Author: Vesselin

Relegated clubs were in similar position – Randers Freja ended last, quite behind everybody else with measly 16 points.

Very weak season, but was the next to be similar?

Perhaps financing was an issue – they also displayed different sponsors on their shirts, although not as many as Skovbakken: only 4. An old club, but not very successful – they won the Cup three times and that was all, but their victories were fairly recent: 1967,1968, and 1973. Now going down – a typically unpredictable Danish clubs. Every season appeared to be pretty by itself, unrelated to even to recent past and not necessarily forcasting the future. Down for the moment, distinguishing themselves with the leakiest defence in the league – they received 88 goals. The next worst ended with 59.

Koge Boldclub finished 15th with 21 points.

Another up and down, although little known club… not much of a fighter this year, but they were Danish champions in 1975. So quickly fate changed in Denmark – no consistency at all.

By the look of them, relatively better off club: only two sponsors. A female masseur – something extremely unusual in the 1970s when football was entirely male from bottom to top. But Scandinavia was different – more relaxed, or may be because the game was not so fanatical as in the rest of the world.

14th were Frederikshavn fI. They also ended with 21 points, but better goal-difference than Koge. No comfort in that – they were still 3 points short of a safe spot.

Now, Frederikshavn forenede Idrætsklubber (also known as FfI or Frederikshavn fI) were what could pass for a really modest Danish club. They rarely played in First Division – a total of 5 season scattered in the 1960s and the 1970s. Unlikely member of the top league and unlikely coming back too.

And also typical of the Danish predicament: 7 sponsors tried to keep the club afloat. Watching Danish teams perhaps was a nighmare – every player seemed to be dressed in kit hardly matching anybody else’s on the pitch. It did not look like advertising, but rather like donation from friendly firms.

The rest of the league was more or less equal – no strong favourites and no big internal divisions. Perhaps Frem (Coppenhagen) were a bit low on their luck – they finished 10th – but was it a decline or just temporary weak seasons was impoosible to tell. OB Odense, AGF Aarhus, and Esbjerg fB fought for thrid and second place, eventually losing their edge during the season and all finishing quite behind the champions. OB Odense finished 4th with 38 points – may be unlucky, may be a bit weaker than the others.

With 39 points AGF Aarhus got bronze. Much better than their city rivals Skovbakken and one of historically successful Danish clubs, but the 1970s were not their time – nothing to brag about so far. Perhaps professionalism was good for them – they seemingly improved this year, yet it remained to be seen was it just a lucky season or something more consistent.

If adds could be any reliable indicaction, top spot depended on ability to attract sponsors: unlike the weaklings above, AaB had only one sponsor.

Second, with 40 points, finished Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber – or Esbjerg fB.

Their birthdate is a bit misleading – 1924 is actually the year when two local rivals merged into the Esbjerg fB. One of the original clubs was founded in 1898, the other in 1911. The new amalgamation was ambitious project, or so the club historians say. Esbjerg’s golden years were in the 1960s, when they won 4 titles and one cup. All ended in 1965, but a second good spell started in mid-70s: they won the Cup in 1975 and finished 2nd in 1978. May be better days laid ahead?

The ever-present ‘may be’… based on single sponsor and the presense of the national team goalkeeper Ole Kjaer. And may be Berthelsen… may be, may be, may be… on the negative side: they were second, but not a contender even when strong.

No ‘may be’ about the champions as such: at the end of the season, they appeared really dominant, finishing 4 points away from Esbjerg. The name was also familiar – Vejle BK.

Europeans were familiar with the name in the 1970s and it looked like to be ‘the big Danish club’, but this was misconception. The club is old, indeed, but not a force until 1970. The decade was the most succesful period in the club’s history – and also the most successful Danish club at the time, winning 4 titles, including 1978. Allan Simonsen played for them before going to Borussia (Moenchengladbach) and big fame. More or less, Vejle were consistent and this very season was one of their best ever: they reached the 1/4 finals in the 1977-78 European Cup Winners Cup.

Champions again, but how trully solid was the squad? No new Simonsen there… not even a new Ulrich Le Fevre… Well, judging champions would not do – they won, others did not.

 

In the history of Danish football 1978 is very important: professionalism was introduced. The effect was not immediate – it was really long-term project. The Danish Federation reluctantly realized the changes in the game: it was not longer possible to sustain even relatively high quality amateur football. The direction was clear and inevitable. The Danes already took small steps – professional players were permitted to play for the national team since 1971. But it was half-measure at best – foreign-based players were rarely and reluctantly called and they were not very eager to don the Danish jersey for they were not paid for the trouble. The national team operated still on amateur basis – even coaches had no paying contracts. But reality was biting: amateur clubs had difficulties surviving. They were not getting money for the players joining foreign clubs, or they got very small compensation. It was increasingly difficult to develop good player in amateur structure – football was full-time job for very long time already and whoever wanted results needed to organize the whole structure professionally. The Federation resisted changes to the end, perhaps with some justified motifs: Danish clubs were old and not exclusively football clubs. The fan base was small, but loyal to their clubs, meaning it was not possible to forcefully amalgamate three or more clubs in otherwise small town into bigger and financially stable one. Denmark is a small and not particularly crazy about football country, so ambitious plans of creating a few mega-clubs was entirely unrealistic. The idea was never to make Danish clubs equal to British, Italian, Spanish, and West German clubs – the point was rather stabilizing the clubs, so they would be able to continue developing young talent and eventually getting income from transfers. It was mostly a matter of survival, not success. The most immediate impact was felt by 1982 and it involved the national team: the change in 1978 helped the national team with a big sponsor – the famous brewery Carlsberg – and thanks to the cash coming from the beer makers the Federation hired in 1979 fully professional coach – the West German Sepp Pionteck. And foreign-based players became the core of the new national team: now it was easy to call them to play for the country – travel expenses and bonuses were paid. But the change was not fully based on the Federation’s good will – they were also forced on it. Voices in favour of professionalism were not new and one of the most vocal belonged to Harald Nielsen, one of the all-time greatest Danish players. A big star in the 1960s, he played in Italy for Bologna, Napoli, and Sampdoria. Injury ended his career at 29 and he returned to Denmark. Nielsen was more than advocate of professionalism – he was involved in the pirate professional league as well. It was a classic problem, although coming very late to Denmark – in most countries the split happened before 1930, inevitably forcing federations to accept professionalism. It was a battle between legal body insisting on ‘purity’ vs clubs contracting players and organizing their own ‘rogue’ championship. As a rule of thumb, the best clubs were more than willing to go to the rogues and the Federation was almost left with no choice: the rebels were more attractive to the top players and fans were quickly following. The quality was higher among professionals, it was that simple – and nobody cared that they were ‘illegal’ and banished for life from the ‘official’ body. Not every club was in favour of that, but the results were clear – the best talent was abandoning the amateur clubs. The stand off always ended with quick legalization of professionalism – Denmark was no exception. On the surface, nothing changed at first: the league remained exactly as it was. Former ‘pirate’ clubs rather disappeared. If anything, Danes were level-headed and cool – they were not looking for some immediate results, but for long-term stability and gradual improvement. No club went on shopping spree or declared sudden ambitions of becoming a mega-club. Most likely the change helped the youth systems of the clubs. Finding money was perhaps the biggest concern – sponsorship was nothing new in Denmark, but it was not very lucrative. More or less, the real concern was finding the best way of using limited resources. Nothing fancy, just a careful long-term project – Europe hardly noticed the big change and the first noticeable thing was the national team. Four years later! Stronger Danish clubs were noticed and recognized probably around 1985-86, but it was mostly healthy recognition that Danish clubs were no longer an automatically easy opponent. As for the first professional season, it was hardly different from the old amateur ones.

Before anything else, a bit of trivia, illustrating the fundamental problem Danish football was facing, professional or not: money. Shirt adds were introduced years before, but nothing changed just because the clubs were now professional. Some were unable to get sponsors. Others had to improvise. Perhaps the following picture is unique: shirt adds are uniform, right?

IK Skovbakken (Aarhus) was not able to get enough money from a single sponsor. There were at least two other clubs in the city… which is not big… so the club had to be creative.

The players are not important here: 10 firms advertise on 11 players. Looking like sponsoring individual players, not the club – and it may have been that. Air Marine is apparently the biggest sponsor, having their name on the chests of two players. ‘Ford’ equal to ‘Royal Stake House’, most likely just a local restaurant. Most likely no other club ever displayed such strange photo, but it is an acute illustration of the deep problem of Danish football: money. Hard to get… Skovbakken finished 9th… not a place making sponsors willing to invest.

But Skovbakken was at least out of relegation zone. Three clubs were going down – to be replaced by the second division winners.

AaB Aalborg – also referred to as AaB Fodbold and Aalborg BK – was an up and down club. So far, the club won the Cup twice – in 1966 and 1970 – but slipped again to second division. Professionalism sounded fine, but Danish football was really semi-professional: it was up to the individual clubs to decide when, if at all, to become fully professional. In the case of AaB – 1987.

Traditionally shaky newcomers or returnees – at least they had seemingly better sponsor, judging by the uniform adds on their shirt.

The next promoted club was Ikast fS.

Another club with meaningless name outside Denmark – no trophies, no regular first division record, nothing.

Good for them going up and good luck in the new environment.

The last promotion went to club with more or less familiar name.

Hvidovre IF – a relatively young club by Danish standards, founded in 1925. Champions twice, the last time in 1973 – thanks to their brief participation in the European Champions Cup, the name was known, but like almost every Danish club a success one year did not mean stable performance later. Hvidovre were relegated and now were coming back.

There was no telling what impact Hvidovre would have on the first division – but this was true for the other promoted clubs and for the whole Danish football as well.

The Cup final opposed Trabzonspor to Adanademirspor. The Northerners were force to reckon with already. Strong season, plenty of ambition, and classy enough. Adanademirspor were nobodies… they finished 13th with 25 points the championship. But one has to recall the great season of their city neighbours, who ended 4th. The city of Adana not only had wonderful season, but added new strength to the provincials. Was another Trabzon coming rapidly to disturb the old dominance of Istanbul?

There is a bit of confusion about the name: it is written Adanademirspor, Adana Demirspor, and Demirspor. The problem is obvious, although not well known: there are clubs with the same name in Turkey, so the name of city is included to make clear which one is meant. Relatively old club by Turkish standards – many clubs were formed in the 1960s, either new or amalgamated old and forgotten since then ones. Foundation in 1940 appears ancient in contrast, but Demirspor had more than modest existence so far. They were champions ones – in 1951, when Turkish football was still amateur. Not bad, but nothing good happened after the league was professionalized. Their nickname – Mavi Simsekler (Blue Lightning) – sounded like a joke. So far. Now they had a chance to win a real trophy.

The two-legged final started in Trabzon and Demirspor lost 0-3. Back home they managed only a scoreless tie, 0-0.

Losing finalists – yet, this team is well remembered in Adana: this is the highest ever achievement of the club.

As for the winners – 4th trophy since 1975. No doubt about them.

Winning the Cup looked easy, they were certainly dominant. Their coach was instrumental and must be named: Ahmet Suat Özyazıcı.

Surely not a famous name, but he made Trabzonspor a strong and successful club. Not many win 4 trophies in three years after all.

And here are the winners, rightly nicknamed ‘Karadeniz Firtinasi’ (Black Sea Storm). They were taking Turkish football by storm. Long lasting storm.

The picture on the top was both familiar and not. Besiktas slipped to 5th place. They were entirely outside the championship race and not even competing for medals. Temporary weakness, but also telling – the provincial clubs were getting stronger.

Adanaspor (Adana) had a strong year. Not at the level of the best three, but better than Besiktas.

A good example of the new winds in Turkish football: sponsorship and dependable foreigners. Perovic was not a star in Yugoslavia, but still competent and reliable player. He was not elevating the club single-handed, but was a valuable addition with professional attitude. Adanaspor finished 4th, earning a place in the UEFA Cup. They were three points ahead of Besiktas. And most interestingly, they were not the only club from Adana excelling this season.

Galatasaray was third. With 38 points, they finished 3points ahead of Adanaspor, but also 3 points less from the silver medalists. Perhaps not the stronger season of the club, but they were failing either. Still, ‘Cimbom’ were not champions since 1973 – a rather long dry spell so far and as it turned out, there were many more years without a title ahead. This was the first season playing with sponsor’s name on the shirts and the it was Volvo – but the great name of the Swedish car makers did not help.

New winds – Volvo and foreigners. Bosko Kajganic, the goalkeeper of Crvena zvezda (Belgrade), born in 1949, arrived this season. He is considered the best goalkeeper Galatasaray ever had, but he died in tragic car accident at the end of the season.

His impact was great – here is his replacement Nihat Akbay playing with shirt displaying not Volvo, but the name of dead Yugoslavian. Meantime another Yugoslavian arrived – the 26-years old midfielder Esref Yasarevic from Sloboda (Tuzla).

Two clubs contested the title, chasing each other to the end. Trabzonspor clearly confirmed its addition to the big three of Turkish football, making them four. With a double the previous year, Trabzonspor wanted more. The title they lost by a single point, having the best defense in the league – they received only 16 goals in 30 games. They also won most matches – 18, but unfortunately lost 7. The same number as the Adanaspor, 4th, but 2 more than the record of Galatasaray and Fenerbahce. Their attack was second-best. Trabzonspor were clearly determined to stay on top – a provincial challenge to the status quo.

Standing from left: Mehmet, Şenol, Necati, Hüseyin, Güngör, Ahmet.

Crouching: Necdet, Turgay, Serdar, Yaşar, Orhan.

Successful season for Trabzonspor – second place was not a disappointment and there was still a trophy won.

Fenerbahce cliched the title by single point. 9th professional title for ‘Sari Kanaryalar’ (The Yellow Canaries) or 12th total.

Naturally, it was great to leave the arch-enemy Galatasaray in the dust, but now the real danger came from the Black Sea coast – Trabzonspor. Defeating the provincials was not easy. The duel lasted the whole season, but the Canaries were victorious at the end.

Like Galatasaray, Fenerbahce added new foreign players in 1977 – the rivalry continued in the recruit of new players: Galatasaray shopped from Crvena zvezda, Fenerbahce – from their bitter rivals Partizan (Belgrade). Cimbom bought a goalkeeper and so did Sari Kanaryalar: Radmilo Ivancevic, born 1950. Plus Radomir Antic, a defender born in 1948. Like their rivals, Fenerbahce did not buy really famous players – Ivancevic never played for Yugoslavia and Antic only once in 1973 – but solid and reliable ones. They helped, but did not stay long – Antic moved to Real Zaragoza (Spain) after the end of the season. Ivancevic returned to Yugoslavia a bit later and generally disappeared from sight. As for Antic, who would guess back in 1977 that he was to become a famous coach. Spells with both Barcelona and Real Madrid happen very rarely. But it was Turkish title in the spring of 1978.

One more look at the champions.

 

Slowly progressing Turkey, but progressing nevertheless. More consistent import of foreign players – not stars, but reliable ones, mostly Yugoslavians; shirt sponsorship, bringing revenue. More professionalism added to fanatical support from the stands. Of course, the big three from Istanbul dominated the scene, but it is safe to add a forth club by this time: Trabzonspor. And provincial clubs were no longer just a décor to the battles between Fenerbahce and Galatasaray. Second Division football was quite behind, of course, but had its own drama.

There were clubs better known today than in the 1970s –

Like Gazientepspor. Back then – nothing much.

 

Goztepe (Izmir) won promotion – a quick return to top flight of the old club, relegated the year before. Not a surprise – Goztepe more or less belonged to the best.

The second promotion was a surprise, though:

Kirikkalespor (Kirikkale), a young club founded in 1967 and not exactly from a well known hometown. Modest by all means, but they had a good season and bravely won promotion.

May be photo of the unlikely winners, may be not… There is little information about the club, however, the quad has the look of the time. Kirikkalespor never played first division football – true debutantes, bringing only one question: were they able to survive? But this was for the next year – they enjoyed the present and rightly so.

At the bottom of First Division five teams fought for survival. Two inevitably went down. One was a bit of a surprise:

Ankaragucu had good years behind them. They were a likely addition to the big trio from Istanbul – a club from the capital challenging the old guard was logical. True, Ankaragucu were not the only club in Ankara, but seemed best positioned. Yet, they finished 15th and were relegated. Instead of challenging Istanbul, Ankara was to be without any representative in top flight.

Dead last was more or less expected club.

Mersin Idmanyurdu (Mersin) had strong years, but also weak ones, and it was not surprising to see them in second division. Up and down, more likely down – 21 points they had, earned mostly by draws. Three wins was nothing, so it did not matter that Mersin did not lose more than ½ of their championship matches. 15 ties – exactly every second match they played this season – was a league record, but it also meant relegation.

Nothing good can be said about the last in the league. The only interesting point is their sponsor – a bit funny to see Opel, the giant automakers, relegated.

The bulk of mid-table teams was quite large – 7 teams, almost half of the league. Still unstable – up and down, depending on particular season.

Bursaspor, a typical example. 10th this year with 28 points, but they had better stronger year not long ago. Perhaps clubs like Bursaspor were the most important: their development meant the general improvement of Turkish football – if able to maintain stability, sooner or later they were to challenge the big clubs dominating the league. Bursaspor were perhaps a bit down this season, yet, remained among the mid-table clubs – this was perhaps most important: not to plummet to relegation after strong a season or two.

The Cup final opposed two of the best clubs this year: Malmo FF and Kalmar FF.

Kalmar FF never won a trophy. They were quite modest for years, no strangers to second division football, and hardly the club easily coming to mind.

Now they had more than a chance – local business consortium decided to help the club with some cash and thanks to that Kalmar FF bought Lars Roger ‘Benno’ Magnusson from Hertha (West Berlin). A big transfer surely – no Swedish club was buying players from the big West European leagues. It was the other way around: Swedish clubs losing easily players to others. Magnusson, still 24 when he came back to Sweden, was one of the great youngsters who made Atvodabergs FF champions. He, like the others, quickly left to play abroad. Like Edstrom he came back to play in Sweden, and like his former teammate, it was not for his original club. There was no more great talent in the squad – perhaps only the local legend Johnny Erlandsson – but it was enough to propel Kalmar FF high. A unusually strong period for the club started – and now trophy was possible. No doubt, the club wanted to win. They had a chance and ambition, played a second consecutive strong season.

But it was not enough – Malmo FF won the final 2-0.

It may have been a case of ambition vs experience, but Malmo FF were the steadiest and most successful Swedish club in the decade. May be this year they were not good enough for a title, but ending without a trophy was not like them. It was their 9 since 1970! Five titles and now 4th Cup. There was one more motivating factor: so far Malmo FF won the Cup 9th times. A round 10 was much desired – a record, why not? They made it.

As for the squad, it was familiar recitation of names since 1970. Including the coach Bob Houghton – he was very young when he took the reins of Malmo FF. He was still young… a feature so familiar, that his age was even surprising: Houghton looked like he will retire with Malmo. Eternal coach… equals ancient coach. Houghton was only 40 in 1978. Thanks to him, another young Englishman arrived in Sweden – Houghton helped his friend, someone called Roy Hodgson, to take over Halmstads BK in 1976.

So these two were the newly promoted – they were to replace Vasteras SK and Orebro SK.

Vasteras SK were another modest club, which generally meandered between first and second division. Nothing really surprising they finished 14th – last in First Division. They were not hopeless outsiders, but still lost – 18 points was simply one point short of safety.

Orebro SK also finished with 18 points, but with better goal-difference than Vasteras SK. Did not matter… they too went down. Unlike Vasteras SK, Orebro had good reputation and it appeared a bit surprising to see them relegated. But Swedish football hardly had ‘big’ clubs and ups and downs were frequent. A decline or just temporary bad luck – it was hard to say.

Decline was the situation of another club: Atvidabergs FF. Champions in the beginning of the 1970s, having few of the brightest young stars of the time, they were too small to be able to stay on top – the stars left and the club gradually went down. Lower every next year, but still staying in First Division. They barely survived this season – 12th with 19 points – but the future was obviously dark. Relegation was easy to see coming. The stars were coming back to play in Sweden – but not for their former club.

Most of the league shuffled depending on momentary squad – ups and down were the norm.

Halmstads BK were great a few years back – now they were 8th. So was the case of most clubs – often the availability of bright player or his departure spelled the fate of a club in a particular season. Things could change the next – for better or worse – and then again after that. Halmstads BK were relatively down, but they were to play a local derby the next season. At least that.

The top competed largely for silver and bronze medals – Kalmar FF finished 4th with 31 points. Worse goal-difference left them without medals, but the club enjoyed strong period.

IFK Goteborg clinched third place. If Atvidabergs FF was clearly in decline, IFK Goteborg was rising. The 1970s were bleak years for the club – they won absolutely nothing since 1969. Now there was a sign of improvement – not just the odd good season, but long-lasting.

IFK Goteborg already had the great Bjorn Nordquist, they had a bunch of talented youngsters, and they recruited another star in 1977 – Ralf Edstrom. The club appeared ambitious and serious – they seemingly wanted to become a major force in Swedish football. They seemingly had the financial means to invest in long-term project: Edstrom was not cheap. On the surface it looked like the wonderful forward was fading away, but he was still young, still a national team player, and even he was no longer considered good enough for big European clubs, he had a lot to contribute at home. Perhaps going to IFK Goteborg revived his career, but the benefits for the clubs were obvious: the international success in the early 1980s was forged in the late 1970 – this was just the beginning. As for ending… so far, there is no sign of ending. IFK Goteborg are still the strongest Swedish club – the project started around 1978 was very good one. But it was still in its early days – and IFK Goteborg made its first move by winning bronze medals.

One point left them without silver – second place was won by Malmo FF. Remarcably long-lasting squad – almost the same players made Malmo FF the most successful Swedish club in the 1970s. Still no sign of wearing out, still a force. They were not real contender this year, but maintained their leading position nevertheless.

The champions were new – and overwhelming.

Osters IF (Vaxjo) were relatively familiar name, but not really the first coming to mind. Founded in 1930, they had a single trophy so far: Swedish champions in 1968. Ten years later they won their second title and overwhelmingly so: 6 points more than second-placed Malmo FF. They lost half the number Malmo FF had – only 3 losses, but the most wins in the league – 15. They did not have the best defense – Malmo FF had it, receiving 15 goals to Osters 20; their attack was topped by Djurgardens IF – 50 goals to Osters’ 46; but they had the best goal-difference by far: +26. The second-best, Malmo FF, was +14. Much deserving champions.

And also typically Swedish champions – no big stars here. The players are largely unfamiliar. A new striker was recruited for this season – the 25-years old national player of Island Teitur Thordarson. Foreigners were still few in Sweden and the new striker did not even come from first league football – he arrived from the second division Jonkoping. He was a national team player since 1972, but Islandic players meant nothing in the 1970s. Yet, Thordarson is significant – one of the early successful players from the island, one of those making Islandic players respectable and desired by European clubs. He helped Osters to their title, a nice addition. The other one was a debutant, whose name was even more obscure than Thordarson’s: a very young goalkeeper, named Thomas Ravelli. Only 18 years old. One perhaps would make a mistake pointed him at the photo: the known Ravelli had little hair on his head… but this is Goran Hagberg on the picture. Of course, nobody knew in 1978 that Ravelli will be the most capped Swedish player… What a great beginning of exceptionally long career – a title in its very first season. Ravelli stayed with Osters 10 years and he called it quit also in his original club in 1999. Ravelli was still years away of any possible records – he earned his first cap for Sweden in 1981. The fantastic 148 appearances would not be even a dream in the 1970s.

Another quiet season in Sweden – no scandals, no big news. Yet, there were changes – some long-lasting. Sweden was going towards full professionalism without fuss. Some big names already were lured back. Foreign players were arriving – still in tiny numbers, but coming. A realistic approach – Sweden was in a position to develop really big clubs and keep her best players in the domestic league. So, the development was to be modest, emphasizing on home grown talent. The second division was relatively weaker, so the winners there were not expected to shake up the upper league.

IS Halmia won the Southern Second Division. An old club, as Swedish clubs usually are, founded in 1907, but hardly known. Their best years were in deep past – between 1944 and 1950. ‘Success’ really meant steady playing in first division… after 1950 the club was mostly playing second division football. The second and smaller club in their home town, Halmstad. Halmstads BK were bigger and more successful, but the local derby was mostly called that in jest: Halmstads BK and IS Halmia were seldom in the same division. They were to be in 1979, after IS Halmia won promotion.

The winner of the Northern Second Division was another small club:

IFK Sundsvall. If there was a club from this city playing top league football, it was usually GIF Sundsvall. Now they were also in second division and finished 6th, 10 points behind their city rivals. Unlike the Southern group, which was either more competitive or just the clubs were of relatively same strength, only 2 clubs competed in the North – IFK and IK Brage. Brage lost by a point.

Good for IFK Sundsvall and perhaps a rare moment of finishing much better than the city rivals, but a typical second-tier team. They were to face the test of their survival skills the next year. It was clear that cities like Sundsvall and many others were not able to build strong and successful teams – two or more clubs were just too many for the limited local resources, but like Poland, Sweden did not fancy amalgamations. The Swedes obviously preferred tradition – better two small clubs than one perhaps better off, but lacking identity.

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Yet, Polish football was not in great shape – the overwhelming leaders of the championship did not excel in the Cup tournament. The impression of relative, but low-quality parity was confirmed by the Cup finalists. No current or even former big name there. No leaders. Zaglebie (Sosnowiec) were 9^th in the league. But they at least were first division club – the other finalist was almost unheard of second division club. Piast (Gliwice). 9^th in the weaker Northern Second Division league. Good for them, surely, but… a club so weak reaching the final? Does not speak favourably for Polish club football. True, there had been even lowlier Cup finalist – the reserve team of ROW Rybnik – which did not win the Cup, but still got to play in the European Cup Winners Cup.

Piast (Gliwice) had the chance of European appearance only if winning the Cup – the opponents were lowly enough, so the losing finalist had no chance of participation in the Cup Winners Cup. Piast had a chance to win – before the final was played. Zaglebie was not much, but still was first division club. They won 2-0.

Zaglebie was not much 1977-78, but they had good past – it was not their first trophy. They never won the championship, but the Cup was already theirs three times – the last time was the previous year. 4^th Cups, two consecutive – not bad? Not bad for an old club, established in 1906 , but in town better known for ice-hockey?

Not bad… but the squad was too modest. Mazur was the star player – a local star, no more. Miracle happened not once, but twice, yet one cannot depend on miracles. This was the last trophy won by Zaglebie. May be a local legendary squad, but that was all. A nice final victory of underdogs.

First league table shows an interesting picture: 12 clubs were very close to each other – 4 points divided the 4th from the 15th placed. The last clubs were either way above or bellow the bulk of the league. It was not much different the previous years, so nothing new. Occasional slip or lucky strike seemed to be decisive factors. Fairly equal clubs, which could be easily at the top one round and in relegation zone the next. Not very strong teams, unfortunately – those at the top were not so much strong, but rather happy to survive. The outsider was unusual club:

Gornik (Zabrze) were among the favourites a couple of years ago. They were perhaps the closest to a truly dominant team Polish football ever produced – the successful squad of 1966-72. Decline settled after that, at first unnoticed, but inevitable. Aging slowly reduced the number of the stars and no new talent stepped in. Szarmach moved to Stal (Mielec) in 1976. By 1977 only Jerzy Gorgon remained from the old great squad. Still, to see Gornik at the bottom of the league was shocking – somewhat, it was sudden collapse. They earned only 23 points, winning just 6 matches. However, their goal-difference was unusual for rock bottom team: 25-30. Polish league was strange… not much goals were scored, the results were minimal and the records were similar to Gurnik’s.

Jerzy Gorgon in 1970, just getting noticed as an young talent in the very talented Gornik of that time. Top defender, national team regular, one of the few internationally known Polish players before 1974, and going to his second World Cup finals with Poland in 1978. However, unable to save his club from relegation… must have been very disappointing and frustrating season for the 28-years old star. Going to second division and the World Cup finals at the same time.

Zawisza (Bydgoszcz) took the 15th place and joined Gornik on the way down. Zawisza finishing low was no surprise – unlike Gornik, they were lowly club. Unlucky too – four clubs finished with 27 points. If goal-difference was the decisive factor, Zawisza would have been safe – Szombierki (Bytom) had the worst goal-difference in the league (25-35). But it was head-to-head record deciding the position of those with equal points. Szombierki finished 12th and Zawisza 15th.

Just above them ended surprising club – Ruch (Chorzow), one of the best Polish clubs in the 1970s. Champions or near-champions… they were expected to be among the contenders, even more so than Gornik. Instead, Ruch barely survived. Like Gornik, they were unable to find strong replacement of aging stars, who either retired or went to play abroad. Unlike Gornik, whose decline was slow and long, Ruch suddenly plunged down. Which may have been better for the club – so great a shock required urgent measures to be taken.

There was little else of great import across the league – Stal (Mielec) ended 8th with 29 points. Not really a collapse, but somewhat predictable outcome for a club which had just 6-7 really good players in their best seasons. Now they were simply like the most of the league. So were Legia (Warszawa) for few years already – nothing special, an ordinary club. Having Deyna was not making any difference… Gornik had Gorgon and still was relegated. Legia ended 5th with 31 points. Pretty good position in the final table, unless one remembers the points – Legia was only 4 points away from Zawisza (Bydgoszcz). Legia won 12 matches – the 15th placed had 11 wins. Relegation was much closer possibility for Legia than winning the title. LKS (Lodz) edged Legia, thanks to head-to-head matches, taking the 4th place, also with 31 points. Another one-man team… LKS depended on the goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski.

And three clubs were high above from the whole league. They competed for the title to the end – 2 points was the final difference, deciding who ends where. Two clubs were generally expected to be contenders – Slask (Wroclaw), the champions of the previous season, were at their peak as a team. Wisla (Krakow) were stable for years and among the best. Lech (Poznan) was the newcomer in a sense – a rising team, but still questionable one. They finished 3rd with 37 points. 12 wins, 13 ties, 5 losses. 29-25 scoring record… rather measly for high finisher. Less than a goal per game average.

The squad perhaps explains their rise: a good group of players here – Gut, Chojnacki, Mowlik, Napierala. Other clubs had one or two stars by now – Lech had more and younger ones too, just nearing at their peak. Stars, but no great stars, so the future of the club was still questionable. It did not look like great squad. The potential was strong, but still only a potential. Good season, but the more important was the next one: were they to keep developing or were they just one time wonder? Lech was in the situation of Slask (Wroclaw) of two years ago – impressive season, but the team had to prove itself in the future still.

Slask probably was fully recognized exactly this season: they already won the Cup and the championship, and finishing second was not equal to victories, but this was third strong year already, they were contenders, they remained strong – truly strong.

Yet, Slask remained relatively unknown outside Poland. The reason was the making of the squad –

A good team, well balanced, not getting old yet, but largely for domestic consumption. Only Zmuda was world class. A number of players here played for Poland, but who remembers them now? It was a good squad for that particular time, when Polish football was actually slightly weaker than a few years before. And that is why Lech (Poznan) was not immediately recognized as a strong team – they were similar to Slask. Given the strength of the league, Slask were to stay on top perhaps a few more years.

But not this one – Wisla bested all. It was not a great victory – the champions finished with 39 points. 13 wins, 13 ties – quite conservative approach. Three clubs scored the same as or more goals than the champions – Odra (Opole) was 6th (35 goals – the same as Wisla) and Pogon (Szczecin) was 11th (36 goals). That was the warning sign – the champions were better in attack than the rest of the league. They had the best defensive record, however, receiving only 23 goals.

Not an overwhelming victory, but well deserved nevertheless. Wisla were consistently strong, potential winners for some time, so finally they did what was expected and hoped of them. A good squad by Polish measures – the well known since 1974 A. Szymanowski, K. Kmiecik, and Z. Kapka, all in their prime, plus additional younger talent – Maculewicz and Nawalka. Kazimierz Kmiecik was the league top scorer of the season – he scored only 15 goals, but bested Andrzej Szarmach and Zbigniew Boniek. Wisla was perhaps the club in best position to add new quality to their team – located in big city, perhaps having more money than most clubs, and having bunch of great players who were fun to play with. Wisla was attractive club for talented players located elsewhere, so the chances of Wisla staying strong were big. As for the club, it was the end of long, long suffering – it was their 6th title, but they had to wait 27 years for it. First title since 1951… a few more victories were certainly needed to remedy the dry years. The team looked more than capable of doing just that.