Category: 1985

Finland. Still the same complicated formula of the top-level championship.

MP Mikkeli dominated the Second Division and won it with 6 points cushion. They lost only 2 games this year and got the only direct promotion.

Reipas Lahti finished 2nd, thanks to better goal-difference (LauTP Lappeenranta lost the battle, both teams ending with 30 points), and went to promotion/relegation play-off against Koparit (Kuopio), 11th in First Division. Reipas failed to return to top flight – they lost the first leg at home 0-1 and the 2-2 tie in Kuopio favoured the hosts.

Once again the regular season mattered largely for those at the bottom of the league.

KPV (Kokkola) was not up to the task and ended last with 12 points. Directly relegated, of course.

A bit above them, a drama unfolded: OTP (Oulu) and Koperit (Kuopio) finished with14 points each and had to clash in a play-off to determine which team will be safe and which one will face Reipas (Lahti) in the promotion/relegation play-off. OTP prevailed 3-1 and did not repeat the previous season, when they had to play the dreaded play-off. Back then they survived. This year they survived again, only a bit earlier.

Thus, Koparit took 11th place and went to face Reipas (Lahti), hoping to keep their place in First Division. As it is mentioned above, they succeeded.

OTP (Oulu) was 10th and PPT (Pori) – 9th, but the there were 5 points difference between them and PPT was never in danger of relegation. Disappointing season for Haka (Valkeakoski) – 8th with 19 points, above PPT only on better goal-difference. RoPS (Rovaniemi) – 7th with 22 points

KuPS (Kuopio) – 6th with 25 points.

Unlucky Kuusysi (Lahti) – they and Ilves (Tampere) finished with 27 points each and went to play-off to see which one will go ahead. After overtime, the result was 3-3 and Ilves was luckier in the penalty shoot-out: 6-5. Kuusysi missed the real final of the season, so may be they were not to be imagined super-power of the country.

The top 4 teams went ahead to the semi-finals, but let finish with the first-stage table: Ilves (Tampere) was 4th with 27 points, KePS (Kemi) – surprisingly, 3rd with 28 points. HJK (Helsinki) – 2nd with 28 points, and TPS (Turku) – 1st with 29 points. As the table shows, practically 5 teams were equal and after Kuusysi was weeded out, it looked like any team could win.

TPS (Turku) may be spent more than they should in the first phase, for they started badly the semi-finals and did not recovered: they lost 1-3 to Ilves in Tampere and were kept at bay in the second leg too – 1-1. In the other semi-final no miracle happened, although the underdog tried hard – KePS won at home 3-2, but lost the second leg in Helsinki 0-1 and HJK qualified on the away-goal rule.

Still, KePS ended the season well – after exchanging 1-0 victories with TPS, they prevailed in the penalty shoot-out 5-4 and grabbed the bronze medals. Wonderful season for this obscure club and its fans. The first leg of the final was played in Tampere and Ilves won 1-0. But that was that… in Helsinki HJK won 4-1.

Dramatic season for Ilves – they barely got a spot in the final stage, but probably boosted by that, went to the final, having a chance to win the title. However, it looked like they were not strong enough, may be running more on enthusiasm than skill, and seasoned fighter like HJK destroyed them.

HJK (Helsinki) added one more title to their record – not an easy victory, but they got their timing right and evidently were in excellent condition at the end of the season, when it was all or nothing. The squad was: Terry Lee, Reijo Linna, Erkki Valla, Markku Palmroos, Mika Muhonen, Petteri Schutschkoff, Markku Kanerva, Erik Holmgren, Jari Rantanen, Juha Dahllund, Jyrki Nieminen. The rule of the 1980s: foreigners more or less determined the fate of a club – whoever had them, played better.
HJK aimed for a double, but it was not to be. In the Cup final they met Haka (Valkeakoski) and there was no winner – 2-2 after extra time. The penalty shoot-out was perhaps too nervous affair for both teams, for penalties were missed and eventually Haka won 2-1.

Good year for HJK (Helsinki), no doubt, but they unable to win a double.

Haka (Valkeakoski) managed to win the Cup and thus to save otherwise weak season. Old fighters, they proved again the power of tradition in football: Haka was one of historically successful clubs and even when not in good shape, they still were able to rise to the occasion. Well done.

Malta. An interesting season, which stays in memory for two reasons – the more important one is that there was surprise change of guard. The other is controversy: it was truncated season. Round 6 was not played because of players’ strike. But there were two games which later were seen as crucial for the final table: Rabat Ajax vs Hamrun Spartans concerned the title; Hibernians vs Floriana concerned relegation. Was it really that important? The losers at the end of the season claim it was. On the other hand, even in a tiny league the 6th round would hardly be most important. The final losers, which happened to be visitors at these games, simply should have been getting more points in their other games.

Mqabba, a rather young club by Maltese standards, was more interesting newcomer – they were to be practically debutantes. Thus, also hopeless and expected to last just a single season.

Anyhow, right to the end: Birkirkara and Mqabba were on top of Second Division, earning promotions. Strike or no strike, Marsa was hopeless and helpless – they got only 1 point, thus last and out of First Division. Floriana, with 13 points, was next to last – that is 7th – and relegated. Oh, well… if the 6th round was played, they would have been out of trouble. Of course, they were to prevail against Hibernians. Wishful thinking, that. Three teams finished with 14 points at the end, but even the ‘victimized’ Floriana did not imagine finishing ahead of Valletta (having surprisingly weak weak season) and Zurrieq. Sliema Wanderers ended 3rd with 15 points. If the 6th round was played, they still had no chance to win the title – remember, at the time a win brought only 2 points. No matter how Rabat Ajax vs Hamrun Spartans would have ended, there was to be at least one team with more points than Sliema. ‘Victims’ Hamrun Spartans finished 2nd with 16 points. They lost just 1 game and had the best defensive record (8 goals), so, according to them, they would have been sure winners in Rabat. Easy to claim victory of unplayed match. Back in Rabat the mood was entirely different and there was no reason even to argue against the funny claim of the Spartans: the Magpies were champions!

With 5 wins, 7 ties, and single loss, Rabat Ajax had 17 points and number 1 in the final table. It was historic victory – the club was found in 1930 as Rabat Rovers, eventually evolving into Rabat Ajax. So far, their history was checkered – plying quite often in the Second Division and almost never serious candidate for top place. This was their 1st title. Actually, it was their 1st trophy ever, so no matter what anybody else said, they were going to celebrate.

Standing from left: R. Scerri, M. Scicluna, Y. Filipov, A. McGonigle, E. Cortis.

First row: M. Zahra, E. Azzopardi, C. Busuttil, E. Caruana, C. Scerri, J. Borg.

The lowly state of Maltese football hardly makes even historic squad noticeable abroad, but here a footnote is in order. Like everywhere else, in the 1980s Maltese clubs were fortifying themselves with foreigners – McGonigle and Filipov, in the case of Rabat Ajax. Apparently, the imports helped and it is the Bulgarian goalkeeper Yordan Filipov, who deserves a footnote. A long time goalkeeper of CSKA (Sofia) and the Bulgarian national team, he practically disappeared after 1980 – no big surprise, though. The guy was both controversial and old. He disappeared before, largely because of disciplinary problems. Drinking was half-mouthed to be the cause and his club at least once suspended him for a long period. Eventually he was released by CSKA around 1980 and after that he popped up here and there, including second division. Now he was 38 old, so his absence was assumed to be because of retirement. His transfer to Rabat Ajax was never announced, but here he was, helping the Magpies to win their first title. And that was not the end of Filipov either – he was still to play for many years. For the moment, he just added a Maltese title to his collection of Bulgarian trophies.

The Cup final produced the second surprise: Valletta and Zurieq met and although both teams were fairly equal this year, Valletta was expected to win. Historically, the strongest Maltese club, Valletta was expected to mend the weak season. Zurrieq… everything spoke against them: more often than not, they played in the Second Division and when playing top league, they were only concerned with avoiding relegation. But this rare opportunity was not to be missed and the underdog managed to end the final scoreless, after overtime. In the replay, they dropped bigger bomb, winning 2-1.

Here are the winners – another historic squad of 1984-85. Like Rabat Ajax, Zurrieq never won anything.

And at last they triumphed and surely it was great moment. And perhaps growing larger with time, for Zurrieq so far did not add another trophy.

Luxembourg. Nothing to brag about, as usual. Cold facts:

CS Grevenmacher won the Second Division. They lost just 1 match in the 1984-85 season and finished 6 points ahead of the nearest pursuer.

Swift Hesperange finished 2nd. Promoted along with CS Grevenmacher.

The Second Division winners were going to replace the last in the top league – US Rumelange, last, and FC Wiltz 71, 11th. At the top of the table there was no battle at all.

Jeuness (Esch/Alzette) dominated the championship, winning it with 5-point cushion. This was their 19th title.

Jeunesse aimed for a double, but was unsuccessful – they lost the Cup final 0-1 to Red Boys.

Red Boys (Differdange) was 2nd in the championship and got the Cup – a true second-best. However, in purely Cup matters, they were number 1: this was their 15th Cup. From their perspective, everything was going on just fine – no way imagining anything else. But it was going to be very, very different – this was the last year Red Boys won anything, their last trophy ever. And not a hypothetical ‘ever’ either, but concrete ever – the club eventually seized to exist.

1985

This year stays in memory marked by one thing: the Heysel Stadium Disaster. Tons of pages are written on it, so there is little need of recounting.

When, why, who is to blame – debates continue to this very day. Football as a culture showed its ugliest on May 29, 1985, when the fight between opposing fans and Belgian Police too started a good hour before the European Champions Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus started.

One thing was sure: football gradually evolved into war. Belonging to a club became identity and border line, it was us and them clearly marked by colours. Winning a game was a war on the pitch, already stated by Breitner. Winning at the terraces was the war between the fans. A city was battle field, no hostages, no mercy – a game of football was really invasion of armies, pillaging, destroying, and leaving after the battles wasteland. Football was dead – now it was something else, no longer a game and entertainment. There were no more fans either – now they were ‘ultras’, their ringleaders actually not even looking at the pitch and what was going on there, but turning their backs to the game to organize and command their increasingly murderous armies. It was nothing new, coming out of the blue, but slowly developing since the early 1970s – yet, nobody took any measures to address the increasing problems.

Thus, the simmering problems finally culminated in Heysel, at the biggest day of European football of the year.

A war, casualties, wasteland, but the show must go on – the show, the money, the pretense, a vicious circle, which nobody can break. The decision the game to be played in the midst of disaster was taken on high – on the highest! – political level. For the Belgians – the Prime Minister, the Brussels Mayor, and Chief of Police – it was largely concern for the city itself. If the game was cancelled, then the hordes of English and Italian fans will simply move the war to the city itself.

The match was played. 39 were dead, 600 injured. English clubs were banned from playing in the European club tournaments for 5 years. Investigation, charges and trials went on for years – at the end 14 fans, some officials and one Police captain were convicted of manslaughter. Football died and curiously nobody felt real guilt – with time, almost everybody accused everybody else and felt wronged by others. It was easy to feel innocent… so many thing were wrong, from crumbling old stadiums to unprepared Police, to increasing greed of clubs and governing bodies, which required exactly this new type of fans to gather and wave their flags. The ultras never feel guilt, just like soldiers in war – it was simple: us here and the enemy there. We are right, they are wrong. Attack. It was war on the pitch, it was war on the stands – ugly, bloody war. No more beautiful game. But there was no way to stop it either – after all, the Heysel Disaster was just an extraordinary moment. The same people self-righteously accusing left, right, and center, everything and everyone, for the unspeakable event would be ready in the next breath to points out that football was not juts the ugliness – just look around! Look at the whole picture, not just at one detail. And here it is, the whole picture.