Author: Vesselin

 

Ups and downs around the league. Marek (Stanke Dimitrov, today – Dupnitza) was inevitably down. With the whole league on guard, they had predictably rough season no matter how they played. They were 13th in the fall and dropped down a place in the spring, finishing 14th with 26 points – 13 from the fall and 13 in the spring.

There was no crisis, but the club did not get any new players, depending on very short squad. They came close to relegation, but curiously this season was the most successful one in the history of the club.

Botev (Vratza) was in inevitable decline – the signs were obvious perhaps since 1975. Familiar signs… the strong generation of the first half of the 1970s aged, the rebuilding did not start on time, and the replacements were not really strong. The team still depended on the veterans, but they were no longer in great shape and retired one after another. Currently 6 remained, all 30 years old – behind them were run of the mill players.

Botev was 14th in the fall and 13th at the end of the season. They were the team with the leakiest defense in the league. Survival was the everything on their minds, but it was clear that the future would be worse.

The next club in crisis – or on the verge of one – was Akademik (Sofia). They were 15th in the fall, but pulled themselves together in the spring and finished 8th. Not bad, but the standing was deceptive: Akademik was past their great years and new squad had to be made quickly. There was new coach already, but the trouble was old and well known: the limited resources of the club made recruiting of talented players difficult. Especially for a club which by their very design depended only on outside players – a ‘students club’ meant only ‘students’ can play for it. However, students graduate and leave… so far Akademik was able to recruit good players. Not great stars, but strong enough and most importantly – compatible to each other, so a strong team was made. But replacement was questionable. The newcomers were not bad, but somehow there was no chemistry and team looked more impressive on paper than on the pitch.

Somehow Akademik had the wrong players and most importantly no new leaders emerged to build a team around them. Ironically, players from this squad were to play big role in Bulgarian football in the early 1980s – Alyosha Dimitrov, Sasho Borissov, Plamen Tzvetkov, Krassimir Goranov – but for other clubs, not Akademik. There were also peculiar for Akademik players: Borislav Gyorev was in the squad since 1975 and so far played a single match! He was to stay quite long without playing – when he finally did, people had no idea he was in the team for years already. He was not the only player in such anonymous situation in Akademik and hard to figure out why. But Akademik was going down, that much was clear, unless they made fundamental changes and entirely different team.

The biggest decline happened to Lokomotiv (Plovdiv). It was similar to the case of Botev (Vratza) both in timing and circumstance: aging, noticeable since 1975. But Lokomotiv, one of the brightest Bulgarian clubs in the early 1970s, faced peculiar problem: a group of veterans and a group of very talented youngsters without anybody in between. No good players in the range of 24-27 years old. The youngsters lacked experience and were still shaky. They also were tempted to leave… already three very good strikers left: Krassimir Manolov (Akademik Sofia), Georgy Fidanov and Nikolay Kurbanov (both Akademik Svishtov). Thus, Lokomotiv was perhaps reluctant to unload veterans – the great Christo Bonev was still great, perhaps the goalkeeper Stancho Bonchev and the right winger Georgy Vassilev were still useful and inspirational, but Gancho Peev, Todor Ivanov, Nedyalko Stamboliev, Yordan Yankov, and Assen Balabanov were clearly over the hill. Unfortunately, without middle aged players of some quality, the veterans were kept in hope of helping with experience and influence. The youngsters were not so many for complete change of team – Vesselin Balevsky, Ruzhdy Kerimov, and Krassimir Chavdarov were the brightest, but experience suggested caution… Manolov, Kurbanov, and Fidanov left and there was no guarantee the others were to be different. And they were not… soon the trio was gone, joining CSKA and Levsky. Lokomotiv was in impossible situation – they had to keep veterans as long as they could, a desperate choice further weakening the club. There was no remedy for years – Lokomotiv was shaped this way until the end of the 1980s: a few great players, the rest rabble and promising but row youngsters. And the club lost permanently its leading position in Bulgarian football, reduced to erratic performance.

A shadow of the former great team – few venerable veterans, few talented youngsters, and bunch of nobodies. Lokomotiv took very rough path, going largely down.

Another two clubs were in similar situation: Sliven and Pirin (Blagoevgrad). Pirin was a replica of Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) – the key players, who propelled the club to the first division four years ago were still the key players – all of them over 30 or at least near the that: Christo Christov, Nikolay Radlev, Popmikhailov, Christo Bakalov, Georgy Luleysky, Yordan Samokovliisky, Metody Stoyanov, Petar Petrov, Borislav Hadzhiev, Boris Nikolov. A whole regular team, when the newcomer Ivan Petrov (from Etar) was added. Practically nobody was in the middle range of 25-28, but there was a group of promising youngsters: Kabranov, Dagalov, Mularov, Branimir Kochev, Spassov, and Petar Tzvetkov. The team was obviously aging, yet, it was curiously different than Lokomotiv (Plovdiv): the veterans seemingly were getting better with age and the fate of the team depending largely on them. This was more pronounced in later years, so, in this season the team simply appeared in grave danger: too many veterans. Decline was clearly envisioned and so far Pirin made only one significant change: they got the masterbuilder of the strong Akademik (Sofia) team of few years back – the coach Danko Roev. Alas, no miracle happened.

Pirin finished high in the table – 7th – but this is misleading: with 29 points, they were only 4 points better than the relegated ZhSK Spartak. The team played evenly – 14 points in the fall and 15 in the spring. For the moment, the old feet kept Pirin out of real trouble. Only for the moment… Yet, this season perhaps marks the beginning of permanent phenomenon: the bunch of youngsters was just the first crop of the talent developed in the youth system of Pirin, using also careful selection through the belonging region, South-Western corner of Bulgaria. Since then and still going strong today, the area is arguably the top developer of young talent (Dimitar Berbatov is from there, for instance). And it was also the undoing of Pirin… the club was unable to keep their talent and is constantly robbed by the big clubs from Sofia.

Sliven is hard to really described – as an Army club, they were closely related to CSKA (Sofia), and their fate largely depended on what kind of players the ‘mother club’ took or gave. Thus, Sliven fluctuated widely, but by 1977 something worse was developing: normally, CSKA sent young talent to Sliven to see how they developed. Then took them back. Sliven was hardly able to build strong team on its own. They had to play regularly those sent by CSKA too. But by 1977 CSKA was not sending only young talent – various reserves and veterans started coming. Depending on their form, Sliven played better or worse, there was no telling in advance. The trouble was a relative decline, hard to see and even harder to fix – the dependency was too big. Sliven was slowly sinking, but since they were never a very strong club, even this was not very visible – they finished 12th, thanks to better goal-difference than Botev (Vratza).

Sergy Yotzov, a former CSKA player, and a former CSKA coach, was at the helm. He worked well with Sliven, but… here is the list of former CSKA player in the squad this year: Stoyan Yordanov (captain, 33 years old, still a national team player at the beginning of the year, when he was still with CSKA. Deemed too old and sent to Sliven), Kiril Lyubomirov (25 years old defender, who never really satisfied CSKA and not exactly a starter when he was with them), Todor Simov (28), Plamen Yankov (26), and Yordan Christov (24) – the ‘eternal reserves’ of CSKA in the first half of the 1970s. The club eventually did not need them anymore and moved them at first to Trakia (Plovdiv). They did not excel there either… now they were in Sliven. Christov was a pleasant surprise in the 1976-77 season, when he finished as the second league goal-scorer with 17 goals, but nobody was fooled – he and the rest of the former CSKA players were not going to improve – they reached their limits and long ago. Hardly a core of players to build a team around them. Hardly players trying to impress anybody – they knew there was no going back to CSKA. But they were taking half of the starting team… and Yordanov became captain as soon as he arrived, despite that the fine sweeper of Sliven and national team regular for years, Nikolay Arabov, was already captaining the team for few years. Dependency was not looking good – rather, guaranteeing trouble.

Those were the declining clubs, but others went the opposite way. None really went high, but they very promising season. Two of them were the newcomers. Since Chernomoretz (Bourgas) and Cherno More (Varna) were not confident winners – both won thanks to better goal-difference – neither was expected to suddenly shine. Rather, both teams were expected to struggle – Cherno More had almost the same squad which was relegated in 1976 and Chernomoretz spent about 5 years in the Second Division unable to win promotion. By now Chernomoretz hardly interested anyone outside their hometown – some bunch of unknown players. Even their new recruits were suspect: Ivan Pritargov was released from CSKA, where he already lost his place in the starting team. No longer the bright young candidate for the national team. The central defender Vasko Nedelchev was never a star and with age he slipped down – his best years were with Akademik (Sofia), then he moved to Lokomotiv (Sofia) and had shaky spell there until let go. Experience was the obvious value of both and Chernomoretz badly lacked that. Cherno More practically did not take any new players. Both teams played surprisingly well in the fall and maintained steady performance in the spring.

Chernomoretz finished 10th at the end – on the surface, nothing special since they had 27 points : three more than the last in the table. But they were the only club bellow 5th place with positive goal-difference: 44-43. And they played entertaining football. Of course, Chernomoretz seemingly depended on the form of their only two true stars – Totko Dremsizov and Ivan Pritargov.

Pritargov and Dremsizov – the legends of Chernomoretz.

Both were centre-forwards, which looked like a problem before the start of the season. But here was the first surprize: Dremsizov, arguably the best ever player of the club, suddenly appeared as the last defender, a sweeper more than libero, but still going ahead on occasion. Pritargov was in front of attack. Yet, the real good news were the unknown youngsters, all of them coming from Cernomoretz’s youth system and debuting in the top division. They had little experience with second division too – so young, they hardly played real men’s football. They were also everywhere: Papazov (24) between the goalposts, Ilchev (18) and Deliminkov (20) in defense, Yovchev (18) in midfield, Gochev (19) in attack, the Madzharov brothers – Georgy (24) and Nikolay (20) – in midfield and attack. Experienced veterans between 27 and 30 completed the starting eleven – Peyu Nikolov on the left wing, Pazachev and the newcomer Nedelchev in defense, and the never great starter, but reliable back-up goalie Drazho Stoyanov (24). Complete unknown midfielder found in a small second division club suddenly fitted well as a playmaker – Mutafchiev (24). The youngsters invigorated the veterans, the blend was good and there were enough reliable players on the bench. Chernomoretz was still too row, but the future was bright: the youngsters just needed little time ti adapt to first division and add experience. One of them was soon to become one of the best Bulgarian players: Roussy Gochev. A speedy, technical, and great scoring pocket-size centre-forward, Gochev rarely played his original position in Chernomoretz, Lavski-Spartak, and the national team – he had always tough competition of bigger or just limited to this very post players and played mostly as right-winger. The ‘curse’ started at home… Dremsizov, Pritargov, and even one more player – the little known Parvan Donchev, a Lokomotiv (Sofia) hopefull few years back – were all centre-forwards quite useless at the wings. But Gochev made strong impression in his very first season despite the competition.

Cherno More went shoulder to shoulder with Chernomoretz: both teams were next to each other during the whole season, Cherno more was just a place above Chernomoretz both in fall and spring. They finished 9th and were the specialists of the tie this year: 12 matches, the most ties in the league. Looked like careful and calculating strategy, but it was a different story – Cherno More made the best of a team which may not have been great, but had experience and was at the best age.

The squad was familiar in Bulgaria for years – but before most of the boys were young, shaky, often reserves. Cherno More depended largely on veterans a few years back – now there was none of the impressive old names. The change of generation was difficult: it led the club down to second division – but it was done and there was new leader: the excellent sweeper Todor Marev (24-years old and occasional national team player – he deserved to play more, but was neglected because of strong competition). At least before the start of the season the rest of the squad was considered rather pedestrian – not very great players, but at the best age. Cherno More did not have a single player over 30 – the oldest one was 28. Most were of one generation, aging between 24 and 26. Damyan Georgiev, once upon a time a big hopeful, was a leftover veteran at 27! And these players were together for few years already, they knew each other inside and out. Well balanced, if not starry squad, they not only had a good season, but actually improved as players, were noticed and considered for various national teams – actually, the youngest ones, relatively unknown so far: Georgy Velinov (20, soon to rise to real stardom and to become one of the top 10 all-time Bulgarian goalkeepers), Yancho Bogomilov (22, the younger brother of perhaps the all-time best Cherno More players and one the major stars in the second half of the 1960s, Stefan Bogomilov. Unlike his goal-scoring brother, Yancho was a stopper), Ivan Voychev (20, right full back, who burst this year and expected to develop into a star – but this never happened), and Rafi Rafiev (22, centre-forward so far unheard of, but soon to be included in the Bulgarian Olympic team). This squad surely had may be three strong years ahead of it – the boys were just reaching their peak.

The third team was the most promising: Trakia (Plovdiv) was on the verge of collapse just the previous season. Familiar trouble – generational change. One team getting too old and the club – late to start rebuilding. The signs of crisis were visible since 1974. The problem was aggravated by something else: Trakia had traditionally strong youth system and talented teenagers were popping up regularly. But they were snatched quickly by CSKA – after all, Trakia was army club and subservient to ‘big mamma’. They lost Ivan Pritargov as soon as he became the top league scorer. They lost Spas Dzhevizov the next year. The future Golden Shoe winner Georgy Slavkov was taken even before becoming regular in his home club (and returned back just as quickly, for the youngster was too weak for CSKA yet). Other talents faded away very quickly – Iliya Barashky, a regular at 18 and seen as sure national player in short time, was now playing in second division for Arda (Kardzhaly) – at 23 he already was lost. He was not the only ‘lost one’ and the future of Trakia was suddenly very problematic – the veterans were retiring, or, if still playing, fading away. Yet, in a nick of time the danger was avoided – it did not look like that before the1977-78 started: it looked like the club desperately decided to play with their junior team. Too many too young – certain disaster. But the teenagers finished 4th – with small, yet clearly visible difference from the rest of the league – Trakia was positioned separately, 2 points from tight pack of 12 clubs. They were far behind the battle for medals – 6 points behind the third placed team – but given their youth and inexperience, it was great. A year or two was needed for the boys to get experience, to mature. The future was clearly theirs.

Only two veterans were left – the great Dinko Dermendzhiev, who played his last season, and full back Vangel Delev, also at the end of his career. The rest were very young and pushing ahead: the best example if the case of Atanas Garabsky: he was 22 years old national team player, rapidly becoming a reserve in Trakia! The competition was younger still… the ‘veterans’ were Kosta Bosakov (a sweeper formerly of Lokomotiv Plovdiv, 27), Dimitar Vichev (former reserve goalkeeper of Beroe, 26), the ‘late bloomer’ Kosta Tanev, debutant at 24… the rest of the squad was to shape most of the 1980s: Georgy Slavkov (19), Slavcho Horozov (21), Kostadin Kostadinov (18), Angel Kalburov (22), Anton Milkov (24), Kiril Peychev (21), Aleksandar Ivanov (21), Petar Zekhtinsky (22), Atanas Marinov (19). It is difficult even to say who was the greatest of them – all played for the national team, but how to measure them? Slavkov got the Golden Shoe indeed, but in 1977-78 he was still playing second fiddle to the ‘true big talent’ – Aleksandar Ivanov. Zekhtinsky probably ranked lower than Milkov, Kalburov, and Horozov . K. Kostadinov was just a hopeful, rapidly taking the place of another recent hopeful – his brother Petar Kostadinov, dangerously old at 22. So much talent, some had to sit on the bench (unfortunately, some for years – Peychev was the biggest looser). Trakia was coming back with massive talent.

Here they are at this point of time. If they stayed… but it was difficult to keep exactly this team: Dermendzhiev and Delev retired, Milkov went to Levski-Spartak; Kalburov and Slavkov to CSKA, Aleksandar Ivanov also left (to Lokomotiv Plovdiv) when he lost his place to Slavkov. The rest remained, more juniors were added. Some were national team regulars for years, others had no luck and played little, but still they did. Enormously talented bunch, establishing itself at once. Since these players are to stay for many years, no need to point them out on the photo. Instead, a curiosity: 4 different kits are used in the photo above. Different variations of stripes, but hard to tell were they really different kits or just clumsy made two varieties. Such discrepancies were used often before 1970 – even by the biggest clubs in the world! For 1977-78 it was an unique look, which may be ascribed only to one thing: Trakia was still using old-fashioned ‘no-name’ kit. As soon as they dressed in Adidas uniformity prevailed. Which happened during this very season.

Lastly, two teams performed according to expectations – Slavia (Sofia) and Beroe (Stara Zagora). They finished 5th and 6th , dropping slightly from their 3rd and 5th positions in the fall. Certain similarity between these clubs: they were both moody and unpredictable for years, capable of gret ups and downs. Beroe lost their wonderful striker Petko Petkov between seasons, when he was lured by Akademik (Svishtov), but they had new talent – Stoycho Mladenov – in his place. Twenty years old, but he already played remarkable season, scored a lot, and now had a chance to do better, for in the absence of Petkov, he was not only the key striker, but moved to his original position – centre-forward. To a point, Mladenov was unlucky like Roussy Gochev of Chernomoretz – because of competition, he played almost his entire career at the left wing.

Beroe was able to change generations rather smoothly – only three players of their great earlier squad remained – the goalkeeper Todor Krastev (32), the midfielder Zhelyu Zhelev (25), and the right winger Boris Kirov (32) and the skeleton of new leaders was already shaped: Kancho Kasherov (21) and Tenyo Minchev (23) in defense, Stefan Naydenov (20) and Georgy Stoyanov (22) in midfield, and Stoycho Mladenov (20) in attack. Beroe had to deal with specific problem – they were regular donors of CSKA and their strength depended largely on the ability to replace quickly players taken from CSKA. Stoycho Mladenov eventually went to CSKA, becoming a legend of that club, not Beroe.

Slavia had its ‘golden team’, the most promising one in Bulgaria a few years back. By 1977-78 it was at its best age and supposed to be among the title contenders. But Slavia was Slavia… moody, inconsistent, playing fantastic football one match only to collapse in the next. Nothing new this year – for instance, two Slavia players led (jointly with Stoycho Mladenov) the scoring chart in the fall – Andrey Zhelyazkov and Georgy Minchev with 12 goals. The team was 3rd, 4 points behind the 1st placed. They had a chance for the title… but they finished the season with insignificant record: 12 wins, 6 ties, and 12 losses. Fifth. Typical Slavia.

Sitting, from left: Emil Mikhailov, Stoycho Berberov, Georgy Minchev, Vanyo Kostov, Tchavdar Tzvetkov, Atanas Aleksandrov, Milcho Evtimov.

Middle row: Kiril Angelov – coach, Petar Miladinov, Georgy Dermendzhiev, Bozhidar Grigorov – playing assistant coach, Andrey Zhelyazkov, Ivan Iliev, Trendafil Terziisky – assistant coach.

Third row: Stoycho Stefanov, Ilyaz Aliev, Georgy Gugalov, Botyo Malinov, Valentin Modev, Ivan Chakarov, Georgy Tikhanov.

At the time much was said about this team – in the summer of 1977 they won one of the groups in the old format of the Intertotto tournament. The first Bulgarian club to do so and it looked like big success because Hamburger SV played in the same group. The Germans did not try hard, fielding mostly reserves, but Slavia prevailed. Because of that it was thought they will be the major force in Bulgarian football at last. Apart from their notorious moodiness, the reason Slavia was not a big factor can be easily seen in the squad: it is very thin. About 15 players, three of them goalkeepers,were practically the team. Some were nearing retiring (Grigorov and Evtimov), others reached their potential and no longer developed (Chakarov, Tikhanov, Gugalov). None of the young reserves was really promising and none made a name for himself – actually, they disappeared quickly without a trace (Mikhailov, Berberov, Stefanov, and the 4th goalkeeper on the picture Modev, who was the juniors national team regular at the time). The regular starters played together for many years already and it was becoming clear that somebody new had to be added to them and shake up settled patterns. But no such player appeared – their best addition was former Levski-Spartak junior, who did not make any impression in his first club, Botyo Malinov. He fitted well in Slavia, but he was no star and no leader. Strange was the coach too – Kiril Angelov was virtually unknown and soon sunk back into anonymity. So, the most interesting things about this Slavia photo was trivia: one more example of the innocent 1970s – players dressed with Adidas kit, but the coaches sporting Puma gear. The second interesting thing is something practically unheard of in Bulgaria so far – a playing coach. Bozhidar Grigorov was both active player and assistant coach – one has to look really hard for another precedent from 1945 to the end of the 1980s! Grigorov was 32 and perhaps able to play 3-4 more years, but his new position settled it… he was to retire soon and… to make no impression as a coach.

The 1977-78 First Division season was quite interesting, yet not classy. Some clubs were declining, but few were improving. In the fall four clubs were clearly in trouble – Marek, Botev (Vratza), Akademik (Sofia), and Akademik (Svishtov). Botev was declining for some time, so their lowly place was not a surprise. Akademik (Sofia) also showed signs of decline the previous season and now it looked like the trouble was real – they finished 15th in the fall, two points behind Marek and Botev. Marek, the big surprise in the previous season, when they finished 3rd, was expected to be quite low this year – as good as the team was, the strong performance was also due to the surprise factor – nobody took Marek seriously, but hat was the previous year. Now it was the opposite – all clubs played their best against Marek. The drop was expected also because of the peculiar squad of Marek -they depended on 12-13 players, so injuries and even slightly bad form of any starter was a big liability. On top of everything Marek played in the UEFA Cup and bunch of players were invited to various national teams – it was just too much for so short a squad. Marek played pretty much as before, but the points were not coming… Akademik (Svishtov) barely survived in the previous season and before the new season started they seriously reinforced their pleasant, but limited squad. Akademik recruited serious names and looked like they were going to have confident year, climbing up. Instead, they dropped down. After half season it was sure thing that two of the above clubs would be relegated. The spring was different… Akademik (Sofia) suddenly went up, Marek and Botev fought for survival, Akademik (Svishtov) made some effort to escape, and suddenly ZhSK Spartak (Varna), comfortly in mid-table after the first half of the season (7th place with 15 points) plummeted down to the very bottom. They finished 15th after earning only 10 points in the spring.

ZhSK Spartak (Varna) – from confidence to disgrace in half a year. It was hard to figure out why – ZhSK Spartak were no strangers to the bottom of the table, but this year the they did not look so bad. True, their best defender Dimitar Enchev went to Levski-Spartak, but ZhSK Spartak was compencated with three players for him. Dimitar Doychinov was coaching them – a former coach of Levski-Spartak and one of the best in the business at that time. The squad was based on seasoned players like Kiryakov, Fazhev, Nedev, Takhmisyan (formerly of Cherno More and CSKA), Plamen Khristov (formerly of CSKA and Cherno More), and Krassimir Zafirov was one of the best goalkeepers of the country and often included in the national team. A promising centre-forward was getting known – Ivan Petrov – soon to be included in national team formations. Plamen Getov, one of the biggest Bulgarian stars of the 1980s, was in the squad. And the three former Levski-Spartak players seemed like solid addition – the young defender Valentin Chaushev and the slightly older midfielder Georgy Dobrev were unable to impress their former club, but were good help for a weaker team. Georgy Tzvetkov was released from Levski-Spartak for getting too old – he was 30 and already well behind his peak. But the former national team centre-forward was experienced and still able to score – perfect for a modest team . ZhSK Spartak actually looked better than a few years ago and in the fall performance matched expectations. In the spring they collapsed and ended relegated. May be too many players were over the hill and did not really care, but those were not great years for Varna’s football – Cherno More was relegated and just came back to first division, now ZhSK Spartak, playing hide and seek with relegation anyway, went down.

Akademik (Svishtov) still finished last, although they played better in the spring – or at least won more points than their poor 11 earned in the fall. But it was not enough… 24 points total left them bellow ZhSK Spartak – both teams were to keep company in the Northern B Group the next year. Dubious comfort, that. Akademik debuted in the First Division with rather anonymous squad and managed to survive in 1976-77 – the team was enthusiastic and their stopper Petar Stankov was even included in the national team. Yet, the club decided they need re-enforcement – it was done on surprisingly large scale for a modest club. The lure was most likely easy education promised – the club belonged to the University of Economics in Svishtov. The new recruits were more than impressive: the CSKA junior defender Tzvetan Bichovsky, the experienced Georgy Pavlov and Sasho Momchilov, the bright Junior national team goalkkeper Stanimir Parchanov from Spartak (Plaven) – not bad, but there was much more. Two strikers from Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) – Nikolay Kurbanov and Georgy Fidanov, both regulars in their former club and Kurbanov a national team player not long ago; the former national team stopper Vesselin Evgeniev from Minyor (Pernik), and one of the all-time top scorers of Bulgarian football and national player Petko Petkov from Beroe (Stara Zagora). Only Petkov and Pavlov were over 30 years old, but most of the newcomers had plenty of experience. Suddenly Akademik looked like a force… the scoring power of Petkov alone was something to reckon with.

This squad had enough power for at least comfortable mid-table position – instead they were relegated.

The illusion of names… strong on paper, nothing on the grass. It was a lesson of bad decisions: strong individual names do not equal strong team. Perhaps tensions grew from the moment the stars arrived – the players who carried Akademik to first division and managed to survive there were suddenly relegated to the bench. The newcomers had no attachment to the club and very likely were not evn interested in playing. The team was badly stitched together. Ill-fated transfers and not a team-building at all – as soon as the season ended the stars left. What a mistake… with their old squad Akademik actually had better chances, but it needed to finish last to realize that.

 

The Southern B Group was judged weaker than the Northern one – few former First Division members played there and all of them were in decline for years, not a factor at all. Thus, Minyor (Pernik), just relegated from the top league, was seen as sure winner. The rest of the league appeared very similar – the better teams had between one and three known former first division players, generally aging ones – enough for ‘solid’ performance, but not for aiming at promotion. Minyor was struggling in the fall, when finished 4th – 4 points behind the leader – but there was no fear: better than the rest, they were surely to end on top.

No matter what they did, Minyor were to be champions: sitting from left: G. Ganev, I. Todorov, B. Evtimov, G. Yordanov, V. Bankov.

Middle row: D. Kontev – coach, F. Filipov, A. Divyachky, S. Nikolov, B. Dushkov, V. Naydenov, S. Malinov, Y. Ikonomov – masseur.

Third row: V. Boyanov, A. Slavov, E. Banchev, G. Manolov, Y. Christov, Y. Katrankov.

Minyor was a mirror image of the better clubs of the Northern B group: a core of solid players carried it on so far since 1970. They were dangerously aging – Evlogy Banchev (31), Georgy Yordanov (30), Slavy Malinov (31) – or already reached their peak – Angel Slavov. The team leaders were pretty much alone, though – the other experienced players were rejected by their former clubs – Ganev, Evtimov, Naydenov. They were no leaders, but run of the mill players. And no great talent completed the squad – Boyanov was perhaps the best of the rest, but it was already clear he was not to be a star. Experienced, but rather ordinary team, depending on few old stars. The only exception was a boy not on the photo: the 17-years old winger Mario Valkov. He debuted with a bang and was the only one seemingly capable of replacing the old leaders. But… he was not to last in Pernik. Minyor was clearly unable to even start meaningful rebuilding, but the squad was experienced enough and obviously better than the rest of the league. On paper – yes. In reality Minyor was unable to win – they did not improve much in the spring, adding 24 points to the 22 earned in the fall. With that Minyor finished second. They were not contenders even for a second – the winners left them 9 points behind. So much for surety of predictions.

The winners were one of those clubs never expected to win – veterans of Second Division football, a staple really there, normally found in the upper half of the table. A typical second league club – just happy to play there and never aiming higher. The club did not recruit for more than second league stability, so it was a typical squad – a bunch of vastly experienced club veterans, some youngsters with exactly second-league potential, and two or three former first division players with fading names. The very making of the squad did not suggest any ambition old or new. But this very squad finished first in the fall with 26 points. It still did not look not serious… rather, in the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed was king. Behind were one similar club – Dimitrovgrad – and one surprise – Trakia (Novy Krichim) was third, a club more often playing Third Division football. The top three clubs were expected to drop down in the spring and Minyor to take the first place. But… only Trakia, a tiny club even by second division measures, dropped. The league was quite weak and no big changes happened in the spring: Dimitrovgrad finished third. May be the fall leaders were just caught by the inability of others to gather points, may be they developed some appetite for success – at the end, the fall leaders finished 9 points ahead of everybody: 22 wins, 11 ties, and 5 losses. 55 points, the best attack – 67 goals, the best defense – 27 allowed, most wins in the league and especially impressive number of losses – the next best were Minyor, losing 10 games – twice as many! The champions were overwhelming on paper. The name is Haskovo, a club named after their home city in South-Eastern Bulgaria.

Sitting, from left: Valchan Vassilev, Zhivko Gospodinov, Dimitar Dimitrov, Yordan Kichekov, Lyudmil Mikhalkov, Kostadin Latinov, Ivan Slavov.

Middle row: Petar Aleksiev -coach, Ivan Grudev, Dimitar Zarev, Krassimir Yakimov, Roussy Delchunkov, Pavel Pavlov, Svetlin Cholakov, Atanas Atanassov – assistant coach.

Third row: Dimitar Tekhov, Rossen Stratiev, Toshko Yanev, Valentin Marinov, Nikola Kordov, Saly Shakirov, Lyuben Lyubenov, Nikola Kostov.

This was the biggest success of the club founded in 1957 under the name ‘Dimitar Kanev’ so far – champions of Southern Second Division and confidently so. Not exactly a Cinderella story, but… the squad was hardly good for top league football. Relatively young team, depending mostly on typical second division players and following the pattern of most second-leaguers: two or three well known names, getting old. The left winger Latinov was the local star and one of the best strikers in the second division for years, already 30 years old. Nikola Kordov was the key figure in defense – at 32, his best years were gone. He was part of the strong Beroe (Stara Zagora) team circa 1967-1973 and was even included in the national team a few times, but injuries and age moved him to Haskovo. Yordan Kichekov was similar – although younger, 27 years old, his best years were already behind him. Five years back he was considered one of the most promising young players in the first division. Then he played for Trakia (Plovdiv), but the promise was not fulfilled – he lost his starting place, moved to Lokomotiv (Plovdiv) and eventually moved again – and down – to Haskovo. The trio shined in Haskovo and made a difference, but it was in the second division. For top flight new players were urgently needed, if Haskovo wanted to survive. As they were, they were not going to last, therefore, the best was just to enjoy their victory and promotion.

 

The Bulgarian Second Division was perhaps very large at this time period – 40 clubs divided in two groups of twenty each. The possible advantage was the number the games played per season, theoretically strengthening the players. The other advantage, more realistic, was the opportunity for stronger teams to correct mistakes, sluggish start, and generally to succeed at the expense of smaller and weaker clubs. The biggest disadvantages was in building of truly competitive teams – the better players tended to be dispersed through the league – roughly 2 per team on average. Smaller league provided for concentration and ultimately leading to stronger teams, especially those aiming at the top level. The current format more or less reduced ambitions – a relatively good player would join small club which surely had no money for strong squad, but was able to pay generously one or two players, who were classy enough to keep the club in the second level without even playing at the top of their abilities. Laziness was practically encouraged – three clubs were relegated in each group, so the bulk of the league felt secure. As for ambitions… only few clubs, generally former members of the top league from big cities had them.

The Northern B group was considered tougher – four teams were expected to fight for the first place and promotion: Dunav (Rousse), Etar (Veliko Tirnovo), Spartak (Pleven), and possibly Yantra (Gabrovo). All were quite recently members of first division, Etar and Dunav played at the UEFA Cup tournament just a few years back. At half-season the prediction rung through – only Yantra was out of the race at 7th place and 8 points less than the leaders. Etar was 4th with 25 points; Spartak – 3rd with 26, and Dunav was 1st with 28. Second was Bdin (Vidin),also with 28 points and a relative suprise – they were not considered potential champions, yet, they had strong 1976-77 season, when they finished 3rd. However, not a single club was overwhelming – rather, all had big problems. Dunav, just relegated from First Division, was getting weaker, not stronger – in the winter break they lost their star player, the well known and occasionally included in the national team centre-forward Nikola Christov, who scored 20 goals in the fall. He moved to CSKA (Sofia). The rest of the Dunav was similar to Etar and Spartak… a core of few aging well known players, supported by younger group lacking quality. It was a case of clear need of rebuilding, but it was neither radical, nor well thought. Spartak appeared a better recruiter, but still the team underperformed. The exception was Bdin – they had aging, very experienced team. No stars – only two players were relatively known: the midfielder Mumdzhiev, who about 5 years back was even called to the national team. Since then he was going downhill and after leaving Lokomotiv (Sofia) settled in Second Division. The goalkeeper Topchev was the other relatively known player – he achieved even less than Mumdzhiev: once upon a time he was recruted by CSKA, but was never a starter. His spell with CSKA was not long and similar short and insignificant spells followed, until he settled in Bdin. The core of local stars was completed by veterans, who were constant feature for ‘ages’. Great they were not, but had enormous experince, knew second division football in and out, and eventually popped up at the top of the league at last.

In their home city Vidin, Bdin may have been seen as a possible cnadidates for promotion, but not elsewhere – the team benefited largely by its experience, but had no first division potential. The grizzled veterans knew how to overcome most of the small second division clubs and to maintain consistency in such a league, but nothing more. In the spring they were no longer strong – Bdin finished second, but 5 points behind the winners. They lost the same number of matches as the champions – 9, but won significantly less games – 21 to 26. To a point, the even performance of Bdin kept them at top – the other favourites had either fall or spring weak half-season.

Dunav (Rousse) was very weak in the spring – they added only 17 points to their 28 at the end of the fall. Without Christov their attack was suddenly toothless – Dunav scored 47 goals in the fall and measly 18 in the spring. And they finished 4th… just a point above Yantra, which improved somewhat in the spring, but was unable to compensate for their weak fall and finished 5th.

Third ended Etar, a team which on the surface appeared to be doing better rebuilding than the others. By now only two of the old strong team remained – the goal-keeper Petar Petrov and the sweeper Stefan Chakarov. As many second-division club, some players with first division experience, but unable to establish themselves in their former clubs, were recruited more or less as a starting point for a new team – Rabchev (Botev Vratza), Nenchev (Slavia), Tabakov (Sliven). Young talent completed the team – some coming from Etar’s youth system, some from other second division clubs. In theory, the new team was largely ‘promising’ – may be unfinished yet, but deemed strong enough for winning second division.

The 1977-78 vintage: standing, from left: Semko Goranov- coach, Ruzhdy Ahmedov, Kadir Belaliev, Nikolay Kotzev, Ilia Marinov, Miroslav Gospodinov, Boyko Dimitrov, Krassimir Yakimov, Kiril Rabchev, Stefan Chakarov, Petar Petrov, Ivan Nenchev, Ilia Tabakov, Georgy Velinov-assistant coach.

Sitting: Stefan Donev – team doctor, Vassil Daskalov, Petko Tzanev, Krassimir Traykov, Georgy Iliev, Krassimir Kalchev, Nikola Velkov, Ivan Angelov, Vladimir Daskalov, Petar Shabakov – masseur.

Compared to what have been lost, the newcomers clearly lacked quality lacked – since 1974 Etar lost Georgy Vassilev (retired), Stefan Velichkov (CSKA and later – Spartak Plaven), Ivan Petrov (Pirin Blagoevgrad), Stoyan Kotzev and Stefan Grozdanov (Balkan Botevgrad), Sasho Kostov (Lokomotiv Sofia). The lost veterans were included in national team formations, Velichkov was regular at the 1974 World Cup finals. All, except Kostov, but he was Bulgarian champion this very season with Lokomotiv. Chakarov was soon to depart as well… Of the new team only Rabchev had significant long-term contribution and only Boyko Dimitrov made a respectable career. The team appeared strong on paper, but in reality… third place. However, the year was significant in retrospect: two names very well known around the world debuted:

Krassimir Balakov, on the left, and Trifon Ivanov, circled on the right. Well, they debuted for the boys team of Etar… so nothing to change the fate of the first team. The small boys so far established themselves in the boys team – nothing to suggest yet they would be world famous: most talented kids hardly even reach junior teams…

At the end Spartak (Pleven) outsmarted the competition: the team was sluggish in the fall, but maintained a place among the best – they were 3rd, 2 points behind the leaders. In the spring Spartak improved slightly when the competition stumbled. Spartak added 29 points to their 26 from the fall, but the teams found its rhythm and scored a lot: 40 goals. Gradually they took the first place and build their lead, finishing 5 points ahead of the next pursuer, Bdin. Spartak was rather even in both half-seasons and this was the right approach – the big, and therefore, forgiving league benefited those with stable, if not very exciting, form. The rest paid a heavy price for slowing down in the spring, or – in the case of Bdin – having experience, but lacking vigor because of oldish squad.

Happy champions, returning to First Division: sitting, from left: Tzvetan Kamenov, Krassimir Lazarov, Roumen Christov, Petko Todorov, Blagoy Krastanov, Aleksandar Benchev, Nikolay Romanov.

Middle row: Ivan Pankov, Tzvetan Krastev, Tony Dzhefersky, Lyudmil Tanchev, Dimitar Vladimirov, Nazim Mehmedov, Vassil Minkov.

Third row: Mircho Urukov, Ivo Bratanov, Dimo Dimov, Stefan Velichkov, Stoyan Georgiev, Harry Kazakov.

Spartak was the same as the other favourites: a cluster of old, experienced players, who have been regulars for years, aided by mixed bunch – some home-grown youngsters, some good second division players, recruited from elsewhere, and few former first division players, who were unable to establish themselves in their previous clubs. The core consisted of Todorov, Dimov, Urukov, Mehmedov, Minkov, Lazarov, Bratanov – aging all, except Lazarov and Bratanov. Those two were bright promising players a few years back, but obviously already reached the limit of their potential. The big difference came from three players recruited in the last two years – Stefan Velichkov, the 28-years old full back, who came from CSKA and who was national team regular not long ago. The second was the central defender Dzhefersky – he was a big promise as a junior, but partly because of injuries he never established himself in his original club, Levski-Spartak. Now, 24 years old, he was entirely forgotten and had to make a second start. The third one came in the summer of 1977 also from Levski-Spartak – the 27-years old centre-forward Krastanov. He was clearly not the striker Levski-Spartak needed, played rarely and impressed no one. Krastanov was well known in the second division, where he played before moving to Levski, but at first he was not considered great addition to Spartak. Yet, the three newcomers fitted well and gradually became the leading players of the team – which was exactly what was needed: new leaders to replace old and over the hill ones. The club still needed stronger midfielders, but this was for the future. The ‘now’ was sunny: return to First Division.

 

The Cup final was more representative of the parity at the time than the standard ‘different logic’ of cup tournaments: the finalists were not among the championship leaders, but strong in their own way nevertheless. Universitatea (Craiova) was 6th this year, but they were formidable force in the 1970s, so no surprise they reached the final. The other finalist was further down the championship table – Olimpia (Satu Mare) were 13th. But they were tough opponent and once at the final, naturally wanted to win. Still, the classier team prevailed – Universitatea won 3-1.

Tired winners, not having strength left for smiles. But the Cup was theirs, in the hands of Sorin Cartu, not a star, but called ‘brilliant’ this day.

One may feel sorry for the losers – Olimpia (Satu Mare) are one of the oldest Romanian clubs, founded in 1921. But… they rarely played in First Division, especially after the Second World War. The reason was largely lack of money. They managed to get promotion in 1973-74 and more or less settled in the top division – in the lower part of it, but they stayed. 1977-78 was their finest season ever – for the first time in their history they had a chance to win a trophy. Unfortunately, they lost… and such a run was never repeated again. Thus, this counts as the best year of Olimpia and their playing at the Cup final – their biggest success.

The winners added one more trophy – their third in total. They also repeated their success of the previous year, winning the Cup for a second time, but in two consecutive years.

1970s were the best years of the club – they established themselves as steady favourites, won the championship a few years back, then the Cup in 1976-77 and now again. Along with Steaua, Dynamo, and Arges – one of the leaders of Romanian football and there were no signs of decline. Universitatea was staying strong, winning trophies, and most likely going to win more. Good for football too – this ‘students’ club established a permanent challenge to the ‘big’ clubs from Bucharest. The capital was no longer dominant, but had to share with the ‘provincials’.

Romania – may be the football played was not very good, but the championship was one of the most tightly competitive in Europe in 1977-78. No overwhelming leaders, no ‘segments’ in the table – the difference between the 3rd and the 17th was only 8 points. Goal-difference determined final places for many clubs, including those at the very top. Everything and anything was possible this season. The only exception was FCM Resita, an early outsider settled at the very bottom. They finished last. At 17th place was Petrolul (Ploesti) with 30 points – 10 more than FCM Resita, but 2 less than FC Constanta. Petrolul still won 11 matches and scored 41 goals – not bad for a club at the bottom of the table. FC Constanta took 16th place because of worse goal-difference – they and Politehnica (Iasi) had 32 points each. Unlucky, FC Constanta – 14 wins in 34 championship games was not bad at all. Their goal-difference was also not bad for a team at the bottom of the table – negative, of course, but not elsewhere clubs with similar result were more likely to be in mid-table, not in the relegation zone: 42-49. But… Politehnica (Iasi) finished with positive goal-difference – 43-39. Something extremely rare for a 15th placed club. A goal-difference better than the 9th placed CS Targoviste (28-33) and the 8th placed Corvinul (Hunedoara) (44-43), and equal to the 7th placed Jiul (Petrosani) – 53-49. And this unusual goal-difference saved them from relegation: FC Constanta, Petrolul, and FCM Resita went down.

Yet, the relative parity was just relative – the traditional leaders still stayed at the top of the table. None appeared to be in crisis, plummeting down, except Rapid (Bucharest), already in the Second Division. Universitatea (Craiova) finished 6th and Dynamo (Bucharest) – 5th, but they were not far away from the medalists – rather, they lost the race by a hair to either luckier, or more concentrated adversaries.

With 38 points, Sportul Strudentesc (Bucharest) finished 4th.

The ‘Students’ were notoriously up and down club, but they had a good spell at that time, enjoying larger role in Romanian football.

Politehnica (Timisoara) clinched bronze medals – they also finished with 38 points, but had better goal-difference than Sportul Studentesc. Also, they were the surprise story of the championship.

An old club, Politehnica traditionally played a minor role, often playing in the Second Division. Thus, they were expected to be found somewhere in the lower half of the table, most likely lucky to escape relegation, or, if having ‘strong’ season – to be in the comfort zone in mid-table. The club was established in 1921 and went through name changes – CSU, Stiinta – until their current name came along in 1966-67. It was traditionally attached – and run by – the Polytechnic Univerisity of Timisoara. A ‘students’ club – one of the 4 ‘students’ clubs playing in the Romanian First Division that year. To be among the leaders and win medals was unheard of, so they pleasant surprise not only for their fans. Their sudden rise deserves one more look:

The team was not much, but they a star – Dembrovschi. May be enthusiastic year, may be solid and experienced squad, but they played well. It was the best ever season of Politehnica. It was their their very first medal. It was great – and remained great, for so far this season was not neither bettered, nor matched. The best ever season of the club.

Arges (Pitesti) finished second with 41 points. The 1970s were perhaps the strongest years in the club’s history and there was no end of them yet. Along with Sportul Studentesc, Arges won the most matches this season – 18. But in attacking minded and tough Romanian league wins went hand in hand with losses – 11. May be this, may be their a bit weak strikers placed them second – on goal-difference.

For those following Romanian football at the time the squad was familiar for some time. Led by one the best Romanian players in the 1970s Dobrin. Tough luck… Arges lost the title just by few goals.

Exciting race to the end with two clubs finishing with equal points. Scoring – not defense, for both candidates ended with equal number of balls in their nets – 49 – clinched the title. The champions were more than familiar – Steaua (Bucharest). One more title for them.

Difficult victory, thanks to their strikers, scoring 75 goals – Arges scored 15 less! May be Steaua undererformed a bit, for certainly they had the best squad in the league with about 10 national team players – but all is well when ends well. Steaua repeated their success of the previous year – two consecutive titles and the selection pretty much was a promise for a third in a row. No major changes – the squad was the same as in the year before, but it was not an aging team. Their still young coach Emerich Jenei perhaps should be credited with the success in the last second: he was not the famous Jenei yet, but already making a difference.

The cup was won by Tatabanya. But this was not the Hungarian Cup – it was the winter cup provided by the sports magazine Kepes Sport. A novelty of that time – winter indoor tournaments were popular around Europe, largely to provide some semi-competitive football during the pause between fall and spring halves of the season, partly to help preparations for the spring.

Here are the winners – another feature of such tournaments was that otherwise weak clubs often performed well. No wonder: reserves and new players were tried and the rules varied. It was not futsal at all. With time these tournaments faded away and practically disappeared, so this note is mostly for the sake of history.

As for the real Cup, Ferencvaros and Pecsi MSC reached the final. For the ‘peoples club’ it was a chance to salvage the disastrous season. For Pecsi MSC too… they were in decline for some time, sinking to the lower half of the table. Once upon a time the club from Pecs was stronger, but not in the 1970s – so a rare opportunity to win a trophy, to restore pride. In the championship Pecsi MSC was worse than Ferencvaros – they finished 13th – and their squad was way weaker, but such things hardly matter at finals. Stakes were high – the ‘peoples club’ had to come back somewhat in a season dominated by the arch-enemies, the Army and the Police. In the same time the ‘provincials’ really wanted the noses of the hated big boys from the capital, robbing the provinces all the time. Intriguing rivalries. Perhaps they were not just on paper, perhaps the opponents were not all tha strong, but the final ended in a tie. In the overtime Ferencvaros prevailed 4-2.

One more Cup for Ferencvaros and season saved. Or may be not? The winners look not too happy…

The finalists did their best… and lost. Unfortunately, Pecs had no real argument – apart from their goalkeeper Katzirz they had no classy players. Ferencvaros had a very weak year, but still it was a squad full of former and current national team players.

This squad, led by Tibor Nyilasi, was good for a double. So the names suggest… yet, it ended only with the Cup, and the trophy was won with difficulties. It was better squad than Honved’s and probably at par with Ujpesti Dosza’s, but… lucky just to salvage this season. For some reason Ferencvaros never really soared in the 1970s. May be they were psychologically weak. May be there was always some missing key ingredient. At least they won the Cup – for the 14th time! And a real Cup, not like Tatabanya’s.

 

No joy at the bottom of First Division.

SZEOL (Szeged) dropped out from the survival race and finished last with 18 points.

Top row, from left: Himmer István – coach, Hevesi ?, Hojszák István, Forgách Jajos, Holler Ferenc, V.Tóth Mihály, Pataki Tamás – masseur.

Middle row: Kádár Lajos, Szalay István, Kozma III Zoltán, Birinyi István, Kőműves Mihály, Hágelmann Endre, Zámbori Mihály.

First row: Kozma II György, Újhelyi István, Garics György, Nagy István – captain, Jerney István.

For SZEOL relegation was hardly a surprise… a season better forgotten quickly.

The battle for escaping 17th place lasted to the end – Raba ETO and Szekesfehervari MAV Epone survived. Down went Kaposvari Rakoczi, a club rarely playing first division football anyway.

Just like Szeged, Kaposvar was not to be missed… the usual case of weak clubs. Up the table the big surpise was Ferencvaros at 9th place – the team lead by Nyilasi was supposed to be fighting for the title, not to sit indifferently in the middle of the table. Why the sudden slump is hard to tell, but Ferencvaros did not master a really strong squad in the 1970s. Always something missing.

Above them finished Tatabanya – one of the usual mid-table clubs and very unlikely company for the most popular Hungarian team, Ferencvaros.

Apart from nice picture in the snow, Tatabanya had a few good players – Csapo was included in the national team for the World Cup finals. Quite different squad than Ferencvaros with their 11 national team players (of various years). Yet, Tatabanya was bested by a team normally ranking even lower – Dunauivarosi Kohasz or just Dunaujvaros, as they were usually called outside Hungary.

Dunaujvaros finished 7th, but the real success story was another club.

The group competing for bronze medals included Vasas, MTK, and Videoton. Vasas, still running strong, finished 5th.

Not bad really – as good as Vasas were in those years, they had no chance of getting enough classy players. 5-6 was the maximum – the club had them, but they were not enough.

Videoton, the second club representing Szekesfehervar, finished 4th, missing third place by 2 points. They were the success story – only 3 years ago nobody heard of them, but Videoton not only established itself in first division, but suddenly was among the very best. And not just for a year – the club was apparently ambitious. They were still building – hence, 4th this year. It was clearly a team with a future.

Third row, from left: Kovács László, Baranyi László, Nagy III János, Garamvölgyi, Kovács József:

Middle: Burcsa Győző, Szalmássy, Fejes, Czeczeli Károly, Nagy II János.

Bottom: Végh Tibor, Májer Lajos, Csongrádi Ferenc, Jankovics Sándor, Szabó József.

No big names here and may be this was the key for their development – the big clubs not tempted to steal from them. The club name on their shirts also curtailed the general rule of no sponsor adds in Estern Europe: since ‘Videoton’ was also an industrial firm, it was advertisement witout formally advertising anything.

The old, famous MTK clinched the 3rd place. A strong season, something rare in the 1970s for the club, which was not even MTK – after a merger with another club in 1975, they were MTK-VM, or MTK-Voros Meteor.

MTK were similar to Vasas in a way – unable to recruit enough strong players. They had even smaller number of stars than Vasas, but it was a solid and experienced squad. And MTK had interesting kit too – the Adidas stripes were in the middle of the jersey.

At the end the battle for the championship was the typical East European duel between the Army and the Police – Honved vs Ujpesti Dosza. Honved, finally strong after years of decline, built an young squad and perhaps that was the whole difference: it was wise to get the players of tomorrow, but they were not consistently strong yet. Honved displayed the best defense, allowing only 22 goals in 34 matches, but they lost 6 games nevertheless. They lost the title by a single point.

A good, but not exceptional squad, still in need of few strong additions. Times changed… the biggest stars were playing for other clubs and there was no way to be ordered to join Honved, like it was in the 1950s. Pinter and may be Kozma were the leading players now, but the competition had better ones.

So Ujpesti Dosza returned to the top, winning one more title. It was not an easy victory, but still the the team lost only 2 matches and won 19. The champions scored astonishing number of goals – 95. Their defense was leaky – 46 goals received – but it was clear that attack was the weapon of choice. The rivals ended with 50 points and Ujpesti Dosza managed 51.

One more title, but this time a bit surprising success – Ujpesti Doza showed signs of decline in the previous 2 seasons. The squad was old – as a squad rather than actual age of players. Most names were around since the beginning of the 1970s and most of them reached the limits of their potential around 1975. It could be said that only Fazekas and the young star Torocsik were doing great by now. In truth, this squad should have been going down the table and fast – it managed to return back on top instead. Experience helped, of course, and it was not ‘dead’ team by no means, but it was not enough for revival. Perhaps the true reason was their coach Pal Varhidi. Perhaps it was the great form of Fazekas and Torocsik, lethal strikers. Perhaps it was because the league was relatively weak and the rivals did not have well shaped teams. No matter what and why, Ujpesti Dosza won.

 

Difficult for evaluation season in Hungary – on one hand the country qualified for the World Cup finals and had pleasant national team. A group of talented players, some running strong for years like Balint and Fazekas, others just nearing their peak and rapidly getting recognition in Europe – Nyilasi and Torocsik. On the other hand the improvement was slight, the number of quality players limited, and no Hungarian club was truly impressive when really tested – that is, in the European club tournaments. A glance at the final table shows strange fragmentation – 2 clubs competed for the title. Behind them a group of three contested third place. Another segment of 4 clubs belonged to the upper half of the table and bellow them a lower half consisting of 5 clubs. At the bottom 4 clubs tried to escape relegation – one gave up early. Every segment appeared preoccupied with itself and unconcerned with anything else. Practically every club stayed where they usually were – hardly any surprises, except for the sudden slide down of Ferencvaros. Videoton was practically the only club rising – they soared the previous season and now confirmed that they were not one time wonder.

Second Division was any different – the 20-team league had its group of clubs meandering up and down and they were the likeliest favourites: Dorog, Komlo, Debrecen, Salgotarjan, Bekescsaba. The rest was insignificant. If anything, the second division was telling one unusual thing: big concentration of clubs belonging to one city in the top levels of national football – Budapest had 6 clubs in first division plus another 5 in the second. Of course the difference between Vasas and Volan SC was great, but at least in Eastern Europe there was no other country with so many clubs from the capital in the two top tiers. Apart from England, and to a point Greece and Turkey, there was no such concentration in Western Europe too. Anyhow, the bulk of the league was not really up to a serious task. Three clubs competed for two promotional spots. Debrecen finished third, losing the race by a point. Above them finished a strange club – Vasas Izzo.

Their logo gives 1899 as year of foundation, but the club is quite a mystery – names were changed frequently as well as the location. Technically, a Budapest club – at least in 1977-78. Not to be confused with the other Vasas of the same city: this one was entirely unrelated club. Hardly known, moved from one industrial ‘sponsor’ to another, amalgamated now and then with other clubs, but never successful. Occasionally appearing in first division, never staying long enough to get notice. This season they got ambitious – either that, or had some money – and finished second.

About the squad hardly anything can be said – as a Budapest club, very likely they had some aging players, arriving from better clubs. Some names sound faintly familiar, but those are also very common Hungarian names – could be just familiar names, but not the same players known from elsewhere. But the fate of small clubs is similar everywhere – whatever talent emerges is quickly scooped by the bigger clubs and old and tired veterans arrive to play their last season or two. A strong team cannot be built this way. Promotion, however, was possible now and then – and this season Vasas Izzo had a squad good enough for that.

The champions finished with 56 points – 2 more than Vasas Izzo. Their name is mouthful and confusing. Confusing, because it is often abbreviated to STC. The full name is Salgotarjani Torna Club, but it is popularly written either STC or Salgotarjan. As many Hungarian clubs the name was changed often… so it was STC this year, but on the logo it is different.

So, let’s stick to ‘Salgotarjan’ for now – a club,which often played in first division, hence, eager to return. They managed to do that. Not a overwhelming winners, yet, the strongest – best attack, second best defense, most wins, only 5 matches lost. Stable, competent.

Salgotarjan also had some descent players, particularly Szoo, whose presence explains why they won, but does not explain why the club sunk to second division. Well, not anymore… at least not the next season.

The newly promoted were not exactly strong – they were most likely just to try to survive in the near future and Vasas Izzo in particular. Joy was to be momentous.

 

As for the winners, they need no introduction – Glasgow Rangers. Same old, same old… for it was more than winning the title – Rangers won everything this season, repeating 1975-76. They won the Scottish Cup, beating Aberdeen 2-1 at the final. Earlier, in March, they won the League Cup, prevailing over Celtic in overtime 2-1. The victory was sweet largely because it left Celtic empty-handed, finalizing one of their weakest seasons. Perhaps the most interesting note about this clash was Celtic’s goalscorer – the centre-defender Johannes Edwaldson. An Islandic import, who joined Celtic in 1975 – at times when Islandic players were entirely unknown. On top of everything Edvaldson was the son of Baltic Nazi refugee, fleeing there at the end of Second World War and changing his name. Most certainly Edvaldson was not a Roman Catholic, which makes his recruit strange – Celtic were a bit more lenient than Rangers, but still religion was very strong force in the 1970s. As for Rangers – only good Protestants played with blue shirts and no chance for anybody else. For many – the very reason they kept winning.

Wonderful season, collecting all trophies, but nothing overwhelming – Rangers prevailed, but did not dominate. May be because it was familiar squad for quite some time. Good players, some club legends, but not exceptional. Outside Scotland the boys were not so impressive. Some of them were getting old. It was experienced team, but already past its prime and running on inertia. To a point, this was their last great year – yes, they were going to win a few more trophies, to stay at the top of Scottish football, but… this was their last championship title. The club had to wait almost ten years for the next one. However, it was perfect ending.