The Dutch season was marked by the return of Johan Cruijff. Years, after he played his testimonial, his last match, he returned to Ajax. Jumping ahead, it was interesting to read about him that year – his impact was acknowledged, but with sour note that he was not the same. Of course, he was not the same – he was 35 years old. May be not as consistent as once upon a time, but his touch was not lost. Nor his speed, nor his great reading of the game. As most aging players, he was no longer at the edge of the attack, but a playmaker, a midfielder rather than a striker. Not the same, they said, but he invigorated Ajax, which had a few young players with great talent. Suddenly Ajax played differently – stronger, confident team, on ascend. As for vision, Cruijff had no equal – which was a bit of a problem, for his teammates often failed to read his mind and missed his passes. But Ajax was going up again.
The other news for the season was less important for Holland and more for Bulgaria – Feyenoord bought Andrey Zhelyazkov from Slavia (Sofia), which was the biggest Bulgarian transfer so far and also seemingly influenced a bit the mind of Bulgarian football officials: it proved possible to sell players to bigger championships. The trouble was the age-rule: if players were only a bit younger, the opportunities would be better. As for Zhelyazkov, it was an impossible dream suddenly becoming a reality – he was teammate with van Hanegem and later with Cruijff.
The third news came in mid-season:
Second-division SC Amersfoort was removed from the championship and their record annulled. Lack of money… However, the eviction of SC Amersfoort made the league normal – instead of the odd 17 teams, there were 16 at the end of the season. Otherwise, it was business as usual,with the usual frequently changing fate of small clubs.
Telstar finished 15th with 20 points. Once upon a time they played in the top league, now they were at the bottom of the second division. Well, there was no relegation further down in Holland, so Telstar could play second tier football as long as they had enough money to pay the bills.
What really mattered was the top – the first two teams were directly promoted and another 4 played a final play-off for the third promotional spot. Must be mentioned every year, for it was always odd to outsiders: the four teams going to promotional play-off were those finishing high in particular sections of the season. At the final table, FC Den Haag was above VVV Venlo, but since VVV did better than FC Den Haag in one of championship sections, they had the chance to win promotion. Along with Spcl. Cambuur, 5th in the final table, MVV Maastricht, 4th, and FC Den Bosch, 3rd.
Spcl. Cambuur was unlucky – they lost promotion by a single point. They also represented a new trend – British players were coming to play in Holland. Not the famous ones, but those hardly known – two such players helped Cambuur this season: Kelly Herrington and Mark Paine.
FC Den Bosch won the promotional tournament with 9 points. Well done and fair too, for Den Bosch were 3rd in the final table of the championship.
FC Volendam was 2nd the championship with 40 points and thus directly promoted. Third row from left: Cees de Koning, Theo Mooijer, Jack Kemper, Klaas Tuyt, Frank Kramer, Wim Kwakman
Middle row: Fritz Korbach (coach), Jan Schokker, Kees Guyt, Jan Molenaar, Dick de Boer, Dick Helling, Jan Holthuysen, Leo Tholens, dr. Duin
Sitting: Wim Tol, Jaap Jonk, Frans Hoek, Jan Klouwer, Nico Zwarthoed, Johan Steur.
DS’79 Dordrecht won the Second Division championship with 42 points. For them – a great victory, for the club was new, as the name suggests. Of course, it was not entirely new – it was just this amalgamation which was new, but it was great nevertheless. Going up.