First Division. Czechoslovakian football was not as great as it used to be in the previous decades – perhaps there was less talent, but the other reason was the increasing export of top players. Practically, the best home-based players were concentrated in Sparta (Prague) – the strongest team during the 1980s. This season they had a rival, but that was all.
Spartak (Hradec Kralove) ended last with 19 points and went down.
Skoda (Plzen) finished 15th with 23 points. Like Spartak, they were used to relegation, so bad luck again. There were years when Slovak teams were weaker than the Czech clubs – now the roles were reversed – not just the relegated teams were Czech.
Bohemians (Prague) – 14th with 24 points. Barely escaped relegation… obviously, their great years ended and the title they won 5 years earlier was becoming a distant memory.
Ruda hvezda (Cheb) – 13th with 24 points.
Spartak (Trnava) – 12th with 27 points.
TJ Vitkovice – 11th with 28 points. The champions of only a few years ago were now near relegation zone.
Sigma (Olomouc) – 10th with 29 points.
Inter (Bratislava) – 9th with 29 points.
Dukla (Banska Bystrica) – 8th with 30 points.
Slovan (Bratislava) – 7th with 30 points. Looked like recovery was going well – they just returned from Second Division.
DAC (Dunajska Streda) – 6th with 31 points. Still amazingly strong and who would believe it? Brave boys representing a tiny town – what a great story they were!
Dukla (Prague) – 5th with 32 points. Hard to tell why Dukla underperformed in the 1980s, but few felt sorry for their steady misfortunes.
Slavia (Prague) – 4th with 33 points. Not a bad season, but they were used to that: not a bad season, building hopes for the future – and then nothing.
Plastika (Nitra) – 3rd with 34 points. Although they only came on top of the bulk more or less equal teams – and with negative goal-difference, 38-40, at that – this was arguably the finest season in their history so far: traditionally, the club from Nitra meandered between First and Second Division, a constant outsider. Now – bronze medals! A great achievement.
Banik (Ostrava) and Sparta (Prague) battled for the title. At the end the classier team prevailed… it was almost inevitable.
Banik (Ostrava) ended 2nd with 42 points. It was great to see them fighting for the title again, but the squad was inferior to Sparta’s and in a long run… losing the race was more than expected.
To the delight of their fans, Sparta (Prague) won the championship with 45 points. 19 wins, 7 ties, 4 losses, 73-26 goal-difference. Thus, they won 3rd consecutive title and their 5th in 6 years. The total? Depends how is counted – if only post-Second World War championships are counted, Sparta still trailed behind Dukla. But if all Czech and Czechoslovak league championships are counted, Sparta already was far ahead from anybody else – this was their 21st title!
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