Second Division Sodra.
Karlskrona AIF – last with 21 points and relegated.
Mjallby AIF – 13th with 28 points and relegated.
Landskrona BoIS – 12th with 29 points.
Gunnilse IS (Angered) – 11th with 29 points.
IF Elfsborg (Boras) – 10th with 30 points.
Markaryds IF – 9th with 31 points.
Kalmar FF – 8th with 32 points.
IK Oddevold (Uddevalla) – 7th with 33 points.
Kalmar AIK – 6th with 36 points.
Jonsereds IF – 5th with 38 points.
Trelleborgs FF – 4th with 42 points.
Vastra Frolunda IF – 3rd with 49 points.
Helsingborgs IF – 2nd with 50 points. Lost the battle for top place by a points, but had the best defense in the whole Second Division: they permitted only 19 goals.
BK Hacken (Goteborg) – clinched the top position with 51 points from 14 wins, 9 ties, and 3 losses. 52-23 goal-difference. Alas, they lost the promotion play-off against GIF Sundsvall 1-0 and 1-4 and were not promoted to the top league. They were so close to success this season – twice – and no luck.
Tyreso FF – last with 7 points and relegated. They won just 1 match this season and allowed 78 goals in their net during 26 games.
IFK Holmsund – 13th with 12 points and relegated. But their troubles were much bigger: the club folded because of financial reason and therefore not going to play in Third Division next season.
IFK Eskilstuna – 12th with 28 points.
Vasby IK FK (Upplands-Vasby) – 11th with 32 points.
Motala AIF – 10th with 34 points.
BK Forward (Orebro) – 9th with 35 points.
Gefle IF (Gavle) – 8th with 38 points.
IFK Lulea – 7th with 38 points.
Kiruna FF – 6th with 38 points.
Vasteras SK – 5th with 41 points.
Sparvagens GoIF (Stockholm) – 4th with 45 points.
IF Brommapojkarna (Bromma) – 3rd with 49 points.
Vasalunds IF (Solna) – 2nd with 49 points.
GIF Sundsvall – group winners with 61 points after 19 wins, 4 ties, and 3 losses. Scored 69 goals, permitted in their net 27. Without challengers this season, but it was not over: they went to promotion play-off against the winner of the other group and lost the first leg 0-1. At home, they destroyed BK Hacken 4-1 and were happily promoted to the top league. Much deserved promotion too.
Too bad the underdog lost the final – Oldham really had great performance in the Cups: semi-finalists in the FA Cup, finalists in the League Cup. Nothing top be ashamed of, but it would have been wonderful if they won the trophy. At the end, there was a player going to win trophies, but not with Oldham – Denis Irwin.
Nottingham Forest won their 4th League Cup. Great, considering that Forest remained a small club – Brian Clough somehow maintained strong and competitive squad and success was deserved And also needed for the trophy room. However, there was a bit of irritation: Cough himself built a culture of easy excuse early in the 80s, when he said that his team won everything already and there was nothing to fight for anymore. Add to this the objective excuse, that Forest was small club with little cash – what can you expect, they already did miracles just staying along with the big rich clubs. But such attitude very likely stifled ambition: the squad was more than solid and capable of more than winning occasional Cup.
One can imagine the sorrow of Crystal Palace – so close and no luck. Would have been great for them to win, for real success hardly ever came to them, but… they only came close to success.
Difficult victory to be celebrated even more because of the dramatic way it came, but… Statistically, Manchester United won its 7th Cup. They finished with a trophy in their hands. But it was not exactly cups Manchester United considered big success – the championship title was out of their reach for so long and the team had disappointing season in the bottom half the league table. And that with – arguably – a squad almost strong as Liverpool’s. The FA Cup was consolation, perhaps saving the head of Alex Ferguson, but he knew that the only good think about winning the Cup was saving heads, saving the season and boosting moral. However, there was something very important in this victory: UEFA was carefully going to permit English clubs back in the European competitions. Liverpool and Nottingham Forest still had their own bans and could not play, but Manchester United had clean sheet and was permitted. This victory opened the road to Europe, making the next season crucial: now there was big chance, a big aim, a reason to get worthy new players, to boost ambitions. Suddenly, the Cup victory had much bigger significance than saving face and adding one more trophy.
The Red Devils practically had the squad capable of more. Now they also had a big aim ahead of them. The glory days were coming and that mostly thanks to this victory.
Millwall – the outsider this season, winning only 5 matches. Bright young Teddy Sheringham and aging Tony Cascarino was all they had… Last and relegated with 26 points.
Charlton Atheltic – 19th with 30 points. Better than Millwall, but also a weak outsider – the squad tells it all… Relegated.
Sheffield Wedenesday – 18th with 43 points and relegated. Unlucky to be relegated only on 2-goals worse goal-difference, but… something wrong happened to them, which had nothing to do with luck – only ‘yesterday’ Wednesday was bright, promising team going up and expected to go even higher. What clipped their wings? Ron Atkinson?
Luton Town – 17th with 43 points. Lucky survivors on 2-goals better goal-difference than Sheffield Wednesday. Well, nothing more than that was expected from modest Luton.
Derby County – 16th with 46 points. Escaped relegation and that was the most expected from them Peter Shilton, still the number one goalkeeper of England, was the big name – the only big name. What a difference time makes… once upon a time Roy McFarland and Shilton played together for England, but in that time Derby County, with McFarland in defense, Derby was winning titles. Now, with Shilton (who was playing for solid and competitive, yet not winning teams back in the 1970s) avoiding Second Division was the best hope for the team.
Crystal Palace – 15th with 48 points. The usual… however, with squad like that, they managed quite well this season.
Manchester City – 14th with 48 points. Perhaps the only bright thing about them was that they finished with the same points Manchester United earned. Looked like Manchester City settled in mediocrity for ever.
Manchester United – 13th with 48 points. Ahead of bitter rivals Manchester City only on goal-difference, but even that was negative: United finished with -1. Seemingly, there was no way out even with ambitious and able manager like Ferguson… once again United had strong squad which did nothing. Less than nothing… One can easily go back almost year after year seeing the same – strong on paper squad, which underperformed terribly. However… this time may have been slightly different.
Coventry City – 12th with 49 points. Hardly ever noticed, but what amazing story Coventry was: never strong, yet, always sturdy enough to stay away from trouble. Other clubs, great clubs, went down and were relegated, some unable to recover for years; Coventry remained. Year after year, no matter the fate of others, they stayed – in the lower half of the table, but rarely in real danger of relegation.
Queens Park Rangers – 11th with 50 points. The never ending ups and downs of QPR… Now, it was up – at least on paper. With Trevor Frances as playing manager and Don Howe as his assistant and Kenny Sansom, Peter Reid, Mark Falco, David Seaman, Leslie Ferdinand… this team should have been in better position in the league. Instead, it was so-so season.
Norwich City – 10th with 53 points. Given the squad, Norwich should have been desperately fighting for survival – but sometimes one can do more with less: the boys played better than ‘promising’ QPR, not to mention studded with stars Manchester United.
Nottingham Forest – 9th with 54 points. Maintained respectful, if not strong performance.
Wimbledon – 8th with 55 points. The spirit of the team cannot be denied – and perhaps thanks to it, Wimbledon was overachieving.
Southampton – 7th with 55 points. As usual, they had veterans – Osman and Case – but also younger talent this time: Shearer, Le Tissier, and Flowers.
Everton – 6th with 59 points. Running strong still, but looked like the club fell in its own trap of lamenting imagined possibilities – this squad should have played bigger role. Even with unfortunate Norman Whiteside.
Chelsea – 5th with 60 points. Apparently, the terrible years were over and the club was stable again – and ambitious, as result. Did not have really strong team, though, and at least for the moment was close to Wimbledon: overachievers.
Arsenal – 4th with 62 points. George Graham was the right man and he built strong squad – hence, the good results. But there was still need for reinforcements.
Tottenham Hotspur – 3rd with 63 points. An illusionary season: the Spurs clinched bronze medals, although they were not up to compete for more. Yet, it was a squad capable of more – on paper. Just look at the wealth of this team: Lineker and Gascoigne together is enough of an example. And that was the illusion.
Aston Villa – 2nd with 70 points. Challenging Liverpool was not up to them, but they were much stronger than the rest of the league and finished 7 points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur. A come back? Nigel Spink was the only link to the team which won the European Champions Cup, providing inspiration for current talent like Paul McGrath and David Platt. Well, not enough for true comeback.
Familiar and irritating: Liverpool dominated the championship again, collecting easily one more title – after 23 wins, 10 ties, 5 losses, and 78-37 scoring record, they finished with 79 points – 7 points ahead of Aston Villa and 14 points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur. Can’t deny the talent of the squad, can’t deny the talent of Dalglish, can’t deny the wise policies and ambition of the club. The only problem was boredom – year after years it was just Liverpool. And another problem was lurking bellow the surface: was this vintage truly strong compared to the top European clubs? Without playing in the European competitions there was no way to know and may be without noticing the club already took wrong direction in selecting new players. But who can blame dominant champions? This was their 18th title!
Stoke City – last with 37 points and relegated.
Bradford City – 23rd with 41 points and relegated.
Bournemouth – 22nd with 48 points and relegated.
Middlesbrough – 21st with 50 points. Survived.
West Bromwich Albion – 20th with 51 points.
Barnsley – 19th with 54 points.
Brighton & Hove Albion – 18th with 54 points.
Oxford United – 17th with 54 points.
Plymouth Argyle – 16th with 55 points.
Watford – 15th with 57 points.
Hull City – 14th with 58 points.
Leicester City – 13th with 59 points.
Portsmouth – 12th with 61 points.
Port Vale – 11th with 61 points.
Wolverhamton Wanderers – 10th with 67 points.
Ipswich Town – 9th with 69 points.
Oldham Athletic – 8th with 71 points. Great season they had, although unable to win anything.
West Ham United – 7th with 72 points. Missed promotion play-offs by 2 points, but they were not the team they used to be in the 1960s and half of the 1970s, although having some well known players – Liam Brady and Phil Parkes, for instance. And bright young talent – Paul Ince.
Sunderland – called them lucky. They finished 6th with 74 points and thus qualified to promotion play-offs. In the first round they eliminated Newcastle United 0-0 and 2-0, but lost the decisive final against Swindon Town 0-1. But then Swindon Town was found guilty of 36 breaches of rules and punished. Sunderland was promoted to top flight in their place – well, it is not everyday the loser actually wins.
Blackburn Rovers – 5th with 74 points. Qualified to promotion play-offs, but lost in the first round to Swindon Town 1-2 ans 1-2. Obviously, an ascending club, but still nobody was able to envision what will happened in the very near future.
Swindon Town – 4th with 74 points. They qualified and won the promotion play-offs – eliminated Blackburn Rovers 2-1 and 2-1 at first and then prevailed over Sunderland at the fianl 1-0. Going up, a rare and, therefore, great success… but there was no going up. Found guilty of long list of breaches of rules, almost entirely related to payments, they were punished with staying in the Second Division. One can be sorry for Ossie Ardiles, who coached them.
Newcastle United – 3rd with 80 points. Under the old rules, they would have been promoted, but now the battle was not finished. Well, it was finished after the first round of promotion play-offs in which Newcastle, the highest scoring team (along with West Ham United) during the season was unable to score even once. They lost to Sunderland 0-0 and 0-2. Really, Newcastle had only themselves to blame: stronger than most of the league and finishing 6 points ahead of Swindon Town, they were unable to keep their strength when really mattered. Too bad.
Sheffield United lost – they ended 2nd with 85 points. 24 wins, 13 ties, 9 losses, 78-58 scoring record, which gave them +20 goal-difference – worse than the goal-difference of their rivals. Lost the Second Division title, but got promoted to the top league, which was much more important – especially because their city rivals were relegated in the same time.
Leeds United clinched the title on better goal-difference – otherwise, the records of them and Sheffield United were almost the same: 24 wins, 13 ties, 9 losses, 85 points, 79-52 scoring record. Not only the rivals had the same record of wins, ties, and lost matches, but they scored practically the same number of goals – Leeds scored only 1 goal more than Sheffield United, so the difference depended on received goals – and here Leeds was better, giving them +27 goal-difference to Sheffield’s +20. Dramatic victory, somewhat amusingly pronounced by the adds on their shirts – ‘Top man’ indeed.
Great moment, of course – the club was finally climbing back to First Division. As for glory… the old days when Leeds was one the best teams not just in England, but in Europe, were not envisioned: yes, the squad had talent, but a great team it was not – rather, a squad in promising rebuilding and that only if the process was continued: Gordon Strachan, Imre Varadi (Hungary), Mervyn Day, Gary Speed, John Hendrie, Vinnie Jones… not bad, but not exactly great. Rather, a solid backbone in need of additional good players and that only if keeping the backbone intact and in form. To stay in First Division, Leeds United seemingly needed more good players – and that to stay, not to win. However, the moment of victory was wonderful: only a year or two ago it looked like the club and even its fans were resigned to mid-table Second Division existence for good.
Walsall – last with 41 points and out.
Blackpool – 23rd with 46 points and relegated.
Northampton Town – 22nd with 47 points and relegated.
Cardiff City – 21st with 50 points and relegated.
Fulham – 20th with 51 points.
Preston North End – 19th with 52 points.
Wigan Athletic – 18th with 53 points.
Swansea City – 17th with 54 points.
Chester City – 16th with 54 points.
Mansfield Town – 15th with 55 points.
Brentford – 13th with 61 points.
Shrewsbury Town – 11th with 63 points.
Reading – 10th with 64 points.
Rotherham United – 9th with 64 points.
Huddersfield Town – 8th with 65 points. Back: Mulhall (trainer), Shelton, Trevitt, O’Doherty, Cecere, Hardwick, Onuora, Leake, Mitchell, Duggan, Byrne, May, Bray, Williams (physio).
Bolton Wanderers – 6th with 69 points. Qualified to promotion play-offs, but was eliminated by Notts County 1-1 and 0-2.
Bury – 5th with 74 points and qualified to promotion play-offs. Eliminated in the first round by Tranmere Rovers 0-0 and 0-2.
Tranmere Rovers – 4th with 80 points. They reached the final of promotion play-offs after eliminating Bury, but at Wembley lost to superior Notts County 0-2 and remained in the league.
Strong season for Notts County, but they finished 3rd with 87 points and did not achieve direct promotion. However, they won the promotion play-offs – first eliminated Bolton Wanderers and after that – Tranmere Rovers.
Bristol City lost the battle by 2 points and finished 2nd. 27 wins (one more than Rovers), 10 ties, but 9 losses (4 more than their rivals). Scored more goals than Rovers – 76 – but also allowed more in their own net – 40. Yet, both teams ended with the same goal-difference: +36. City lost the championship, but was promoted to Second Division, so nothing was really lost and the battle will continue next season in the higher league.
Bristol Rovers enjoyed dramatic victory over their city rivals by 2 points: they finished with 93 and won the championship. 26 wins, 15 ties, only 5 lost games, 71-35 scoring record.
The sweetest of victories, for they snatched the title from their city rivals. Promoted up, of course, and naturally wanting to do better than City again – but that remains to be seen. Champions at the moment and enjoying it.
Halifax Town – 23rd with 49 points.
Aldershot – 22nd with 50 points.
Doncaster Rovers – 20th with 51 points.
Scarborough – 18th with 55 points.
Hereford United – 17th with 55 points.
Burnley – 16th with 56 points.
Torquay United – 15th with 57 points.
Gillingham – 14th with 62 points.
York City – 13th with 64 points.
Rochdale – 12th with 66 points.
Scunthorpe United – 11th with 66 points.
Lincoln City – 10th with 68 points.
Peterborough United – 9th with 68 points.
Carlisle United – 8th with 71 points. Missed promotion play-offs on worse goal-difference.
Chesterfield – 7th with 71 points. Quilified to promotion play-offs on better goal-difference than Carlisle United, but lost 0-1 to Cambridge there and remained in the league.
Cambridge United – 6th with 73 points and qualified to promotion play-offs. Did not do so well in the regular championship, but excelled in the play-offs: first they eliminated Maidstone United 1-1 and 2-0 and then, on Wembley, prevailed over Chesterfield 1-0 and were promoted to Third Division.
Maidstone United – 5th with 73 points. Great season for the newcomers – they reached promotion play-offs, had a chance to climb even higher in the professional League football. Alas, Cambridge eliminated them in the first play-off round. Still, it was great season for the club.
Southend United – 3rd with 75 points and promoted to Third Division.
Grimsby Town – 2nd with 79 points and promoted to Third Division.
Exeter City had a great season – 28 wins, 5 ties, 13 losses, 83-48 scoring record and 89 points: they finished 10 points ahead of Grimsby.
Confident champions if only of Forth Division. Of course, promoted up and hoping for better there.
Altrincham.
Colne Dynamoes.
Darlington won the championship and went up to the professional system. They were just relegated in 1988-89, so climbing back right away.
Racing lost the final and with that any chance to avoid destruction. Too bad… No point to evaluate the team – most of it was not going to play for Racing the next season.
Grand victory for Montpellier, immediately opening new vistas – it was not just winning a trophy at last, but going to play in the Cup Winners Cup tournament practically demanded the team to be reinforced, somehow to get more players with names, as it was ‘proper’ for a club with fresh trophy. They had a few well respected players, including Brazilian national team defender Julio Cesar, but Valderama, who played in the previous and the next season was missing. Instead, Eric Cantona was here for for a little while. Montpellier enjoyed big victory, a trophy, the boys became instant legends.
Here are the winners again – standing from left: Jean-Claude Lemoult, Franck Lucchesi, William Ayache, Daniel Xuereb, Albert Rust, Pascal Baills.
Mulhouse – last and relegated with 28 points. Expected, to a point.
Racing (Paris) – 19th with 30 points. It was not that much a weak squad, nor it was incapable coach – Racing was not all that bad, even reached the Cup final, but money dried up again and the project to restore once upon a time strong and well respected club failed. Perhaps Paris was indifferent to the club, prefering Paris SG. And Racing was relegated, but not to Second Division – they were relegated to third level, which clearly suggested great financial troubles, perhaps at the brink of bankruptcy. What a bitter story.
OGC Nice – lost their leading role in French football many years ago and now preoccupied only with survival. 18th with 31 points – direct relegation was avoided, but they had to go to promotion/relegation against Strasbourg – luckily, they prevailed and remained in the top league.
Lille OSC – 17th with 33 points.
Caen – 16th with 34 points. Not bad for a modest club – survival was all they hoped for. A well-known in the past English striker was with them – Rix, getting old and certainly not good enough for Arsenal anymore.
St. Etienne – 15th with 34 points. No miracles… the return of Herve Herbin at the helm was helping only to keep place in the top league. Dutch star Witschge was here, but the team was generally weak – nothing in common with the great squad Herbin marshaled to glory in the 1970s. Decline was seemingly unstoppable.
FC Metz – 14th with 34 points.
Montpellier-Herault SC – 13th with 34 points. Nothing special, as usual, yet, this season happened to be their best ever. A few strong players were instrumental: young Cantona and Blanc plus grizzled veterans Rust, Xuereb, Der Zakarian and Brazilian star Julio Cesar. Coached by well-known Jacquet. Enough for success in Cup format, but not for a whole long season.
Toulon – 12th with 35 points. Presently, their coach Delio Onnis was the biggest name. There was some talent in the squad, but still too young.
AS Cannes – 11th with 36 points. Still strangers to top-league football and perhaps not caring for more or better: Cannes had its Film Festival and all movie stars, who cares about football?
FC Brest Armorique – 10th with 38 points. Modest club with sturdy attitude.
Toulouse – 9th with 38 points. Soviet defender Vagiz Khidiatoulin was the bigger name in the team, which achieved curious record: from 38 games, they had 13 wins, 12 ties, 13 losses, 39-39 goal-difference, and 38 points.
Olympique Lyon – 8th with 39 points. Trying hard to climb back from the decline, but not having yet significant squad.
Nantes – 7th with 40 points. Apparently, trying to rebuild, but new team was not ready yet. The Yugoslav already well respected coach Blazevic had a mix of well known, but aging player – Burruchaga (Argentina), Vercauteren (Belgium), Amisse (France); current French national team regulars – Le Guen and Ouedec, and talented youngsters, who became famous eventually, but at the moment were too young – Deschamps, Henry, Kombouare.
AJ Auxerre – 6th with 41 points. The magic of Guy Roux was already established as something constant and self-evident: Auxerrre was keeping highly competitive squad no matter who was moving to play elsewhere. And the Polish connection was maintained – Matysik. That was the secret for their success: Guy Roux and Polish imports.
Paris Saint-Germain – 5th with 42 points. True to its own tradition: strong, but not strong enough to be really a decisive factor, expensive team full of aging stars, coached by big name. Tomislav Ivic had his Yugoslav compatriots Susic and Vujovic, the Argentine Calderon, Bats, Bravo, Bibard, Le Roux… and was entirely out of the battle for the title.
FC Sochaux-Montbeliard – 4th with 43 points. Compared to Paris SG, Sochaux was… insignificant. Silvester Takac was good coach, but not at the level of fellow Yugoslav Ivic and he had only 2 famed players, from Yugoslavia as well: Bazdarevic and Hadzibegic. They were also a notch bellow Paris SG’s Susic and Vujovic. Yet, Sochaux finished ahead of expensive Paris SG.
AS Monaco – 3rd with 46 points. Keeping strong in their own peculiar way – not a title contenders, but got the bronze medals. Poor scorers (38 goals in 38 games), good defenders, masters of the tie (16 matches. Sure, Wenger was making his name rapidly, but Monaco was keeping only decent squad. Ettori and English stars Hoddle and Hateley were aging, but there was group of talented youngsters – Thuram, Weah, Toure. If Monaco was able – or willing – to keep them… but that was about the future.
Girondens de Bordeaux – 2nd with 51 points. Only a year ago it looked like the strong years of Bordeaux ended, but they were back. They fought for the title, the only rival of Marseille this season, but lost it – no big deal, on the surface, but a deeper look suggests that Bordeaux was on dangerous path: to stay competitive, the club was doing patchwork – getting old players for year or two instead of building a new team. Battiston was bought before the start of the season from Monaco. Both goalkeepers were veterans well over 30-years – Dropsy and Cameroonian Bell. The West German defender Manfred Kaltz. Ayache, Thouvenel, Ferreri… All of them were yesterday’s news, close to retirement. The only player for the future was Lizarazu. From this perspective, too bad Bordeaux lost the title – for it was almost certain that they were not going to be in race the next year and beyond.
Olympique Marseille prevailed over Bordeaux and won the championship with 53 points from 22 wins, 9 ties, and 7 losses. 75-34 goal-difference – attack was their main quality, scoring plenty of goals and no surprise in it, for they were captained by wonderful goalscorer at his prime – Papin. An ambitious project, based on money, and aiming at elevating Marseille to the top of not only French, but European football. And since money was not a problem – buying classy players was the answer for whatever problems emerged. If Bordeaux chose to buy old players to patch the moment, Marseille had already strong mix of old and young, foreign and domestic. Amoros was added for this season, but he, Tigana and Vercruysse were mostly for the moment – strong, famed, reliable veterans, helping those at their peak – Papin, the Brazilian national team regular Carlos Mozer, English Chris Waddle, Francescoli (Uruguay), K-H Foerster (West Germany) And along with them – young and already more than noticed Franck Sauzee, Alain Roche, Gaetan Huard, Di Meco. Second title in a row and 7th altogether for Marseille. With big promise for more.
Sitting from left: Belly (?) – masseur, Tigana, Deschamps, Diallo, Thys, Papin, Amoros, Dr. Duby – doctor.