Football Journey

Another heavily criticized season in USSR. A big fiasco of the national team perhaps was the bitterest reason, but there was more. Strange too. During the 1970s almost every season had new formula and 1979 was no exception. Two things were new – the first was increase of first and second divisions. The top league went from 16 to 18 clubs and the second – from 20 to 24. Why? On the surface, a huge country had the resources of supporting bigger leagues – sheer size demanded it. USSR had huge leagues before, but they were reduced because they were not competitive enough and the differences between clubs were so big, there were no benefits. Nobody saw anything positive after the 1979 ended and rightly saw. The number of quality players was limited and even USSR had bright and promising young generation – junior teams played very successfully at the newly introduced junior world championship – it was not translating into stronger clubs. Just the opposite: most teams, speaking for the premier league only, were in poor shape. Even mighty clubs like CSKA and Dinamo Moscow had poor squads. As for the second division, the reason was the Spartakiad – the domestic Olympics, which USSR organized long time ago and continued to stage as the highest show of Soviet sport – an all-sports affair, in which the republics of the union competed. But times changed and the Spartakiad was no longer what it was, especially in collective sports – national team players were not involved and many classy players were not invited to the republican selections. It was becoming more of a tournament for youthful teams. However, the political clout of the tournament was big and two republics successfully argued that their clubs should play in second division in order of better preparation for the Spartakiad – Turkmenia (Turkmenistan today) and Kyrgizia (Kyrgizstan today) won and the division was increased. That meant that only one club was relegated from top flight – Dnepr (Dnepropetrovsk). Lokomotiv (Moscow) got a lucky break and stayed in first division. The first three of second division were promoted. Thus second division was left with 18 clubs. None was relegated, perhaps because the last in the league was Kolkhozchi (Ashkhabad) from Turkmenia. The 6 winners of the third division zones were all promoted: Traktor (Pavlodar), Alga (Frunze), Fakel (Voronezh), Metallist (Kharkov), and Spartak (Nalchik). Only one was from a republic wanting to prepare itself better for the Spartakiad – Alga represented Kyrgizia. If the reason was truly the case argued by Turkmenia and Kyrgizia, the results were quite strange: only two clubs of these republics appeared in second division – one was dead last the previous season and should have been relegated, the other played a bit second division before and was not up to the challenge. Because of two very weak clubs the league was enlarged to 24 teams – so it seems… More games was thought helpful, but in the same time weak teams struggled financially and bigger number also brought better opportunity for unambitious mid-table clubs to keep mediocre teams and not to worry a bit. As a whole, the 6 newcomers were not thought to increase the quality of the league – at least three of them were clearly inferior and did not belong. But this was the new format and it was to stay for the next season – the bottom 6 were to be relegated and the 6 zone winners – promoted.

The second change was still about the ties – the very reason rules were changed practically every season during the 1970s. Now it was to be a limit – only 8 ties brought points. Above that limit – no points. That was for top flight. In the second division the limit was 12 ties. So far, nothing worked and the new rule was also doubted. However, the problem was huge, that any new try was rather accepted than criticized in advance. The clubs did not like it as they did not like any previous innovation – ties were bread and butter for most clubs: sure points and no trouble. Of course, there were diminishing crowds, for who wants to watch two teams leisurely walking on the pitch without the slightest effort to attack and score, but as long as a club stayed in the league – happiness prevailed. Meantime the whole system developed big ills, side effects of the ‘secure’ living. Perhaps the biggest side effect was neglect of development of players and almost complete breakage of inter-leagues relations. Every league was almost entirely independent universe, existing on its own, without any interest in the other universes. Problems were usually articulated in post-season analysis and reviews.

As for the new rule, it was cautiously considered helpful: still 12 of the 18 first division clubs exceeded the limit, but only 4 in the second division. However, it was different than before: not team ended with half of their seasonal matches tied. Scoring slightly increased. A small positive step was made, but the negatives were more.

Third Division was judged almost entirely in negative terms in the post-season. Some problems were unavoidable because of the sheer size of USSR: the 6 third division zones were made more or less on geographic lines. The European zones, especially those consisting of Russian and Ukrainian clubs, were relatively strong – some clubs were at least at second division level. Going East was different story – quality rapidly decreased. The zonal leagues were very large – the reason went that quantity may lead to quality. 24 clubs played in Zone V, perhaps the weakest of all, where clubs of the furthest East played. It was very trying league: geographically, it covered huge portion of Siberia plus Uzbek, Kyrgiz, and Turkmen clubs. Hard to reach places – travel itself was a challenge and financial strain, not to mention the climatic differences: one day a team plays in frozen Tyumen, the next – in the scorching desert of Samarkand. Big cities like Chelyabinsk had infrastructure and perhaps even fans, but there were also barely known places hard to reach like Karshi. To remedy the inconveniences, teams played three matches at home and then three on the road, but this was interrupting training and rest without cutting down expenses. Teams spend lots of time traveling and idling in poor hotels. Many a coach felt that a zonal league should be no larger than 18 teams. Facilities were heavily criticized too – they were plain poor in most places. Sometimes it took three days just to reach the destination. There had been few changes in the members of leagues – for years they were practically the same, for very few clubs went up or down, which in turn affected the squads: same players traveled from club to club and coaches were able to tell the possible strength of the opposition just by the list of familiar from elsewhere names. No surprises at all, so there was no need to train very hard. No need for developing home-grown talent either: it was easier just to get familiar names from the vast pool. There were no facilities for training the youth anyway and any attempt for developing youth system meant only unwelcome expenses. As a result, the big clubs were not interested scouting third division – connections were already completely severed, so neither third division coaches, nor players had any ambitions: they knew all too well that no matter how they played, nobody will notice them and invite them to big club. With time, vast chasm opened between third division and the second: promoted clubs were much weaker and did not last up. Because of that, normally the zonal winners played a final tournament for three promotions – but now there were 6. Every zonal winner was going up. Which brought to attention the internal differences in the third division itself: normally, there were no more than three relatively strong and ambitious clubs in a single zone. The analysis of the season sadly concluded that there was nothing new at all – 10 clubs competed for 6 promotional places. The rest did not play a role at all… as ever. No wonder it was estimated that 75% of the matches were played in practically empty stadiums.

Third division splendor: Tekstilshtik (Ivanovo) scores against Dinamo (Bryansk). The season was deemed successful for Tekstilshtik – they finished second in Zone I, one of the stronger zones. However, they ended 11 points behind the champions – one may have expected more bite from a team no long ago playing in second division. But at least the picture shows attendance and modern uniforms, at least the shorts of the unlucky goalkeeper… The pitch, however, is another – and more typical – story.

So, lets go directly to the winners, for there is hardly anything else exciting about third division.

Zone I: Iskra (Smolensk) was without competition. They lost only three matches, earned 73 points, scored 86 goals, and left Tekstilshtik (Ivanovo) 11 points behind.

Standing, from left: Genady Gorbunov, Vladimir Babenko, Valery Andreev, Andrey Abzhinov, Evgeny Martyanov, Vladimir Baytekov – administrator,Lev Platonov – coach, Evgeny Miroshnikov – team chief, Roman Padura, Vyacheslav Murashkintzev, Aleksandr Novikov.

Crouching: Genady Svitavsky, Valery Danilenko, Anatoly Kuptzov, Dzemal Silagadze, Vladimir Ermichev, Anatoly Olkhovik, Aleksandr Gordov.

They ‘brought joy to the fans’ , it was said… much later. True, in part… Iskra played in relatively strong Russian group and also going up was great moment. The team is of course anonymous, but they had a star – Dzemal Silagadze was well known player and once upon a time even a big promise. Certainly he had glorious days in the past, but now represented in a nutshell the third division predicament: one fading star was more or less enough for winning. An ambitious team perhaps was best recognized by such a player – recruited precisely for elevating the team above the rest. Usually it worked. This was also an old club – founded in 1937, although named differently. Named ‘Iskra’ (Spark) in 1964.

Not having a star player meant lowly, but secure existence. Dinamo (Bryansk) – a typical eternal third division member.

Standing, from left: A. Takranov, S. Antonov, A. Lapin, S. Troitzky, V. Lagutin, M. Baranov, A. Shagin.

Sitting: V. Sychev, S. Bystritzky, V. Babichev, V. Novikov, V. Zimin – coach, A. Khokhlov, N. Suetin – administrator.

Zone II – largely Ukrainian league, hence, one of the best third division group. Slightly tougher championship than Zone I. More or less, three teams eyed the first place, but at the end Kolos (Nikopol) left the potential rivals SKA (Kiev) 4 points behind. SKA (Lvov) dropped out earlier. Kolos was very young club – founded in 1973 and representing not the city of Nikopol, but the whole Nikopol district. This perhaps explains their success: financially, they were supported by the whole district, thus able to aim higher. Of course, they played only in the city of Nikopol.

Niva (Vinitza) was typical third-division permanent member. Down in the table this season, but out of any danger. Just most clubs…

They became better known to the world only after Ukraine became independent and Niva was included in the Ukrainian first division. Something they were unable even to dream of in the Soviet times.

Zone III – generally, mixed group of Russian and Ukrainian clubs plus some Caucasian ones. Dinamo (Stavropol) was the only favourite, ending 12 points ahead of Rotor (Volgograd). The oldest of all third division winners – founded in 1924, but not successful at all. The only club among the winners which never changed its name.

Zone IV – Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, and some Russian clubs. The only competitive league – three clubs fought to the end, Guria (Lanchkhuti) prevailing by a point over Lokomotiv (Samtredia), and 3 points ahead of Karabakh (Stepanakert). Southern flair: goal-scoring was everything and to hell with defense. Guria scored 110 goals, Lokomotiv – 109. South being South, some fixing and back room deals may be took place, but Soviet football was corrupt anyway, so it could be only difference in scale. Guria was founded in 1952 under the name ‘Kolmeurne’ (Kolkhoznik, in Georgian). Became Guria in 1960. So far, the club meant absolutely nothing to anyone , but they were to climb much higher in the 1980s. As a bit of curious trivia: Rubin (Kazan) played in this league.

First row, from left: S. Agafonov, E. Golov – administrator, A. Mashin, S. Shilyakov, N. Daminov, O. Orlov, A. Aladin, V. Golikov.

Standing: A. Beryuchevsky – coach, A. Ivanov, I. Dolgopolov, R. Navrozov – assistant coach, V. Skiba – team doctor, R. Shagivaleev, V. Usenko, A. Semenov, I. Zagidullin, G. Vostokov – assistant coach.

Rubin finished 19th in the 24-team league. The past of nowadays Russian powerhouse… nothing to brag about.

Zone V: The Asian republics – Kazakhstan, Turkmenia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgizia played here. Plus few Siberian Russian clubs. The weakest league, most likely. No real race for the title – Buston (Dzhizak)

finished 6 points clear from the nearest pursuer, Shakhrikhanetz (Shakhrikhan), which was 7 points ahead of the third finisher Aktyubinetz (Aktyubinsk). Buston was founded in 1970 and so far managed to use four names – DSK, Trud, then in 1975 was renamed Buston, which was not final name either. In 1976 the name was Irrigator, changed back to Buston in 1978. More name changes followed – perhaps, this is the most important historic note of the club. They hailed from Uzbekistan – the Spartakiad, remember?

Zone VI – the furthest East, Siberia at the end of the world. Plus a bit of Kazakhstan and may be some other Asian republics. If there was any strength, it was located on the Pacific Ocean coast and industrial cities – Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Omsk, Tomsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk. But… too far away and too much in the North for some real success. It was just hard enough to play the game in the ice and upper league would be a nightmare for all involved, because of the enormous travels. Thus, the league was a bit on its own – local heroes, unknown anywhere else. Two clubs competed head to head for the title – Shakter (Karaganda) lost by a point. SKA (Khabarovsk) clinched the first place with 59 points. Founded in 1946 army club,which followed the general line of name changes of the whole military-club system. Under the name SKA since 1960 – like all their sister clubs scattered in the USSR. Sometimes they even had good players – thanks to the relations with ‘mother club’ CSKA Moscow. Young talent sent East to get experience or the odd veteran generously given to the little brother when CSKA no longer needed him. But currently CSKA was in dire straits, so little help was available.

The 6 winners brought joy only at home. Outside reaction was frosty – third division reviewer spoke only of deficiencies and problems. Not a single club was mentioned as a positive example. The winners apparently like everyone else, just more persistent this year. Second division commentators were even harsher – they did not see why such clubs should be playing in second division at all. They were certain that the league will be not stronger because of the newcomers and all were expected to be relegated immediately. The just finished season proved exactly that – the clubs for which the league was enlarged ended at the bottom, going back to third division. Where they belonged, surely having nothing to do with upper level football. The newcomers were of the same ilk. No welcome for the winners at all.

 

The clash between new and old was seen in the Cup tournament: declining Benfica did not reach the final. Still unripe FC Porto was not present either. Sporting Lisbon and Boavista Porto, the smaller version of the Lisbon-Porto rivalry, contested the cup. Technically, Sporting appeared much better – Boavista had no famous players at all. But those were good years for previously unsuccessful club – Boavista excelled precisely in the cup in the previous few years.

Still, Sporting, lead by Jordao was favoured… the opposition fought bravely, though, and the final ended undecided after extra-time: 1-1. In the replay Boavista scored a goal and Sporting did not.

 

New-old Cup winners. Third cup in the last 5 years – and third trophy in the club’s history too. Modest Boavista was establishing itself as one of the few Portuguese clubs with trophies – one of the most successful in the country, yet, without becoming really strong club. Historically, a great period for the club, if not the greatest. No stars here, of course – perhaps the best players were the Brazilian imports Jorge Gomes (b. 1954) and Salvador (b. 1949). Brave little club – lovely because of that, not to mention their checkered black and white jerseys. Check-mate!

Perhaps the new configuration of Portuguese football was established during this season – instead of Lisbon’s derby Benfica vs Sporting, Benfica vs FC Porto. Sporting slipped permanently to third ranking club, Belenenses already settled into mid-table obscurity. The country remained dominated by two clubs… not a big change really: just one of the protagonists changed. Business as usual otherwise – the best players were not that many to support truly competitive league. At the bottom the outsiders were clear during the whole season and nobody else was troubles.

Last and 18th ended CAF Viseu.

Apart from their entirely black kit, almost entirely reserved to Portuguese teams unusual colour before 1990s, the team distinguished itself with trivia: Mysterious name, alternatively written either CAF or Academico to confuse foreigners, and their perfect away record: 15 matches – 15 losses. Away from home CAF scored a grand total of 2 goals. They were slightly better at home, winning 5 matches and tying one. 11 points all season – dead last and back to second division.

The season was not good for ‘academic’ clubs – the other ‘students, also playing in black finished 17th. Academica Coimbra used to be among the better clubs in Portugal, but suffered steady decline since 1970. Going further and further down, until ended relegated. They earned 7 points more than Viseu, but… they were also far behind from the safe 16th place. Academica actually never recovered their once upon a time respectable place in Portuguese football.

So, the ‘academic’ clubs were last, heading to lower level football. Nothing else interesting up the league:

Belenenses finished 8th – their firm new place in the middle of the table. Another club in decline… a permanent decline. At the time, it was mostly irritating news, thought more or less to be something temporary. The club was expected eventually to improve and become a force again. May be in two-three years time. On the other hand, it was not all that bad – along with Boavista, Belenenses appeared to be the new solid mid-table core of clubs – the backbone of the league.

Not like smaller clubs going up and down all the time, exemplified by SC Beira Mar (Aveiro)

They were 12th this year, nothing interesting at all – Beira Mar, higher or lower in the table, never made any impression. One of the rather anonymous bulk…

Perhaps the only club deserving admiration was Sporting Braga. Quietly – for they escape any attention outside Portugal – they were establishing themselves as the forth best Portuguese club. They were not so bad in the past either, but there was new consistency – since 1970 Braga stayed mainly among the top 6 clubs in the league. They were 4th at the end of the season.

With 37 points, Sporting was far ahead of the surprisingly good this year team of Varzim – 5 points clear – yet, they were also 5 points behind the bronze medals. With few respectable players, but no real stars, Sporting was definitely third tier club in the country – not a contender, but stronger than the bulk of the league. Replacing at this position Setubal and Guimaraes. It looked like Braga was going to keep this position, thus bringing general hope for country’s football: there was a chance of having five decent clubs right bellow the big three – Belenenses, Boavista, Vitoria Setubal, Vitoria Guimaraes, and Sporting Braga.

Sporting Lisbon – comfortably third.

Nothing new on the surface – Sporting was always among the best. But… it was to be the second best and title contender. Now it was not the only rival of Benfica – in fact, it was not a rival at all, except for the traditional derby of Lisbon. Sporting had nothing to fear from the league – they had far stronger team than anybody else, but two clubs. However, a team inferior to those of the leaders – Sporting was 7 points behind the leaders. The squad said it all… Sporting had four really strong players: the midfielder Baltasar (b. 1948), and the striking trio of Manoel Costa (Brasil, b. 1953), Salif Keita (Mali, b. 1946), and Jordao (b. 1952). Jordao was one of the best players in the league and a great star in his prime. As for the rest… Keita was aging and fading, Baltasar was only a league star, Manoel Costa – not a real star at all. This was not a squad of champion quality, but distinguished itself by remarkably sturdy defense, allowing only 3 goals at all their games.

The duel for the title was between Benfica and FC Porto – a tight race, decided by a point difference. Old school Benfica vs new power. Benfica lost by a point.

On the surface, Benfica had supreme team – most known names of Portuguese football played in red and white. The English coach John Mortimore was may be the best known coach working in the country, but… he had familiar for years squad of players who never really reached fame. Henrique, Bento, Humberto, Toni, Nene, Joao Alves, Alhinho, Eurico, the younger stars Bustos Lopes, Sheu, Chalana… deep squad, looking unbeatable, but somewhat old-fashioned, still dominated by veterans. Chalana was too young yet. Benfica came close to winning the championship and would not have been surprising if they did, but they belonged to the past.

Not so the Dragons – they were still not very famous, still appeared weaker than Benfica as a whole, but they were much more promising and younger too. A different breed of players, modern, when compared to the stars of Benfica. The Dragons lost only one match this year, ended with the best defensive record in the league and the second best attack. The title was theirs, clinched by a single point.

7th title for FC Porto! Jose Maria Pedroto, already 60 years old, was not very well known abroad, but apparently he was able to come in terms with current realities of the game better than the coach of Benfica – perhaps, because he did not have a ballast of oldish stars and the dilemma to replace them or not, and if he did – at what coast. Pedroto had more options.

Compared to Benfica, the champions were limited – their starters, shown above, were pretty much everything they had. But they were younger – the three veterans brought solid experience, but they were not the key figures: the Brazilian striker Duda (b. 1947), Octavio (b. 1949), and Freitas (b. 1947). Marco Aurelio (b. 1950), Oliveira (b. 1952 and sold to Spanish Real Betis after the end of the season), Costa (b. 1953), Teixeira (b.1952), and Frasco (b.1955) were the movers and shakers, rapidly becoming the new stars of Portuguese football. But the big name was the great scorer Fernando Gomes – only 22 years old, but rapidly becoming the greatest star of the country. Their was no dead weight in the team – these were the boys of the future, turning Portuguese football around. With them, FC Porto became a powerhouse – but still the development was at early stage. The future was theirs – they were not yet at their prime, they were going up.

Scottish football was on the slippery slope of long lasting decline, but the Portuguese game was going the opposite direction. So far, the 1970s were terrible disappointment, but new generation was finally coming in. Slowly, without real bang, but coming. There were no memorable moments yet – it was just change of guard. Early stage and because of that – nothing interesting. Just a championship like in the most recent years. The second division was perhaps stubbornly the same as before. 48 clubs, modest and barely known abroad, divided into three groups. None was especially competitive – in all three it was a race between two clubs, the rest far behind.

Espinho won Zona Norte, followed by Rio Ave.

In Zona Centro Uniao Leiria finished first.

Standing, from left: Félix Mourinho (coach) Ferro, Tomé, Figueiredo, Espírito Santo, Vitor Amaral, Orlando, João Maria Ferreira (masseur);

Crouching: José Luís, Álvaro, Dinis, Paixão, Delfim, Nando Machado.

Second, by a point, ended Uniao Lamas

Third row: Cardoso, Jorge Leal, Quim Belinha, Pinto da Rocha, Edmundo, Vivas, Redol

Middle row: Xico Batista (coach), Chico, Ricardo, Baba, Eurico, Cadete, Armando, Angelo, Coimbra

Sitting: Aires, Simplicio, Delfim, Léo, Romão, Rui Manuel, Jorginho

Of the three second placed clubs Uniao Lamas came closest to winning.

Juventude Evora finished second in Zona Sul.

Standing, from left: Lapa, Ricardo, Artur, Fernando Sousa, Ferro, Modas.

Front row: José Luis, Edmilson, Lelo, Arnaldo José, Jeronimo.

Second row, from left: Diamantino,Jorge,Nelson,Paulo César,Manuel Fernandes,César,Almir,Hélder,José Manuel Proença.

First row: Fernando,João Cardoso,Sota,Galvanito,Paulo Campos,Edinho,Tião.

Portimonense finished first in the zone. Champions, with cup and sashes, as it should be. Not much smiling, though… And the reason perhaps was that winning the championship did not mean anything yet – promotion was not automatic. There was second stage – the top two clubs of the zones were further divided into two mini-leagues, playing twice against each other. The winners were promoted to the highest division. It was at least fair, because the best second division clubs competed – since only two clubs were clearly best in every zone, there was no sense any team was left out. The final stage produced a bit of surprise.

Portimonense, Espinho, and Uniao Leiria were in the one mini-league. The club from Porto won 3 matches and lost one. Espinho won 2 and lost 2, and Uniao Leiria, the champions of Zona Centro, won a single match, losing the rest. They were last, allowing 10 goals in their net as well. Espinho was second, but with 12:4 goal record. Portimonense finished with negative record by contrast: 5:6. Champions with negative goal-difference. Strange anomaly, worth mentioning, but they had the most points.

Portimonense won promotion and returned to top flight. If anything, they had a star – or at least a player, who was considered a star a few years back – Diamantino, the blond at the end of the first row. May be enough for winning in second division.

The other mini-league was tougher. Juventude Evora ended last with 3 points. Uniao Lamas was second with 4 and 5:2 goal-difference. The winners finished with 5 points and… negative goal-difference – 3:4. Both promoted clubs won with negative goal-difference, truly amazing and probably unique record! But if Portimonense won their zone championship, the other promoted team did not – they ended second in heir zone. Here one could question the wisdom and fairness of the format: in the first group the champions of the zones played for one promotional spot. The teams not winning the zonal championship also had one promotional spot… what was the point of winning the whole season then? But whatever the format was, winners are worthy – in this case, Rio Ave.

Second row, from left: Andersson, Rodrigues Dias, Reis, Carlitos, Serrão, Moreira, Fernando Ferreira, Maravalhas.

First row: Varela, Paquito, Tininho, Álvaro, Quim, Duarte, Ladinho, Rocha.

Nothing to brag about, except that Rio Ave had two imported players – a rarity in Portuguese second division football at that time. Ladinho, unknown Brazlilian striker, and Eric Stefan Andersson of Sweden. He played in Swedish 3rd division for Stenungsunds before joining Maritimo Funchal in 1977. Rio Ave was his second Portuguese club, but he did not play at all in his first season with them – and moved to Estoril in the summer (Andersson never stayed longer than a year with any of the 5 Portuguese clubs he played for). It was yet to be seen whether Diamantino and Ladinho would be able to keep their clubs among the best, but so far – happy end.

 

The Premier league was mostly about survival too. 10 clubs playing against each other 4 times during the season did one thing for sure: the worse teams fell far behind, having to play too many games against teams too strong for them. Whatever talent remained in Scotland was concentrated in two clubs – by now, there was not enough talent even for them. Aberdeen, still in the making, inevitably dropped a bit after a great 1977-78 season; Dundee United was able to keep strong enough team for comfortable third place – not capable to challenge the big two clubs, but far better than the rest of the league. Hibernian was slowly declining. The rest of the league just made the numbers… Adjustment to the small league format was not easy for many smaller clubs, but Heart of Midlothian suffered the most: one of the better Scottish clubs no long ago, they were in dire straits since the top league was reduced. The Hearts were relegated in 1977. Came back right away in 1978 – only to be relegated again in 1979.

Hearts finished 9th, but it was not bad luck – they were hopeless outsiders. With 23 points, they were 11 points behind the 8th placed Partick Thistle. Down to second league football again… once upon champions, now the Hearts were seemingly becoming ‘unsettled’ club: too strong for second division, yet, too weak for top flight.

Motherwell were even worse.

Dead last with 17 points. Unable even to fight for 9th place. A typical mid-table club in the old big league, they were steadily going down since the new format was introduced – and finally sunk right to the bottom.

Greenock Morton had strong season on the other hand – strong, by their standards anyway.

They were relegated in the last ‘bid league’ season – 1974-75 – when they finished 17th. Did not really matter, since half the league was demoted anyway. 1975-76 was shaky – 11th in second division, three points above relegation. In 1976-77 they finished 4th, but were not contenders. In 1977-78 they were second league champions on goal-difference and one point better than third placed Dundee FC. Nothing much was expected from them – certainly less than Heart of Midlothian – but Greenock Morton played surprisingly well and finished at 7th place. A success, when compared to the fate of the Hearts. As for lasting… it was doubtful. May be playing hide and seek with relegation a season or two.

Hibernian finished 5th, but the decline was detectable. The only interesting thing about them was that they were still the only Scottish club using shirt adds. Did not appear helpful…

Dundee United were on their own: much better than most of the league and not a match for the best two clubs, they were steadily… third. Back in the first season of the reduced league, 1975-76, they stumbled and escaped relegation only on better goal-difference, but after that… it looked like the new format was the best for them. No worries about relegation – constantly finishing with medals instead. Fewer teams meant fewer options for better players – those not good enough for Celtic and Rangers were easily going to Dundee United, making a stronger squad than most of the league had. Stronger, yet, not excellent… but collecting medals in a league traditionally dominated by two clubs was sweet, almost big success. Dundee United finished 4 points ahead of promising, but still shaky Aberdeen of young Alex Ferguson.

Before the start of the season Glasgow Rangers was a sure bet – Celtic had disastrous previous season, when Rangers won every trophy. They had better squad than Celtic. Expectations were confirmed quickly: Rangers had surprisingly strong European performance, going up to the ¼ finals of the European Champions Cup – no Scottish club played so well at international stage recently. Meantime Celtic had a new young and inexperienced coach and no great additions to the roster… May be Rangers was too concentrated on international games; may be Celtic was spurred by shame and boosted by new coach – it was not another triumphal year for Rangers at all. Yes, they added two more trophies, but lost the championship. Not an easy wins either – the F.A. Cup final against Hibernian was undecided at first – 0-0. The replay ended again 0-0 after extra-time. A third match was played, also going to overtime, when finally Rangers prevailed 3-2. Big drama, sturdy Hibernian, but… not confident Rangers too. The League Cup final opposed them to Aberdeen and again it was difficult victory by small margin:2-1.

Two cups, but without a title… good team, but not exceptional. And by Rangers’ standards… may be a poor season: here they pose with three cups won in 1977-78. Now – one less. Title lost to arch-enemy…

Which was not supposed to win. The year before Celtic finished 5th, almost 20 points behind Rangers. The only real fight they did was at the League Cup final, yet, they lost it. The legendary Jock Stein was ‘sacked’, or ‘retired’, or whatever. The former club’s star Billy McNeil was hired to manage the team – a radical change: McNeil was very young coach with minimal experience – just a few month with Aberdeen, not as head coach on top of it. The team was not greatly improved with new recruits: yes, there were decent players like Danny McGrain, the Icelandic international Johannes Edvaldsson, Roy Aitken, Ronnie Glavin, the promising George McCluskey and Peter Latchford, but it was a lesser team than Rangers’, perhaps best defined by Alfie Conn – a huge promise a few years back, but a failure with Tottenham Hotspur, and back to Celtic. Where he did not last very long… Patrick Bonner, a future Scottish national team regular, was very young and neither well known, nor a potential starter. Celtic did not appear potential champion at first – and certainly was not a great team yet: it was perhaps more enthusiasm than real quality. But it worked – McNeil obviously was a great find, the risk paid off. Celtic was not overwhelming, but won the title – three points ahead of Rangers.

Nothing new at the end… one more title for Celtic. Very promising beginning for McNeil, but real fruits could be expected after a year or two, it seemed. A great team this one was not – well, Celtic fans beg to differ. They are right about one thing, though: the wings of Rangers were clipped for quite a long time. Nobody knew it yet, but perhaps this season really was the end for this Rangers’ vintage. The time of new crop of managers started and Rangers did not see it coming.

With practically all outstanding players in England, Scotland had little to offer. Struggle was firmly setting in – most pronounced in the Second Division, where a handful of clubs tried to recover top flight status, but had in the same time difficulties coming in terms with new realities. Mostly financial ones… Thus, unlike the English Second Division, the Scottish one was not competitive – since the reform in 1975, two or three clubs were obviously above the rest. Pretty much was the situation at the bottom of the table. As for the leaders, they were former first division clubs – recently relegated too. Third Division – called Division 2 now – was no different: three clubs fought for 2 promotions. Falkirk lost by 2 points. Second finished Dunfermline Athletic with 52 points and the champions were Berwick Rangers with 54 points.

Up in Division 1 – the second division of Scotland – most clubs had no worries: they were not going neither up or down. At the bottom, Queen of the South and Montrose were hopeless outsiders, saving the other clubs fears of relegation. The combined record of the bottom club gave 49 points – good enough for 4th place without coming even close to the top three… The only real intrigue was about promotion: a battle between three clubs. Clydebank was relegated the previous season and wanted to climb back. Kilmarnock was relegated in 1977 and also wanted back among the best. As for Dundee FC, they were ‘old-timers’ – relegated in 1976. They finished 3rd two years in a row, missing promotion by a point the previous season. The most distinguished club playing second-tier football, they desperately wanted to return to the top league. But it was not easy… ambition is one thing, reality – quite another. No club had outstanding squad, so the race was tight – and exciting because of that – decided at the end of the season by tiny differences. Clydebank and Kilmarnock ended with 54 points each. Clydebank had the best strikers in the league, but leaky, if not atrocious defense. Kilmarnock had the best defense this season – and that was the whole difference: with better, much better goal-difference ( +37 to Clydebank’s +28) they clinched second place and promotion.

Victory for Kilmarnock, however chancy.

The champions were no different – Dundee fretted to the end. They won 24 matches – but so did Clydebank too. Kilmarnock lost one less game than Dundee. Their attack was 5th in the league; their defense – second. Dundee did not excel in anything, but they squirreled 55 points – one more than rivals.

Champions by a single point – Dundee FC coming back to top flight after three years of second division misery. Hail the winners, but nobody saw the newcomers as sensation, going to challenge the status quo. Both Dundee FC and Kilmarnock were pretty much fodder… if they survived the next season would be just great.

The top group ended as suspected: the bottom three clubs took it easy, Basel more than any other team. They sunk to 6th place after winning 2 matches, tying one, and losing 7. Young Boys did not care much either – they won only one match in the final round and scored the least number of goals – 5. Basel on the other hand scored 18! St. Gallen ended 4th, as disinterested as Basel and Young Boys.

Grasshopper finished third, just as they were in the first stage – slightly better than the lower clubs, slightly worse than the best two, 3 points ahead of St. Gallen, 6 points behind the silver medalists.

Perhaps more was expected from the 1977-78 champions, but they were not yet the really strongest team in Switzerland. National team players are usual indication of strength in a country with small pool of talent: Grasshopper had fewer national team players than the competition and not really big stars. Raimondo Ponte was perhaps the most promising name, added to Sulser and Egli… third place was seemingly the best they can do.

FC Zurich was a bit difficult to measure. They were perhaps the strongest Swiss club of the 1970s and the one which started hopes for a renaissance after playing well in the European club tournaments, but it was clear they reached their peak in 1975-76. No Swiss club was really able to keep big talent and the stars were leaving to play abroad one after another. Yet, it was not a club falling into a crisis. Zurich were the best in the league during the first stage, building a lead of 2 points. It was clear they were going for the title. But they hardly added more strength in the second phase – at best, they looked the same as in the first stage. At the same time Servette really stepped on the pedals… Zurich ended second after losing 1/3 of their final decisive games. They did not even challenge Servette… finishing 6 points behind.

FC Zurich got two important additions before the season – the famous coach Zlatko Cajkovski arrived from AEK (Athens) and Jurica Jerkovic from Hajduk (Split). Jerkovic was voted the best foreign player of the season, but his excellent form was not enough. Nor was the vast experience of Cajkovski – the teams lost steam when it mattered most. With Botteron, Risi, Grob, it was still one of the best Swiss teams, but not exactly a winner.

Clearly divided into two tournaments season invites scrutiny: FC Zurich won the first phase and it looked like that at least two teams would compete for the title, if not the whole six of the final stage. Servette trailed by two points in the opening part. They lost one more game than FC Zurich. It was impossible to predict the final outcome – to a point, it was like entirely new championship, to a point erasing all efforts done during 22 matches, to a point all that mattered were the last ten games. To a point, only the spring matches mattered. Which made five teams looking like fools… only one club was precisely trained to reach the peak of their form in the spring. Servette. They were overwhelming. They won every match they played in the final stage – 10 wins! Scored 23 goals, allowing only 5. They had no rival – FC Zurich lost three matches and finished with 13 points. 7 less than Servette. By rules every team opened the final campaign carrying half of the points they had in the first tournament – this already reduced the lead of FC Zurich from 2 points to one… practically equal start, after which Servette was not even challenged. Total supremacy.

It was the 14th title for the popular club, but the first since 1962 – a big relief, executed in grand manner , but it was not all. Servette was one of the consistently well performing Swiss clubs during the 1970s and finally their time had come. First they won the Swiss Cup in 1977-78, now they did better. And reached the cup final again.

Young Boys (Bern) also reached the final.

The old Young Boys mainly settled to mid-table existence, but occasionally had a good run. Since their means were modest, all depended largely on one player. They had the star Odermatt at the end of his career a few years back – and it was enough for a good season. Now they had another veteran:

Kudi Muller joined the club in 1977. 30-years old, he was already fading, but still a strong addition to otherwise anonymous squad. His presence was not enough for impressive season in the league, but cup format was more suitable and Young Boys reached the final. And had a chance of winning a trophy. The final ended undecided – 1-1 after overtime. The replay was a bit too much for Young Boys – they fought, but at the end the classier opponent won – 3-2. Servette got the Cup for a second consecutive year.

The selection for the final, from left: Gérald Coutaz, Guy Dutoit, Yves Mauron, Jean-Claude Milani, Gianfranco Seramondi, Jean-Luc Martin, Hanspeter Weber, Hansjörg “Joko” Pfister, Umberto Barberis, Piet Hamberg, Marc Schnyder, Jean-Yves Valentini, Franz Peterhans, Lucio Bizzini, Claude “Didi” Andrey, Serge Trinchero, Karl Engel, Gilbert Guyot.

A double! Great triumph for Servette, which looked like establishing a period of dominance. The team was ripe and, at the moment, much better than any other in Switzerland – Basel already aged and was trying to build a new team; FC Zurich was reaching the point of crisis – aging or departing stars, without much new blood. Grasshopper appeared a bit plain and unfinished. Servette was just right : the current Swiss stars were here – Pfister, Barberis, Guyot, Engel, Weber, plus up and coming talent like Seramondi and well respected players like Bizzini. The team was boosted by the presence of Martin Chivers the previous year, which ended with winning the cup. Now the English veteran star was gone, but the squad was very strong. The foreign addition was not bad – Piet Hamberg was unknown Dutch player, acquired from FC Utrecht, but Dutch players were dependable representatives of the most advanced modern football. The striker played well – well enough to attract the interest of Ajax, where he went to play in 1980. Perhaps the real honour should be atributed to the coach. Peter Pazmandy, born 1938, was the apparent maker of the team – a relatively unknown name, able to outdo the bulk of foreign coaches working with Swiss clubs (Zlatko Cajkovski – FC Zurich, the German Helmuth Johannsen – Grasshopper, Miroslav Blazevic – Lausanne-Sports, Timo Konietzka, also German – Young Boys). Pazmandy was not a Swiss too – at least not by birth. Back in 1956 a 20-years player of Vasas (Budapest) run away from supressed Hungary like many of his compatriots, including footballers. He settled and played in Switzerland and after retirement became a coach. Hungarians made good coaches and he was not exception: he lead Servette to glory – winning the cup in 1978 and now a double. It really looked like Pazmandy made a team going to dominate Swiss football – and the era seemingly already began. The final run of 10 wins in the second stage of the championship was more than impressive – he future belonged to Geneva. So were the signs in the spring of 1979. Signs happened to be false ones, but for the moment it was excellent: a double, crowning two very strong seasons.

 

Switzerland – changing the format of the championship again. The formula of the last two seasons was played for the last time and the first division was scheduled to increase the next year to 14 clubs. Thus, only one team was relegated this season from the top and three clubs were going up from second tier. The change hardly spurred most second-league clubs’ ambition: four clubs left the other 12 teams far behind, but 4 clubs were one too many. They finished tightly packed:

FC La Chaux-de-Fonds ended first with 43 points.

FC Luzern was second also with 43 points, but worse goal-difference.

Pastoral picture of FC Luzern, so indifferently peaceful, it was hard to believe these boys were going up – but they did, perhaps determined to prove the area was not just cows and grass. Returning to top flight, but not a team going the play a major role.

Third and forth were FC Lugano and FC Winterthur, both with 41 points. Winterthur had better goal-difference, but it did not count. Play-off match was scheduled instead. The regular time did not change anything and only in the extra-time Lugano scored a single golden goal. They went up at the expense of Winterthur.

Nothing new about the promoted clubs: all of them played first division football for years and were merely returning to their usual league.

Nationalliga A was another matter. Still the formula was of two-parts: a standard two-legged phase at first, followed by second stage when the top 6 of the first part played round robin championship for the title and the bottom 6 – the same, deciding relegation. All clubs carried half of the points they earned in the first stage to the second. The negative side of such formula was already observed – most clubs put a big effort in the first phase, trying to secure position among the top six. Then took it easy, just going through the motions. The relegation group was no different: at least two clubs started with too many points to really worry and at least had too few to really had a chance for escape. The idea of more competitive and exciting championship did not materialize, but it was difficult to run long championship with only 12 clubs – standard formula provided only 22 games a season. The 10 matches played in the second stage added games, but since most clubs were disinterested it was meaningless effort. Classic championship between 14 teams provided 26 matches, which was acceptable option. At hand was the current formula, though, and some things became clear in the first stage – four clubs sunk to the bottom early: Lausanne-Sports, Chiasso, Nordstern, and Sion. Chenois ended 8th, 7 points ahead of Lausanne-Sports, and Xamax was 7th, 2 points ahead of Chenois. Since only one team would be relegated, it was clear that not 6, but 4 clubs were to play seriously in the final stage.

The upper half was not different, only there the fight was to be for the title. Looked like Basel, Young Boys, and St. Gallen were not interested. Grasshopper disappointed a bit during the first stage – they were 3rd, but 3 points bellow the second. Servette finished second, with the best scoring record so far, but still trailing Zurich by 2 points. It looked like the final race will be between 2 and a half clubs… Zurich and Servette for sure and may be Grasshopper. There was illusion for more competitive final, though: entering with half of first stage points made all six quite equal starters: Zurich ended with 6 points more than the last three clubs in the first stage, but the difference was reduced to three for the start of second phase. Zurich entered with 16 points, Servette with 15, Grasshopper with 14 (benefiting by the rule of rounding to the higher number – they finished with 27 points the first stage), and the rest – with 13 points each. Everybody had a chance… on paper.

The relegation group proceeded as expected… the endangered clubs played seriously, those starting with vast advantage went through the motions, and one team proved too weak to last. Chenois did not lose a single match, but 7 of their 10 games ended tied. Lausanne-Sports, Chiasso, and Sion pulled themselves together and secured their safety.

Perhaps the most intriguing about these clubs was Jose Altafini – the 1958 World champion, now 40 years old, was leading the attack of Chiasso. May be that was why the modest club was able to stay in first division. The veteran arrived in 1976 from Juventus and still was not thinking of retirement: he stayed one more year with Chiasso, then moved to another Swiss club to play 2 more years.

Xamax did not care… they earned only 5 points and finished next to last. Not for a second they were in danger – they started with 12 points, which was twice the points Nordstern carried from the first stage.

First division football was too much for the small club from Basel. The city had not the size and the culture to support two strong clubs and inevitably Nordstern was a pariah. They did their best during the first stage and their best was good only for 11th place. No strength was left for the final stage… Nordstern managed to win a single match and tie one more. Three points… 9 in total. Xamax really did not have to get even a point to stay above. The brief encounter with top flight football ended miserably for Nordstern – they were going back to second league after a single season in first.

To a point, the Cup final showed the precarious state of the Ujpesti Dosza – supreme in the championship, they did not reach the final. Raba Eto and Ferencvaros did – the rising clubs. For Ferencvaros, winning the cup was of prime importance: not that much to show they were not just ‘also runs’, but to get a trophy, as their tradition demanded. Save the season by winning the Cup.

They had the argument – much stronger squad full of current members of the national team, Nyilasi – a star of European caliber. The provincials had no chance at all… But Ferencvaros did not score and the provincials did. They scored only once, yet, it was enough – 1-0 and the Cup went to Raba ETO. Otto Szabo was the goal-scoring hero of the final.

A great victory, of course – Raba ETO had lukewarm season, finishing 6th thanks only to better goal-difference and far behind the 5th placed Honved. They did not count as a force for a long time too. Raba ETO had few trophies – historically, not even a slight match for Ferencvaros. But they won and left Ferencvaros entirely emptyhanded.

Standing from left: Józsa Zoltán – coach, Palla Antal, Pozsgai Lajos, Pásztor Ferenc, Horváth Dénes, Magyar Lajos, Horváth László, Koós pályaedző, Kovács Imre – assistant coach.

Crouching: Pénzes Mihály, Szabó Ottó, Füzi Géza, Szíjártó László, Onhausz Tibor, Glázer Róbert, Pölöskei Gábor, Lipót Gyula.

Proudly posing with the Cup. It was the 4th Cup and 5th trophy for Raba ETO. It was also a sign of revival – so far, the best period in the club’s history was the 1960s, when they won the title in 1963 and added three cups – 1965, 1966, and 1967. But nothing after that – the club, until roughly 1975, was just typical mid-table provincial team. After 1975 they were slowly getting better, becoming one of the rising provincial clubs, although not as promising as Videoton was. Now they won a trophy after 10 years of drought. And it did not look like accidental victory – the squad was good and promissing: Pozsgai, Pasztor, Szabo, Szijarto, Onhausz, Poloskei were more than noticed. If the club was able to keep the best players and add some more for fine tuning, it would be something. Exactly this happened – with the 1979 Cup victory started arguably the best ever period of the club.

First division seemingly settled into old pattern this season – the outsiders firmly took the last three places, endangering nobody else. Then 10 clubs were packed closely – 6 points was the difference between the 6th and the 15th – satisfied with easy life, and five clubs stayed on top of the pyramid. High above the bulk of the league, but also divided into three groups – three clubs scrambled for the bronze medals, then lone candidate for silver, but unable to put a fight for the title. Boring division really, but only on the surface – there were few interesting things: first of them, in the relegation zone. The last place was taken by Vasas Izzo (Budapest), modest newcomers, clearly not up to the challenge of first division footballs. No surprise… with 14 points they ended not only last, but 9 points behind the 17th placed Haladas VSE. Not much of a surprise in their relegation either – one of the modest clubs, Haladas played hide and seek with relegation almost every year. Two points better than Haladas and 16th were Csepel SC.

Now this was a news: old, strong and successful in the past, Csepel sunk to 6th place in the ranking Budapest clubs long time ago too. A real mid-table club for years and without chances for anything else – but never really weak. Nobody expected them to win a title, but nobody was expecting them to sunk either. Well, they sunk this season and badly too – it was not a matter of bad luck, losing by a point or two. Their relegation was even unpleasant news, registering a deep and may be irreversible crisis. Sad to see old revered club going to the dogs. It was not the only dangerous sign – MTK (Budapest) finished 14th. Looked like there were no enough players, or money, or both, to keep all big Budapest clubs strong – and the first victims or new reality appeared. Another club finished at lower place than their usual – Videoton ended 9th.

Looked like they were not going to challenge the status quo and giving up the ghost after few promising seasons. Typical provincials, one may say… but it was not really that. Videoton was only a point behind the 6th placed team and if they were not among the top, they were not really going down either – rather, taking a brake… their climb was going to continue and reach its peak in the 1980s.

Tatabanya finiched 7th – a rare strong season for uneven club.

Third row, from left: Magyar György edző, Csepecz, Dupai, Monostori Tivadar vezetőedző, Nagy I., Szabó György csapatkapitány, Dombai, Sándor Imre gyúró.

Middle row: Lakatos, Arany, Udvardi, Néder, Csapó, Gálhidi.

Bottom row: Schmidt, Zsidó, Barabás, Tamás, Kisteleki, Knapik, Hegyi.

The only interesting thing about this team was the picture itself: nice in the snow.

Honved was at 5th place.

Standing: TICHY LAJOS – coach,PÁJER, PÁL, PARÓCZAI, KOCSIS, LUKÁCS, WEIMPER, VARGA II, VARGA I, NAGY ANTAL, GUJDÁR, TÁRNOK ISTVÁN – assistant coach.

Crouching: GYIMESI, BODONYI, GEIGER, KARALYOS, FEJES, HORVÁTH, PINTÉR, PÓCZIK.

Honved was still not capable to run for the title. It was coming back, like Dukla in Czechoslovakia, but not ready yet.

A place above finished Vasas.

A little bit of decline was sensed – Vasas was trying to keep its place, but it was mostly on inertia. Good squad, but the core players were with the team for years and getting past their peak.

Honved and Vasas fought for third place, but the winners were Diósgyőri VTK (Miskolc).

An old club, always associated with Diosgyor Ironworks, but as most provincial clubs, winning nothing. Regular member of first division, but mid-table club. Did not give any signs of improvement in the recent years, so they were a bit of a surprise.

No stars here – second-stringers at best – but they contributed to the trend of rising provinsial clubs: proved to be at equal footing with the top clubs and players, and holded their ground. The title was out of their reach, but they edged Hoved and Vasas, taking bronze medals. 2 points ahead of Vasas, second-best defence in the league (only Raba ETO received fewer goals), and 4th best striking line. Not bad, overall, but in local terms it was something else: the best season to date was 1976-77, when DVTK won the Cup for the first time. It was their only trophy… They preserved the winning squad and the boys continued to play well. The third place was of historic proportions – it was the highest place of the club in the league. Highest ever, it turned out: DVTK never reached such hights. Thus, the team is legendary and also the season. And the coach Geza Szabo is rigthtly creditid with the success – he made the greatest team in the history of the club, guiding it to success between 1974 and 1981. Significant season in every aspect – the club scored its 1000th goal in first division; played its 800th match in the league. A season to remember.

As good as Diosgyor were, they were not a match for Ferencvaros. Yes, the obvious suspect, but also the club wnich was somewhat unable to master a great team during the 1970s.

Full of national team players, lead by Laszlo Balint and Tibor Nyilasi, younger than aging Ujpesti Dosza , but there was a little something missing… Ofr course, Fradi stayed at the top, but… not really winning. And this year they were firmly second – above the rest of the league, and bellow the arch-rivals. Quite bellow – 5 points behind at the end. Silver medals do not count for Ferencvaros.

Ujpesti Dosza won their 18th title. Easily, judging by the final standings.

It was a victory true to the club’s style in the 1970s – attacking and high scoring football. It also looked like Lilak managed to avoid the dreadful slump usually coming with inevitably aging squad – since 1975 the team was clearly over the hill, and change of generations was expected to make trouble – but Ujpesti Dosza managed to stay on top and continued winning. Looked like they were dodging crisis and the critical moment was over by now. Looked like…

The champions still had 9 players of the squad reaching its peak around 1975. Some were getting old (Zambo, Rothermel, Dunai), others already had reached their potential and were no longer promising material (Kolar, Kellner, Fekete). New stars emerged and by now were top Hungarian players – Torocsik, Kerekes, Kardos – but still the team was dominated by the old guard. To a point, the case of Ujpesti Dosza illuminated the state of Hungarian football in the 1970s: talent was scarce and no matter what, the older generation was getting the upper hand at least domestically. Pal Varhidi was very good coach and managed not only to outfox the rest of the league, but to keep his boys well above anybody else. Looked like… looked like Ujpesti Dosza would be constant winner. The future had a bitter surprise for the club and its fans – this title was their last for the next 10 years.