Cyprus. This championship in one sentence: the domination of Omonia (Nicosia) remained. Cypriot football was improving, but without any change of the long established order and the season was not dramatic at all – no hot pursuits neither at the top, nor at the bottom of the table. If anything, a question was rising – was smaller towns wise to keep more than one club? It could be better to amalgamate them into one stronger and more competitive club. The divide between first and second divisions was getting wider – newly promoted teams were practically doomed to immediate relegation and it was a tiny cluster of clubs meandering between the two leagues. The bulk of second-level clubs was clearly incapable of going up. Traditional order remained in the top level, unchanging. This championship was point in case.
Ethnikos (Achna) finished 3rd in Second Dividion. Missed promotion, but they were one of the teams capable of going up – for a brief spell.
APOP (Paphos) was 2nd and promoted – nothing new about it and as good as the season was, the future was pretty much known: they will be back.
Ermis (Aradippou) won the Second Division. Promoted, of course, and, like APOP, expected to return to Second Division after a single year. Happened before…
So, the best second division teams hailed from Aradippou and Paphos… Let see the cursed bottom of the top division.
Evagoras (Paphos) was last. They lost 20 of 26 total championship games and won only one! 7 Points – so out of touch even for the weak Cypriot championship. Down again.
Omonia (Aradippou) – 13th with 20 points. Much better than Evagoras, but not really having a chance: Aris (Limassol), 12th, was hardly in any danger this season and finished with 24 points. So, the rival clubs in Paphos and Aradippou simply exchanged places and most likely the next season will be the same. They were not able even to produce a home derby of a kind, for local clubs only replaced each other in the leagues, not playing in the same championship. It made sense to fuse these clubs into something stronger… then again, people like their own clubs. But with the increasing financial demands of professional football and the limited resources – both money and talent – may be not just Paphos and Aradippou should have thought of amalgamations: Larnaca had 3 clubs in the top league, neither strong enough for more than mid-table. This season the rivals were equal, finishing with 25 points – Alki, 8th, EPA – 7th, and Pezoporikos – 6th. Goal-difference decided final places and perhaps supporters had their small consolation seeing their team ahead of the neighbours, but the ugly fact was that no Larnaca club was even remotely close to leading position. Similar, although stronger by a notch or two, was the presence of Limassol – also 3 teams in the top league, neither capable of running for the title. Aris was down this year – 12th – but the other two run shoulder to shoulder, ending with 28 points each. AEL took 5th place. Apollon clinched 4th place on better goal-difference, but… 5 points behind Anorthosis (Famagusta).
The exiles from Famagusta did well, as usual, but even they could benefit from amalgamation, for there was also Nea Salamina playing a minor role in the top division. That was the reality: hardly ever both Famagusta teams did well in the same season and the stronger perhaps was able to aim for 2nd or 3rd place, but not for the title. Anorthosis did exactly that – entangled in a battle with APOEL for 2nd place, they lost it by single point and had to be satisfied with bronze medals. Alas, no European football for them.
Nicosia was best suited for more than one club, yet, two were rather enough. Presently, they had 3 in First Division and 1 in the Second. Orfeas, if lucky, may climb to the top league for a very short spell one day and Olympiakos, never at par with Omonia and APOEL, was seemingly getting behind – they were 11th this season, seemingly settling permanently for the lower half of the table. APOEL and Omonia were traditionally another matter, but may be the smaller local rivals only diverted resources by now, preventing the leaders from increasing their power. May be only tangentially, but APOEL was not in great shape – they did not challenge Omonia at all. Their biggest concern seemed to be getting the Cyrpiot UEFA Cup spot, which they achieved, but with difficulty. Second at the end, but 7 points behind Omonia.
So, it was Omonia again – 6th consecutive title! Forget the class – rather, the lack of it – of the opposition, it was great achievement. Such consistent dominance begs for deeper look – Bulgarian help was clearly the secret of Omonia. With the single brief exception of 1974-75, Omonia had only Bulgarian coaches since 1967. And it will be the same until 1990! After 1980, players were added to the coaching staff – Atanas Dramov coached Omonia this season, aided by Spas Dzhevizov and Ventzislav Arssov on the pitch. Dramov was new arrival, but the players were instrumental in winning the title the previous season. Arssov retired at the end of the season, but Dzhevizov stayed with Omonia until 1987. The Bulgarian presence really shaped Omonia and kept it strong – if anything, the long consistency provided steady approach, sameness, familiar training, perpetuating it generation after generation.
Dominant Omonia, but no double.
AEL (Limassol) and
EPA (Larnaca) reached the final in which early goal by Stelios Pelendritis gave the victory to AEL. Wonderful moment for a club hardly ever winning anything.