The Hungarian First Division was divided into 3 distinct section, with one club apart as an outsider. Five leading clubs, four in mid-table, clearly above the lower group, but also weaker than the best, and 8 teams at the bottom, mostly trying to avoid relegation. Dunajvaros was below everybody, finishing last with 19 points. Just above them was unlikely club – MTK (Budapest). One of the Hungarian clubs with greatest history was ailing during the 1970s and eventually the lowest point was reached this season – who would believe it, but MTK finished with measly 22 points, 17th in the league, and plummeting down to second division. Kaposvari took the 16th place with 24 points – one point less than Diosgyor meant relegation, but they were possible candidates for exiting the league anyway. Doisgyor barely survived, which was a bit of a surprise, for they had strong period at this time. Another surprise was the low finish of Raba ETO (Gyor) – they were 11th, but may be it was just a temporary slip.
ZTE (Zalaegerszeg) finished 13th, may be bit lower than usual, but not surprisingly low.
Csepel (Budapest) struggling to keep pace with so many rivals in Budapest, was 12th. Hard to predict club, but tendency of fading was detectable.
Pecsi MSC (Pecs) topped the lowest group – 10th this year. They knew better time in the past, but settled for lower-mid-table role during the 1970s and there was no change.
The solid mid-table teams were a mixed bag – Ujpesti Dosza (Budapest) was unexpectedly low: 8th. But the team aged, there were warning signs in the last few years, so the slump was not so strange.
Bekescsaba – 9th, and
Debrecen – 6th, were more or less usual mid-table clubs. Nothing special, nothing new.
Nyiregyhaza was another story – they finished solid 7th, losing 6th place on worse goal-difference. They were never a strong club, usually playing second division, but this season was great – may be their best ever. However, it remained to be seen was it just an accidental season, or were they going to have a real strong period.
The top five were familiar suspects, except one team.
Honved finished 5th with 42 points – the weakest among the best and not a title contender for a minute. Honved managed to return to leading position after 1975, so it was rather unfortunate year than anything else. They were good, but never as good as the great team of the 1950s.
Videoton ended 4th, maintaining the strong position they established in the recent years, but their peak was still ahead.
Vasas finished with bronze medals, 2 points ahead of Videoton. One more good year, but the signs of decline were also written on the wall: presently, Vasas was running on inertia.
Tatabanyai Banyasz was surprising silver medalists. Normally one of the so-so clubs, often struggling just to keep a first division place and even sinking often down to second level football, Tatabanya suddenly had fantastic season. The lost only 5 games this year and had the best defensive record in the league. At the end, they finished with 48 points – 2 points ahead of Vasas. A good team, no doubt, lead by one of the best Hungarian players in the 1980s, Jozsef Kiprich, they soared high – but it was still relatively limited squad, the title was not up to them, and possibly it was only a lucky season.
With most of the big names down, the champions do not have even to be named… who else is left, but Ferencvaros.
One more title, nothing new. May be not overwhelming champions, but still easily ahead of all the rivals – 21 wins, 9 ties, 4 losses, 75-33 goal-difference, 51 points. Three points more than Tatabanya and 9 more than Honved. Attack was the obvious philosophy of the champions – outscoring the opponents was the key for success. Hardly a surprising approach, since Ferencvaros was lead by Tibor Nyilasi, already the best Hungarian player of the time and arguably the only Hungarian recognized as one of the top European stars. Of course, he had worthy helpers: Rab, Mucha, Ebedli, Szokolai. What else matters, but the title – and Ferencvaros got it.