First Division. Four teams competed for the title – which was good. None was exceptional – which is bad. And they were head and shoulders above the rest of the league – which was not good too.
Wisla (Krakow) was the outsider of the championship – last with 21 points. Why they went down so terribly is perhaps unimportant, but certainly was unexpected. Yes, Wisla lost its edge, went into decline, but relegation was not in the cards. Until it happened. And why? There were Polish champions and national team players in the squad. The most promising young player of the country was here – Iwan. What exactly was wrong?
Radomiak (Radom) – 15th with 25 points. Debutantes and especially accidental debutantes are not expected to last in new and strange environment – Radomiak belongs to this category and no surprise they went back to Second Division immediately. However, they lost only on goal-difference and unlike Wisla tried hard to survive.
Slask (Wroclaw) escaped relegation thanks to better goal-difference, taking 14th place. Quite telling – modest and unassuming Radomiak was the company of successful in the recent past Wisla and Slask.
Lechia (Gdansk), the surprise Cup winners in 1983, were truly invigorated by the success – they not only won promotion to First Division, but managed to stay in it. True, the team seemingly was running on enthusiasm – they were 12th with 26 points. If they finished with 25 points… they would be relegated, having worse goal-difference than Radomiak. So, it was well done for the moment, but the team was running out of steam.
Motor (Lublin) – 9th with 27 points. Modest club, which had no pretensions for more than keeping place in the top division. This they did, but with constant fretting – avoiding relegation was their whole concern. Amazingly, the league’s top scorer Iwanicki played for them. Kalinowski faded long time ago, yet, he was the only player in the team with some fame – having been reserve goalkeeper of the great Polish squad at the 1974 World Cup. His reserve, Karwat, also became fairly well known player, but much later – presently, he was too young for anything.
Gornik (Walbrzych) – it all depends on standpoint: from a general point of view, nothing special about this squad. But from a local and historic point of view – one of the best seasons of the club, usually playing second division football. 8th with 29 points. They were the team with most ties this season – 13.
Ruch (Chorzow) was 7th with 29 points and ahead of Walbrzych only on better goal-difference. Nothing to be proud with – from a leading club, they dropped to rubbing shoulders with modest teams, more familiar with Second Division.
Zaglebie (Sosnowiec) – 5th with 31 points. Well done for typically modest club. Then again… Zaglebie, remaining pretty much the same as ever playing stronger than Ruch. Occasional club’s decline is one thing; modest and not improving clubs performing better than traditional powerhouses is something else.
Lech (Poznan). A different category all together – Lech, in good form, lost the race for the title, ending 4th with 38 points. Well, that was 7 points than the 5th, Zaglebie, had. This was good period for the club, so nothing surprising. Yet, how good is good? Some strong players, true, but nobody of outstanding ability. Perhaps a sturdy squad, but no more than that.
Widzew (Lodz) was 3rd with 39 points. Keeping strong somewhat against the odds, but with a question mark – how long they will be among the best? There stars were going abroad one after another.
Legia (Warszawa) – 2nd with 41 points. This was coming back of sorts – Legia was able to stay among the top Polish clubs all the time, but not always was a real factor. Now they were a title contender again , losing the title by the single point. Even so, it was not a very promising squad.
Legia was bested by true comeback – Gornik (Zabrze). Tough, even dramatic, victory – after 16 wins, 10 ties, and 4 losses, Gornik had 42 points. They would have been champions even if ending with 41 points, having superior goal-difference than Legia: 38-16 to 36-19. Should have been memorable victory – their first since 1972, making the total to 11 Polish titles. Yet, it looks like just a joyous moment, than something of historic importance – perhaps because of the squad, which, no matter what, is not of the class of the one of the late 1960s. It took more than one title to notice the players and in fairness this victory could be described only briefly: it was very young team, not matured yet, and because of that all credit should go to the coach. The coach was one of the key players of the already mentioned squad of the golden years: Hubert Kostka. The former national team goalkeeper was perhaps more ambitious than anything else, for he does not count among the greatest Polish trainers, but he succeeded. Then again… it may have been just a case of getting advantage of general weaknesses and shortcomings this year. Having a young squad was important asset for the future, though.