Perhaps the new configuration of Portuguese football was established during this season – instead of Lisbon’s derby Benfica vs Sporting, Benfica vs FC Porto. Sporting slipped permanently to third ranking club, Belenenses already settled into mid-table obscurity. The country remained dominated by two clubs… not a big change really: just one of the protagonists changed. Business as usual otherwise – the best players were not that many to support truly competitive league. At the bottom the outsiders were clear during the whole season and nobody else was troubles.
Last and 18th ended CAF Viseu.
Apart from their entirely black kit, almost entirely reserved to Portuguese teams unusual colour before 1990s, the team distinguished itself with trivia: Mysterious name, alternatively written either CAF or Academico to confuse foreigners, and their perfect away record: 15 matches – 15 losses. Away from home CAF scored a grand total of 2 goals. They were slightly better at home, winning 5 matches and tying one. 11 points all season – dead last and back to second division.
The season was not good for ‘academic’ clubs – the other ‘students, also playing in black finished 17th. Academica Coimbra used to be among the better clubs in Portugal, but suffered steady decline since 1970. Going further and further down, until ended relegated. They earned 7 points more than Viseu, but… they were also far behind from the safe 16th place. Academica actually never recovered their once upon a time respectable place in Portuguese football.
So, the ‘academic’ clubs were last, heading to lower level football. Nothing else interesting up the league:
Belenenses finished 8th – their firm new place in the middle of the table. Another club in decline… a permanent decline. At the time, it was mostly irritating news, thought more or less to be something temporary. The club was expected eventually to improve and become a force again. May be in two-three years time. On the other hand, it was not all that bad – along with Boavista, Belenenses appeared to be the new solid mid-table core of clubs – the backbone of the league.
Not like smaller clubs going up and down all the time, exemplified by SC Beira Mar (Aveiro)
They were 12th this year, nothing interesting at all – Beira Mar, higher or lower in the table, never made any impression. One of the rather anonymous bulk…
Perhaps the only club deserving admiration was Sporting Braga. Quietly – for they escape any attention outside Portugal – they were establishing themselves as the forth best Portuguese club. They were not so bad in the past either, but there was new consistency – since 1970 Braga stayed mainly among the top 6 clubs in the league. They were 4th at the end of the season.
With 37 points, Sporting was far ahead of the surprisingly good this year team of Varzim – 5 points clear – yet, they were also 5 points behind the bronze medals. With few respectable players, but no real stars, Sporting was definitely third tier club in the country – not a contender, but stronger than the bulk of the league. Replacing at this position Setubal and Guimaraes. It looked like Braga was going to keep this position, thus bringing general hope for country’s football: there was a chance of having five decent clubs right bellow the big three – Belenenses, Boavista, Vitoria Setubal, Vitoria Guimaraes, and Sporting Braga.
Sporting Lisbon – comfortably third.
Nothing new on the surface – Sporting was always among the best. But… it was to be the second best and title contender. Now it was not the only rival of Benfica – in fact, it was not a rival at all, except for the traditional derby of Lisbon. Sporting had nothing to fear from the league – they had far stronger team than anybody else, but two clubs. However, a team inferior to those of the leaders – Sporting was 7 points behind the leaders. The squad said it all… Sporting had four really strong players: the midfielder Baltasar (b. 1948), and the striking trio of Manoel Costa (Brasil, b. 1953), Salif Keita (Mali, b. 1946), and Jordao (b. 1952). Jordao was one of the best players in the league and a great star in his prime. As for the rest… Keita was aging and fading, Baltasar was only a league star, Manoel Costa – not a real star at all. This was not a squad of champion quality, but distinguished itself by remarkably sturdy defense, allowing only 3 goals at all their games.
The duel for the title was between Benfica and FC Porto – a tight race, decided by a point difference. Old school Benfica vs new power. Benfica lost by a point.
On the surface, Benfica had supreme team – most known names of Portuguese football played in red and white. The English coach John Mortimore was may be the best known coach working in the country, but… he had familiar for years squad of players who never really reached fame. Henrique, Bento, Humberto, Toni, Nene, Joao Alves, Alhinho, Eurico, the younger stars Bustos Lopes, Sheu, Chalana… deep squad, looking unbeatable, but somewhat old-fashioned, still dominated by veterans. Chalana was too young yet. Benfica came close to winning the championship and would not have been surprising if they did, but they belonged to the past.
Not so the Dragons – they were still not very famous, still appeared weaker than Benfica as a whole, but they were much more promising and younger too. A different breed of players, modern, when compared to the stars of Benfica. The Dragons lost only one match this year, ended with the best defensive record in the league and the second best attack. The title was theirs, clinched by a single point.
7th title for FC Porto! Jose Maria Pedroto, already 60 years old, was not very well known abroad, but apparently he was able to come in terms with current realities of the game better than the coach of Benfica – perhaps, because he did not have a ballast of oldish stars and the dilemma to replace them or not, and if he did – at what coast. Pedroto had more options.
Compared to Benfica, the champions were limited – their starters, shown above, were pretty much everything they had. But they were younger – the three veterans brought solid experience, but they were not the key figures: the Brazilian striker Duda (b. 1947), Octavio (b. 1949), and Freitas (b. 1947). Marco Aurelio (b. 1950), Oliveira (b. 1952 and sold to Spanish Real Betis after the end of the season), Costa (b. 1953), Teixeira (b.1952), and Frasco (b.1955) were the movers and shakers, rapidly becoming the new stars of Portuguese football. But the big name was the great scorer Fernando Gomes – only 22 years old, but rapidly becoming the greatest star of the country. Their was no dead weight in the team – these were the boys of the future, turning Portuguese football around. With them, FC Porto became a powerhouse – but still the development was at early stage. The future was theirs – they were not yet at their prime, they were going up.