Poland. The season can be described with two words: low scoring. Permanent characteristic of Polish football, which may be strange to people familiar with Lubanski, Gadocha, Lato, Szarmach, Deyna, Boniek, and Smolarek. Not single team in the top Polish leagues managed 2 goals per game average. Gwardia (Warszawa) – 2nd in the Group 1 of Second Division scored most goals – 56. Odra (Wodzislaw) – 4th in the same group was second best with 46 goals. Only 3 other teams managed 40 or more goals – Lech (Poznan, 4th in First Division), Zawisza (Bydgoszcz, 4th in Group 1, Second Division), and Igloopol (Debica, 2nd in Group 2, Second Division). The champions of the country scored only 38 goals in 30 games – which was the second best record in First Division. May be defensive tactics dominated Polish football? Unlikely, for, with few exceptions, the teams allowed pretty much as many goal as they scored and only 6 teams finished the season with positive goal-difference in the First Division. Simply, there were no scorers. Add to it that all good and near-good players were eager to get foreign contracts as soon as they can. Polish football was rather poor show and many a club was already in trouble. Old and once respected clubs were down – Polonia (Warszawa) and Cracovia (Krakow) ended at the bottom of Second Division’s Group 2 and were relegated down to Third Division. Polonia (Bytom) was 10th in the same group. Hutnik (Krakow) was 3rd. In Group 1 Szombierki (Bytom), country cahmapions just a few years ago, was trying to return to top flight, but unsuccessfully – they were 3rd. Gwardia (Warszawa) managed only 2nd place in the same group. True, the group winners were both former first division members, but one of them was Stal (Mielec) – the powerful and successful club in the 1970s, which gave to the world Lato, Szarmach, and more. Down in First Division was another recent champion – Slask (Wroclaw). So was Ruch (Chorzow). And last and relegated was perhaps the most stable club in Polish history – Wisla (Krakow). Amaingly, the national team was still going strong – but it was a squad depending mostly on foreign-based stars. With the clock ticking, the future was quite gloomy – Boniek and company were aging and they had no replacements. The topscorer of the championship Leszek Iwanicki (Motor Lublin) had 14 goals.
Unmemorable season…
Zaglebie (Lubin) won Group 1 of Second Division and, thus, promotion. Of course, they did their best against equally tough – or similarly shaky – opposition and prevailed over Gwardia (Warszawa) and Szombierki (Bytom), but 40 points after 30 games was not suggestive of strong, up and coming, team.
Stal (Mielec) mirrored Zaglebie in Group 2 – also 40 points, also coming barely ahead of two pursuers, Igloopol (Debica) and Huthik (Krakow), and also promising little. This may or may not be a photo of Stal 1984-85 and precision is not even important – it was not a team attracting interest.
Perhaps the only team showing progress and a promise for the future was Igloopol – they came out of the blue and wanted to do better. How soon… nobody could tell.