, thus enlarging the group of strong Spanish clubs and making the coming championships more interesting and challenging. Lucky victory perhaps, but very welcoming one.

And one more look at the squad winning the title for the first time in the history of Real Sociedad. A wonderful ending of dramatic championship – not every year a country has a new champion, especially Spain.

 

Exciting season of the 20-team strong Segunda Division: 7 clubs competed for the three top spots, giving promotion to first division. At the other end of the table was similarly hot race for survival: 8 teams tried hard to escape relegation. No luck for half of them.

AgD Ceuta finished last with 29 points – perhaps the only team looking like true outsider.

Barakaldo CF was 19th with 31 points. An old club – founded in 1917 – which played professionally from the beginning of league-organized football in 1929, but never played in the first division. By 1980 even second division was becoming a problem.

Palencia CF – 18th with 32 points. Unlike Barakaldo, Palencia was young club, founded in 1960. So far, playing in the second division was their highest achievement, but they lasted only two seasons. Unfortunately, dark times were coming and the club dissolved in 1986, because of severe economic debts.

Granada CF ended 17th with 33 points – there were times, when Granada played with the best, but those days were gone.

Of course, the bottom of the table was not taking the breath away – the rivalry at the top was. No matter how strong the teams were – so hot pursuit rarely happens: 7 candidates for three spots. Five of them finished with equal points, 45. Two lost a bit of steam, finishing with 42. Goal-difference was not decisive factor – looked like the direct results between the rivals decided their final positions.

CE Sabadell CF finsihed 7th.

CD Malaga – 6th. Second row from left: Burgueña, Javi Nevado, Bonacic, Martin, Merino, Brescia, Serrano, Rojas, Astorga(?), Kiko Rodruiguez, Fernando, ?, Benitez, Ben Barek.

First row: Heredia, Juan Carlos, Canillas, ?, Manolo Castro, Recio, Nacho, Filgueira (?), ?, Aracena, ?, Muñoz Pérez, Santi.

Both teams suffered from weak defenses – scoring was hardly the forte of second division teams, but Malaga and Sabadell had obviously weaker defenses than their rivals: Malaga finished with +2 and Sabadell with +1.

Above them finished those with 45 points.

Rayo Vallecano was perhaps the unluckiest team this year: they, along with 8th placed Deportivo Alaves , had the second-best goal-difference this championship, +14. They had the best defensive record in the league, allowing only 23 goals. However, they had the weaker attack among the top teams, able to score just 37 goals – less then a goal-per-match. Yet, if goal-difference was the decisive factor, Rayo Vallecano would have been 2nd in the final table – and promoted.

Elche CF was 4th – and rightly so. Along with Cadiz, they were the best scorers in the league, but had leaky defense, and would have been 4th even if goal-difference decided the final standing.

Racing Santander edged Rayo Vallecano and Elche, taking 3rd position and promotion. They had the worst goal-difference among the top 5 teams, but played successfully when it mattered most and clinched promotional spot. Lucky boys, but the club was one of the ‘between clubs’ already, meandering between first and second division.

Cadiz CF finished 2nd. Perhaps they were the best team in the league – they scored the most goals, 55, and had the best goal-difference, +18. They won the most matches this season – 19. But they also lost games too often – 12 matches, the most losses among the top 7. All or nothing was seemingly the approach and it paid off at the end. For the old Cadiz – founded in 1910 – this period was the best in their history so far: they reached 1st division in 1976, but played just one season there – 1977-78. Now were going up for a second try – and good luck to them!

CD Castellon were the champions of Segunda Division. It may have been a matter of luck – after all, to be first among equals is arbitrary thing – but even if goal-difference was the decisive factor Castellon would have been promoted – only they would have been 3rd, not first. Defensive approach was seemingly their formula to success: the team was difficult to beat – they lost only 8 matches, the record of the championship, shared with Rayo Vallecano. The winners really had getting a point in mind: they won 15 matches and tied 15. Hardly an exciting team, but the best years of the club were in already distant time – between 1941 and 1947. After that, Castellon rarely played first division football – the last time was the 1973-74 season – and, like Cadiz, their next year aim would be mere survival. But they were promoted and most importantly added a trophy to their otherwise minimal record book. Champions of Second Division, but champions! What can be sweeter?

Spain had a reason to celebrate – this was the 50th season of La Liga. There was also a reason to worry – the next World Cup was coming and Spain was hosting it. On one hand – preparation was increasingly criticized. On the other – Spain had to win at last, but the changes in Spanish football were not very optimistic. On top of everything Italy opened its market for foreign players and it was no longer sure that Spanish clubs could get the top players. At the end the country finished the season with surprise winner, which was positive change only to a point. But let start from the lower echelons of Spanish football – Segunda Division B. This was the third level, established not long ago – this season was the 4th of the 40-team strong league, divided into Group A and Group B geographically. The first and second teams in each group were promoted to Segunda Division and the bottom three teams of each group were relegated to 4th level – Tercera Division. Away from the spotlights various clubs played in Segunda B: some faded old clubs, like Real Jaen, Racing de Ferrol, Gimnastic Tarragona. Some second teams of big clubs – Barcelona Atletico, Las Palmas Atletico, Bilbao Athletic. Some clubs, which eventually became better known in the future, but so far played in the lower leagues – Tenerife, Logrones, Lleida, Badajoz, Compostela. The rest was small fry, merely exotic to the foreign eye. The losers this season were all of this kind – Pontevedra, UP Langreo, and Gimnastica Arandina were relegated from Group A, and Merida Industrial, CD Diter Zafra, and CD Eldense – from Group B. As for the winners, they were of the kind eventually becoming better known in the future: two teams dominated Group A and two teams – Group B. It was not really a big race for promotion.

Celta (Vigo) won Group A with 58 points. They lost only 3 games during the season. Standing from left: Capo, Andrés, Jorge Santomé, Mori, Cambeiro, Ademir.

Crouching: Gómez, Suárez, Miguel Ángel, Emilio, Del Cura.

Third division clubs are never expected to have stars in their squads, but Celta had one: Ademir, a Brazilian striker, with impressive career so far – Ademir came to Europe very young to play in Portugal for Olhanense in 1972. In 1974 he crossed the Atlantic ocean to play in NASL for Toronto Metros and returned to Europe the next year, joining FC Porto. Three years later Celta got him from the up and coming Portuguese club. Ademir played 5 years for Celta – from 1978 to 1983.

Deportivo La Coruna finished 2nd with 56 points and without trouble – Bilbao Athletic, the B team of Athletic Bilbao, was very distant 3rd with 46 points. Standing from left: Albino, Jorge, Ballesta, José Luis, Pardo I, Piña.

First row: Alfredo, Traba, Muñoz, Silvi, Castro.

Good for them, but Deportivo was still a decade away from becoming known.

Group B was absolutely the same as Group A – two teams dominated the league, comfortably finishing with promotions.

RCD Mallorca won the league with 54 points. Good for the ego, for otherwise it did not matter at all. Standing from left: Ferrer, Iriarte, Braulio, Riado, Ferrer Piña, Gallardo.

First row: Collantes, Sauquillo, Nadal, Orellana, Bonet.

Mallorca had not one, but three foreigners this season – two Yugoslavians – Peles, a midfielder, and Miodrag Kustudic, a striker. The third foreigner was also a striker – an Argentine, who arrived from Newell’s Old Boys – Rolando Barrera. Kustudic was the most famous with his 3 caps for Yugoslavia, but this was his last season in Spain, where he arrived in 1978 to play for Hercules (Alicante).

Cordoba finished second, losing the title by a point, but leaving 3rd placed Barcelona Atletico (the B team of Barcelona) 8 points behind. Up and down club, quite unstable, which was trying to elevate itself once again. So far, so good, but instability is almost written on their photo: three different kinds of jerseys!

The Cup final opposed 1. FC Kaiserslautern to Eintracht (Frankfurt). Kaiserslautern just confirmed they had a strong season and aiming at last to win the Cup – it was their 4th final since 1960. Meantime Eintracht were true cup masters – they won the West German Cup twice in the 1970s – in 1974 and 1975 – and added the UEFA Cup in 1980. Unlike Kaiserslautern, Eintracht had so-so season going, but a cup final was another matter. In front of 71 000-strong crowd the finalists started their most important game of the season in Stuttgart on May 2, 1981. Both teams fielded their best squads. Eintracht proved quickly to be stronger – at the end of the first half they were leading 2-0, thanks to the goals scored by Neuberger in the 38th minute and Borchers two minutes later. These goals were too match for Kaiserslautern – in the 64th minute Cha made it 3-0 and their was no any doubt about the winner. Only in the last minute Kaiserslautern managed to score a goal – Geye was the scorer – but it was too little too late.

Eintracht (Frankfurt) before the game started, from left: Bernd Hölzenbein, Jürgen Pahl, Bruno Pezzey, Karl Heinz Körbel, Ronald Borchers, Michael Sziedat, Bum Kun Cha, Werner Lorant, Bernd Nickel, Norbert Nachtweih, Willi Neuberger. Neither team made changes during the final.

Same boys posing with the Cup after the final whistle – their 3rd. Eintracht’s reserve kit – white and black – was their lucky charm: they won every cup they played with this colours.

Surely a strong season for Kaiserslautern, but they came short of winning anything. Ronnie Hellstrom, Hans-Gunther Neues, Wolfgang Wolf, Michael Dusek, Hans-Peter Briegel, Werner Melzer, Friedhelm Funkel, Hannes Bongartz, Reiner Geye, and Erhard Hofeditz lost. Tradition was not broken: Kaiserslautern lost the Cup final in 1961, 1972, 1976, and now in 1981. Tradition of losing, unfortunately.

Unlike Kaiserslautern, Eintracht really excelled in cup formats and their 3rd victory gave the impression that the team was going up again. But the moment was probably lost sometime around 1975 – the club was mostly trying to keep competitive, but not so promising, squad. Of course, the Austrian great defender Bruno Pezzey gave hope. Of course the East German defectors Jurgen Pahl and Norbert Nachtweih were expected to flourish. Of course Eintracht had solid players like Bernd Nickel, Werner Lorant, Willi Neuberger, and Ronald Borchers. But something was already missing – something little, but important, making the difference between a good team and a great one. Perhaps one name tells the difference: Karl-Heinz Korbel. Sturdy, dependable, solid, ever-present, but not a star – yet, he and not the aging captain Bernd Holzenbein, was the face of the club by now. But there was one particularly bright part of the winning team: the South Korean striker Bum-Kun Cha won the Cup, scoring a goal in the final. The second Asian player winning a trophy in West Germany. For the moment, his presence looked like a novelty, but just for the moment. Eintracht (Frankfurt) proved again they were masters of cup-formats.

 

The Bundesliga was still number one in Europe, but there were some changes detected: the threat to German superiority came from different directions. English clubs were seemingly stronger on international stage, Spain was buying better foreign players, and with the opening of the Italian market frugal German clubs had little chance of competing for top level foreign stars. At the same time German football became too physical and thus less attractive, bringing some cynicism to the game – winning, no matter how, was all that mattered. Yet German football was still the best.

Not at the bottom of the Bundesliga, of course. Seven clubs tried to escape relegation, some were ‘the usual suspects’, some were unexpected outsiders. Eventually 4 of them survived: MSV Duisburg finished 12th, Fortuna (Dusseldorf), going down after a number of strong years, ended 13th, 1. FC Nurnberg was lucky to stay in the league – 14th, and the same applies to Arminia (Bielefeld) – 15th.

TSV 1860 (Munchen) was perhaps unlucky to end 16th and relegated, but they finished one point behind Arminia and, more importantly, the club faded during the 1970s and joined the group of so-so clubs too strong for second division and too weak for top flight. Going down was hardly a surprise and apart from leaving the Bundesliga once again without local derby, the only interesting thing about this squad was Rudi Voller – young and not yet noticed talented striker. Of course, today everybody knows his name, but his fame was still in the future – presently, he was going to taste second division football.

The last in the table was not a surprise either, especially because they dropped out of the race for survival early and finished with just 22 points.

Bayer (Uerdingen) already were among the so-so clubs, although of the two ‘aspirins’, belonging to Bayer, they were the stronger club at first and so far had bigger presence than Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. But it was only statistical superiority – the reality was different and clearly Uerdingen was not going to be impressive club, but the opposite. Nothing unusual they finished last.

If two of the relegated teams were expected outsiders, the third one was unpleasant surprise. True, Schalke 04 was going down since their unfortunate involvement in the bribing scandal of the early 1970s, but this was old, successful, popular club – not one to sunk that low, but they did, finishing 17th and like Bayer (Uerdingen), even throwing down the gloves at some time of the championship – Schalke 04 ended with just a point more than Bayer, the worst attack and the worst defense in the league.

It could have been wrong coach – the 1960s Yugoslavian star Jusufi never became a great coach – but if so, it was just the last drop in the bucket. Schalke 04 was far cry from the exciting team they were less than 10 years ago and to this very day they depended on players from that old team – players, who already too old to keep the club afloat. Fischer, Russmann, and Nigbur – the old guard was just too old by now. So were additions like Danner and Beer – their best days were already gone. So were the foreign stars, recruited recently – the former Yugoslav national team player Vilson Dzoni and the Austrian winger Kurt Jara. Both were at their prime years ago, around 1974, and now the calendar said 1980. After Werder (Bremen), another original member of the Bundesliga went down – name itself was not a guarantee for staying among the best and the the number of original members of the league was reduced to 5 clubs.

Across the league – different fates, but regress was observed in Fortuna (Dusseldorf).

Fortuna was one of the strongest German clubs during the 1970s and only two years ago was expected to become one of the main favourites. But progress halted – the team was not getting better, just the opposite. Otto Reghagel coached Fortuna in 1980-81, but the young then coach hardly improved the team: it was based on getting too old stars Seel and Zewe, local heroes, also beyond their prime, Baltes and Daniel, and the Alofs brothers, who were certainly to be among the big stars of the 1980s, but unable to improve Fortuna. The team finished 13th this season.

In the opposite direction was going Borussia (Dortmund), which had miserable 1970s.

Under Udo Lattek, bearded by now, Borussia finished 7th this year, but the future looked very optimistic, for the squad was good – Geyer, Burgsmuller, Abramczik, Freund, and the Islandic import Edvaldsson were more than strong backbone and perhaps with few talented additions Borussia would be able to compete for the title.

For the moment, 4 clubs competed for it: 1. FC Kaiserslautern, VfB Stuttgart, Hamburger SV, and Bayern. During the championship the group broke down to two pairs – Kaiserslautern and Stuttgart fought for the bronze medals and HSV and Bayern – for the gold.

At the end, Kaiserslautern was 4th. It was fair finish: unstable, one year up the next down, Kaiserslautern had a strong season and the players to keep it on top – Geye, Bongartz, Hellstrom, Pirrung, Wendt, and the new bright star Briegel. They also had a talented coach – Feldkamp. But the squad was weaker than the opposition and with the exception of Briegel and may be the Austrin Riedl, the key figures were old news, already going downhill. Small consolation – Kaiserslautern finished with the best defensive record in the league.

Stuttgart bested Kaiserslautern by 2 points. Bright team, steadily climbing up, but not yet at its peak. The veterans were foreign – the Yugoslavian Holcer and the Austrian Hattenberger – but their roles were no longer central: Stuttgart was lead by group of players already recognized for stars and certainly the names of 1980s football: Hansi Muller and the Forster brothers. Add Ohlicher, Allgower, and Roleder. Hidden in the squad and hardly noticed by anyone was a player who never became a star, but made Germany World champion in 2014 – Low.

Hamburger SV and Bayern raced for the title and at the end Bayern prevailed, leaving HSV 4 points behind.

Hamburger lost and it was not a matter of class – it was just not their year. Kevin Keegan was no longer with the club, but the squad was excellent – Magath, Kaltz, Hrubesch, Buljan were the world class leaders of the team, followed by plethora of younger talent – Stein, von Heesen, Jakobs, Hieronymus, Hartwig, Milewski, Groh, Wehmeyer. Three veterans of the beginning of the rise in 1975 were still here, just in case – Reimann, Hidien, and Memering. And after Happel another great coach was at the helm – Branko Zebec. Second place was disappointing, but only for the moment – the team was great and going to stay as leading German club. And not only German leader.

Bayern – champion, nothing new. But this title was significant because the new Bayern was firmly established – after a full remake, Bayern had new great team thanks to Pal Cernai. An Yugoslav made the first great Bayern and Hungarian – the second. But it was not at all similar to the first: the old one was made from scratch; the second one was actually built on the ashes of the first one. Paul Breitner was the heart of the team, with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge the second leader. Breitner was part of the first successful Bayern, Rummenigge played with the giants when they neared the end. Both were practically from the old days and along with them were few others – Durnberger, Horsmann, and Kraus . Second-rate players, once upon a time just reserves with little chance for playing (Kraus), or inconsistant (Horsmann). Durnberger was the unsung hero of the old guard – not a great player, but sturdy and dependable, who not only ready to plug any holes, no matter the position, but was important part of the winning team. The rest of the new team was a mixed bag of no longer young talented players, who made their names elsewhere – Del’Haye and Janzon, late discoveries – Dieter Muller, and young talent, still too young to be consistent – Dremmler, Augenthaler, Mathy, Pgluger. This was entirely German squad, unlike the first great Bayern, which always had at least one foreigner among the regulars – now the only import was a deep reserve from Finland – Rautainen. The team was strong, but without much flair – it depended on strength and determination, and on physical superiority. Creativity was left entirely to Breitner and Rummenigge was expected to score the goals. Which he did, promptly finishing as top league scorer for a second consecutive year. If there was a weak spot, it was between the goalposts: of course, it was very difficult to find acceptable goalkeeper after Sepp Maier, but so far Bayern was unable to get a strong one. Junghans and Manfred Muller shared the goalkeeping duties for now, but neither was good enough and Bayern not only was looking in need of strong goalkeeper, but they were looking for one. As a whole, not as great as the first Bayern was, but who could blame champions?

Casually looking champions – winners looking so confident were surely at the top of the world and going to stay there. Were they really? So far – 7 titles.

 

The Southern group was not so clear. Without relegated from top flight team, the race was wide open and without familiar favourites. Perhaps Kickers (Offenbach) was considered a favourite on the strength of their not along ago good years in the Bundesliga. But those years were gone and although Kickers was among the best teams, they were not the strongest. A rather surprising name won the league and quite easily at that: Darmstadt 98.

Second division teams hardly ever have well known players and Darmstadt had none, but they were well above the rest of the league, finishing 5 points ahead of the next pursuer. They did not have neither the best attack, nor the best defense in the league, but were unbeatable at home and the best away record in the 2 Liga Sud. 24 wins, 7 ties, and 7 losses – winning made them best: the next clubs in the table won just 19 matches. May be not a very promising team, may be just lucky to play in a weak league, but Darmstadt made the best of the circumstances and unquestionable deserved the first place. Good for them – Darmstadt was going to Bundesliga for a second time.

Five clubs competed for the second place – at the end 5 points divided them. With 45 points SV 07 Waldhof finished 6th. The other losers were SSV Ulm 46 – 5th, Hessen (Kassel) – 4th, Stuttgarter Kickers – 3rd. Kickers (Offenbach) finished 2nd with 50 points – 2 more than Stuttgarter Kickers.

Obviously, Kickers (Offenbach) wanted to return to the Bundesliga, but were unable to finish first – perhaps not surprising, for they hardly had the team for that. Still they had a chance for promotion – they were going to the play-off for just that.

As a matter of curiousity, one club had their first and last season in the second division:

EfB Eppingen debuted this season, but going down right away was not misfortune due to the transformation of the second division – the newcomers finished last and faced relegation even in the old format. Yet, they were the only club left of a single participation in the second division this season.

Clarity ends right here. 2 Liga Sud got 9 spots in the new single division. It was clear in the North – all depended on the final place in the table. In the South it was mysteriously different… Stuttgarter Kickers – 3rd, Hessen Kassel – 4th, SV Waldhof – 8th, SC Freiburg – 8th, and SpVgg Bayreuth -10th moved to the new single division, according to their final positions. But…

SSV Ulm 46 – 5th,

Eintracht (Trier) – 8th, and

FC Homburg – 11th, did not get spots in the new division. Perhaps they did not meet financial requirements, but who knows. Instead of them

Wormatia (Worms) – 12th, and

SpVgg Furth – 14th, appeared in the new single second division. For some reason final table did not play a role in determination of those who stayed in the second division. Of course, most mysterious was the disappearance of SSV Ulm 46, who were among the candidates for promotion in 1980-81. So much for the changes.

The winners were directly promoted, what remained was the play-off for the last promotional spot. Kickers (Offenbach) and Eintracht (Braunschweig) met twice for that. Eintracht won 2-0 at home and lost the second match in Offenbach – but only 0-1. Thus Kickers remained in second division and Eintracht (Braunschweig) moved up, returning to top flight and hoping to stay there.

 

West Germany remained the number one championship in Europe, but a change was coming, concerning the second level: 1980-81 was the last season with 2 Second League groups. A convention of DFB met on June 7, 1980 to discuss the issue and decision for single division was voted 84 to 77. Narrow win, but decision was good: 42 cubs played in the second professional level currently – 20 in the Northern Division and 22 in the Southern one. Most of them were not competitive enough and professional football was too much for them. Since the second professional level was introduced in 1974, its contribution was hardly great. Instead of strong teams pushing their way into the Bundesliga a group of clubs not so strong to keep their place among the best, but far stronger than most of the second level members formed. It became quite clear that there was a group of stronger teams existed in second level, but not strong enough to change anything in the Bundesliga. In the same time various small clubs came from and quickly returned to the regional championships without leaving a trace. Second level did not produce many talented players too. Reduction was sensible – a new 20-team single division would be strong and competitive enough without the financial strains for many small clubs. Not everybody believed that, but those wanting a change won. That meant a number of changes: 22 teams were to be relegated at the end of the season. Thus, many clubs were motivated to fight for a place in the new league – especially those with some fame from bigger cities. No teams were to be promoted from the regional leagues – this seemed unfair, but necessary. Three teams were still going up to the Bundesliga – replaced by the three relegated at the end of the season. So far, so good… the problem was how to make twenty-team league. With 3 newcomers from the top league, 17 places remained – uneven number, which automatically made unclear which 10th placed team of which division will stay in the single league. One look at the next year table immediately shows discrepancies – at the end, it is unclear why some teams were in and others out, but about this later. The season started and naturally the biggest issue was promotion. As before, the champions of each division were promoted directly and the second placed teams played a promotional play-off for the third spot. As luck had it, all relegated in 1979-80 season were from the North, making this division stronger. A rather big group of former Bundesliga members: Hertha (West Berlin), Eintracht (Braunschweig), Hannover 96, Rot Weiss (Essen), Tennis Borussia (West Berlin), topped by Werder (Bremen), relegated for the first time from the big league. These clubs were expected to compete for the promotional spots and actually most of them did – to a point: actually, three teams competed for the top two places, leaving everybody else far behind. Werder, Eintracht (Braunschweig), and Hertha – the first two just relegated, and Hetha – relegated one year earlier, in 1979. Apart from the battle between these three clubs, the season was marked by very high scoring – especially when compared to the scores in South. Hertha scored 123 goals! Eintracht (Braunschweig) – 102 goals. Rot Weiss (Essen) – 99 and Werder – 97 goals. OSV Hannover, the last in the table, was also the lowest scoring team this year with 41 goals. As it happened, the lowest scoring team was in highest scoring division.

Four points separated the top teams at the end.

Hertha lost the battle, finishing 3rd with 64 points. By now, Hertha lost all good players of her strong years not long ago, but still was better team than most in the league – having 2 Yugoslavian imports and one very exotic player: the first player from Thailand to play in Germany and very likely the first Thai to play professionally in Europe. Witthaya Hloagune – or Laohakul – joined Hertha in 1979. 1980-81 was the last season for the Asian midfielder in West Berlin – after the season he was transferred to Saarbrucken. Anyhow, Hertha lost the chance for promotion by a single point – Eintracht (Braunschweig) finished with 65 points.

Just relegated from the top league, Eintracht was eager to return to top flight immediately. It was familiar situation for Eintracht and for their loyal goalkeeper Franke, who lost his place in the 1974 national team because his club was not in the top division. Franke was one of the best West German goalkeepers in the 1970s, but playing for a weak club. The same misfortune happened to the Yugoslavian national team winger Popivoda and to the Swedish national team player Borg. As a whole, Eintracht was stronger than Hertha, but no as good as Werder – second place still kept them hoping for promotion. If they won the play-off against the 2nd placed in the Southern division.

Werder won 2. Liga Nord with 68 points. 30 wins, 8 ties, and only 4 lost matches. The best defense and the 4th best scorers in the league. Werder was relegated in 1879-80 season, but unlike Eintracht and other similar clubs, who were never strong enough to stay among the best for long, Werder most likley just had misfortunate season. No wonder they were ambitious leave the second division right away and promptly won the championship. Well known coach – Klotzer – and plethora of star players: Burdenski, Reinders, Fichtel, and once again coming back from Belgium Kostedde. For the record, so far, this is the only season Werder played in the second division.

The lower placed were important only in terms of the next year single league membership. Liga Nord got 8 places in the new single division – hard to say why, although one place was really questionable. Since Liga Nord was stronger this season, may be they should have been allowed 9th team . Anyhow, they were not and the teams from 3rd to 10th place became members of the new single second division: Hertha, Hannover 96, Alemania, VfL Osnabruck, Union (Solingen), Rot Weiss (Essen), Fortuna (Koln), and Wattenscheid 09. If anyhting, there was order and nothing confusing.

Perhaps Viktoria (Koln) was unlucky – they finished 11th, a point behind Wattenscheid 09.

The last European competition – the Super Cup.

Strange looking trophy, which few took seriously. This year it should have been a clash between Liverpool and Dinamo Tbilisi. However, the Super Cup was not contested.

 

The UEFA Cup was much more entertaining than Cup Winners Cup and started with number of upsets. Manchester United was eliminated by unfancied Widzew (Lodz). Woolverhampton Wanderers lost to PSV Eindhoven. But the biggest surprise came from Bulgaria – Levski-Spartak (Sofia) had tough draw, Dinamo (Kiev), and, as usual, the Bulgarians were expected to lose without much of a fight. There was no worries in Soviet media: Dinamo practically had to look for the second round. Even when the first leg finished there was no real alarm: the match in Kiev ended 1-1 and the Bulgarians scored first, but Dinamo was seen as vastly superior and missed many opportunities. Just focus on scoring.

Levski-Spartak and Dinamo Kiev come out to start the second leg in Sofia. Note the Bulgarian goalkeeper on the left – early in the first game the regular keeper Staykov was injured and replaced by Vlado Delchev, young inexperienced goalie. He was perfect in both games.

The second leg ended 0-0. Perhaps the shock was so big, so no real criticism appeared in the Soviet press: Levski-Spartak was still judged a weak team, Dinamo – much better, but… failing to score and punished for that rather harshly. For a second time Bulgarian team eliminated the flagman of Soviet football, something unthinkable. Jumping a few years ahead, the same Levski-Spartak was ordered to lose to Dnepr (Dnepropetrovsk) and did so promptly – there was not going to be any more funny stuff: beating Big Brother twice was way too much. However, the heroic disobedience was lost to many, because of the great performance of CSKA (Sofia) at the same time – they eliminated Nottingham Forest, the holders of the European Champions Cup.

The tournament went ahead with some more surprises, but also with predictable results as well. Levski-Spartak was completely destroyed by the new wonder of Dutch football – AZ’67. The first leg ended 1-1 and at home AZ’67 just scored and scored to a final 5-0 victory. Hamburger SV eliminated PSV Eindhoven in the second round, but the real upset came from another pair: 1.FC Koln vs Barcelona. Barcelona won the first leg in Koln 1-0 and seemingly they already qualified. But the Germans did not think so and thrashed Barcelona at their scared stadium 4-0.

West German football suffered big defeat at the 1/8 finals – 4 teams reached this stage, something everybody was used to see after 1975, and three of them were expected to go ahead. One team was to be eliminated, for Lady Luck played quite a few jokes this season, pairing strong teams against each other at early stages. This time VfB Stuttgart was paired with 1. FC Koln, so one German team was going to be out no matter what. Stuttgart lost by one goal. But Hamburger SV was expected to win againt Saint Ettienne, which was not really as strong, as it was a few years back. Not so strong… the French finished one of the strongest European teams at that time in Hamburg – 5-0! The second leg was no longer important, but St. Etienne won again – 1-0. The French were bad luck for the Germans: the modest Sochaux eliminated Eintracht (Frankfurt), after losing the first leg 2-4. At home, they won 2-0. The other two teams unexpectedly eliminated at this stage were still strong Torino, losing to Grasshoppers after penalty shoot-out, and bright and promising Real Sociedad, losing to middle-of-the-road Lokeren.

The quarter-finalists looked somewhat strange, considering some of the club names starting the tournament, but whoever is strong should win on the field. Ones again there was ‘unfair’ draw: Sochaux vs Grasshopper was the weakest pair. Standard (Liege) had the tough luck to play against 1. FC Koln – and lost. St. Etienne faced Ipswich Town and also lost. AZ’67 eliminated Lokeren, as expected, but at least AZ’67 was already noticed for playing strong and attractive football. They were lucky in the semi-finals, drawing Sochaux. The French played bravely, but managed only to lose minimally – 1-1 at home and 2-3 away. Ipswich Town vs 1. FC Koln was perhaps unfair draw… should have been the final. Or may be not: the English won both legs 1-0.

AZ’67 (Alkmaar) vs Ipswich Town (Ipswich). Neither club had won anything on continental level before. Like the Cup Winners Cup finalist, the UEFA Cup was contested between new names – either weakening of the big European clubs, or change of guard, introducing a new order. Yet, it was familiar final – Dutch and English teams ruled European football at least for 10 years. Ipswich Town was climbing up roughly since 1975, so it was about time for something big. AZ’67 were bright newcomers, quickly going up – their policy of gathering big Dutch names was somewhat unusual, but it worked just fine. It was hard to say which team was the favourite – both were strong, ambitious, at their best, and full of very good players. To a point, it was to be Dutch against Dutch, for the key players of Ipswich were Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen. Perhaps Ipswich Town was slightly favoured to win, because of the lingering inferiority the Dutch felt to English football. But one thing was sure: the finals were going to be highly entertaining. And the teams did not disappoint.

In front of 27 500 enthusiastic crowd, Ipswich stepped on high gear at home on May 6.

AZ’67 fought back, but were busy with defending.

The Brits were unstoppable, however. They scored a goal in the 28th minute and in the second half added 2 more.

The English Dutch were excellent – here Frans Thijssen clearly dominates his compatriot, playing for the other team. He scored the second goal of the match. Ipswich got huge advantage at home.

Final 1st Leg, Portman Road, Ipswich, 6 May 1981, att 27532

 

Ipswich Town (1) 3 AZ ’67 (Alkmaar) (0) 0

28′ 1-0 I: Wark (pen)

46′ 2-0 I: Thijssen

56′ 3-0 I: Mariner

 

Ipswich Town: Cooper; Mills, Osman, Butcher, McCall; Thijssen, Wark, A.Mühren; Mariner,Brazil, Gates

AZ ’67 (Alkmaar): Treytel; Van der Meer, Metgod, Spelbos, Hovenkamp; Peters, Jonker, Arntz, Nygaard (Welzl); Kist, Tol

Before the second leg AZ’67 coach Kesler stated that his team practically has no chance. It was not a statement of giving up, however: Kesler added that his team had no other option, but to move entirely into attack – all or nothing, all caution abandoned as meaningless under the circumstances. The approach was risky and Ipswich quickly took advantage of it. Frans Thijssen scored the first goal in Amsterdam, where the second leg was played, because Alkmaar had small stadium. Game over in the 4th minute… the Dutch did not think so. They equalized three minutes later and went ahead in the 25th minute, when Metgod scored a second goal.

John Wark scored his second goal in the finals in the 32nd minute, equalizing the result. In the 40th minute Tol made it 3-2 for AZ’67. The Dutch were still fighting against the odds, but 5 goals in the first half were wonderful for the fans and the way the match was going the second half was promissing even more fun. AZ’67 continued to attack and in the 70th minute Jonker scored their 4th goal. 4-2.

Ipswich never dug themselves in the back, but used every opportunity to attack – here Eric Gates troubles the Dutch defense. But it was 4-2 at the end.

Final 2nd Leg, Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, 20 May 1981, att 28500

 

AZ ’67 (Alkmaar) (3) 4 Ipswich Town (2) 2

4′ 0-1 I: Thijssen

7′ 1-1 A: Welzl

25′ 2-1 A: Metgod

32′ 2-2 I: Wark

40′ 3-2 A: Tol

74′ 4-2 A: Jonker

 

AZ ’67 (Alkmaar:Treytel; Reynders, Metgod, Spelbos, Hovenkamp; Peters, Jonker, Arntz, Nygaard; Welzl (Talan), Tol (Kist)

Ipswich Town: Cooper; Mills, Osman, Butcher, McCall; Thijssen, Wark, A.Mühren; Mariner, Brazil, Gates.

Ipswich Town won 5-4 on aggregate, but even if they lost by three goals the second leg, they were going to win thanks to their away goals. AZ’67 really had no chance, but must be credited for maiing everything possible to change the result in their favour.

One may be sorry for AZ’67, but Ipswich Town was really deserving winner and Mick Mills got the UEFA Cup.

After Mills received the Cup, it was the usual English happiness.

Followed by drinking adult beverages from the same cup in the dressing room. Who can blame Ipswich Town? They won fair and square.

Lovely losers, but losers. Standing from left: Hovenkamp, Metgod, Van Der Meer, Spelbos, Jonker, Treytel.

Crouching: Tol, Arntz, Peters, Nygaard, Kist.

AZ’67 reached its peak, but was unable to win the UEFA Cup. One may argue that they were lucky and had easy road – playing against Red Boys Differdange (Luxembourg), Levski-Spartak (Bulgaria), Radnicki Nis (Yugoslavia), Lokeren (Belgium), and Sochaux (France) – but they reached the final with 6 wins, 3 ties, and lost only the second leg against Lokeren 0-1. They scored 29 goals and received 9 – truly attacking and high scoring team. At the end, Ipswich outscored them only by one goal and the Dutch failed to score in just 2 games during the campaign. True, the club came out practically from nowhere, but the players they had were not at all anonymous: about 10 firmer, current, and future Dutch national team players appeared in the finals. Add the Austrian national team striker Welzl. Treytel, Hovenkamp, Metgod, Spelbos, Peters were already well known names. Arntz, Tol, Jonker were just becoming known. Kees Kist was currently the best scorer in Europe. The team was no joke, had plenty of experience, had ambitious players and if there was something on the negative side, it was the predicament of any small club: AZ’67 was going to sell players too good for such a club. Reaching European final could only speed up the inevitable. They gathered good players, but there was no way to add more class to the squad. Too bad, though – during this season AZ’67 were exciting team, perhaps the most exciting on the continent. Unfortunately, they had Englsih opponent at its prime.

Ipswich Town were more than worthy winners.

The victory was a great recognition for the work Bobby Robson had done – slowly and carefully, he built the excellent squad, which reached its peak this year. As for Robson, he established himself as one of the leading coaches in the world with this victory – which was in a way too bad for Ipswich, for Robson was not going to stay much longer with the club: he was already hot commodity. As for the players, Kevin Beattie was perhaps the only player beyond his peak and on the way down. John Wark, Alan Brazil, Russell Osman, and Paul Cooper were perhaps at their peak just at that time. Terry Butcher, George Burley, and to a point Allan Hunter were not yet at their peak, but near. Mick Mills was the great captain and constant feature of the Engliah national team. Solid squad to begin with, but two fantastic additions made it really great: at the time English coaches were reluctant of foreign players, Bobby Robson made a big step ahead – he bought two Dutch midfielders, trusted them, and they not only delivered, but became great stars of 1980s English football. What an eye Robson had – Frans Thijssen and Arnold Muhren were hardly among the big names of Dutch football in the 1970s. Their careers at home were rather modest and they were no longer young promising players. To buy them was risky… but the Dutch invigorated Ipswich’s midfield, quickly became the playmakers of the team, adding continental creativity to normally unimaginative English midfield football. As for fitness and toughness – they lacked neither. Their addition was the finest final touch of Robson’s creation – and with them came the biggest triumph of Ipswich Town. Lovely winners of UEFA Cup.

Cup Winners Cup continued to suffer: the tournament was constantly losing people’s interest, because the teams were weaker and there was no way to change that. This season the stronger clubs were few: Valencia, Roma, Feyenoord, Celtic, West Ham United, Benfica, and Fortuna Dusseldorf. The favourites were expected to go far easily and one of them to win, but none was particularly strong leading European club at the moment. Predictions were quickly destroyed: Celtic and Roma were eliminated in the first round. Celtic lost on away goal to Romanian Politehnica (Timisoara) and may have been unlucky, but Roma won its opening home match 3-0 and was seen as sure winner. Their East German opponent Carl Zeiss (Jena) managed incredible come back in the second leg, destroying the Italians 4-0. Two favourites out after the first round and in the second they were three – Carl Zeiss again was destroyer, this time of the reigning cup holder Valencia. Carl Zeiss took big advantage at home – 3-1 – and Valencia, not the most exciting team anyway, managed to win only 1-0 at home, so they were eliminated. Two more casualties in the ¼ finals: one was inevitable, for the draw paired Fortuna and Benfica. Benfica managed to end the opening match in Dusseldorf 2-2 and improved on their small advantage at home, beating the West Germans 1-0. Meantime West Ham United faced Dinamo (Tbilisi) . The Soviets were good, and the English hardly at their best, but English clubs ruled European football in the recent years and West Ham was expected to win. What a surprise: Dinamo thrashed them 4-1 in London. The second leg was more or less mere protocol – West Ham won, but only 1-0 and was out. Feyenoord had an easy draw – Slavia (Sofia). They lost the first match in Bulgaria 2-3, but there were no worries: two away goals favoured the Dutch and they won confidently in Rotterdam 4-0. One thing to keep in mind from this clash: Feyenoord discovered Slavia’s striker and captain Andrey Zhelyazkov and few years later bought him. Arguably, Zhelyazkov became the biggest and most successful Bulgarian transfer of the 1980s – he played well for Feyenoord and after that for two other West European clubs. Cral Zeiss had the easiest draw at this stage: Newport County from Wales. After playing against Roma and Valencia, this opponent should have been a leisurely walk in the par, but instead happened to be the most difficult challenge Carl Zeiss faced. Newport extracted a 2-2 draw in Jena and Carl Zeiss had to win the second match – they did with difficulties, a measly 1-0.

The draw for the semi-finals practically spelled out the finalists: Carl Zeiss vs Benfica and Dinamo Tbilisi vs Feyenoord. So, Benfica and Feyenoord would meet at the final… it was not to be: the East European teams got strong leads after their opening home games. Carl Zeiss won 2-0 and Dinamo – 3-0. The Westerners were unable to come back – they won at home, but both teams fell a goal short: Benfica won 1-0 and Feyenoord 2-0. All favourites were eliminated – usually a victory of the underdogs are nice and pleasant surprise, but not this time: it was just one more nail in the coffin of the Cup Winners Cup. The final in Dusseldorf was going to be played practically without audience: Soviet and East German fans were not allowed to travel to the West and neutral public was not going either – neither finalist attracted foreign viewers. Two very small and carefully selected groups came from USSR and DDR and this final one of the least attended in the history of the tournament with 9000 attendees – only the 1964 final between Sporting (Lisbon) and MTK (Budapest) was attended by less, 3000 people. It was inevitable: Eastern European countries did not allow people to travel abroad and little known clubs did not attract Westerners. As a result, the final became the forgotten one – few paid attention at the time and even fewer remember it today. Which is ironic, because the final was lively and entertaining. Both teams were unable to field their best lines: Dinamo’s captain Shota Khinchagashvili was suspended for yellow cards received in the previous games and Carl Zeiss had two starters injured – Konrad Weise and Martin Trocha. There were fears that three more Georgians would not be able to play because of injuries and sickness – Sulakvelidze, Chivadze, and Gabelia – but the team doctor managed to get them on their feet. The opponents were quite different in their making and style: the East Germans depended on well established veterans, well known for their play for the national team of DDR – Grapentin (37 years old), Vogel (38), Kurbjuweit (30), Lindemann (31). They were very disciplined and fit squad, dedicated to attacking football, but a bit predictable. In defense, they employed personal marking, which was risky approach. Dinamo Tbilisi was slightly younger and much more exciting team, lead a great midfielder – David Kipiani. As a team, Dinamo was at its peak, playing fast attacking football. The Georgians were very skillful, creative and loved to improvise – a team difficult to beat and full of Soviet national team players (Kipiani, Chivadze, Sulakvelidze, Shengelia, Daraselia, Gutzaev, Gabelia). Observers favoured Dinamo, but not by much. It was not expected to be attractive game, which happened to wrong – whoever watch the final was pleasantly surprised by the fast, open, attacking match, full of scoring chances. At first the Germans pushed ahead and slightly dominated the match for 30 minutes. Eventually Dinamo equalized the game and had the upper hand to the end, but not for a moment there was big dominance of one team. Both goalkeepers were busy and made great saves. Carl Zeiss pressured the Georgians, but they were more dangerous on counter-attacks, thanks to their technicality and creativity. To a point, Carl Zeiss suffered from their defensive scheme – personal marking did not work well against imaginative and very skillful players. The Germans had problems when their attacks were broken – gaps opened, which immediately were used by the Georgians for dangerous counter-attacks. No wonder Grapentin was the best German player – the collective approach did not allow to any field player to shine. On the other side Shengelia, Daraselia, Gutzaev shined with their quick improvisations and Kipiani was clearly the star of the game.

Almost no pictorial material exists from this final – no wonder, for the picture shows the empty stands. Time was running and there was no goal – both goalkeepers were outstanding. The first goal was scored in the second half, when Dinamo was clearly the stronger – but the goal was in their net. In the 63rd minute the central defender of Carl Zeiss Hoppe scored wonderful goal. Dinamo equalized 4 minutes later – one more excellent goal, thanks to Gutzaev. In the 87th minute they scored again – Daraselia was the hero this time.

Everybody celebrates the second goal and scorer Daraselia cannot be seen. Three minutes were not enough for any change – there was no extra time. Dinamo won and rightly so – they were the better team and it was only just. Carl Zeiss played well and had their chances, but Dinamo deserved the victory and got it. The second all-East European final ended as the first one: the Soviet club won.

Final, Rheinstadion, Dusseldorf, 13 May 1981, att 9000

 

Dynamo Tbilisi (0) 2 Carl Zeiss Jena (0) 1

63′ 0-1 C: Hoppe

67′ 1-1 D: Gutsayev

86′ 2-1 D: Daraselia

 

Dynamo Tbilisi: Gabelia; Kostava, Chivadze, Khisanishvili, Tavadze; Svanadze

(Kakilashvili), Sulakvelidze, Daraselia; Gutsayev, Kipiani, Shengelia

Carl Zeiss Jena: Grapenthin; Brauer, Kurbjuweit, Schnuphase, Schilling; Hoppe (Övermann), Krause, Lindemann; Bielau (Töpfer), Raab, Vogel.

Captain Chivadze lifts the Cup Winners Cup.

Happy Georgians, no matter the empty stadium.

Tamaz Kostava, one of the lesser known players, proudly poses with the cup.

David Kipiani, the genius midfielder, with the cup – perhaps the most deserving player.

Worthy finalists, standing from left: Eberhard Vogel, Jurgen Raab, Andreas Bielau, Rudiger Schnuphase, Gerhard Hoppe, Hans-Ulrich Grapentin, Lothar Kurbjuweit.

First row: Wolfgang Shilling, Lutz Lindemann, Gerd Brauer, Andreas Krause.

Surprise finalists, but Carl Zeiss (Jena) were one of the three best East German teams in the 1970s. To a point, this was their swan song – the key players were getting too old: Grapentin, Vogel, Weise, Lindemann, Kurbjuweit. To a point, the team already reached its peak a few years back. But it was a team full of national team players, including 5 members of the 1974 World Cup team – perhaps the best squad DDR ever had. Currently, 6 players were members of the national team – Grapentin, Schnuphase, Brauer, Lindemann, Kurbjuweit, and Bielau. Jurgen Raab was rapidly becoming the next generation star and would be constant member of the national team in the 1980s. Strong team, no doubt, but just a bit over the hill and may be too disciplined for its own good. Carl Zeiss played very well at the final and had a chance to win, but they were slightly weaker than Dinamo.

New Cup winners, standing from left: V. Daraselia, A. Chivadze, D. Kipiani, N. Khizanishvili, A. Andguladze, T. Sulakvelidze, V. Zhvania, G. Tavadze.

Crouching: V. Gutzaev, R. Shengelia, O. Gabelia, Z. Svanadze, N. Kakilashvili, T. Kostava.

Dinamo (Tbilisi) were always among the best Soviet clubs, but the late 1970s were their best time – winning the Soviet title and cup, and finally – the Cup Winners Cup. Fine crafted team, which had something unusual for a Soviet team – a flair. Very attractive kind of football, based on technical skills and improvisation – something fans always enjoy. There was one misfortune – Shota Khinchagashvili, their long time central defender and captain missed the final. Misfortune on personal level, but not on team level – Nodar Khizanishvili perfectly replaced Khinchagashvili, which was no wonder: he was experienced player, who would have been regular in almost any other Soviet team. As a contrast, Carl Zeiss had no so good replacement for their injured central defender Konrad Weise – the veteran striker Vogel played at his place at the semi-final and Hoppe at the final. He scored the German goal, but… Khizanishvili played his part to neutralize the German attack, when Hoppe was not able to stop the Georgian strikers. Dinamo had a whole bunch of able and eager to win players – no line was lacking class and some players would be important part of the exciting Soviet national team of the 1980s – particularly Chivadze, Sulakvelidze, and Shengelia. Gutzaev was one of the most interesting wingers of Soviet football in the 1970s, but little known abroad, because he was rarely called to the national team. But the great star was David Kipiani – wonderful attacking midfielder, who also was the key playmaker of the team. Very skillful, imaginative, precise, entertaining, scoring – Kipiani was world class player, one of the top midfielders in the world, but unfortunately playing at a time the Soviet national team was weak, missing two World Cup finals, and, therefore, the international exposure. The other problem was that he was not called often to play for USSR – coaches preferred Moscow and Kiev players and thought technical Georgians unreliable. Kipiani got his revenge, so to say, by shining at the final and winning the Cup Winners Cup. Dinamo Tbilisi was deserving winner – they were the better team for the most of the match, played excellent football, pleased the eye, and evidently were at their peak as a team at this moment. USSR got her second European club trophy; DDR did not.