The Greek First Division went through very familiar season – 2 hopeless outsiders, so nobody else worried about relegation, and two favourites at the top, going shoulder to shoulder to the end. The traditional strong clubs stayed strong, the not so- strong continued to be not so-strong. Nothing new.
AE Korinthos was 18th with 16 points. AE Kavala -17th with 18 points. Those were the relegated.
Panserraikos (Serrai, or Serres) fininshed 16th , but with 25 points. Lowly, as ever, but not for a minute in danger of relegation.
PAS Giannina was slipping down – 14th this season. Their good years were already over for some time.
The top of the table was occupied by the usual suspect, finishing quite to the point of traditional ranking:
Panionios (Athens) was 7th with 36 points.
Iraklis (Thesaloniki) was 6th with 40 points. They had two new recruits this season – the former Bulgarian national team defenders Angel Rangelov and Boko Dimitrov. The duo never played together before, but apparently clicked well together in the center of Iraklis defense.
Aris (Thesaloniki) finished 5th with 41 points.
AEK (Athens) ended 4th with 45 points. They also had a new Bulgarian recruit – one of the best ever players of the country and the best internationally known Bulgarian of the 1970s: Christo Bonev. He helped, but unfortunately was too old already – he was 34. There is confusion about his latest playeing years – don’t read Wikipedia, because the article on him states he played for AEK between 1979 and 1982. And then went to play ‘briefly’ for English Oxford United. Real statistics show different picture: he played for AEK only this only season and returned back to his beloved club, Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), to captain it to its first trophy in 1982-83.
PAOK (Thesaloniki) was 3rd with 46 points.
And above those familiar names – above and out of reach – the eternal battle between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos went through another chapter. The bitter rivals ended equal, both with 50 points. If goal-difference was a factor, Panathinaikos should have been the winner – they had +30 to Olympiakos’ +25. But it was the decisive factor and championship play-off was played in the city of Volos (the city with 3 second division teams and none in the first division). Olympiakos clinched 2-1 victory and collected one more title.
One may say Panathinaikos was unlucky, but in such a rivalry luck is hardly the big factor – the measure is always simplistic: win or lose. Panathinaikos lost.
Olympiakos won. It was their 3rd consecutive title – another reason to rub the noses of the arch-rivals, although this victory did not come easily at all. Of course, nobody worried after the fact:
Olympiakos (Piraeus) won their 23rd title. Looking at the squad, it is interesting to note that the champions depended largely on Greek players. Foreigners were present, or course, but they were not big names – Thomas Ahlstrom (Sweden) was the best known name, but Yugoslavian second-rater Martin Novoselac (4 matches for Yugoslavian national team in the mid-70s) was essential regular plus the Cypriot striker Stavros Papadopoulos. The Uruguayan striker Vicente Estavilio played minor role.