The Chilean First Division had one additional modification of rules – bonus points were given to those winning after scoring 4 or more goals in the Apertura, or ‘Copa Polla-Gol’. Colo-Colo and Audax Italiano reached the final. Colo-Colo mercilessly destroyed the pretenders 5-1 and won the opening part of the season.
For Audax Italiano this was the pinnacle of the year, but they were unequal to Colo-Colo. Standing from left: Leonardo Belmar, Carlos Zamorano, Héctor Díaz, Carlos Valenzuela, Arad Anábalon, Julio Rodríguez.
First row: Patricio Delgado, Mario Salinas, Juan Carlos Letelier, Renzo Gamboa, Ricardo Fabbianni.
Colo-Colo – winner of Apertura after superb final. This photo is interesting: Carlos Caszely is missing – a very rare absence in 1981. Colo-Colo got 2 bonus points to carry to Campeonato Oficial. Audax Italiano and the eliminated semi-finalists Everon and Union Espanola got 1 point each.
Campeonato Oficial had an absolute leaders and an outsider – only two teams competed for the title and one team was hopelessly weak. Nublense finished last with 10 points- They only won twice.
Everton played well in the Apertura and earned a bonus point, but were, perhaps surprisingly, weak when really mattered. They finished 17th – 13 points ahead of Nublense, but… second to last.
Deportes Concepcion was 16th, a point ahead of Everton. There performance was not surprising.
San Luis (Quillota) was the last team in the relegation zone. Hardly a surprise.
San Luis: Luis Espinoza, Raúl Díaz, Carlos Sandoval, Luis Martínez, Moisés Berenguela, Sergio Avallay.
First row: Patricio Yáñez, Freddy Bahamondes, Víctor Cabrera, Luisinho, Alex Martínez.
One noticeable player – Patricio Yanez – but neither he, nor Brazlian import Luisinho were able to keep the team in first division.
On the other hand, Palestino was lucky.
Palestino had a very bad year, but managed to escape relegation – San Luis finished with 25 points. Palestino had 26 and took the 11th place – Iqique also had 26 points, but worse goal-difference and finished 12th. Universidad Catolica also had miserable year – they finished 8th.
Magallanes fininished 6th, seemingly improving.
Union Espanola was 4th. With 35 points, they were on the top of the more or less equal teams, but most of the league was inferior to the favourites.
Universidad de Chile ended with bronze – with 40 points, they were far ahead of Union Espanola, but not for a moment challenged those competing for the title. The first standing from left is Manuel Pellegrini. Few knew the player, but today few don’t know the great coach.
The battle for the title was dramatic – Colo Colo and Cobreloa run shoulder to shoulder all the way and finished with equal points – 46. But Colo Colo started with 2 bonus points as winners of Apertura and these points won them the title.
Cobreloa finished 2nd, but they were sensational already.
One more title for Colo Colo – nothing new, nothing surprisng. Great season in which they won both Apertura and Campeonato Oficial, but it was familiar and expected story for their fans. Carlos Caszely was still the great leader of the team – the star missed only a handful matches and aging was not slowing him down.
But it was not over yet – two more tournaments followed. The Relegation/promotion one included the 11th and 12th placed in First division and 6th and 7th in the Second division. Palestino, Iquique, Coquimbo Unido, and Antofagasta. The first division clubs were much stronger than lower placed second level pretenders and finished first and second in the round-robin group – Palestino and Iquique preserved their places in the top league.
The last round-robin tournament concerned the second Chilean participant in Copa Libertadores – Liguilla Pre-Libertadores included the 4 teams, which finished immediately bellow the champions: Cobreloa, 2nd, Universidad de Chile, 3rd, Union Espanola, 4th, and Naval, 5th. Cobreloa stumbled only in their opening match – 3-3 against Union Espanola. They won their remaining 2 matches and finished 1st without a loss.
Wonderful season for Cobreloa (Calama), earning them the chance to compete internationally.
Colo Colo was going to play international football too, but, like winning the championship, Copa Libertadores was nothing new to them.