Category: 1981

The English Cups were interesting, because of the teams reaching the finals stages. Manchester City reached the semi-finals of both the F.A. And the League cups. Woolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United both reached semi-finals, just like they did the previous year, but switched the cups – the Wolves reached the F.A. semi-finals and the Hammers – the League Cup semi-finals. Woolverhampton was eliminated this time – not easily, only after a replay – but West Ham reached a final again. Ipswich Town obviously played strongly on three fronts, for, along with trying to win the English championship and the UEFA Cup, they reached the semi-finals of the F.A. Cup. Liverpool, like the Wolves and the Hammers, reached the semi-finals just like the previous year, but of different cup – the Football League Cup this time and more successfully than the previous year, when, after 4 matches they bowed down to Arsenal – this time they eliminated Manchester City and moved to the final. Where they faced West Ham United – an interesting battle of the best Second Divison club and the top European team, having rather weak season at home. The final at Wembley ended in 1-1 tie and replay followed. The second match was played on fools day – 1st of April – in Birmingham at Villa Park. There was a winner this time – Goddard scored a goal for the Hammers, but Dalglish and Ray Kennedy gave the victory to Liverpool. A small margin, not an easy win, but Liverpool got the English League Cup.

For the record, Liverpool was lucky wearing their second kit. Thompson and Rush do not look happy, but the final was not a walk in the park – the boys are not smiling, but carry the League Cup and what could be better?

The Hammers were unable to win another cup, but they fought bravely, unfortunately losing by a goal. Not bad for a second division team playing against the European champions.

Liverpool added one more trophy to their voluminous collection, but perhaps the most important part of this victory was saving the season – they were not convincing in the championship and so far English mentality valued international success less than domestic one. By winning the English League Cup, Liverpool compensated for losing the championship.

The F.A. Cup final opposed Manchester City to Tottenham Hotspur. One team desperately trying to stay among the top English clubs versus bright up and coming vintage of a honorable club, coming out from recent crisis and eagerly wanting to prove they were really good. So one match was not enough – just like the English League Cup final, this one was tied at 1-1 and a replay was scheduled. Nobody wanted to give up, that was sure. The irony of the original final was that Tommy Hutchinson scored both goals – in his one net, benefiting the Spurs, and then for his own team.

In the replay, there were 5 goals scored and the Spurs prevailed 3-2. The Argentine world champion Ricardo Villa was the hero, scoring twice. If the League Final was a triumph of ‘the establishment’ in a sense, here the new boys pushed aside the old feet.

May be one should be feeling sorry for City – they lost the final, which was the last chance for players at the end of their careers and glorious past: Corrigan, Power, Booth, Hutchinson, Tueart. But their presence was also the reason the Spurs were the more deserving team: Manchester City was plunging into a crisis, failing to rebuild and sticking to veterans for too long: those listed above were still the key players and all of them were one step away from retirement. And behind them was only Phil Boyer… no wonder City lost the cup.

As for Tottenham, a trophy was needed to prove they were back: not just a new team, but a new winning team. By now, only Steve Perryman was the link with the last strong squad the Spurs had – and they had it almost a decade ago. Back again and quite exciting too – Ardiles, Hoddle, Archibald, Villa, to name but a few. They proved their worth. Perhaps strange for an English club of that time, but Tottenham had three foreign players, when permitted to field only two – the Yugoslav Aleksic was perhaps kept on the bench too often for his liking, but his presence in the team was wise decision: Ricardo Villa was not settling all too well in England, was uneven in his performance, and ultimately – on his way out. Aleksic was not just a fancy eternal reserve, but part of the future of rapidly getting stronger squad.

Lastly, the F. A. Charity Shield was contested – it was not as exciting final of finals yet and still statisticians are not including it in the general overviews of English seasons, but it opposed the league champion to the F.A. Cup winners: in theory, the strongest teams of the just finished year. Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur. They produced no winner – the match ended 2-2.

Equal teams should be pictured together – and they were. Both touching the shield, no one having it.

Forget about lower division – First Division was the thing, focusing interest. Well, the kings of European club football played here, Kevin Keegan returned back to England, Admiral was losing its grip because Adidas dressed more and more English clubs, shirt advertisement arrived this year, some ‘continentals’ were grumpily recognized as worthy additions to the British game, and… financial troubles plus the plaque of hooliganism. Interesting season. Actually, more interesting, when one looks back: new champion, some other surprises. The first one was found at the very bottom of the final table – Crystal Palace finished last and more than that, they were hopeless outsiders.

Well, Crystal Palace was never very strong and rather up and down team, but managed by Terry Venables, coached by George Graham, having Gerry Francis, Tery Fenwick, Clive Allen, and… only 19 points. The 21st team had 32.

Leicester City finished 21st, but they fought – nothing like Crystal Palace. Gary Lineker was going to taste second division, which was nothing really upsetting at the time, for he was not yet the famous superstar.

With 33 points, Norwich City ended also relegated – 20th place. More or less, expected relegation – Norwich were nothing much and therefore likely candidate for second division experience, which they were more than familiar with. Justin Fashanu going down, but like Lineker, he was not famous yet.

Brighton & Hove Albion survived – they finished 19th with 35 points. Worse goal-difference placed them last of three teams with the same points, but it was fine – Brighton survived again and was going to experience at least one more season with the best.

Ups and downs across the league: three clubs, already in crisis, and steadily going down.

Woolverhampton Wanderers was 18th. The Wolves were probably at more advanced stage of rot than the others.

Manchester City – 12th this year. Still depending of aged players known for years and going to pay very heavy price for that. But not yet. Perhaps Dennis Tueart was the best example of the crisis – he was shuffling between England and USA, apparently not good for City anymore, but called back to help.

Leeds United was the third club in obvious crisis – they finished 9th this season, which was perhaps a bit misleading: the sad truth was that Leeds failed to rebuild. The great team of the early 1970s was gone.

Those were the clubs in crisis. Three others underperformed and went down, but only for the moment.

Manchester United was 8th – the previous season they competed for the title, losing it by 2 points. Nothing similar this year, but the sad truth was Manchester United was inconsistent. Talented bunch, but somehow never living up to its potential.

Notthingham Forest was 7th. Brian Clough explained that the team won everything and lost interest, but… that was precisely the difference between a good team and excellent team: those, who are really strong do not lose the hunger for winning. Frankly, the days of Nottingham were over – the team was good, but going to be middle-of-the-road.

Liverpool was 5th – there lowest final position since 1971, but they won the European Champions Cup again this year, so it was clear that they just had accidentally weak season.

So much for the weaklings. Other clubs were on their way up.

Tottenham Hotspur was 10th, but their new team was almost completed. Osvaldo Ardiles proved the skeptics wrong, establishing himself as one of the greatest stars in the league.

Southampton was the other club getting stronger – they finished 6th, one point behind Liverpool. Surely the arrival of Kevin Keegan helped, but he was not alone: Mike Channon, Charlie George, Dave Watson, Chris Nicholl, the Yugoslavians Ivan Golac and Ivo Catalinic constituted impressive squad. The only problem was longivity, for the approach was risky – Southampton constructed a team of veterans and such teams hardly last long. It worked for the moment and having Keegan in the team promised good future.

The last club deserving a mention had nothing to do with performance – Coventry City were mid-table club and this season was no different (16th in the final table), but they were already famous for their weird kits. This year they put a new finishing touch:

This was their already familiar kit – the amusing part was their reserve version in brown – but apparently considered too simple, it was changed.

One can call it avanguard or stupidly ugly, depending on taste, but Coventry was one of a kind in England. How much Talbot influenced the club’s brass is debatable, but it was a big T made on their jerseys and… shorts. Amusing.

Four clubs competed for the title, none was a surprising newcomer to the top of the league, but nevertheless the champions were considered a bit of a surprise.

Ron Atkinson knew his job and West Bromwich Albion finished 4th – strong years continued, the team was good and at its best form. Alas, it was more solid than great and had not a champion make.

Arsenal, the strongest London club at the time, was in its typical good form and finished 3rd with 53 points. Hard to tell what was missing, but something was missing – this squad was unable to win a championship. Actually, this season was their best.

Ipswich Town finished with silver and the most goals scored in the league. Perhaps the best team at the moment, but probably paying the price for having to fight on two fronts: they won the UEFA Cup, they lost the English title. But stable for years and at its peak this year.

Surprise champions – Aston Villa. With 60 points, they left Ipswich 4 points behind and won their 7th title, but their first after 1909-10! A wonderful return of Aston Villa to the leaders of English football.

Bright new champions, but… yes, there was ‘but’. The ascend of Aston Villa started pretty much at the same as Ipswich: in 1973. At that time Villa was not even if the premier division. Going up was steady and near the end of the 1970s they were already among the top group of English clubs. All thanks to the wonderful work of manager Ron Saunders. The only problem was that Aston Villa had weaker squad – as far as names go – than Liverpool, Ipswich Town, Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Manchester United. Compared to the others, ‘the Lions’ had no stars – more or less Jimmy Rimmer was their best known name and the aging goalkeeper was mostly known as long-time reserve in Manchester United. The rest of the team was not even that famous, but had a group of talented youngsters, who establsiehd their names this season: Des Bremner, Tony Morley, Dennis Mortimer. Add Peter Withe, who was no longer young and so far with less successful career than Rimmer, but finding his right place at last and playing fine football. Hardly a squad coming to mind, if one was asked to predict to new champion at the start of the season. Well, may be they were a bit lucky and taking advantage of disinterest, lack of concentration, or temporary lack of form of the favourites, but nobody can say Aston Villa was actually given the title by the others: the squad was at its best, they played with ambition, they won the most games this year – 26 – and lost less than anybody else, except Arsenal and Liverpoo – the three teams lost 8 matches each. Aston Villa was a nice underdog and their victory was fantastic. It did not look like they were going to build a dynasty, but even this victory was not yet the best of Ron Saunders and his boys.

 

The English Second Division had its ups and downs, as it should. Terrible season for the city of Bristol – its both clubs were total outsiders.

Bristol Rovers was last with 23 points.

Bristol City had 7 more points than Rovers, but still was far behind the 18th placed team with measly 30 points. The third relegated club finished with 36 points.

Preston North End was down on its luck. Nobby Stiles was a great player, but plain nothing as a manager.

Cardiff City was lucky – they finished with 36 points, equal with Preston North End, but escaped relegation thanks to better goal-difference.

Interesting clubs played in the Second Divison – some settled in the middle of the table: Sheffield Wednesday (10th), Newcastle United (11th), Queen’s Park Rangers (8th). But QPR were up and down club – two other teams were real failures:

Derby County ended 6th – nothing was left from the great squad of the first half of the 1970s, except the aging by now Roy McFarland and they seemed settling for a long spell in the obscurity of Second Division.

Chelsea was the worse, though – their free fall apparently had no end. Money were short and getting shorter, and they just collapsed – 12th this year. Oh, well, things always get worse before getting better.

Other teams went uphill.

Grimsby Town had excellent year – they finished 7th. However, it remained to be seen was it one time wonder or consistent development.

Watford was 9th – less impressive than Grimsby, but they already managed to climb from 4th division to Second in a few years, getting stronger all the time. Graham Taylor was the right manager and Elton John – the right chairman. Watford was really coming.

But the heroes of the season were other clubs: five teams competed for three promotional spots.

Luton Town eventually run out of steam and took the 5th place with 48 points.

Blackburn Rovers had a strong year at last and appeared to be on its way of returning to First Division, which they left in 1966 – but unfortunately they lost promotion on worse goal-difference. May be paid the price for too many ties – they had the record of the league: 18. One thing ties do is affecting negatively the ratio between goals scored and received. Blackburn was bumped out because of that and years passed before another attempt to join the top league was made.

Swansea City edged Blackburn, finished 3rd and was promoted – a pleasant surprise, for in 1977 they – along with Watford – played forth division football. Rapid climb for the modest Welsh club, no doubt made possible by the influx of former Liverpool players: John Toshack was playing manager, supported by David Stewart, Ian Calaghan, and Phil Boersma as a coach. ‘The Swans’ were the real wonder in the recent years.

Notts County was the other surprise – they finished 2nd with 53 points, 3 more than Swansea and Blackburn. No big names here and traditionally so-so second division team, which apparently came from nowhere, for they finished 17th in the previous season. But now – happily promoted. Surprising performance, but.. they were unable to challenge the leader, finishing 13 points behind. A warning for the next season, in a way, but also a testimony of the terrible shape of some traditionally stronger clubs, like Chelsea, QPR, Derby County, Newcastle United, Sheffield Wednesday.

As for the winners, rarely an English second division champion was so dominating. West Ham United simply left the rest of the league in the dust. Normally, the winners had a tough race against other challengers – West Ham had it easy.

Judging by the squad, this was first division team – Billy Bonds, Frank Lampard, Phil Parkes, David Cross, Stuart Pearson: tough cookies, lead by Trevor Brooking. Yet, these guys were relegated in 1978 and spent two worthless season in second division, before learning their lesson. Perhaps the previous year was the waking time for them – West Ham won the F.A. Cup, and taking it from there they just got ambitious and won the league, reaching at the same time a cup final – the Football League Cup now. Well done, for these players did not deserve to play second division football.

Third Division clubs had to worry about relegation and 13 – more than half of the league members – was preoccupied with avoiding relegation. Two clubs were doomed rather early and gave up, as far as English clubs ever give up: the boys bravely tried to get points, but were weaker than the rest of the league.

Hull City finished last with 31 points. Kittens, not tigers.

Blackpool were like Hull City this season and took the 23rd place in the final table with 32 points. Nothing to be proud of… only one team behind them and 4th division next year.

Colchester United was 22nd, but nothing like the bottom two – they fought as much as they were able. With 39 points, Colchester finished with only 4 points less than the 12th placed team. Down they went.

Sheffield United was the last relegated team – they finished 21st with 40 points. The most famous among the relegated, a club used to play first division football, but now they were going to the lowest professional division. Lucky, unlucky, the club was going through hard times, perhaps reaching its lowest point – nothing worse could happen in the future.

Of the large group clubs trying to escape relegation Newport County ended at the highest spot – 12th place. With 43 points, they were only 3 points ahead of Sheffield United, but he only lowly club with positive goal-difference. Let’s note and remember one player in this squad – John Aldridge. One day, much later in the 1980s, he will pop up.

Exeter City was 11th, immediately above Newport and the lowest of the 6 teams having solid mid-table season – no ambitions for promotion, but not worried with relegation either. Exeter was like that since they were promoted in 1977. Good years for the club, the only question was how long their solidity will last.

Plymouth Argyle were the same as Exeter during the same period, only they came not from 4th division, but were relegated from the 2nd in 1977. This year they ended 7th with 52 points – 7 more than Exeter and 2 points ahead of Burnley.

Burnley was 8th, nothing spectacular – rather the opposite. Martin Dobson and Alan Stevenson were national team players early in the 1970s… now in 3rd division.

And the very top – 5 clubs competing for 4 promotional spots. Chesterfield had the reason to cry at the end – they finished 5th because of worse goal-difference. Lost promotion to Huddersfield.

Huddersfield Town were lucky indeed – they were promoted only thanks to better goal-difference, but were promoted. Well, they were first division members back at the end of the 1960s – may be starting to climb again? At least for the moment, it looked this way.

Charlton Athletic finished with 59 points – 3 points ahead of Huddersfield and 2 points behind the league winners. Third only on worse goal-difference, but no big deal: they were going up.

Barnsley bested Charlton and took the 2nd place – happy boys, going up.

Rotherham United had a wonderful season and were the 3rd Division champions as a result – not a overwhelming champs, but they won the tough race against Barnsley and Charlton. The least known club among the promoted, they should have been really proud of their achievement – if the other promoted clubs had a history of first division football, modest Rotherham was looking for second division as a big success. Always nice to see the underdog winning.

 

England – the strongest club football internationally, rather dull national team, trying to live with ‘continental’ imports, increasing financial problems. Fourth division.

York City finished last, 24th with 33 points. Not that it mattered – nobody was relegated from the lowest professional division. The team was dead last only for the record.

Most of the league was just that… small professional clubs, unable to dream of more than 4th division.

Hereford United – a typical member of 4th Division: a bad season this time, 22nd at the end, but may be next year – a bit up. Or not. What mattered here was at the top – the teams trying to get promotion. The top 4 were blessed with that and Peterborough United missed the boat – 5th with 52 points.

Wimbledon was 4th and promoted with 55 points. Satisfying season, although they missed 3rd place by a point.

Doncaster Rovers bested Wimbledon, but was far behind the teams competing for the league title. Enough for promotion, but almost 10 points behind the 2nd placed team.

Lincoln City finished 2nd with 65 points and the best defense in the league. They lost the title, though – by 2 points.

And the champions were Southend United with 67 points. Well done. There are clubs, which could be champions of lower leagues only. Nothing wrong with that, wonderful and successful season. Going up – what could be better?

 

The Cup opposed Roma and Torino. This year the rules were changed – after years of single final, now two legs were introduced. Current form rarely matters at finals – Torino was not at its best, but for the final they were more than ready. So Roma and there was no winner – both legs ended 1-1.

 

 

First Leg (13/6/81)

Roma – Torino 1-1

Roma: Tancredi; V. Romano, Maggiora; Turone, Falcao, Santarini; B.

Conti, Di Bartolomei, Faccini, Ancelotti, Scarnecchia. All.:

Liedholm.

Torino: Terraneo; Cuttone, Salvadori; Volpati, Danova, Zaccarelli (28′

Davin); Bertoneri, Pecci, Graziani, Sclosa, Pulici (67′

D’Amico). All.: Cazzaniga.

Referee: Pieri di Genova.

Goals: 31′ Ancelotti (R), 59′ aut. Santarini (T).

 

Second Leg (17/6/81)

Torino – Roma 1-1 (3-5 penalty)

Torino:Terraneo; Cuttone, Volpati; P. Sala, Danova, Zaccarelli (98’Davin); Bertoneri, Pecci, Graziani, Sclosa, Pulici (75’Salvadori). Coach.: Cazzaniga.

Roma:Tancredi; V. Romano, Maggiora; Turone (120′ Santarini),Falcao, Bonetti; B. Conti, Di Bartolomei, Pruzzo (46’Birigozzi), Ancelotti, Scarnecchia. Coach: Liedholm.

Referee: Michelotti di Parma.

Goals: 37′ Cuttone (T), 62′ Di Bartolomei (penalty) (R).

The winner had to be decided by penalty shoot-out and only now Roma prevailed – 5-3.

Losing finalists. Standing from left: Cuttone, Mariani, Terraneo, Zaccarelli, Danova, Van de Korput.

Crouching: Pulici, Sclosa, Ferri, Dossena, Beruatto.

Perhaps unlucky, for shoot-outs are always a matter of luck, but Torino had a bit weaker team than Roma. This is not a photo from the Cup final – the Dutch national team defender Van de Korput missed the final – but close enough. A bit aging – Zaccarelli, Pulici – a bit thin. ‘A bit’ could be too much when a trophy is at stake.

Up and coming Roma – still number 2 in Italy: no title, but a second consecutive Cup. Second row, from left: Amenta, Turone, Falcao, Spinosi, De Nadai, Di Bartolomei.

First row: Pruzzo, Santarini, Conti, Ancelotti, Tancredi.

Well, 4th Cup for Roma – not bad at all and still a hungry team. Well made too – some oldish players, who were either not needed anymore in their former clubs (Spinosi) or quite unable to made it where they played previously (Tancredi, Turone) flourished in Roma, adding their skills to established stars like Pruzzo and Di Bartolomei, and younger bright players like Conti and Ancelotti. Falcao was perfect buy – Roma not only got a world class star, but key addition to the team: Falcao immediately became the motor of his new club. A team for greater victories than Italian cup was assembled already.

Happy with the Cup and getting used to posing with just won trophy – the best years in the history of AS Roma were going on.

 

Contrary to expectations, not the opening of the Italian market for foreign players, but the Totonero scandal affected more the 1980-81 of Serie A. Without Milan the championship was weakened. The suspended players disturbed the normal development of some clubs. Three clubs had to fight against the penalties – their fate was different this year: one club was too weak to survive, one managed just that, but that was their aim anyway, and the third probably would have been stronger challenger if not penalized. But those clubs were guilty and paid for their involvement in the Totonero scandal. Meantime, the impact of foreign players was not that great, perhaps with one exception – Napoli. The championship was more or less similar to previous years: many ties, low scores, still defensive football dominated. Two clubs were hopeless outsiders. Six clubs were preoccupied with avoiding relegation. Two clubs competed for the title. One club was really going up and up, getting stronger and promising even better days. One club seemingly was plunging down.

At the rear of the league Pistoiese and Perugia settled for relegation early.

For Pistoiese climbing to Serie A was great achievement, but staying there proved impossible – they were too weak for that and nothing surprising about it. The team lost 20 of total 30 matches played. Last with meager 16 points.

Perugia was different case – nobody expected heroics from them, but they were also penalized with 5 points and had to overcome this handicap. Perhaps the mess surrounding Paolo Rossi affected the club as well, but without him the team was almost nothing. Down they went early in the championship, finishing 15th with 18 points. Even if Perugia was not penalized they would have been next to last.

Six clubs tried hard to avoid the third relegation spot – Torino came on top of them with 26 points. The others finished with 25. To a point, Torino was a bit of a disappointment this season, for they were strong in the second-half of the 1970s. But the team was not getting stronger, rather the opposite was happening and there was more than a hint of decline. Anyway, they escaped. So did 4 of the 5 clubs ending with 25 points – results between them decided final positions. Brescia draw the short stick, took 14th place and relegated, although it goal-difference was a factor they would have been saved at the expense of Ascoli.

Avellino were, in a sense, the heroes of the table’s bottom – they finished with 25 points, but with positive goal-difference. Avellino really overcome the handicap of 5 points penalty for their participation in the Totonero. If not that, they would have been 6th . Avellino also got a foreign player, who did really well – the little known Brazilian striker Juary.

But the club really jumping up thanks to successful acquisition of foreigner was Napoli – they signed Ruud Krol, aging, but still in excellent form. The arrival of the master boosted the team and they finished with bronze medals.

Third row: Pellegrini, Fiore, Speggiorin, Del Frati (assistant coach), Marchesi (coach), Castellini, Krol.

Middle: Cramnado (masseur), Capone, Marino, Ferrario, Nicolini, Sansonetti, Bruscolotti.

Front row: Damiani, Giudetti, Vinazzani, Musella, Marangon, Improta.

Inter, however, went in the opposite direction – the champions of 1979-80 bought Herbert Prohaska and the Austrian was world class – in theory, this addition should have made the team stronger. But Inter was not at all in the race for the title – they finished 4th.

Second row from left: Renato Cipollini, Nazzareno Canuti, Herbert Prohaska, Alessandro Altobelli, Gianpietro Marini, Graziano Bini.

Crouching: Gabriele Oriali, Carlo Muraro, Domenico Caso, Giuseppe Baresi, Franco Pancheri.

Three strong regulars are missing here – Ivano Bordon, Giuseppe Bergomi, and Evaristo Beccalossi – but even with them the squad is a bit thin. Yet, considering the squads in the league, Juventus excepted, Inter should have been a title contender. Instead, they were good enough for running for bronze and lost even this battle to more inspired Napoli.

Napoli and Inter were not strong enough, so only two clubs competed for the title – AS Roma and Juventus.

Roma, once again coached by Nils Liedholm, was gradually improving since 1974 and now was a title contender. The only truly developing team in the recent years, finally showing real claws, but still not ready to concur Serie A. Roma lost the title by 2 points, not a big difference, but perhaps they paid heavy price for not playing aggressively enough: Roma was the only team in the league not losing any match at home, but they lost too many points precisely at home games – almost half of them were ties: 7 out of 15 home games. It was not their year yet.

Juventus lost two home matches, but they were really looking for wins, not ties – at the end they finished 2 points ahead of Roma, thanks to 17 wins, 10 ties, only 3 losses, the best attack and the best defense in the league. The 19th title in their trophy room.

So familiar champions. Standing: Causio, Zoff, Fanna, Bettega, Scirea, Gentile.

Crouching: Cuccureddu, Prandelli, Cabrini, Tardelli, Brady.

Stabilty is the first word coming to mind regarding Juventus – carefully made team, which made timely adjustments, preserving top position. The best Italian team from the early 1970s, getting stronger and stronger. The Irish great midfielder Liam Brady was added for this years, but even without him the squad was top-notch – 8 current national team players! Incredibly stable team – the regulars hardly missed matches: Furino, not in the picture, was the only regular with less than 25 championship games this season. The previous years were not different – the starters had tons of experience, knew each other perfectly, slowing down was noticed quickly and remedies were thought of at once. Bettega, for instance, was a bit beyond his peak already, but Paolo Rossi was coming to replace him – that was typical Juventus thinking and no wonder the team was strong for so long already and not showing any sign of possible decline. Perhaps Prandelli was not up to the standards – he was not a typical starter, but more of a regular substitute, playing ‘just’ 20 matches this year – but he is familiar name today as a coach. So much for trivia – the rest is consistent strength, unmatched not only in Italy. Oh, well – Giovanni Trapattoni was coaching ‘The Old Lady’, still young and not even reaching the top of his potential.

The season of Serie B was significant largely for the first ever appearance of giant club in it – the expelled from Seria A AC Milan. They were the obvious favourites. Three more clubs competed for the remaining two promotional spots. At the opposite end of the table 4 teams were going down as usual, but 6 teams were entangled in a battle for survival in the league. This race did not involve three outsiders – only the forth relegation spot was in question.

Monza was hopelessly last with 25 points. Atalanta finished 19th with 30 points.

Taranto took the 18th place, paying the price for its involvement in the Totonero scandal – the ended with 30 points, but that because of starting with minus 5 points. The deduction actually relegated them – if they had their real total, they were safe.

L. R. Vicenza took the 17th place with 33 points. A real plunge – only a year ago they were high in Seria A, even played in the UEFA Cup. Now third division was waiting for them.

Verona – as Hellas Verona was known until recently – was lucky 16th. Lucky not because they earned 1 point more than L. R. Vicenza, but because of Taranto’s penalty: under normal circumstances Taranto would have been higher in the table and Verona going down. Lucky or not, they preserved their place in second division – perhaps a crucial point for the club. Very soon they started their amazing climb to the very top of Italian football. If they were relegated this year – who knows? They may have stayed obscure.

Most of the league was packed closely, but nothing spectacular happened and no club seemed particularly improving. Sampdoria, still modest, topped the general bunch with 43 points at 5th place. Four clubs were above the average and competed for the top three promotional spots.

Lazio, which lost the least matches this season – 5, and scored the most goals in the championship – 50, lost the race and finished 4th with 46 points. Evidently, they paid the price for caution – no matter what, to go up one needs wins and Lazio excelled in ties – 20. That left them 2 points short of promotion – it was no longer the strong team of the first half of the 1970s, but Lazio could blame only itself.

Cesena was 3rd and promoted with 48 points. They lost second place on goal-difference, but it did not matter at all – they were going up. As for staying up… the future could only tell.

Also with 48 points Genoa finished 2nd. Returning to top flight was important for them. Sampdoria was getting stronger, but Genoa was still the number one club of the city. With their promotion Serie B lost its only derby.

Milan – champion. Familiar, but champions of Serie B was hardly the title clubs and fans cared for. They only breathed easier – the punishment did not last longer. But there was still a lot to worry about – Milan was not overwhelming champion. They bested the immediate rivals only by 2 points. They had neither the best attack, nor the best defense in the league. True, Antonelli finished as the top scorer of Serie B, but who was he? In fact, the squad was quite questionable and weak: Franco Baresi and Fulvio Collovati were the big stars, but next to them the only strong names were those of middle-of-the-road veterans – Aldo Maldera and Aldo Bet. Add Walter Novelino and that was that – hardly a team Milan was associated with. Milan had a lot to that in every line, to look for strong players, to build a new squad. But that for the future – presently, the work was done: Milna needed to return to Serie A and this team was just good enough to do it.

1980-81 was a benchmark season in Italy – at last foreign players were permitted, no doubt, a big victory for the big clubs, wanting the market open for years. It was not a clear-cut decision: the ban was introduced largely to promote domestic talent – and by the end of the 1970s there were positive results. In the same time Italian football plunged into deep crisis for the most of the 1970s. Particularly painful was international performance – both the clubs and the national team lost their age and clearly became second rate. Perhaps the unsettled clash of arguments lead to compromise – the clubs were permitted to have one foreign player. The international reaction was a copy of 1973, when Spain opened its market for foreigners: fear. The Italians, never thinking of money, will lure all the best players in the world, leaving other countries dry. However, it was 1973 again – Spain bought some huge names, but most foreigners were not all that famous and the same happened in Italy. Of course, the clubs immediately went into buying, but let us see the first foreign crop, club by club: Avellino – Juary (Brazil), Bologna – Eneas (Brazil), Fiorentina – Bertoni (Argentina), Inter – Prohaska (Austria), Juventus – Brady (Eire), Napoli – Krol (Holland), Perugia – Fortunato (Argentina), Pistoiese – Silvio (Brazil), Roma – Falcao (Brazil), Torino – Van de Korput (Holland), Udinese – Neumann (West Germany). Not every club bothered to jump on the occasion and hardly the top players of the world arrived – the real stars were few: Krol, Brady, Prohaska, Falcao, Bertoni and may be Van de Korput. A closer look tells that the Italians avoid really expensive players – even Krol came form a spell with Vancouver Whitecaps (Canada), hardly costing an arm and a leg. Milan did not get anybody, for they were for the first time in the Second Division and only top flight was permitted to import – a shaky rule, ready to go to dust.

The other important thing in this championship was the aftermath of the Totonero scandal – Milan was expelled from first division, a bunch of players were suspended, and 5 clubs – 3 in first division and 2 in second division – started the season with 5 points deducted as a punishment. Five points back than was heavy penalty, but surprisingly it the only club really paying the price at the end of the season was second division Taranto, which without the penalty would have been outside relegation zone. Three teams overcame the burden and maintained their place in their league. Perugia, however, would have been relegated even without deducted points. The rest of the year was football and many old habits remained intact – scoring was low as ever: Lazio scored 50 goals, the most in both top divisions combined. The love of the tie remained – only three teams in Serie A ended with less than 10 ties and none in Serie B. Catanzaro tied the most matches in Serie A – 17, that is, more than 50% of their total games. But they were outdone by second division clubs: Lazio and Foggia finished with 20 ties, Sampdoria and Palermo with 21, and Verona managed most in both leagues – 22 matches. One thing was certain – Italy was not giving up the defensive kind of football.

So league by league. Third division – Serie C1 – was divided as ever into two groups. Two teams promoted from each. In Girone A goal-difference decided 1st and 2nd , but it hardly mattered. It was essentially 4-team race, but at the end Fano and Triesitna lost.

Cremonese came first. Third row from left: xxxx  Vincenzi (coach)  Ascagni  xxxx  Bandini  Serena  Montorfano  Marini  Reali  Pesini (assistant coach).

Middle row: Nicolini  Bresolin  Larini  xxxx  Finardi  Galvani  Paolinelli

Front row: Rossi (Mass)  Garzilli  Baldini  Marlazzi  Mugianesi  Gilardi  Abate  Montani  Zavatti (Mag).

Reggiana was second, no doubt happy to get promotion.

Girone B had only three clubs competing for 2 promotional spots – Campobasso lost the race by a point. Before them, like in Girone A, the winners finished with equal points.

Cavese was the league winner on better goal-difference.

Sambenedettese was second and happy for it.

What remained from the Spanish season was the cup final – Barcelona and Sporting Gijon were to compete for Copa Del Rey. The finalists met in Madrid on June 18. Of course, there was a lot at stake – Sporting Gijon was good at that time and desperately wanted to win. Barcelona, coming from disappointing season, was ambitious to win at least this trophy – not that Barca ever shied away from winning, but wounded pride made them more eager. In reality, Barcelona was the stronger team and eventually prevailed 3-1 – perhaps they crushed tough Gijon at the very end of the first half, when Quini, the former great star of Gijon, scored in 44th minute, but for Barcelona. Ironic may be, but he was playing for Barca. Everything was settled early in the second half – Gijon equalized in the 5th minute, thanks to Maceda, but Barcelona quiackly responded with 2 more goals – Quini scored his second goal in the 58th minute, and in the 66th Esteban made it unreachable 3-1.

One may feel sorry for Sporting Gijon – they were good, they were brave, they did their best, but there was difference in class – unfortunately, the fate of smaller clubs is hardly ever to win anything, except accidentally.

Barcelona, lead by excellent Schuster – the best player at the final – won their 19th Spanish Cup. Not bad, but most importantly – they saved the season. Measly championship, but at least Copa Del Rey was theirs – not empty handed, like Real Madird. And winning in Madrid! True, not at the stadium of the arch-enemy, but at Atletico’s Vicente Calderon, yet still in Madird, right in the face of Real. Swet, yet, the problem was the future.