First Division. Standard league championship with only one unusual element: the semi-finalists and the losing finalist of Copa Chile got 1 extra point added to their records and the winner – 2 points added. The last two teams were relegated, the 13th and the 14th in the final table went to promotion/relegation plaay-off against the second finishers in the Second Division zones. The champion qualified to Copa Libertadores and the second Chilean team was decided in a 4-team tournament between qualified teams placed 2nd to 5th in the final table – although it is not clear why the 5th (Palestino) was out of it and the 6th Deportes Concepcion qualified instead. The championship was dominated by Colo-Colo.
Huachipato ended last with 21 points and went down.
Deportes Iquique – 15th with 24 points and relegated.
Everton – 14th with 24 points. Escaped direct relegation on better goal-difference – by one goal – but still threatened with relegation: going to promotion/relegation play-off.
Naval (Talcahuano) – 13th with 25 points and going to promotion/relegation play-off.
Santiago Wanderers – 12th with 26 points.
Universidad de Chile – 11th with 26 points.
Fernandez Vial – 10th with 27 points.
Cobresal – 9th with 29 points.
Deportes La Serena – 8th with 30 points.
Cobreloa – 7th with 31 points.
Deportes Concepcion – 6th with 33 points.
Palestino – 5th with 33 points.
O’Higgins – 4th with 35 points (1 point added as Copa Chile semi-finalists).
Union Espanola – 3rd with 37 points (1 point added as Copa Chile semi-finalists).
Universidad Catolica – 2nd with 38 points (1 point added as Copa Chile semi-finalists).
Colo-Colo won the championship comfortably with 46 points. 2 points were added to their record because they won Copa Chile as well, but even additional points they had significant lead. 17 wins, 10 ties, only 3 lost games, 60-22 goal-difference. Universidad Catolica scored 4 goals more than the champions, but in defensive matters Colo-Colo had no rival – they allowed only 22 goals in their net (Universidad Catolica permitted 41). Second row from left: Jaime Pizarro, Ruben Espinoza, Javier Margas, Eduardo Vilches, Lizardo Garrido, Jose Daniel Moron. Front row: Marcelo Barticciotto, Ricardo Dabrowski, Ruben Martinez, Sergio Diaz, Raul Ormeño. Not widely known names here, but no doubt very strong by Chilean standards at the time.
By itself, nothing strange Colo-Colo dominated the championship and collected one more title, so perhaps for the moment trivia catches attention more than anything else: Soviet automotive manufacturer Lada sponsored Colo-Colo
and the captain sported the German flag on his armband. Signs of the time. Trivia is trivia, but this squad was going to make itself well known far beyond Chile very soon.
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