First division was equal, competitive, and without any internal divisions, not even outsiders. Thus, the last three were more unlucky than really weak. FC Bihor (Oradea) were last with 28 points. U.T. Arad, a strong team no long ago, were17th with 29 points, but with unusual 45-46 goal-difference – 9 clubs ended with worse , and 8th placed SC Bacau had the same as U.T. Arad. 11 clubs scored fewer goals than U. T. Arad. The third relegated club ended 30 points at 16th place.
Corvinul (Hunedoara) were possibly expected to finish low, but they did not end there without a fight. It was really a matter of a single win – or loss… 30 points meant relegation. 32 points – ‘comfortable’ mid-table…
Olimpia (Satu Mare) finished 10th with 32 points.
Also with 32 points, ASA (Targu Mures) were 9th. They also had far worse goal-difference then Corvinul – but were safe. One or two points divided place from place all the way up. Steaua (Bucharest) finished 3rd with 40 points. Dinamo (Bucharest) was second with 41. The champions soared high above everybody else with 45 points… which is misleading. The championship was decided in the last three rounds when Steaua lost a match and the future champions won and took the lead. The new leaders won their last two games and that was that – competitive championship without overwhelming favourite. The champions may have been a bit lucky, but also judging by the big wins in two of their last three games, may be suspicious. Were some result fixed does not matter now – no accusations surfaced in later time. The most important thing remaining is tough, competitive season with tight race for every place to the end.
Arges (Pitesti) triumphed.
One of the best Romanian clubs of the 1970s, Arges already won one title. They confirmed their strong position by winning a second championship. Not bad for a provincial city with a smaller stadium than the one in the village of Scornicesti. Not bad for a provincial club playing in a country where football was politically ruled – such a victory was against all odds.
The champions were good squad, lead by one of the greatest Romanian players of the 1970s Nicolae Dobrin. To a point, it is surprising that Arges was able to keep their stars, but one thing was also sure – it was already aging team. Dobrin was already 32-years old. He also refused to join Dinamo (Bucharest) and Universitatea (Craiova), but this is perhaps less important than the fact of aging. As a team, it reached its peak and without emerging new stars more success was unlikely. And it did not happen – 1979 is still the last year Arges won a trophy. Their last it was – one Cup and two titles. Provincial predicament, but it was also beneficial in a strange way: Romania stopped exporting players around 1972. Now other Eastern European countries carefully started to export their aging stars and Romania followed the same pattern: over the hill veterans were allowed to play abroad. It was done without much publicity, trying to avoid public interest – an old player from a provincial club was almost unnoticeable: his disappearance could be easily seen as retirement. The first Romanian to be allowed to play abroad after 1972 was Nicolae Doru – not a big star, he was transferred to Panathinaikos (Greece) in 1980. But this is still future – for the moment, Dobrin, Doru, and the rest enjoyed their title.
The Cup final was a Bucharest affair – Sportul Studentesc vs Steaua.
The ‘Students’ were quite strong at that time, but not as strong as Steaua. Which was not a happy club without a trophy… and they won comfortably: 3-0.
The new old Cup winners – this was the 13th Cup for Steaua. Normally having the top players of Romania and no exception this year, but the Cup was more or less a consolation – they lost the title.