Czechoslovakia – ranked 12th. Sparta dominated Czechoslovakian football. This year only 2 teams competed for the title, leaving the rest of the league far behind. Two Czech teams ended at the bottom of First Division, thus only team was relegated from Slovak Second Division and 3 teams from the Czech Second Division. One team returned to top flight after a long absence and the other was a team which never appeared at top level. The country still used classic 2-points for a win system.
Second Division, divided into Czech and Slovak leagues, each of 16 teams. The winners – promoted.
Czech Second Division – Ceska Narodna Futbalova Liga. Two teams fought for the top place. Most teams were little known clubs never playing First Division football.
Slovan (Liberec) was one of the ‘unknown’ clubs – they finished 13th with 24 points, escaping relegation by a point. They became much better known a few years later.
Another long-time member of Second Division: TJ Ostroj (Opawa). Yet, they were also known as Slezsky… if it was the same club and not another. 7th with 33 points.
Former top league members TJ Dynamo (Ceske Budejovice) and TJ Zbrojovka (Brno) left the rest of the league far behind and fought for promotion. Dynamo lost the race – 2nd with 42 points.
TJ Zbrojovka (Brno) won the championship with 46 points: 20 wins, 6 ties, 4 losses, 62-21 goal-difference. After long years of suffering, finally promoted back to First Division. The 1980s were terrible for them, but seemingly things were going much better at last. Well… a decade after they the Czechoslovakian title they won the Second Division.
Slovak Second Division – Slovenska Narodna Futbalova Liga. Similarly to the Czech Division, 2 teams fought for promotion, much stronger than the rest of the league. The newcomers to the league had satisfying season:
Slovan (Duslo Sala) ended 10th with 28 points.
Magnezit (Jelsava) was 8th, also with 28 points, but better goal-difference placed them higher.
ZVL Zilina (Zilina) and ZVL Povazska Bystrica (Povazska Bystrica) were the strongest team this season and fought to the very end for first position. ZVL Zilina was unfortunate – they scored most goals in both Second Division leagues this season, 70, but lost first place by a single point, finishing with 44 points.
TJ ZVL Povazska Bystrica became champion of Slovakia with 45 points. 20 wins, 5 ties, 5 losses, 64-23 goal-difference. Dramatic victory, but what great success – this club never finished 1st before. They never played top league football either. This was the best ever season and going to debut in First Division was wonderful. Good luck to them!
A Football Blog