Football Journey

Norway preserved their traditional league format and the season perhaps was significant largely for one reason: Viking (Stavanger) played their best season. Arguably, their best ever. The rest was mostly a matter of record. The three best of the Second Division were old clubs, normally playing top league football and now returning from ‘exile’.

Lyn (Oslo)

FK Molde, and

Fredrikstads FK.

Fredrikstads coming on field to face Rade IL. They won 3-2 and proceeded to win until reaching promotion.

In top division the battle for survival involved more or less 8 of the 12 participants. Brann sunk early and never put a fight – they finished last with 10 points. Mjondalen IF struggled too – with 17 points they ended 11th and above them were Hamarkameratene with 18. The three were going down – Skeid Fotball clinched 19 points and survived. Of the last 4 clubs only 2 really competed for the title – Bryne FK and IK Start had their own battle for third place, which IK Start won with 27 points. On top Viking and unlikely favourite, Moss FK raced ahead of the pack, Moss having the best attack, and Viking the best defense. Viking won a match more than their rivals and that settled it: Moss finished with 30 points, Viking with 32.

Viking continued their best decade with one more title.

Standing from left: Tony Knap – coach, Torbjorn Svendsen, Tons Haugvalland (?), Erik Johannessen, Tor Reidar Brekke, Per Henriksen, Trond Ekholdt, Magnus Flatestol, Svein Kvia, Reidar Goa – manager.

Sitting: Bjarne Berntsen, Trygve Johannessen, Inge Valen, Rolf Bjornsen (?), Tonning Hammer, Finn Einar Krogh, Isak Arne Refvik, Cand Andersen (?), Svein Fjelberg.

Viking were the best Norwegian club of the 1970s, no doubt about it – they won their 6th title, and almost all were won in this decade. But they were still hungry.

The Cup final was reached by Viking and Sportsklubben Haugar (Haugesund).

For the lowly Haugar, not playing first division football, the final was huge success – and may be they were able to win it? They had two English players in their team – at times when very few foreigners appeared in Norway and the best clubs did not use any. Haugar tried hard and came close, but lost 1-2. Too bad the modest boys were not able to make a sensation. On the other hand, great for Viking.

Viking’s captain Svein Kvia with the Cup. The third Cup victory for the club from Stavanger. Well done and true vikings – a double. It was their first ever, and although Viking were not overwhelming, they still won everything.

Viking were not famous in Europe, but by 1979 they had a few players becoming legendary in Norway – Svein Kvia, Tor Reidar Brekke, Isak Arne Refvik. Championships, the Cup, they won everything and more than ones.

Albania, hidden behind her own curtain, seemingly stayed the same.

Apolonia (Fier) and

Skenderbeu (Korce) won promotion from Second Division.

Beselidhja and Traktori ended at the bottom of First Division and were relegated. Traktori were pretty much the outsider of the league, winning only 3 matches. Beselidhja had a curious record – 10 wins and 16 losses. Not a single tie. Only the top 4 clubs won more games than them, but gambling ‘all or nothing’ left them a point short of safety. The rest of the league was divided into three distinct groups – the lower one, which was also the biggest, concerned with survival, stretched up and included the 7th placed Lokomotiva. The champions of 1977-78 were part of this bulk, finishing 9th. Above them 4 comfortable, but not aiming higher clubs – Besa clinched bronze medals. And finally two clubs competed, shoulder to shoulder, for the title. 17 nentori (Tirana) had the deadliest strikers in the league, but a single match decided their fate – they had a tie whether their competitors had a win. 35 points, 4 more than Besa, but one behind the champions. Which were well known.

Partizani (Tirana) won one more title.

Hardly a single known name outside Albania. Bunch of national players, the stars of Albanian football of that time Lekbello, Berisha, Lika, coached by former star Pano, but the real interesting thing about the champions was their kit – looked like fashion was finally coming to Albania and the champions were dressed with Adidas. The goalkeepers were left out, it seems, but still a news.

The Cup final opposed the last year champions Vllaznia to the second strongest Albanian club Dinamo (Tirana). The finalists had a weak season, yet, Dinamo was more or less the expected winner. The final was dramatic – it ended 1-1 and replay was scheduled. It also ended in a tie and only in the extra time Vllaznia scored a winning goal – 2-1 and the Cup was theirs.

Thus, provincial Vllaznia maintained unlikely position among the best of the time – champions in 1978, Cup winners in 1979, may be something else the next year?

 

Similar proved to be the result in the ‘championship group’. Almost no changes occurred after the extra matches each team played – TPS Turku exchanged places with Haka Valkeakoski and so did Reipas Lahti and KPT Kuopio. The rest of the group kept their original places – KTP Kotka stayed 8th, KuPS Kuopio – 2nd, and HJK Helsinki – 3rd. HJK did not even bother – they were only 2 points behind KuPS after the first stage, but now dropped to 5 behind. Nobody bothered them from bellow either… All were seemingly satisfied with their original positions. Only KuPS used the new formula to their advantage and run for the title – but they were 3 points behind the leaders and did not manage to beat the odds: KuPS finished still 2nd with 40 points. OPS Oulu did not appear very strong in the last stage, but kept their lead , ending with a point more than KuPS.

Not exactly overwhelming winners, but still historically significant ones – OPS never won a title and they were founded in 1925. At last – a triumph. The team excelled in the preliminary stage – they lost only a match and built 3-point advantage. Since most of the mini-league did not really put an effort in the ‘championship’ stage, rightly calculating that there is nothing to play for, OPS still won 9 points – second best record at this stage. KuPS added 11, but the original lead by 3 points was still sufficient for OPS to stay on top. At the end, it was their defense which made them champions – they lost only 3 matches and allowed the least number of goals in their net.

Champions at last: from left: Kari Soila, Pekka Parviainen, Jukka Rantanen (mv), Ari Jalasvaara (ylhäällä),Eero Rissanen, Matti Ahonen, Juhani Himanka, Seppo Pyykkö, Pertti Pääkkö, Soini Puotiniemi, and Lauri Heikkinen. In front: Seppo Vakkari

No matter how achieved, a grand day in Oulu. First title ever – something to be remembered. To be remembered, but… after changes in the 21st century there is confusion. Today there is a club OPS, but founded in 2006. Is it related to the original OPS is a matter of opinion and legal arguments.

The Cup final opposed Ilves Tampere to TPS Turku. Neither club had a great season, but perhaps the fact that Ilves was threatened with relegation, but TPS had no reason to play seariously at all during the last stage opposed teams with very different motivation and form.

Perhaps TPS were unable to build strength and they lost 0-2.

Ilves Tampere won the Cup – a fine ending of troublesome season. Good for the ‘lynx’, they showed claws when it mattered.

Reforms were going on around European leagues, all in hope of bettering the local football. Finland caught the desire in 1979 – the league remained the same, 12 clubs, but the championship was made of two phases: first the preliminary stage, which was the traditional formula – all clubs played against each other twice. Then the top 8 played a third round of single match against other in the so-called ‘championship group’. The bottom 4 plus the best of the Second Division played a round-robin tournament in the ‘promotion/relegation group’. The benefits of such formula are ever dubious: may be at first they attracted more fans, but it was short-lived fad. The quality of the game and particularly the class of the teams hardly changed. One thing was certain: such championship are statisticians nightmare – how to count the extra games in the mixed mini-league? It was neither first, nor second division. On itself – the number was small and there was hardly a club playing regularly in those tournaments. But the experiment started and the results perhaps supported the view of the skeptic critics. OPS Oulu built a 3-point lead during the first stage and finished first, followed by KuPS Kuopio and HJK Helsinki. KTP Kotka was 8th, 3 points ahead of the bottom 4 clubs. The top eight moved to their championship stage, carrying their records from the first round.

The bottom four – KPK Kokkola, Ilves Tampere, Pyrkiva Turku, and MiPK Mikkeli, finishing in this order – grouped with the top four of the Second Division – MP Mikkeli, OTP Oulu, Sepsi-78 Seinajoki, and GrIFK Kauniainen, in that order. All clubs started with bonus points depending on their place in the preliminary round – the top with 4 points, and so on down to the last with 1 point. Thus, KPK Kokkola and MP Mikkeli started with 3 points advantage to MiPK Mikkeli and GrIFK Kauniainen. As there is no really working formula for mixed groups, this one was good as any other and the tournament started – a single-match round-robin. The top 4 were to play in First Division the next season; the bottom 4 – in the Second. The lowest of the first stage from both divisions remained lowest – GrIFK finished last and MiPK – 7th. The winners of the preliminary stage of Second Division – MP Mikkeli – dropped terribly their form and ended 6th only because of the bonus points. Without them, they were the worst in the final stage. Pyrkiva Turku, last in the preliminary stage, now ended 6th – still relegated. That is, 2 clubs of the First Division went down – as it was traditionally anyway. And the relegated were the last two in the top division – they were to be relegated in traditional championship. As for those surviving and promoted – KPV Kokkola dropped to third place, but starting with 4 points perhaps they did not put too much effort – here the point was not to be first: what really counted was only not to drop bellow 4th place. KPV Kokkola ended 3rd. Ilves Tampere were clearly the best – or at least the most determined to keep their place among the top – they did not lose a match, won 4, and tied 3. Even without bonus points they were to finish first.

Second finished OTP Oulu – they were second in the preliminary stage, so no matter the formula, they were getting promotion with or without final round.

The only club really taking advantage of the innovation was Sepsi-78.

The team from Seinijoki finished third in the preliminary stage – just outside promotion zone in a traditional championship. Now having a chance, they went for it and clinched 4th place, meaning promotion to First Division. Well done.

At the end, the real losers were MP Mikkeli.

Standing from left: Heikki Kangaskorpi, Markku Hämäläinen, Arto Hirvonen, Erkki Himanen, Vesa Tyrväinen, Seppo Hujanen, huoltaja Matti Tuominen, valmentaja Antero Hyttinen, valmentaja Eero Karppinen.

First row: Vesa Liikanen, Jukka Kaarna, Markku Kääriäinen, Juha Vuori, Reijo Vaittinen, Juha Viitikko, Silvo Niskanen.

Under normal circumstances, they were champions of the Second Division – and promoted. But they had to blame only themselves – after all, they started with 4 bonus points and they blew away their season at the end.

Yet, even with their failure the new formula hardly changed anything – apart from MP Mikkeli, one of the promoted and two of the relegated were to do exactly that without extra games. No matter what, the better were still better and lowly – lowly.

 

 

Dramatic championship in Iceland – 5 teams had a chance to win the title. No such battle in the relegation zone or in the second division. Down in second level two clubs dominated from start to end:

FH Hafnarfjördur finished second with 24 points, getting promotion. Fylkyr (Reykjavik) were not in the race – they were 3rd with 20 points. The champions of the Second Division never had a worry, finishing 5 points ahead of FH.

If there is anything to say about the winners, it must be their name – they are often written UB Kopavogur or UBK, especially in older sources. Apparently the club used the abbreviation of their name when playing in Europe, emphasizing the name of their home town – Kopavogur. One of the youngest Icelandic clubs – founded in 1950 – trying to establish itself among the best.

The promoted clubs were to take the places of the last two in First Division. There the outsiders were clear almost from the first round.

Haukar (Hafnarfjördur), the newcomers this season were not up to the task. They lost 14 matches, tied 3, and won just a single one. 5 points anchored them to the bottom, perhaps to the joy of their city rivals HF – the previous year they were last and Haukar won promotion, now the roles were reversed.

KA Akureyri finished 9th with 12 points. They were 4 points short from safety, but it was hardly a surprise – at that time KA were not a force in Icelandic football. Much stronger than Haukar, but not a match to any other team.

Up the table was much more interesting – 5 clubs were separated by 2 points at the end. Silver and bronze medals were decided in a play-off – goal-difference was not a factor, so ÍA Akranes and Valur Reykjavík met again. Twice, actually – the first match ended in a scoreless tie, but in the second the champions of 1977 prevailed 3-1. The play-off was not just for silver and bronze: it was about playing in Europe – Iceland had a single spot in the UEFA Cup and IA Akranes grabbed it.

The race for the title was one by a single point and, most interestingly, by a club so far never winning a title.

ÍB Vestmannæyjar or Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja, as the full name is – a mouthful of a name, difficult to pronounce in any language. One of the oldest Icelandic clubs, founded in 1903, yet never winning anything so far. After 1970 the club was on the rise, even playing in the UEFA Cup – an easy opponent on the continent, apart from the headache of writing and pronouncing the name. Perhaps nobody learned it, for IB never lasted longer than the first round, like any other Icelandic club. But they were getting better at home and finally won the championship. Their strength was really the defense, allowing only 13 goals. The rest was perhaps good luck, but it was well done – at home the wording surely was ‘excellent’: a first title is something special.

Standing from left: Einar Hallgrímsson, fararstjóri, Jóhann Ólafsson, knattspyrnuráðsmaður, Árni Johnsen, blaðamaður (gestur), Viktor Helgason, þjálfari hins sigursæla liðs, Ómar Jóhannsson, Gústaf Baldvinsson, Friðfinnur Finnbogason, Valþór Sigurþórsson, Páll Pálmason, Snorri Rútsson, Kjartan Másson, aðstoðarþjálfari og Guðmundur Þ.B. Ólafsson, knattspyrnuráðsmaður.

First row: Tómas Pálsson, Viðar Elíasson, Jóhann Georgsson, Ársæll Sveinsson, markvörður liðsins, Sveinn Sveinsson, Þórður Hallgrímsson, fyrirliði, Guðmundur Erlingsson, Óskar Valtýsson, Örn Óskarsson , Kári Þorleifsson

Dressed to kill champions. Nothing to say about this squad, except that football players were certainly brave in Iceland – looks like too cold even for formal suits. Parkas are best… how was it to play in shorts and skinny shirts?

The Cup final was a derby – Fram (Reykjavík) vs Valur (Reykjavík). Of course, much was at stake – Fram had miserable season, finishing 6th and Valur lost the coveted spot in the UEFA Cup in the play-off. Winning was a must and Fram extracted the victory with a single goal – 1-0.

Valur finished empty-handed and sulking.

Fram triumphed with their 4th Cup. They also saved grace and restored the pride of Reykjavik, which had 5 clubs in First Division – since half the league was located in the capital, it was reasonable they to be the best, but the title went to provincial town. The Cup at least stayed in the capital.

There is really almost nothing to say of the Icelandic football – except this: scoring was getting lower on the continent. High scoring happened mostly in the small divisions by the end of the 1970s – 254 goals were scored in the Icelandic first division this year – 2.822 goals per match.

 

Cyprus, lowly and predictable. Two clubs dominated the country’s football and the ‘big’ league, introduced two years back was not changing anything. It was decided to reduce it to the old 14-team format – like the increase, it was to be done gradually: 2 teams relegated and one promoted until the number 14 was reached. Thus, only the champions of the Second Division got promotion this season.

The honour went to Keravnos (Strovolos)

Not an young club – founded in 1926 – it was insignificant, so promotion was a rare moment of success. It was unlikely to establish itself among the best, let alone to become a force, but still a success for the modest club from a town written both Strovolos and Strovolou. Of course, from today’s point of view the promotion is strange: there is no such club nowadays – not playing football anyway. There is strong basketball team instead.

Going down to second division were the last two in First Division – Digenis Akritas Morphou was the outsider, ending with 18 points and last. 15th place went to Nea Salamina Famagusta, may be because of bad luck. They fought hard to survive, but finished with 26 points. 5 clubs had 27 and two – 28. This meant that half the league was preoccupied only with basic survival. Nea Salamina failed to earn a single point… they had superior goal-difference than 4 of of the 5 clubs with 27 points, but… failed to get this precious point and down they went.

Nothing spectacular in the higher part of the table – suffice to say that the bronze medalists, Alki (Larnaca) finished with 7 more points than Nea Salamina and 11 points less than the 2nd placed team. It was just the usual race between the rivals from the capital city APOEL and Omonia. APOEL won the most games in the league – 20 – but lost 6. Omonia lost only 3 and at the end that made the difference – APOEL lost the title by a point. They finished with 44, Omonia with 45 points.

Nothing new, then… 9th title for Omonia, but also very significant 6th in a row – big dominance of Omonia, constant champions, a rare run of so many consecutive titles. There was no stopping Omonia.

Unchangeable champions – what more to say. Nothing… largely because the players made any sense only in Cyprus. Coached by the Bulgarian Petar Argirov, one of the many Bulgarian coaches, who worked in Cyrpus in the 1970s and 1980s, and having the biggest Cypriot star Kaiafas to score goals. The only known name abroad.

Omonia did not reach the Cup final and had to be satisfied with one trophy – APOEL were determined to get some revenge and a trophy. The other finalist was AEL (Limassol). They were not a factor in the championship – 9th place – so a Cup would have been nice… The final was dramatic and went into overtime. Only then APOEL managed to prevail – 2-1.

Not an easy victory, but – 11th Cup and second in a row. At the end, it was the same as ever… Omonia with the one trophy and APOEL with the other.

 

Malta – a new format of the championship: the division was divided into 2 groups of 5 teams for the first stage. After two-legged round-robin phase the top two of each group proceeded to the final stage. The rest went to the relegation pool. The new formula produced nothing new… the better teams went to compete for the title as ever and the lower part of the league was still preoccupied only with survival. But a moment for second division: the winners were recent members of top flight.

Zebbug Rangers were relegated in 1976-77 – now they were coming back. Not a team making strong impressions even in Malta. Just happy to go up – and may be survive among the best a season or two…

Birkirkara was relegated the previous year and was returning right away. Another club mostly struggling to be in first division, but with slightly better chances than Zebbug Rangers.

Of course, second division was nothing to talk about. Clubs like Vittoriosa Stars played there.

Such clubs were still the better part of the Maltese football – at least when compared to sone of their local rivals. Like

Vittoriosa Lightning, which contrary to their name looked like a junior team. And may they were…

Things were not much better in the top flight.

Msida St. Joseph were miserable in the relegation pool – 1 win and 1 tie, 3 points in total, and dead last. At least they were consistent… exactly the same was their performance in the first phase.

The other club to go down was expected outsider.

Ghaxaq tried to keep their place among the best, but for them mere appearance in first division was great success.

Too weak even in Malta… Ghaxaq earned measly 3 points in the first stage. In the relegation pool they tried much harder, achieving 8 points… 5 more than poor Msida St. Joseph, but… still 2 less than the record of Qormi, itself not much of force.

Free from relegation fears, the top concentrated on winning the title… kind of. Floriana, Sliema Wanderers, and Valletta FC had a combined record of 13 points. Hibernians alone had 11… not real race for the title. Valletta finished 2nd with 6 points. With 4 points and negative goal-difference Sliema Wanderers got bronze medals.

The champions were Hibernians – they finished second in their preliminary group, 3 points behind Sliema Wanderers. In fact, all three of the finalists had better records than Hibernians at first. But no points were carried over from the form stage and starting anew, Hibernians had no match in the final stage: 5 wins and 1 tie, 12-5 goal-difference. One more title for them.

The Cup final opposed Floriana to Sliema Wanderers.

Floriana was playing their 4th consecutive final, and interesting record. They won the Cup in 1976, then lost the next two finals. But the trophy escaped them again – Sliema Wanderers won 2-1. Yet, interesting historic note – not many clubs play 4 Cup finals in a row, perhaps even fewer lose 3 consecutive finals.

Sliema Wanderers triumphed and collected one more trophy. Maltese football was like many other countries; a few ‘big’ clubs dominated the scene and the winners were familiar.

At the bottom of football hierarchy, Luxembourg was not a big news:

Spora Luxembourg and

Stade Dudelange won promotions from Second Division – both clubs were relegated the previous year and came back right away.

One of the newcomers to First Division finished hopelessly last.

Young Boys (Diekirch) earned only 8 points – 9 less then the team just above last place. Even in the weakest divisions there were especially weak clubs…

11th place was dreaded by 5 teams, almost half the league.

Alliance (Dudelange) were the second unlucky club – 17 points relegated them, exchanging divisions with their city rivals Stade.

Up the league four clubs fought for bronze medals – Union Luxembourg got them with 25 points, but they were far away from the title. The contenders were two and they went head to head to the very end, both finishing with 34 points. Goal difference decided the title: Red Boys (Differdange) had better one and won. They, however, were not to finish with one trophy – Red Boys reached the Cup final.

Aris (Bonnevoie) were the other finalists and the final was not without drama – regular time produced no winner. Red Boys excelled in extra time – the aggregate result was 4-1. A double and the interesting thing was that both trophies were won by a hair – on goal-difference and in extra time. All or nothing, but everything at the end.

13th Cup and 6th title for Red Boys – an excellent season, but little they knew of the future… this was the last title in the history of the club.

The unlucky ones were the champions of the previous year.

Progres lost just one match this season – Red Boys lost 2 – and scored the most goals in the league. Defense betrayed them though and they finished second. The consolation was a visit to Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid – a visit, for playing against Real Madrid in the first round of the European Champions Cup was doomed affair. So they photographed themselves at the famous venue for posterity.

 

1979

Years following World Cup are usually anti-climactic, at least in the perceptions of the fans, but 1978-79 was different: a sense of alarm. The exciting teams of the early 1970s declined – Ajax, Bayern, West Germany. The exciting total football spread and changed before becoming a norm in the most countries. The elements were present, but not the fascinating improvisations, not the joyous attacks – instead there was hard tackling, pressure on the whole field, and constant running. Somehow the defensive elements of the style were emphasized. There were no creative teams introducing new tactics – Liverpool and Juventus were more or less the current favourites and both teams, as good as they were, mostly added a few elements from total football to otherwise traditional English and Italian football. Anderlecht perhaps came closer to original total football, yet, it was obvious that the club’s style and even form depended simply on the number of the Dutch players in the squad and they were well known names for years. South America so far did not contribute to the development of football – the continent still had difficulties in coming to terms with total football, but years went by and now it was even not sure that the Latins had to pursue the style. Most alarming was the absence of great new stars, especially creative midfielders – the playmaker and the libero were ‘a must’, yet there was no new Cruyff or Beckenbauer, let alone someone better than the icons. The leading players, even if still young, were not exactly newcomers – Keegan, Platini, Krankl, they were around already for quite some time. The few discoveries at the 1978 World Cup sunk back into obscurity – Boniek really became a star in 1982. And may be the worst of everything was the realization that the flag bearers of total football did not change much the style and even less the fate of the clubs they went to – Cryuff won a single title with Barcelona and nothing in Europe. Same with Neeskens, Breitner, Netzer… They were stepping down already, leaving a sense that an era was ending without even fully realizing its potential. 1978-79 showed not so much a change of guard, but rather the absence of great new teams – there was one major tournament, Copa America, and it was won not by the current World champions Argentina, nor by Brazil, but by Paraguay. Paraguayan club won also Copa Libertadores. In Europe Nottingham Forest won the European Champions Cup. The other finalist was Malmo FF… nice to see the underdogs win, but… It was the year of the Cinderellas.

Paraguay – champions of South America.

Olympia (Asuncion) – Paraguayan champions on the club level.

Both teams remained quite anonymous to most observers – a novelty, somewhat.

The other big news of the season was the flock of foreign players going to England – it was so unusual, many still think England opened its market to foreigners in 1978. Apart from the mistake, there was harsh criticism of foreigners in England: for years they were mostly thought unfit for the English kind of football. Many failed, few managed to adapt. The transfers were even a bit curious to the outsiders: one could think that fresh champion of the world and individually one of the best players at the finals would move to bigger club than Birmingham City, a club largely struggling to maintain a place in first division… but it was there Tarantini went and was found… unsatisfying.

As a whole, a disturbing year without much flair.

Antoher year ends… what could be the most memorable moment of it? The World Cup finals… the fantastic goal of Gemmill against Holland… or the turning point for Argentina – the penalty saved by Fillol against Poland perhaps? Or the goals at the final, especially the winning one? Well, let’s chose something else:

Another goal scored by Argentina against Peru. The ‘fixed’ match… the ‘culprit’ in the middle: the Argentinian-born goalkeeper of Peru Ramon Quiroga. May be deliberately letting in one more goal… and Kempes, the hero of the championship and of the whole year , right in front. The truth shall be never known, the match remains suspect, the Argentine victory a bit tarnished, and so on. Controversy may be the word describing 1978 best…