First Division played its 3-staged championship – it did not really matter how many members the top league had, for they were divided into 3 groups in the first stage. The top 3 teams of the Northern and Southern groups and the first 4 of the Metropolitan group moved to the semi-final stage and the rest – to the relegation group. No points were carried over to the next stage, so what only matters was qualification. Winners were more or less only for the record: Juan Aurich won the Northern group, Coronel Bolognesi – the Southern, and Sporting Cristal – the Metropolitan. At the end, the first stage may be meant most to Coronel Bolognesi – a club rarely winning.
Coronel Bolognesi (Tacna). Standing from left: Oscar Vera, Alberto Sánchez, Reynaldo Bernaola, Carlos “Tito” Reyna, José Zevallos, NN.
First row: NN, Wilmar Valencia, Victorino Vicente, José “Camote” Vásquez, Roberto “Crítico” Zevallos.
The big losers were the Callao clubs – since they played in the toughest Metropolitan group, were they really weak or not hardly mattered: the big Lima clubs were there and life was tough. Atletico Chalaco and Sport Boys finished at the bottom.
Atletico Chalaco finished ahead of local rivals Sport Boys – as if this was any consolation. The rivals were to meet again – in the relegation group. Standing from left: Chicho Espinoza, Augusto Prado, NN, NN, Javier Chirinos, Alejandro Pozú.
First row: NN, Alberto Castillo, Oswaldo Flores, Alberto Eugenio, Aldo Dueñas.
The semi-final stage was also a group tournament – the 10 qualified teams were divided into two groups and the top two of each moved to the final stage. Sporting Cristal was the big loser at this stage, finishing 4rd in Group A and thus eliminated.
Sporting Cristal 1982, standing from left: Miguel Gutierrez, Alfredo Quezada, Ruben Díaz, Felipe Uculmana, Cesar Gonzales, Ramón Quiroga.
First row: Humberto Rey Muñoz, Eloy Ortiz, Luis Reyna, Luis Flores, Juan Caballero.
Union Huaral was may be unlucky – they ended 3rd in the same Group A, but just a point short from qualification.
Union Huaral missing the finals by a point, but still 4 points ahead of the more famous squad of Sporting Cristal.
And the final round-robin tournament: three teams from Lima – Universitario, Alianza, and Deportivo Municipal and single provincial club – Juan Aurich. Unlike the previous stages, the opponents here played only once against each other, so every match was important and, in the same time, lethal.
Deportivo Municipal was the weakest at the end – 1 tie, 2 losses, 2-4 goal differences. Standing from left: Juan José Sato, Percy Maldonado, Enrique Mendoza, Santiago Ojeda, Reynaldo Costa, Rodolfo Gamarra.
Crouching: Ricardo Gonzáles, Julio Argote, Eduardo Malásquez, Jaime Drago, Ever Negrete.
Juan Aurich finished 3rd, but only because they scored one goal more than Deportivo Municipal – 1 tie, 2 losses, 3-5 goal-difference.
Juan Aurich – not bad to be 3rd. May be. Standing from left: Alberto Párraga, José Navarro, Ronald Tello, Lizandro Navarro, Cabrera, Rufino Bernales.
First row: Arnaldo Cadenillas, Alfredo Jáuregui, Percy Vílchez, Reynaldo Jaime, César Echeandía.
Alianza took the 2nd place, after winning 2 matches and losing 1. May be disappointed, but they qualified for Copa Libertadores, so the season was saved at least by that.
Universitario de Deportes was supreme when mattered most – 3 wins, 5-2 goal-difference.
Champions! Standing from left: Hugo Gastulo, Raúl García, Freddy Ternero, Germán Leguía, Samuel Eugenio, Eduardo Aguilar, Dr. Jorge Alva, Roberto Scarone – coach.
First row: Rodolfo Chávarry, Juan José Oré, Percy Rojas, José Cañamero, Eusebio Acazuso.
Universitario was just near enough to the top in the earlier stages – 3rd in the first one, and 2nd in the 2nd stage – but at the last one they were supreme. A fine season.
At the same time another battle took place – in the relegation group every team fought for survival. Or, at least to avoid relegation play-off. Not much of a battle, actually: Deportivo Junin (Huancayo) was much weaker than the rest and finished at the dreaded last place with 3 points. Alfonso Ugarte (Puno) was 5th, just above Deportivo Junin, but with 9 points. But Deportivo Junin survived, winning the play-off – and seized to exist. At least as a name – it was changed to Huancayo FC for 1983 season.
One more look at the champions – the pale sand-colour jerseys of Universitario confusing the lenses and looking white. 16th title – but their first since 1974. Thanks to their Uruguayan coach Roberto Scarone too.
A famous player once upon a time, he was perhaps more famous as a coach – for he was at the helm of Penarol (Montevideo) when they won Copa Libertadores in 1960 and 1961 and the Intercontinental Cup in 1961. He did not coach after 1975, but came back in 1982 and finished his coaching career honourably – as a champion. Wise choice of Universitario – Scarone coached them when they won their last title in 1974 too. The magic was still there – Scarone returned them on the path of success after the lean years.