First Division. Still the same formula used in the previous years: after the regular season the top 4 teams proceeded to play-offs and the winner in the final was the champion. Weakened IFK Goteborg, losing key players every year, was not quite up to the task and another club – perhaps the most consistently strong Swedish club – stepped in. Only 3 teams finished with positive goal-difference and one more managed to end with neutral goal-difference. Looked like a division between strong and weak club was emerging, quite atypical for Swedish football, but times were changing… may be.
Djurgardens IF had miserable season, finishing last with 15 points. Down the Second Division.
Kalmar FF was other relegated – 11th with 17 points. Top row from left: Ulf Nordenhem, Mikael Marko, Henrik Hasselgren, Anders Jonsson, Peter Karlsson, Billy Lansdowne, Niklas Karlstrom.
Middle row: Bjorn Wigstedt, Martin Holmberg, Magnus Arvidson, Jan Jansson, Bjorn Nilsson, Hakan Jagerbrink, Magnus Nilsson, Magnus Pettersson, Peter Nilsson, Johny Erlandsson.
Front row: Hakan Arvidsson, Niklas Friman, Allan Hebo Larsen – coach, Kjell Nyberg – manager, Johnny Wiksten – physical trainer, Peter Engstrom. Ulf Karlsson.
IF Elfsborg survived – 10th with 18 points.
Orgryte IS – 9th with 19 points. Lucky.
IK Brage – 8th with 20 points.
Osters IF – 7th with 20 points.
Hammarby IF – 6th with 20 points.
Halmstads BK – 5th with 21 points.
The top 4 qualified to the championship play-offs.
IFK Norrkoping – 4th with 21 points.
AIK – 3rd with 25 points.
IFK Goteborg – 2nd with 31 points.
Malmo FF was superior by far in the regular season and topped the league with 37 points, losing just once, but nothing was done yet. The actual battle for the title followed…
And in the semi-finals Malmo FF was almost eliminated: they were tied twice by IFK Norrkoping – 2-2 and 0-0 – and qualified only on away goals.
Really unfortunate IFK Norrkoping. What a bad luck.
There was no winner in the other semifinal too: IFK Goteborg and AIK ended 0-0 and 1-1. AIK, however, was lucky to score in Goteborg.
IFK Goteborg was out. Misfortune, but they were unable to beat AIK and had only themselves to blame.
AIK and Malmo FF met at the final, but it was not much of a clash, nothing like the semifinals. AIK won the first leg at home 1-0, but they were destroyed in Malmo 2-5. And that was that.
Strong season for AIK were clearly outclassed.
Malmo FF collected one more title, but it was not by chance: they had great season, better than anybody, and faced difficulty only in the semifinal against IFK Norrkoping. Still, they lost only 2 games this year – one in the regular stage of the championship and the second – at the final. There was no doubt they deserved the title. Roy Hodgson at the helm. Good players like Jonas Thern, tied squad, tradition – all was working fine.