The first phase of first division practically determined only the clubs proceeding to fight for the title and those trying to avoid relegation. The final positions of the first stage hardly suggest the real final standings – one can expect those finishing bellow 4th place in the first stage to just go through the motions in the second phase and those, who were originally 9th and 10th to be too strong for the relegation group. But it was still very risky prediction, since only the top three clubs carried bonus points to the final stage and only the three lowest clubs started the relegation phase with penalty points. General equality not only rendered the first stage practically meaningless, but also made predictions pointless. Yet, it was expected the big clubs – Alianza, Universitario, Sporting Cristal – to compete for the title. Two clubs were out of the important race – Sport Boys (Callao) and Deportivo Municipal (Lima) finished 10th and 11th , so they went to the relegation group. But all that was only general guessing, based largely on tradition. What must be pointed out is the positions of some clubs in the first stage: Atletico Chalaco (Callao) finished 7th with 31 points – 10 less than the winner of the stage. They managed to tie exactly half of their matches – 15. Certainly not a team able to look for more than lucky escape from relegation zone. Leon (Huanaco), little known club, finished 9th with 30 points and went to relegation zone only because of worse goal-difference than Deportivo Junin (Huancayo). Leon won 12 matches – more than any other club of the lower half of the table, so it was safe to expect them having easy sailing in the relegation group. 15th was Juventud La Palma (Huacho) – without much top league experience and starting the final stage with minus 2 points, they were the most obvious candidate for relegation. Atletico Torino (Talara) was 14th, thus, going to the relegation phase with minus 1 point, and last was Melgar F.B.C. (Arequipa), going to the last stage with minus 3 points. Melgar F.B.C. Were really weak this year – usually they were well placed in the league, so their performance indicated big disaster coming. Well, at least it looked so.
At the top Alianza finished 4th with 33 points. No bonus point for them, but they were usual favourites and could be that they were really saving strength for the really important stage. Sporting Cristal finished 3rd with 35 points – they got 1 bonus point, yet, like Alianza, most likely saved energy for the final stage. Juan Aurich (Chiclayo) finished 2nd with 38 points – the only team seemingly trying to challenge the winners of the first stage. Normally, a club playing in the upper half of the league, but not a real contender. They got 2 bonus points. The winners were familiar: Univeristario de Deportes (Lima).
Universitario were practically the only candidates for the first place – they won it with 3 points more than Juan Aurich, the best defense in the league and the second-best attack. They were also the only club with more the 50% wins in the first stage – 16. For all their efforts, they got 3 bonus points.
Well, nothing really strange – it looked like the battle for the title will be between Universitario, Alianze, and Sporting Cristal, with Universitario having slight advantage of 3 points. They could be all decisive, for Alianza and Sporting Cristal had more famous names in their squads.
The relegation group produced a surprise: Melgar F.B.C. suddenly got fighting spirit and overcome their 3 points starting deficit. They 6 matches, tied 4, and lost 4, finishing with second-best record in the relegation group. With 3 points deducted, they still finished 3rd – 11th in the all-league final table – and safe. Leon (Huanuco) went the opposite direction – after their strong first stage they were expected to avoid relegation rather easily. Leon won 6 matches in the final stage – which was second-best number in the group. But they lost all other games and with 12 points they shared the worst record with CNI (Iquitos). Still, Leon were last for having the worst goal-difference. Juventud La Palma finished just a place above Leon, overcoming 2 points starting deficit. Such big drop of form… it is hard to explain what happened to Leon – nobody expected miracles from them, but they had strong first phase. Did they misjudged the situation and invested all their strength in the first stage? They missed complete safety on goal-difference – it may have been a strategy of the club, ending unlucky. It was not the end of troubles for Leon…
At the top of the relegation group finished expected clubs:
Sport Boys (Callao) were too weak for the upper half of the league, but still too strong for the lower half. They won the relegation group with 17 points, outscoring the other teams by far.
Coronel Bolognesi (Tacna) finished 2nd – thanks to deficit of 3 points Melgar F.B.C. started with. Standing from left: Hector Revoredo, Juan Ayala, Jose Zevallos, Gerardo Baigorra, Luis Advincula, Oscar Vega.
First row: Jorge Zegarra, Oscar Herrera, Victorino Vicente, Jose Carranza, Juan Tardio.
For a club with checkered history, having a squad without recognizable players is expected, but they achieved their goal – to remain in the first division.
And so did Atletico Torino (Talara) – they finished 4th in the group.
There is a little mystery about this photo, taken by local photo-studio ‘William’ – if it is from 1979, then the inserted text is wrong. On the other hand, it may be dated wrongly. But the boys preserved a place in first division and that was all that mattered in 1979.
Deportivo Municipal struggled to the end. Now, that is a club expected to run for the title, but this was a lean year and relegation was more than mere threat. 13 points was all they got in the relegation group, which was a point more than the worst. Safe at last…
Standing, from left: Víctor Corbacho, Roberto “Titín” Drago, Duilio Poggi, Julio Caycho, Raúl Obando, Humberto Horacio Ballesteros.
Crouching: Julio Argote, Adehmir Arroé, Franco Navarro, Raúl Gorriti, Roberto Zevallos.
Well, the squad tells the story – for whatever reason, Deportivo Municipal had no big names. Lucky to escape relegation.
Which was not decided with the end of regular second stage. Three clubs finished with 12 points. Goal-difference was waved and the bottom three were directed to relegation play-off – a mini round-robin tournament. Colegio Nacional (Iquitos) – usually written CNI, Juventud La Palma (Huacho), and Leon (Huanaco). Tough life to the end… finally CNI gathered enough strength and determination and won their both matches.
Survivors, standing from left: Rufino Bernales, Pedro Cajo, Bernaola, Vargas, Lizandro Navarro, Manuel Toyco.
First row: Martín Gago, Andrés Zegarra, Almonte, Juan Rubianes, Henry Perales.
So, relegation was decided in the direct match between Leon and Juventud La Palma. Leon lost… what a failure: from almost going to play in the championship group to plummeting down to second level football.
What a sad story were the Lions in 1979. Instead of fighting for the title – relegated.