Author: Vesselin

Portugal. Along with Romania, the other country with rapidly ascending football. Talented generation was complimented by good coaches, foreign and domestic, old and young: Pal Csernai (Benfica), Raymond Goethals (Vitoria Guimaraes), John Toshack (Sporting Libon), Artur Jorge (FC Porto), James Melia (Boavista).

Second Division – divided into 3 groups of 16 teams each, the winners directly promoted. The 2nd – placed and the 13th in the First Division played in promotion/relegation tournament. Competitive championships in 2 of the groups – Zona Norte and Zona Centro – and only Zona Sul had dominant leader.

Zona Norte. Quite a few former first division members, but not all of them competed for promotion.

Fafe – 8th with 30 points.

Four teams battled for the top position – Leixoes, Pacos de Ferreira, Chaves, and Aves. 3 points was the difference between the champion and the 4th at the end. Chaves clinched 2nd position with 40 points and better goal-difference than Pacos de Ferreira.

Aves won the championship with 41 points (17 wins, 7 ties, 6 losses, 51-30) and was promoted to the top league.

Zona Centro. Similar to Zona Norte – 4 teams competing for promotion.

Little known Elvas had wonderful season – 3rd with 40 points. Couldn’t get a chance for promotion, but still it was memorable performance.

Uniao Leiria took 2nd place with 41 points, thus keeping hope for climbing higher.

Covilha won the championship with 43 points (17 wins, 9 ties, 4 losses, 44-13) and promotion.

Zona Sul. No drama here – one team dominated the championship and right behind it – another one, which could not challenge the leader, but was still high above the rest of the league.

Torralta was 9th with 30 points.

Estrella Amadora topped the bulk of the league – 3rd with 36 points – but couldn’t even dream of promotion.

Uniao Madeira was too strong to let anybody challenge their position, but winning the championship was not up to them – 2nd with 42 points.

Maritimo reigned supreme, easily winning the league – 23 wins, 5 ties, 2 losses, 64-15, and 51 points. Excellent season.

The promotion/relegation tournament involved the three 2nd placed teams in the Second Divistion the 13th in the top league – Rio Ave. Only two battled for the coveted top spot and the winner was decided only by the direct results between the leaders. Which relegated Rio Ave, which had the best overall record. Uniao Leiria (Zona Centro) finished last with 3 points. Uniao Madeira (Zona Sul) was 3rd also with 3 points. Rio Ave (1st Division) was unfortunate 2nd with 9 points and 17-4 goal-difference.

Deportivo Chaves won the tournament with 9 points and 16-10 goal-difference. Head-to- head results against Rio Ave were in their favour and they were happily promoted to top flight.

Thus, the teams going up to First Division were: Deportivo Aves, Deportivo Chaves (Zona Norte), Covilha (Zona Centro), and Maritimo (Zona Sul). Congratulations!

And the ascent of Steaua to greatness was confirmed in the Cup final – they prevailed over Univeristatea (Craiova) 2-1 and won a double.

Universitatea was still strong and tough, but it was already yesterday’s news – beatable, losing ground. They were not to fade away, but leading position moved to Bucharest and Universitatea was settling for secondary place in the peck order. Not a big difference, but… they lost the Cup final and finished 4th in the championship.

Some names were already noted, because of wonderful Romanian performance at the 1984 European Championship finals, but they were not yet great and familiar stars – thus, the Bulgarian publication of the team leaves some uncertainty who was who. First row, from left: Petcu, Barbulescu, Lacatus, Eduard, Laurentiu, Radu II, Boloni (? – may be, the name given with the photo is Duckadam), Stoica, Puscas.

Standing: Jenei – coach, Piturca, Bumbescu, Iordake (?), Duchadam, Stingaciu (? – the given name is Stanescu), Tataran, Iovan, Belodedici, Majearu, Iordanescu – assistant coach.

Wrongs will be righted soon – the double won this year was perhaps very important for this squad, giving them the opportunity to reach their rich potential. Very soon they will climb to the very top of world’s football ladder and there will be no uncertainty about names – here are players, who will be in everybody’s mouth for the next ten years. And Hagi was coming…

First Division. Romanian football was defined by traditional rivalry between Steaua and Dinamo, only it reached new level in the 1980s. The talented new generation of players was still a bit dispersed, so at least one more club was enjoying good time at the moment – Sportul Studentesc. But the provincial clubs, so strong in the 1970s, were already pushed down: the championship was entirely Bucharest battle and nobody came close to the three leaders of the this championship.

Politehnica (Iasi) was last with 24 points.

A rather mysterious club was 17th with 26 points. FC Maramures (Baia Mare). The name was never clearly established – written alternatively Maramures or Baia Mare. The name changed during the years, but when it was Maramures and when Baia Mare? May be the name was not even important – the club was lowly and why anybody should care about the correct name of the relegated?

Jiul (Petrosani) finished 16th with 28 points – they were doomed to relegation, because of worse goal-difference.

SC Bacau was lucky to survive – 15th with 28 points. Chimia (Ramnicu Vilcea) was 14th with 29 points. FC Olt (Scornicesti) – 13th with 30 points.

FCM Brasov – 12th with 30 points.

Rapid (Bucharest) – 11th with 30 points.

FC Bihor (Oradea) – 10th with 31 points.

Politehnica (Timisoara) – 9th with 32 points.

Corvinul (Hunedoara) – 8th with 32 points.

FC Arges (Pitesti) – 7th with 32 points.

ASA (Targu Mures) – 6th with 33 points.

Gloria (Buzau) – 5th with 34 points. Wonderful season for insignificant club, but so far the Romanian league was pretty much equal and shuffling up and down largely with escaping relegation in mind.

Universitatea (Craiova) was different category – 4th with 39 points. Traditionally strong, but arguably the leader of Romanian football in the 1970s was going down. Not in crisis, but the center changed entirely to Bucharest.

Sportul Studentesc (Bucharest) was part of the shift of power back to Bucharest – 3rd with 48 points and sharing with Steaua the honor of scoring most goal this season – 71. Strong period, no doubt – they were fighting for the title, perhaps, entirely against the odds, for they had no powerful sponsors, but they had Gheorghe Hagi.

Dinamo (Bucharest) finished 2nd with 52 points. Bested Sportul Studentesc in the battle for the title, but lost to Steaua.

Steaua (Bucharest) won the title with 54 points. 23 wins, 8 ties, 3 losses, 71-24 goal-difference. By itself, nothing new about Steaua winning the championship. Even the rapid improvement of the team was not new – the new talented generation was already noticed and was concentrated in Dinamo and Steaua. Naturally, the best talent of the country was quickly snapped by these two clubs , thus, it was sure that Hagi would be the next target and the next clash between Dinamo and Steaua. However, Steaua started its rebuilding a bit later than Dinamo and already had the key players of the great young generation. It was more promising team and may be that was decisive – Hagi moved to Steaua. And soon this wonderful team will concur the world: powerful sponsors or not, the class of this team was most important in footballing terms.

Romania. If Yugoslavian football was going through a period of decline, the Romanian one enjoyed a period of strong revival, thanks to wonderful generation of players. At club level, it almost reached its peak – the very best in the history of Romanian football. True, there was heavy state involvement, which Ceausescu’s son directly running Steaua as his own club and taking the upper hand over rivals of Ministry of Internal Affairs, but state meddling could not do much if talented players and coaches do not exist. Romania was blessed with incredible talent at the moment and it was young talent: consider this – Hagi was not even playing for Steaua yet; Jenei was still young and yet unknown coach and his assistant was even younger Iordanescu. Some great players were still unheard of – Belodedici, for example.

Second Division. Three groups, their winners promoted, as usual. But this season was significant in the light of the tricky and long-lasting battle between Army and Police. Apart from that, nothing really new: each group had dominant leader without a rival.

Serie I.

Otelul (Galati) finished 3rd with 38 points. Expected to battle for the promotional spot, but did not. City rivals Dunarea CSU (Galati) was much stronger – 2nd with 48 points – but even they were not much of a challenge to the leaders.

FC Petrolul (Ploesti) easily won the championship: 24 wins, 6 ties, 6 losses, 67-23, 54 points. Superior all the way and happily returning to First Division.

Serie II. Here was the interesting occurrence suggested at the beginning.

Most participants hardly ever aimed for a place above second level. Here is an example of the typical: Flacara (Moreni). 13th with 33 points. Normally, former first division members were on top of the table, trying to return back to the top league.

Clubs like CS Targoviste, but it was not their year – they finished 5th with 35 points. True, they had 3 points deducted for some infringement, but even with full record this squad was not going to be more than 3rd. A distant 3rd – the winners finished 10 points ahead of the 2nd placed Siomii (Sibiu).

And what winners! This is most likely a photo of them – because of the name. Dinamo Victoria (Bucharest) had its strongest season since foundation and won the league after 18 wins, 12 ties, 4 losses, 69-41, and 48 points. Their victory made immediate problem and what a quandary it was: this was a semi-club, founded in 1971 – it was the second team of Dinamo (Bucharest). Thus, promotion should have be prohibited… but Dinamo was the club not just of the Police, but of the all-powerful Secret Police. As far as I can tell, Dinamo was the only club having a second team playing in Second Division ever and very likely there were no clear rules about promotion of such type of teams. Opposing the Secret Police was not easy, but some kind of opposition was seemingly voiced, most likely coming from Steaua, belonging to the Army and at that time personally led by Nicolae Ceausescu’s son. Dinamo Victoria was promoted nevertheless, but the name was changed to Victoria and the club was separated from Dinamo, becoming independent entity. This was most likely done only in jest, because as soon as Ceausescu was toppled in 1989, Victoria was disbanded: ‘for violation of the laws and sports rules’. That, because the club was never separated from the Police and was subservient to mother-club Dinamo. Even Ceausescu’s son was unable to change that. For the present moment – the end of the 1984-85 season – the fact was simple: Dinamo Victoria was promoted. Very few enjoyed that.

Serie III. The same as the other groups, as far as the season went.

Aurul (Brad) had strong season and finished 4th, but promotion was not even a dream for them – former top league members were above them: CSM Resita, 3rd, and Gloria (Bistrita), 2nd. Neither provided strong challenge to the leaders – Gloria ended with 42 points. That was 8 points less than the winner’s record.

Universitatea (Cluj-Napoca) dominated the championship, finishing with 20 wins, 10 ties, 4 losses, 68-23, and 50 points. Like the winners of Serie I, FC Petrolul, they were just returning to top flight after some regretful exile.

The Cup final opposed Crvena zvezda to Dinamo. Naturally, a great clash: the rivalry between Serbians and Croatians, between Belgrade and Zagreb, spiced by additional desire to win a trophy when the title was clearly out of their reach. May be not great football, but it was tense and highly contested final. It ended without a winner: 1-1. In the replay Crvena zvezda extracted 2-1 victory. Dinamo lost.

Given the gravity of the final, what kind of squads the rivals had is unimportant. Yet, Dinamo was a bit weaker team and perhaps that mattered at the end. Top row from left: Kobescak, Mlinaric, Arslanovic, Dzeko, Arnautovic, Juric, Lulic, Susak

Middle row: Cupan, Maric, Rumora, Istvanic, Cerin, Dragan Bosnjak, Stojic, Cvjetkovic

Sitting: Branko Bosnjak, Munjakovic, Petrovic, Ivic – coach, Bogdan, Borislav Cvetkovic, Zvezdan Cvetkovic.

Ivic did what he could with the squad as it was, but apart from Mlinaric and Maric nobody else was at his prime – the Cvetkovic brothers and Dzeko were too young, others seemingly reached the limits of their potential and could go no further. Tiny loss, by single goal, but a loss.

Crvena zvezda clinched the victory and won its 11th Cup. If anything, the season was saved and it was firmly established that the 1970s, when Crvena zvezda was practically unable to win the Cup, were not going to be repeated – this was already the 2nd Cup Crvena zvezda won in the 80s. As for the squad, it was great that the boys could win, but it was largely due to willpower. True, the leading players of Crvena zvezda were more than those of Dinamo and slightly better too, but talented recruits were badly needed.

First Division. No outsiders at all, but only favourites and they were not the usual ones.

Radnicki (Nis) finished last with 27 points. Quite a surprise – only a year or two ago this team was praised to the skies and now they were going down to second division. Top row from left: Bankovic, Binic, Pejic, Aleksic, Nikolic;

Middle row: Duvancic, Vojinovic,Mitrovic, Jocic, Zlatanovski, Milenkovic;

Sitting: Gogic, Gajic, Stojkovic, Milosevic.

Iskra (Bugojno) was not a surprise – they were expected to struggle. 17th with 27 points. One may feel sorry for them – soared to top flight for the first time in their history, but unable to last longer than a single season. Back to second division.

Vojvodina (Novi Sad) was in a midst of crisis and decline, but managed to survive – 16th with 29 points. Standing from left: Marić, Jovanic, Ćurčić, Dimitrić, Todorović, Zovko;

First row: Novaković, Đurović, Rac, Mesaroš, Vrga.

Buducnost (Titograd) – 15th with 30 points.

Dinamo (Vinkovci) did well – by their own measures – and secured at least one more season in the top division: 14th with 30 points.

Sloboda (Tuzla) – 13th with 31 points. They had their ups and downs, but generally survival on their minds. Hardly an impressive season, but reaching their main goal.

Osijek also reached their main goal – escaping relegation. 12th with 31 points.

Velez (Mostar) – shaky and not as good as they used to be. 11th with 32 points.

Pristina – 10th with 32 points. Not bad. Standing from left: Rama, Šuica, Domi, Šengulji, Mehinović, Gruevski.

Crouching: F. Domi, F. Murići, Vokri, Cana, Batrović.

Sutjeska (Niksic) – 9th with 33 points. Standing from left: Bakrač, Bajović, Radonjić, Giljen, Vukčević, Kuzeljević.

Crouching: Nenezic, Medin, Bajović, Vuković, Tupajić.

Rijeka – 8th with 34 points.

Zeljeznicar (Sarajevo) – 7th with 34 points. Hard to tell… this period was seen as a revival, but only if compared to recent disasters, plunging them to second division. Compared to the teams of late 1960s-early 70s, the current team was not even close.

Dinamo (Zagreb) – 6th with 36 points. Could be said that the competition was strong and thus nothing wrong to be just one of the leading clubs. Could be also said that Dinamo was unable to build really strong squad and was more likely to lose top players than to add new ones. Standing from left: Bogdan, Stojic, Arnautovic, Arslanovic, Dzeko, Zvezdan Cvetkovic.

First row: Cerin, Petrovic, Mlinaric, Borislav Cvetkovic, Lulic.

Vardar (Skopje) – 5th with 37 points. Excellent season for generally modest club and beginning of one of their best periods. Standing from left: Ilija Dimovski – chief of staff, Branislav Belevski, Vassil Ringov, Goran Zivanovic, Kocho Dimitrovski, Dragi Setinov, Ilija Najdoski, Milko Simovski, Angel Efremov, Cedomir Janevski, Petar Sulincevski – coach.

Crouching: Goce Aleksovski, Borce Micevski, Tomce Trajanovski, Darko Pancev, Pepi Georgievski, Gordan Zdravkov, Gore Jovanovski, Toni Savevski.

Crvena zvezda (Belgrade) – 4th with 38 points. A weak season, for sure. By the club’s standards, rather pedestrian squad. Crvena zvezda was not a club to leave things like that, though.

Partizan (Belgrade) – 3rd with 39 points. The title was out of reach, so they were just happy to finish above the arch-rivals. Top row from left: Jovo Simanić, Miloš Đelmaš, Zoran Vujičić, Nikola Marjanović, Radoslav Nikodijević, Jovica Kolb.

Middle row: Milonja Đukić, Dragi Kaličanin, Fahrudin Omerović, Slobodan Rojević. Vladimir Vermezović, Darko Belojević, Saša Petrović, Dragan Mance.

Sitting: Zvonko Varga, Admir Smajić, Miodrag Ješić, Zoran Dimitrijević, Zvonko Popović, Goran Stevanović, Nebojša Vučićević, Miodrag Radović.

A squad similar to Crvena zvezda’s: not bad, but needed additional classy players and quite below the great squads of the past.

Two teams were above the rest and battled for the title.

Hajduk (Split), covered with mud here, did what they could, but it was not their year and finished 2nd with 44 points. Like Crvena zvezda and Partizan, their current squad was good, but not great, and in need of reinforcements. Like Crvena zvezda and Partizan, Hajduk kept its leading position in Yugoslav football even when relatively weak.

FK Sarajevo had fantastic season and won the championship: 19 wins, 10 ties, 5 losses, 51-30 goal-difference and 48 points. 4 points ahead of Hajduk. Well deserved victory, wonderful success and everything, but the squad was not all that strong and it was clear case of one-time wonder. Objectivity would be lost on Sarajevo’s fans and for good reason: it was only the second title for them and they had to wait almost 20 years for it. And there was more: Sarajevo was now ahead of its city rivals Zeljeznicar, which remained with just one title. Still, this squad was not as great as the winners of the 1966-67 championship, there was no player in the current squad as great as Fazlagic – the only one who won both titles: back in 1967 as player, now as coach. A victory of the underdog is always enjoyable, though: Crvena zvezda, Partizan, Hajduk, Dinamo had stronger players and were left behind. Far behind.

Second Division. As usual, the division was divided into two groups – Western and Eastern – of 18 teams each. The winners were promoted to First Division and the last 4 in each group – relegated to third level. Interestingly, three former members of the top league were relegated in the Western group – Crvenka, last in the table, Maribor, 16th, and Olimpija (Ljubljana), 15th.

Western Group.

Hard to believe, but Olimpija (Ljubljana) was going down to third level. Formation from back to front:

Dalanović,

Podgajski, Vujnović,

Hudarin, Terčić, Lalović

Komadina, Bošnjak

Židan, Komočar, Voljč.

Radnik (Velika Gorica) was the 4th relegated team – they finished 17th – and the only one among the lowest which did not play top level football before.

Compared to the former first division members, modest Vrbas did well – 12th with 33 points.

Leotar (Trebinje), similar to Vrbas, also did relatively well – 10th with 34 points. Standing from left: Klimović, Mehić, Baraković, Grabovac, Škrbo, Primorac;

First row: Bajrić, Bešić, Zrilić, Šarović, Slato.

Olimpija was not the only long lasting top member down on its luck now – Borac (Banja Luka) was also suffering sharp decline, although not as terrible as Olimpija – they finished 8th with 35 points.

At the top of table were teams with familiar names in much better shape, trying to climb up. Proleter (Zrenjanin) ended 4th with 38 points. Spartak (Subotica) – 3rd with 42 points.

Sibenik – 2nd with 43 points.

But Celik (Zenica) bested all, finished 1st with 46 points from 21 wins, 4 ties, 9 losses, and 52-30 goal-difference, and earned promotion. They were longing to return to top flight as quickly as possible and succeeded.

Eastern Group. Compared to the Western group, fewer former top league members here and not as famous as those playing in the West. FK Bor and Napreadak (Krusevac) were no in good shape, but at least they were not so weak to face relegation. Apart from Liria (Prizren), there was no clearly weaker team, so fierce battle for escaping relegation involved about 12 teams. Kolubara, OFK Titograd, and Vellaznimi (Gjakova) lost the battle at the end and joined Liria in the unhappy move to the lower leagues.

Sloboda (Titovo Uzice) survived – 13th with 33 points. Vellaznimi also had 33 points, but Sloboda had better goal-difference- the whole difference between survival and relegation.

Perhaps the football played was not great, but the Yugoslav second division was fairly equal and competitive – no internal divisions, few points made the difference between higher and lower positions, everybody was equally close to relegation and top spot:

Rad (Belgrade) was 5th with 35 points. They had worse goal-difference than Sloboda, 13th; lost more games than Bor, 12th. How close they were to relegation during the championship? Well, quite close – Vellaznimi went down with 33 points. Kolubara and OFK Titograd finished with 31 points each. Rad fought slightly better, that was all.

Radnicki (Pirot) was 4th with 37 points, Pelister (Bitola) – 3rd with 37 points,

Novi Pazar enjoyed 2nd place with 39 points. And they had the best goal-difference this season: +24 points. But promotion was out of their reach.

OFK Beograd won the championship and was promoted: 18 wins, 8 ties, 8 losses, 53-33 goal-difference, 44 points. 6 points ahead of Novi Pazar, but it would be a mistake to think of OFK Beograd as really superior to all others – the club was in decline for quite some time, the squad was insignificant , if compared to the teams this club had in the past, and the only aim was to return to the top league. Survival there was another matter. Standing from left: Milenković, Bjelić, Stojaković, Đurić, Ivanović, Kuzmanovski;

First row: Stojadinović, Kahrović, Marković, Stevović, R. Stanković.

Well, that was that – Celik (Zenica) and OFK Beograd (Belgrade) were promoted or rather returned to first division.

Yugoslavia. Compared to the 1960s and 70s, there was slight decline – current stars were somewhat on a lesser level than those of the past and teams were not so impressive, partly due to ever increasing exports. Yet, Yugoslav football was may be the most entertaining and competitive in the Communist part of Europe. For that reason alone, let take a look at teams below second level – some former top league clubs, now having hard time; some teams not heard of yet, but going to play bigger roles in the next decade; some just staying low.

Radnicki (Kragujevac). Standing from left: Spasic,Radojevic,Vukomanovic,Terzic,Savic,Stasevic

First row: Jankovic,Stojiljkovic,Simic,Ilic,Stanojevic.

Teteks (Tetovo) Standing from left: Kečan – coach, Jonuz, Pejanović, Jakovljević,Jakimovski, Spasevski, Jovanović, Vučevski – assistant coach;

First row: Jordanovski, Bogdanovski, Tašev, Jakimovski, Mirčevski.

Obilic (Belgrade). Standing from left: M. Radinović, Vučković, Kiković, Skorupan, Dodoš, Vjetrović, Đoinčević, Šaković, Đuričanin;

First row: Purović, Gagić, Tasić, Ristić, Kamber, Bulatović, Aranitović.

For some, this squad was stronger than the one winning the title in 1997.

Timok (Zajecar).

NK Karlovac (Karlovac).

Metalac (Sisak).

Rudar (Kakanj). Standing from left: Spahic, Maras, Cebo, Paunic, Kosic, Kapo,

First row: Vrabac, Gafurovic, Brdarac, Nestorovic, Besic.

FAP (Priboj). Standing from left: Langura, Tmušić, Isailović, Ćuk, Mehinagić, Kuzeljević, Džinović, Stojević, S. Čiztmić, J. Čizmić – coach;

Crouching: Šimunović, Beganović, Rustemović, Pantović, Komarica, Ščepović, Knežević.

Majdanpek. Standing from left: Stavrić, Marić, Dimoski, Mladenović, Minčić, Višnjić

First row: Jurović, Namesnik, Simić, Ranđelović, Pandurović.

Mogren (Budva). Standing from left: Kalezic, Ratkovic, Ivancevic, Dakic, Zec, Ivanic.

Crouching: Saban, Micic, Nikolic, Kovacevic, M. Cvijovic, D. Cvijovic.

Mura (Murska Sobota). Standing from left: Kalamar, Balažić, Mertuk, Vršič, Gorza, Seršen, Vlaškalič;

First row: Ivanič, Oršoš, Cener, Cifer.

Pobeda (Prilep). Standing from left: Lj. Dimovski, Aleksovski, Tortevski, Kulevski, Ljamčevski, Milosavljević;

Crouching: Gligorovski, Velkovski, Nikodievski, V. Dimovski, G. Manevski.

NK Junak (Sinj).

Sloga (Sjenica).

Soviet Cup. Ukrainian final this year, played in June. Shakhter (Donetzk) vs Dinamo (Kiev). Shakther already had the reputation of cup-tournament specialist and Dinamo was hungry for success, for those were lean years for the club. The championship was half-way through and although Dinamo was leading, it was not at all sure they will win it – thus, the Cup had added importance. Shakhter, many felt, concentrated solely on the Cup at the expense of the championship, so they were not going to give up the final. As a result, the final was not only heavily contested, but also surprisingly entertaining.

Both teams put an extra effort and in the first half there no goals.

In the second half Dinamo scored first – a deadly long-shot by the left fullback Demyanenko made it 1-0 in the 56th minute. And two minutes later it was 2-0, thanks to eternal Blokhin. Shakhter tried to come back, but managed just one goal – the substitute Morozov scored in the 68th minute – and Dinamo won 2-1.

The captain Sergey Baltacha proudly lifted the Cup – Dinamo’s 7th already.

Frankly, it was too bad Shakhter did not win, but Dinamo was better this day. Top row from left: Valentin Elinskas, Vladimir Gavrilov, Andrey Kuz, Sergey Zhuravlev, Viktor Smigunov, Sergey Popovich. Middle row: Valery Rudakov, Aleksandr Sopko, Vladimir Parkhonenko, Mikhail Sokolovsky, Sergey Yaschenko, Igor Petrov. Low row: Sergey Pokidin, Igor Simonov, Aleksey Varnavsky, Anatoly Rodenko, Valery Goshkoderya, Oleg Smolyaninov. Not a bad squad, but largely second-raters, including the few who played for Dinamo (Kiev) previously and were eventually dismissed.

Dinamo (Kiev) won a double this year, but it was far from clear in June – at the moment, only the Cup mattered and they won it. The title was only a distant possibility, so this victory was cherished greatly – it was turning the table back to success. Any success.

Standing from left: V. Evseev, ?, A. Mikhailichenko, V. Ratz, A. Puzach – assistant coach, O. Blokhin, O. Kuznetzov, V. Veremeev – team chief, M. Mikhailov, V. Lobanovsky – coach, P. Yakovenko, E. Evtushenko.

Front row: ?, I. Belanov, V. Malyuta – doctor, V. Evlantyev – maseur, I. Yaremchuk, A. Zavarov, A. Bal, S. Baltacha, V. Bessonov, A. Demyanenko.

The importance of this victory would be more appreciated one year later, but it had big value for the moment as well – the group of young talented players got the taste of victory, that was important. The team as a whole showed character, for it was not a squad without problems: first, the regular goalkeeper was out for the season with broken arm and his double – Mikhailov – was questionable. He already had his chance and was number one – and not so good, so Viktor Chanov was taken from no other but Shakhter (Donetzk). The other problem was the right fullback – there was no good enough player at this position, so the midfielder Bal was moved there – a risky idea, but it worked. Blokhin, already well over 30, moved back, playing mostly as a mid-fielder. Igor Belanov, a moody winger, new to the team, was getting comfortable at that time, but still was considered risky. It was somewhat unsettled team, which needed badly some success just to stay on track and improve. The Cup victory was timely, boosting moral and confidence. There was still a lot to be done – perhaps most in personal relations, for some tension is detectable in the words of Baltacha, introducing his teammates: more than eager attempt to paint a rosy pictures, often repeating ‘believe me’ and mostly speaking what good person is such and such, but in the same time… Demyanenko and not the living legend Blokhin was hailed as the team leader. But the leader was not captaining the team… neither legendary Blokhin, nor arguably the best player of USSR at this time Bessonov. Baltacha went out of his way to praise the second goalkeeper Mikhailov, saying that the whole defensive line plays better when he was between the posts and he was the nicest person ever in the dressing room, but the captain’s words about Blokhin and Bessonov were rather cold, minimal, and routine. This victory perhaps improved relations, especially between players and authoritative coach Lobanovsky – at least to the point of finding common ground in winning. A victory, which can be seen as a turning point and the base on which the following year with its enormous success was build.

First Division. First of all, rules. A limit of 10 ties and no points for those ties above the limit. Five teams lost points because of the rule – Kairat (Alma-Ata) most of all, 3 points. However, most teams were ‘wise’ and lost points were not only few, but did not affect final standings. Face-to-face results determined positions in case of equal points and only if teams were still equal goal-difference was applied – the last point saved Dinamo (Moscow). The coming reduction of the league made the battle for survival most important – and also justified the reduction, for one round before the end of the championship, for 8 clubs were in danger of relegation at that point. The last two were directly relegated; the 15th and 16th teams were going to promotion/relegation play-off against the winners of Second Division. At the top end of the table the battle ended a bit earlier, when Dinamo (Kiev) secured the title. It was not overwhelming victory, but it was a bit surprising one – Dinamo was not playing very good in the recent years and was not expected to improve suddenly. But they did, although not at their peak yet. Spartak (Moscow) proved to be eternal loser – once again, the most they could do was to finish 2nd. The recent provincial champions proved to be just good – not great – and thus unable to repeat their successes. The decline of Dinamo (Moscow), Ararat (Erevan), and Dinamo (Tbilisi) continued and now it looked like Shakhter (Donetzk) was joining the sorry bunch. One irritating point was the artificial pitch used in Moscow to which visitors had no way to adapt – the pitch gave enormous advantage to the Moscow teams and was even decisive on some occasions, but complains fell on death ears.

SKA (Rostov) was the hopeless outsider of the championship – last with 21 points. If anything, they confirmed the massive decline of Army clubs – there will be no such team in the next championship.

Fakel (Voronezh) was 17th with 27 points. They did what they could, but were generally expected to be relegated and did not disappoint – they and SKA were directly relegated.

The big drama was above the last two – the dangerous spots had to be avoided and that was decided in the last round, where sheer will seemingly helped, for direct opponents met. Ararat and Shakhter ended in a 3-3 tie. The clash between Neftchi and Dinamo (Moscow) ended scoreless. And Chernomoretz lost at home to Kairat 0-1. After that…

Neftchi (Baku) was 16th with 28 points and going to promotion/relegation play-off.

Chernomoretz (Odessa) was 15th with 29 points. What a plunge down… this is picture of the team against Real (Madrid), playing for the UEFA Cup. The previous season was great and now – going to promotion/relegation play-off. Chernomoretz was a bit unlucky, for they were 15th only because of worse goal-difference. Then again… who lost its most important home game of the season?

Dinamo (Moscow) barely survived – 14th with 29 points. Better goal-difference helped them, but, frankly, it could have been just fine if they were relegated. The decline was seemingly endless… perhaps a relegation would have shaken them from the stupor.

Ararat (Erevan) – 13th with 30 points. Their last match may have been fixed – the 3-3 tie with neighbours Shakhter gave neither team a point and it looked like a gamble: keep the already earned 30 points and hope those below to lose their own matches. It worked… Dinamo (Moscow) got 1 point and Chernomoretz – 0. However, if those clubs won, Ararat was going down. And if Ararat won, then Shakhter was in danger… so, suspect tie. It kept Shakther safe and Ararat almost safe.

Shakther (Donetzk) – 12th with 30 points, but, curiously, with positive goal-difference. It looked like they gave up on the championship and concentrated on the Cup, but such argument is lame: the Cup final was played at mid-season. Rather, Shakhter betrayed signs of coming crisis.

Torpedo (Kutaisi) looked good in the final table – 11th with 31 points. But that only thanks to 2-1 home victory in the last round – Dinamo (Kiev) had nothing to play for and was generous. Torpedo survived, that was the reality. However, if Dinamo still had to fight for the title… Torpedo could have been down to promotion/relegation play-offs.

Metallist (Kharkov) – 10th with 31 points. Nothing special this season, but managed to survive a bit earlier than most and the last round did not matter to them.

Kairat (Alma-Ata) – 9th with 32 points. Thanks to their last minute victory in Odessa. Happy survivors, but the only thing to say about them was that they lost most points to 10-ties-limit rule.

Dinamo (Tbilisi) – 8th with 32 points. Decline was the word.

Zhalgiris (Kaunas) – 7th with 32 points. Not that many points, but this was a bright team, settling comfortably in the top league and gaining experience. One of the noticeable teams, expected to climb higher in the future.

Zenit (Leningrad) – 6th with 35 points. Nobody expected them to win a second title, but the team disappointed in the European Champions Cup and generally it was felt they underperformed. First row from left: Vedeneev, Vorobyov, Dolgopolov, Afanassyev, Chukhlov, Zakharikov, Kuznetzov.

Standing: Mikhaylichenko – masseur, Melnikov, Gerassimov, Davydov, Barannik, Dmitriev, Stepanov, Biryukov, Sadyrin – coach.

Torpedo (Moscow) – 5th with 36 points. The best of the ‘lower’ teams, for the 4 teams above were in their own separate category. Crouching form left: A. Petrov – masseur, Dozmorov, Prigoda, Gostenin, Redkous, Petrakov, Petrenko, A. Solovyev, N. Sarychev, Yu. Sarychev, Filatov – assistant coach.

Second row: Ivanov – coach, Zhendarev – administrator, Susloparov, Buryak, Sarychev, Pivtzov, Polukarov, Kobzev, Zhupikov, N. Vassilyev, V. Kruglov, Proyaev – doctor, Zolotov – team chief.

Torpedo was criticized – along with Dnepr and Dinamo (Kiev) – for passive play and disrespect for the game and the public and the accusations were true, but so what? There was almost nothing to play for near the end of the season – Torpedo was safe and up in the table, but the very top was unreachable. Nothing new, in their case, for the club maintained good squad, but generally of second-stringers, some of them aging.

Dinamo (Minsk) – considered one of the candidates for the title, as all recent champions, but not an outstanding leader. Dinamo had limited options, like most provincial club, and it was almost a miracle they were able to keep their stars. But it was pretty much the same team which won the title a bit back – may be no worse, but certainly no better. No great new recruits. 4th with 41 points – mostly because of weak finish, but their most important losses came against direct opponents playing home games on artificial pitch. This was too much Dinamo, used to grass.

Top row from left: Aleksandr Chernukho – masseur, Aleksandr Gorbylev, Sergey Gorlukovich, Lyudas Rumbutis, Aleksandr Metlitzky, Andrey Sosnitzky, Viktor Sokol, Vassily Dmitrakov – doctor, Mikhail Tzeytin – assistant coach.

3rd row: Ivan Savostikov – assistant coach, Yury Trukhan, Aleksandr Kisten, Mikhail Vergeenko – assistant coach, Ivan Zhekyu, Andrey Zygmantovich, Andrey Shalimo, Leonid Vassilevsky – administrator.

2nd row: Yury Kurnenin, Viktor Yanushevsky, Leonid Garay – team chief, Veniamin Arzamastzev – coach, Igor Gurinovich, Viktor Shishkin.

Front row: Georgy Kondratyev, Sergey Gotzmanov, Sergey Aleynikov, Sergey Borovsky.

Dnepr (Dnepropetrovsk) – 3rd with 42 points. Perhaps the most promising team at the time, but hardly stronger than the other leading teams. One of the teams accused of disrespecting the sport and the fans this season. What Dnepr was not accused of was their super-physical way of playing – very often they were dangerous, but somehow the truly ugly side of their football never came under criticism in USSR.

Spartak (Moscow) – 2nd with 46 points. This was painfully familiar trend: every year Spartak was considered prime favorite for the title and every year they failed. The most consistent Soviet team, but second-best. Their coach Konstantin Beskov blamed recruitment difficulties and perhaps he was right – at best, Spartak was able to match the quality of exiting players with those of newcomers. No more than that, so there was good regular team – good, but almost always with a weak post or two – and rather insignificant group of reserves. Why Spartak, considered not only leading team, but the one playing the most exciting football in the country, was unable to attract top-level talent could be asked of the coaching staff – were they blind? After the end of the season 3 leading players left and none similar to them arrived.

Dinamo (Kiev) was the championship with 20 wins, 8 ties, and 6 losses. 64-26 and 48 points. Easy to shrug shoulders today and say ‘who else’, but it was surprise victory in 1985. Dinamo had tough spell in recent years, so they were not seen as top favorite. Further, the squad was unusually short for Lobanovsky’s team – strong regulars, but nobody worth mentioning behind them. Further: frictions between coach and players were no longer just dark rumors, but public knowledge – Leonid Buryak, for instance, was not shy at all and did not hide why he went Torpedo (Moscow) from journalist. Tremors of this period can still be heard today – recently a player, who left Dinamo, spoke of 1983 in this way: ‘talent sat on the bench and Lobanovky’s pets were on the pitch’. Tense relations were seen as part of Dinamo’s recent failures. And finally Chanov broke his arm and missed a considerable chunk of the season – just as Dinamo finally got decent goalkeeper. So, Dinamo was seen as one of leaders, but no stronger than Spartak, Dnepr, Dinamo (Minsk), and Zenit. Unlikely winner. And it was not an easy victory, perhaps helped a bit by inconsistent performance and various weaknesses of the rivals. It was essentially the work of tied short team – a cluster of 12-13 regulars, supported by typical Dinamo group of reliable second-stringers, 3 or 4, who would never be regulars, but just support for a few years and then dismissed. 14 players really played this season – V. Khlus, the author of the accusation mentioned above, appeared only twice! As a whole, Dinamo was not exactly an impressive team, but they stepped up a bit near the end of the season – especially in their European games, and at least the foundation of the great football they played in 1986 was laid. Well, 11th title. Difficult one, yes, but compared to the rivals, Dinamo had superior team – well-rounded, slightly deeper than what others had, and the top players of USSR were really here. Dinamo was also the only club having no problems of recruitment – they took anybody they wanted, which was mainly robbing the other Ukrainian clubs of their stars – Dnepr was already on the list: they had goalscoring machine, Oleg Protassov, and Dinamo was not going to leave him there.