Venezuela. The Second Division was won by Mineros de Guayana.
Mineros was promoted, which was great for them.
First Division played their usual championship of two phases. Was it known in advance, or decided later is unknown, but the league was reduced to ten teams in 1983 – hence, 3 teams were relegated after the end of the 1982 championship. Valencia FC, 12th and Deportivo Portugues, 11th, were last in the league and their relegation is understandable. The third club out is a mystery: Deportivo Galicia was 7th after the initial first phase with 24 points. Even if there was second phase for the lower half of the league their relegation makes no sense: they were far superior to the others and if any points were carried over to the final stage, they would have escaped. So it was either second stage starting from scratch and Deportivo Galicia suddenly lost from, or other reasons – financial irregularities, or something else. No matter – they were out.
The newcomers this year played well: Petroleros del Zulia (Maracaibo) was 8th after the first stage and, if there was second stage, they at least escaped relegation. Atletico San Cristobal did much better – after the first stage they were 3rd, only 2 points behind the winners.
ULA (Merida) won the first stage with 29 points – 12 wins, 5 ties, and 5 losses.
Estudiantes (Merida) was 2nd with 28 points.
The to 6 proceeded to the final stage, but not carrying any points from the opening. Equal terms for everybody, all starting with 0. Now the picture was different – only 2 teams maintained their from from the first stage – Deportivo Italia finished last – 6th. They were 5th after the opening stage. Estudiantes lost steam and instead of competing for the title, they finished 5th. ULA was in the race, but also lacked the strength of the first stage – they ended with 10 points, but dreadful goal-difference, which placed them 3rd. Portuguesa FC, 6th at the first stage, pushed forward at the final, but ended 4th. The other team going ahead was Deportivo Tachira, 4th in the first stage. Now they tried hard to win, but finished second – having the best goal-difference, though. 11 points they got from 3 wins 5 ties, and 2 losses. A point better were the newcomers – Atletico San Cristobal won 3 matches, tied 6, and lost only one. 12 points made them champions.
What a story! The club was founded in 1980 and in 1982 was already champion of Venezuela.
Rarely debutantes won titles and hardly ever 2-years clubs, but if we look from the distance of time, the success may be assessed differently: 1981 and 1982 stay alone in the history of the club – their only two victories: one time 2nd Division champions and one time 1st Division champions in succession. Most likely, it was a case of money poured down recklessly to satisfy local pride. After that money dried out perhaps, the expensive players drifted away, and that was that – one short flashy period, never to be repeated again. But it was great anyway – in 2 years climbing from nonexistance to the national title.