Romania. Ranked 13th. The next chapter of the battle between Steaua and Dinamo, which reached new level – Steaua not losing a match and Dinamo finishing with goal-difference of +100 – but at the end repeated the previous seasons. The rest of Romanian football did not count. The political overtones of the duel eventually got a casualty: Belodedici disappeared sometime in 1989 from Steaua and the national team – and reappeared in Yugoslavia. The country still used the traditional 2-points for a win system.
Second Division. The usual 3 groups of 18 teams each, the winners promoted to First Division, the last 4 in each group relegated to Third Division. Every group had a single dominant team, so nothing dramatic and worth mentioning. Better known former top league teams and almost anonymous clubs – in general, only a brief glimpse would do.
UTA (Arad) – 2nd in Serie III with 47 points. A very distant second.
AS Paroseni Vulcan – 16th in Serie III with 27 points and relegated.
AS Gaz Metan Medias – 11th in Serie II with 33 points.
FCM Caracal – 4th in Serie II with 39 points. Standing from left: Băleanu, V. Roşca, Mogoşanu, Dicut, Veleanu, T. Nicu .
Middle row: St. Cheranoiu (coach), Gâsca ( maseor ), Răducu, Stan, Ciurea, Crăciunescu, Moraru, Terteci, M. Vasilescu (assistant coach)
Sitting: Dabu, I. Pătru, R. Popa, Plotoagă, Ciucă, Bărbulescu.
Anyhow, the winners:
FC Petrolul (Ploesti) won Serie I with 47 points – 20 wins, 7 ties, 7 losses, 62-26 goal-difference. Left second-placed Progresul (Braila) 8 points behind and happily promoted. Actually, returning to First Division. An interesting name here: Ilie Barbulescu. Won the European Champions Cup with Steaua. One may wonder why he was now in Second Division.
Jiul (Petrosani) – champion of Serie II with 47 points: 20 wins, 7 ties, 7 losses, 64-23 goal-difference. Left the nearest pursuer – Chimia (Ramnicu Valcea) – 6 points behind. Promoted back to top flight, their more familiar grounds.
Politehnica (Timisoara) – won Serie III with 55 points: 24 wins, 7 ties, 3 losses, 91-37 goal-difference. Left UTA (Arad) 8 points behind and also were the winner with the best record this season. Like the others, climbing back to First Division, where they mostly played anyway.
All newly promoted teams had long First Division history and were only returning to it – thus, nothing new or surprising.