Down in South America lowly Venezuela pretty much solidified its professional championship in 1981 – the formula was made in the fashion popular in the South: long season, divided into different stages. Two clubs were relegated and two promoted. Money ruled, so newly established clubs rapidly moved up to the top league. In 1981 the lucky ones were Petroleros de Zulia (Maracaibo) and Atletico San Cristobal (San Cristobal). ‘The Oilers’ left little of themselves may be because a baseball club with the same name is more popular and famous. They finished as runner-ups in the Second Division and got promotion.
Atletico San Cristobal won the Second Division – a great achievement for a club founded in 1980, but let’s face it: it was ambitious project, aimed to reach the very top. Good players were signed right away and they lifted up the new club. However, it was short-lived project – in 1986 the club merged with the older local club Deportivo Tachira.
The First Division had new format – after standard league first stage the top 8 clubs qualified for the next round of the championship. The bottom two were relegated. The unfortunate were from the same city and even had almost the same name – Atletico Falcon (Coro) and Falcon FC (Coro). Falcon FC was promoted the previous season, after winning second level twice in a row – but promotion was denied the first time. Seemingly, with good reason, for the club lasted only a single year among the best , finishing last with 7 points. Atletico Falcon got 11 points and finished next to last, but what a curious season they had: not a single win! 11 ties and 11 losses. They scored 9 goals in 22 championship matches – less than anybody else. Coro was left without first league team for the next season.
Up the table the only concern was qualification for the next stage. The first stage counted only for that, but 8 teams were way, way stronger than the bottom four – Portuguesa FC (Acarigua), 8th, finished with 24 points. Deportivo Italia, 9th, ended with 15 points. Hardly a big contest, the first stage, but the typical problem of championships organized in stages was immediately seen: some clubs pushed hard at first, eventually losing steam later. Others were just careful to qualify, reaching their best form in the later stages. It did not matter what place a team got in the first stage – no bonus points were carried to the next round, so the only important thing was to finish among the top 8. Deportivo Lara (Barquisimeto) won the first stage with 32 points, but actually they were first only thanks to better goal-difference. To be exact, the only difference between them and 2nd finisher Estudiantes (Merida) was a single goal – Lara had 28:11, Estudiantes – 27:11. Good for the ego, but… there was second stage.
The Semi-final stage divided the 8 qualified teams into two round-robin groups. The top two of each group moved to the final. Here Deportivo Lara stumbled – they finished 3rd in Group 1. On the other hand Portuguesa FC, which did not care much for the first stage and finished 8th, now jumped to life and finished 2nd. Estudiantes (Merida), 2nd in the first stage, continued to play well and finished 1st.
Group 2 presented similar story – Deportivo Tachira, 5th in the opening stage, was much stronger now and finished 1st. Valencia FC, like Estudiantes, preserved their initial form – they were 3rd in the first stage, now they finished 2nd and were the only team at the semi-final stage not beaten by anybody.
The final stage was again round-robin group, every team playing twice against the rest. Here Portuguesa FC lost their strength, Estudiantes and Valencia FC maintained their all-year long performance, but Deportivo Tachira reached its peak.
1.Deportivo Táchira 6 4 1 1 8- 3 9
2.Estudiantes de Mérida 6 3 0 3 4- 4 6
3.Valencia FC 6 2 2 2 5- 6 6
4.Portuguesa FC 6 1 1 4 2- 6 3
The new Venezuelan champion was Deportivo Tachira, obviously stronger than any other club just when it really mattered.
Strong season for Estudiantes (Merida), but little things denied them the title – they were consistently second best. Even winning their semi-final group was not convincing victory: they prevailed by a point. Fair is fair: Estudiantes really deserved to finish with silver, although they were the most consistent team during the whole year.
Deportivo Tachira had every right to triumph: they played wise season, preserving their strength at first and gradually reaching their best form at the final stage. When it mattered most, when the title was at stake, they were supreme. Thus, Deportivo Tachira became Venezuelan champion for a second time – and clearly established themselves as a key club for the 1980s.