Football Journey

Similar proved to be the result in the ‘championship group’. Almost no changes occurred after the extra matches each team played – TPS Turku exchanged places with Haka Valkeakoski and so did Reipas Lahti and KPT Kuopio. The rest of the group kept their original places – KTP Kotka stayed 8th, KuPS Kuopio – 2nd, and HJK Helsinki – 3rd. HJK did not even bother – they were only 2 points behind KuPS after the first stage, but now dropped to 5 behind. Nobody bothered them from bellow either… All were seemingly satisfied with their original positions. Only KuPS used the new formula to their advantage and run for the title – but they were 3 points behind the leaders and did not manage to beat the odds: KuPS finished still 2nd with 40 points. OPS Oulu did not appear very strong in the last stage, but kept their lead , ending with a point more than KuPS.

Not exactly overwhelming winners, but still historically significant ones – OPS never won a title and they were founded in 1925. At last – a triumph. The team excelled in the preliminary stage – they lost only a match and built 3-point advantage. Since most of the mini-league did not really put an effort in the ‘championship’ stage, rightly calculating that there is nothing to play for, OPS still won 9 points – second best record at this stage. KuPS added 11, but the original lead by 3 points was still sufficient for OPS to stay on top. At the end, it was their defense which made them champions – they lost only 3 matches and allowed the least number of goals in their net.

Champions at last: from left: Kari Soila, Pekka Parviainen, Jukka Rantanen (mv), Ari Jalasvaara (ylhäällä),Eero Rissanen, Matti Ahonen, Juhani Himanka, Seppo Pyykkö, Pertti Pääkkö, Soini Puotiniemi, and Lauri Heikkinen. In front: Seppo Vakkari

No matter how achieved, a grand day in Oulu. First title ever – something to be remembered. To be remembered, but… after changes in the 21st century there is confusion. Today there is a club OPS, but founded in 2006. Is it related to the original OPS is a matter of opinion and legal arguments.

The Cup final opposed Ilves Tampere to TPS Turku. Neither club had a great season, but perhaps the fact that Ilves was threatened with relegation, but TPS had no reason to play seariously at all during the last stage opposed teams with very different motivation and form.

Perhaps TPS were unable to build strength and they lost 0-2.

Ilves Tampere won the Cup – a fine ending of troublesome season. Good for the ‘lynx’, they showed claws when it mattered.

Reforms were going on around European leagues, all in hope of bettering the local football. Finland caught the desire in 1979 – the league remained the same, 12 clubs, but the championship was made of two phases: first the preliminary stage, which was the traditional formula – all clubs played against each other twice. Then the top 8 played a third round of single match against other in the so-called ‘championship group’. The bottom 4 plus the best of the Second Division played a round-robin tournament in the ‘promotion/relegation group’. The benefits of such formula are ever dubious: may be at first they attracted more fans, but it was short-lived fad. The quality of the game and particularly the class of the teams hardly changed. One thing was certain: such championship are statisticians nightmare – how to count the extra games in the mixed mini-league? It was neither first, nor second division. On itself – the number was small and there was hardly a club playing regularly in those tournaments. But the experiment started and the results perhaps supported the view of the skeptic critics. OPS Oulu built a 3-point lead during the first stage and finished first, followed by KuPS Kuopio and HJK Helsinki. KTP Kotka was 8th, 3 points ahead of the bottom 4 clubs. The top eight moved to their championship stage, carrying their records from the first round.

The bottom four – KPK Kokkola, Ilves Tampere, Pyrkiva Turku, and MiPK Mikkeli, finishing in this order – grouped with the top four of the Second Division – MP Mikkeli, OTP Oulu, Sepsi-78 Seinajoki, and GrIFK Kauniainen, in that order. All clubs started with bonus points depending on their place in the preliminary round – the top with 4 points, and so on down to the last with 1 point. Thus, KPK Kokkola and MP Mikkeli started with 3 points advantage to MiPK Mikkeli and GrIFK Kauniainen. As there is no really working formula for mixed groups, this one was good as any other and the tournament started – a single-match round-robin. The top 4 were to play in First Division the next season; the bottom 4 – in the Second. The lowest of the first stage from both divisions remained lowest – GrIFK finished last and MiPK – 7th. The winners of the preliminary stage of Second Division – MP Mikkeli – dropped terribly their form and ended 6th only because of the bonus points. Without them, they were the worst in the final stage. Pyrkiva Turku, last in the preliminary stage, now ended 6th – still relegated. That is, 2 clubs of the First Division went down – as it was traditionally anyway. And the relegated were the last two in the top division – they were to be relegated in traditional championship. As for those surviving and promoted – KPV Kokkola dropped to third place, but starting with 4 points perhaps they did not put too much effort – here the point was not to be first: what really counted was only not to drop bellow 4th place. KPV Kokkola ended 3rd. Ilves Tampere were clearly the best – or at least the most determined to keep their place among the top – they did not lose a match, won 4, and tied 3. Even without bonus points they were to finish first.

Second finished OTP Oulu – they were second in the preliminary stage, so no matter the formula, they were getting promotion with or without final round.

The only club really taking advantage of the innovation was Sepsi-78.

The team from Seinijoki finished third in the preliminary stage – just outside promotion zone in a traditional championship. Now having a chance, they went for it and clinched 4th place, meaning promotion to First Division. Well done.

At the end, the real losers were MP Mikkeli.

Standing from left: Heikki Kangaskorpi, Markku Hämäläinen, Arto Hirvonen, Erkki Himanen, Vesa Tyrväinen, Seppo Hujanen, huoltaja Matti Tuominen, valmentaja Antero Hyttinen, valmentaja Eero Karppinen.

First row: Vesa Liikanen, Jukka Kaarna, Markku Kääriäinen, Juha Vuori, Reijo Vaittinen, Juha Viitikko, Silvo Niskanen.

Under normal circumstances, they were champions of the Second Division – and promoted. But they had to blame only themselves – after all, they started with 4 bonus points and they blew away their season at the end.

Yet, even with their failure the new formula hardly changed anything – apart from MP Mikkeli, one of the promoted and two of the relegated were to do exactly that without extra games. No matter what, the better were still better and lowly – lowly.

 

 

Dramatic championship in Iceland – 5 teams had a chance to win the title. No such battle in the relegation zone or in the second division. Down in second level two clubs dominated from start to end:

FH Hafnarfjördur finished second with 24 points, getting promotion. Fylkyr (Reykjavik) were not in the race – they were 3rd with 20 points. The champions of the Second Division never had a worry, finishing 5 points ahead of FH.

If there is anything to say about the winners, it must be their name – they are often written UB Kopavogur or UBK, especially in older sources. Apparently the club used the abbreviation of their name when playing in Europe, emphasizing the name of their home town – Kopavogur. One of the youngest Icelandic clubs – founded in 1950 – trying to establish itself among the best.

The promoted clubs were to take the places of the last two in First Division. There the outsiders were clear almost from the first round.

Haukar (Hafnarfjördur), the newcomers this season were not up to the task. They lost 14 matches, tied 3, and won just a single one. 5 points anchored them to the bottom, perhaps to the joy of their city rivals HF – the previous year they were last and Haukar won promotion, now the roles were reversed.

KA Akureyri finished 9th with 12 points. They were 4 points short from safety, but it was hardly a surprise – at that time KA were not a force in Icelandic football. Much stronger than Haukar, but not a match to any other team.

Up the table was much more interesting – 5 clubs were separated by 2 points at the end. Silver and bronze medals were decided in a play-off – goal-difference was not a factor, so ÍA Akranes and Valur Reykjavík met again. Twice, actually – the first match ended in a scoreless tie, but in the second the champions of 1977 prevailed 3-1. The play-off was not just for silver and bronze: it was about playing in Europe – Iceland had a single spot in the UEFA Cup and IA Akranes grabbed it.

The race for the title was one by a single point and, most interestingly, by a club so far never winning a title.

ÍB Vestmannæyjar or Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja, as the full name is – a mouthful of a name, difficult to pronounce in any language. One of the oldest Icelandic clubs, founded in 1903, yet never winning anything so far. After 1970 the club was on the rise, even playing in the UEFA Cup – an easy opponent on the continent, apart from the headache of writing and pronouncing the name. Perhaps nobody learned it, for IB never lasted longer than the first round, like any other Icelandic club. But they were getting better at home and finally won the championship. Their strength was really the defense, allowing only 13 goals. The rest was perhaps good luck, but it was well done – at home the wording surely was ‘excellent’: a first title is something special.

Standing from left: Einar Hallgrímsson, fararstjóri, Jóhann Ólafsson, knattspyrnuráðsmaður, Árni Johnsen, blaðamaður (gestur), Viktor Helgason, þjálfari hins sigursæla liðs, Ómar Jóhannsson, Gústaf Baldvinsson, Friðfinnur Finnbogason, Valþór Sigurþórsson, Páll Pálmason, Snorri Rútsson, Kjartan Másson, aðstoðarþjálfari og Guðmundur Þ.B. Ólafsson, knattspyrnuráðsmaður.

First row: Tómas Pálsson, Viðar Elíasson, Jóhann Georgsson, Ársæll Sveinsson, markvörður liðsins, Sveinn Sveinsson, Þórður Hallgrímsson, fyrirliði, Guðmundur Erlingsson, Óskar Valtýsson, Örn Óskarsson , Kári Þorleifsson

Dressed to kill champions. Nothing to say about this squad, except that football players were certainly brave in Iceland – looks like too cold even for formal suits. Parkas are best… how was it to play in shorts and skinny shirts?

The Cup final was a derby – Fram (Reykjavík) vs Valur (Reykjavík). Of course, much was at stake – Fram had miserable season, finishing 6th and Valur lost the coveted spot in the UEFA Cup in the play-off. Winning was a must and Fram extracted the victory with a single goal – 1-0.

Valur finished empty-handed and sulking.

Fram triumphed with their 4th Cup. They also saved grace and restored the pride of Reykjavik, which had 5 clubs in First Division – since half the league was located in the capital, it was reasonable they to be the best, but the title went to provincial town. The Cup at least stayed in the capital.

There is really almost nothing to say of the Icelandic football – except this: scoring was getting lower on the continent. High scoring happened mostly in the small divisions by the end of the 1970s – 254 goals were scored in the Icelandic first division this year – 2.822 goals per match.

 

Cyprus, lowly and predictable. Two clubs dominated the country’s football and the ‘big’ league, introduced two years back was not changing anything. It was decided to reduce it to the old 14-team format – like the increase, it was to be done gradually: 2 teams relegated and one promoted until the number 14 was reached. Thus, only the champions of the Second Division got promotion this season.

The honour went to Keravnos (Strovolos)

Not an young club – founded in 1926 – it was insignificant, so promotion was a rare moment of success. It was unlikely to establish itself among the best, let alone to become a force, but still a success for the modest club from a town written both Strovolos and Strovolou. Of course, from today’s point of view the promotion is strange: there is no such club nowadays – not playing football anyway. There is strong basketball team instead.

Going down to second division were the last two in First Division – Digenis Akritas Morphou was the outsider, ending with 18 points and last. 15th place went to Nea Salamina Famagusta, may be because of bad luck. They fought hard to survive, but finished with 26 points. 5 clubs had 27 and two – 28. This meant that half the league was preoccupied only with basic survival. Nea Salamina failed to earn a single point… they had superior goal-difference than 4 of of the 5 clubs with 27 points, but… failed to get this precious point and down they went.

Nothing spectacular in the higher part of the table – suffice to say that the bronze medalists, Alki (Larnaca) finished with 7 more points than Nea Salamina and 11 points less than the 2nd placed team. It was just the usual race between the rivals from the capital city APOEL and Omonia. APOEL won the most games in the league – 20 – but lost 6. Omonia lost only 3 and at the end that made the difference – APOEL lost the title by a point. They finished with 44, Omonia with 45 points.

Nothing new, then… 9th title for Omonia, but also very significant 6th in a row – big dominance of Omonia, constant champions, a rare run of so many consecutive titles. There was no stopping Omonia.

Unchangeable champions – what more to say. Nothing… largely because the players made any sense only in Cyprus. Coached by the Bulgarian Petar Argirov, one of the many Bulgarian coaches, who worked in Cyrpus in the 1970s and 1980s, and having the biggest Cypriot star Kaiafas to score goals. The only known name abroad.

Omonia did not reach the Cup final and had to be satisfied with one trophy – APOEL were determined to get some revenge and a trophy. The other finalist was AEL (Limassol). They were not a factor in the championship – 9th place – so a Cup would have been nice… The final was dramatic and went into overtime. Only then APOEL managed to prevail – 2-1.

Not an easy victory, but – 11th Cup and second in a row. At the end, it was the same as ever… Omonia with the one trophy and APOEL with the other.

 

Malta – a new format of the championship: the division was divided into 2 groups of 5 teams for the first stage. After two-legged round-robin phase the top two of each group proceeded to the final stage. The rest went to the relegation pool. The new formula produced nothing new… the better teams went to compete for the title as ever and the lower part of the league was still preoccupied only with survival. But a moment for second division: the winners were recent members of top flight.

Zebbug Rangers were relegated in 1976-77 – now they were coming back. Not a team making strong impressions even in Malta. Just happy to go up – and may be survive among the best a season or two…

Birkirkara was relegated the previous year and was returning right away. Another club mostly struggling to be in first division, but with slightly better chances than Zebbug Rangers.

Of course, second division was nothing to talk about. Clubs like Vittoriosa Stars played there.

Such clubs were still the better part of the Maltese football – at least when compared to sone of their local rivals. Like

Vittoriosa Lightning, which contrary to their name looked like a junior team. And may they were…

Things were not much better in the top flight.

Msida St. Joseph were miserable in the relegation pool – 1 win and 1 tie, 3 points in total, and dead last. At least they were consistent… exactly the same was their performance in the first phase.

The other club to go down was expected outsider.

Ghaxaq tried to keep their place among the best, but for them mere appearance in first division was great success.

Too weak even in Malta… Ghaxaq earned measly 3 points in the first stage. In the relegation pool they tried much harder, achieving 8 points… 5 more than poor Msida St. Joseph, but… still 2 less than the record of Qormi, itself not much of force.

Free from relegation fears, the top concentrated on winning the title… kind of. Floriana, Sliema Wanderers, and Valletta FC had a combined record of 13 points. Hibernians alone had 11… not real race for the title. Valletta finished 2nd with 6 points. With 4 points and negative goal-difference Sliema Wanderers got bronze medals.

The champions were Hibernians – they finished second in their preliminary group, 3 points behind Sliema Wanderers. In fact, all three of the finalists had better records than Hibernians at first. But no points were carried over from the form stage and starting anew, Hibernians had no match in the final stage: 5 wins and 1 tie, 12-5 goal-difference. One more title for them.

The Cup final opposed Floriana to Sliema Wanderers.

Floriana was playing their 4th consecutive final, and interesting record. They won the Cup in 1976, then lost the next two finals. But the trophy escaped them again – Sliema Wanderers won 2-1. Yet, interesting historic note – not many clubs play 4 Cup finals in a row, perhaps even fewer lose 3 consecutive finals.

Sliema Wanderers triumphed and collected one more trophy. Maltese football was like many other countries; a few ‘big’ clubs dominated the scene and the winners were familiar.

At the bottom of football hierarchy, Luxembourg was not a big news:

Spora Luxembourg and

Stade Dudelange won promotions from Second Division – both clubs were relegated the previous year and came back right away.

One of the newcomers to First Division finished hopelessly last.

Young Boys (Diekirch) earned only 8 points – 9 less then the team just above last place. Even in the weakest divisions there were especially weak clubs…

11th place was dreaded by 5 teams, almost half the league.

Alliance (Dudelange) were the second unlucky club – 17 points relegated them, exchanging divisions with their city rivals Stade.

Up the league four clubs fought for bronze medals – Union Luxembourg got them with 25 points, but they were far away from the title. The contenders were two and they went head to head to the very end, both finishing with 34 points. Goal difference decided the title: Red Boys (Differdange) had better one and won. They, however, were not to finish with one trophy – Red Boys reached the Cup final.

Aris (Bonnevoie) were the other finalists and the final was not without drama – regular time produced no winner. Red Boys excelled in extra time – the aggregate result was 4-1. A double and the interesting thing was that both trophies were won by a hair – on goal-difference and in extra time. All or nothing, but everything at the end.

13th Cup and 6th title for Red Boys – an excellent season, but little they knew of the future… this was the last title in the history of the club.

The unlucky ones were the champions of the previous year.

Progres lost just one match this season – Red Boys lost 2 – and scored the most goals in the league. Defense betrayed them though and they finished second. The consolation was a visit to Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid – a visit, for playing against Real Madrid in the first round of the European Champions Cup was doomed affair. So they photographed themselves at the famous venue for posterity.

 

1979

Years following World Cup are usually anti-climactic, at least in the perceptions of the fans, but 1978-79 was different: a sense of alarm. The exciting teams of the early 1970s declined – Ajax, Bayern, West Germany. The exciting total football spread and changed before becoming a norm in the most countries. The elements were present, but not the fascinating improvisations, not the joyous attacks – instead there was hard tackling, pressure on the whole field, and constant running. Somehow the defensive elements of the style were emphasized. There were no creative teams introducing new tactics – Liverpool and Juventus were more or less the current favourites and both teams, as good as they were, mostly added a few elements from total football to otherwise traditional English and Italian football. Anderlecht perhaps came closer to original total football, yet, it was obvious that the club’s style and even form depended simply on the number of the Dutch players in the squad and they were well known names for years. South America so far did not contribute to the development of football – the continent still had difficulties in coming to terms with total football, but years went by and now it was even not sure that the Latins had to pursue the style. Most alarming was the absence of great new stars, especially creative midfielders – the playmaker and the libero were ‘a must’, yet there was no new Cruyff or Beckenbauer, let alone someone better than the icons. The leading players, even if still young, were not exactly newcomers – Keegan, Platini, Krankl, they were around already for quite some time. The few discoveries at the 1978 World Cup sunk back into obscurity – Boniek really became a star in 1982. And may be the worst of everything was the realization that the flag bearers of total football did not change much the style and even less the fate of the clubs they went to – Cryuff won a single title with Barcelona and nothing in Europe. Same with Neeskens, Breitner, Netzer… They were stepping down already, leaving a sense that an era was ending without even fully realizing its potential. 1978-79 showed not so much a change of guard, but rather the absence of great new teams – there was one major tournament, Copa America, and it was won not by the current World champions Argentina, nor by Brazil, but by Paraguay. Paraguayan club won also Copa Libertadores. In Europe Nottingham Forest won the European Champions Cup. The other finalist was Malmo FF… nice to see the underdogs win, but… It was the year of the Cinderellas.

Paraguay – champions of South America.

Olympia (Asuncion) – Paraguayan champions on the club level.

Both teams remained quite anonymous to most observers – a novelty, somewhat.

The other big news of the season was the flock of foreign players going to England – it was so unusual, many still think England opened its market to foreigners in 1978. Apart from the mistake, there was harsh criticism of foreigners in England: for years they were mostly thought unfit for the English kind of football. Many failed, few managed to adapt. The transfers were even a bit curious to the outsiders: one could think that fresh champion of the world and individually one of the best players at the finals would move to bigger club than Birmingham City, a club largely struggling to maintain a place in first division… but it was there Tarantini went and was found… unsatisfying.

As a whole, a disturbing year without much flair.

Antoher year ends… what could be the most memorable moment of it? The World Cup finals… the fantastic goal of Gemmill against Holland… or the turning point for Argentina – the penalty saved by Fillol against Poland perhaps? Or the goals at the final, especially the winning one? Well, let’s chose something else:

Another goal scored by Argentina against Peru. The ‘fixed’ match… the ‘culprit’ in the middle: the Argentinian-born goalkeeper of Peru Ramon Quiroga. May be deliberately letting in one more goal… and Kempes, the hero of the championship and of the whole year , right in front. The truth shall be never known, the match remains suspect, the Argentine victory a bit tarnished, and so on. Controversy may be the word describing 1978 best…

After the enigma of Cruyff’s retirement it is only proper to introduce another enigma – a player praised as great hope debuted in 1977-78. However, very little can be said about him today – his career has many ‘blanks’… ‘Blanks’ from start to end and beyond. The name is Thomas Lafchis – or Laftsis… how his name appears in Latin alphabet depends on the original source – Lafchis, if it is transliterated from Bulgarian; Laftsis, if it is from Greek. He was born in August, 1958, in Sofia, Bulgaria, and gradually climbed through the youth system of Levski-Spartak (Sofia). He was noticed as a very talented junior, included in the first team, and quickly made great impression between the goalposts. The young goalkeeper was seemingly going to be a big star, surely a national team player, and who knows what else. By the end of 1978-79 he was already a champion and twice Cup winner – after such beginning sky was the limit. But his meteoric rise was followed… by sudden disappearance. A quick glance of his statistic record immediately brings problems – scarce information and mysterious too. For instance, Wikipedia gives two other clubs before his debut for Levski-Spartak – Cherno more (Varna) and Sliven (Sliven). How many matches he played for them? Unknown… Lafchis finished 1976-77 season captaining the juniors of Levski-Spartak. For the next season he was registered with the first team – if he was part of above mentioned clubs, it must have been between seasons, during the summer of 1977… when no matches were played, it was training and recruiting period, probably lasting less than a month, between vacation and registration of new squads for the upcoming season. A mystery… since both Cherno more and Sliven were military clubs at the time, it s possible that he went on trials there – talented young players often spent their military service as active players of military clubs. But both clubs were in the system of the arch-enemy of Levski-Spartak – CSKA – which makes it unlikely destination unless Levski was not interested in his own player. Normally, military service of Levski players went in the club – Levski belonged to the Police, which had its own militarized service. But Lafchis was an ethnic Greek – a fact, which by itself did not spare him from army service, but later development casts different light on the matter: Lafchis did not even artificially served in the Bulgarian army, apparently on the strength of foreign citizenship, probably obtained at about the time of his coming to military age. Was he ever with Cherno more and Sliven is very doubtful – he started the season as a player of Levski-Sparak, the club he started playing football as a kid. He just finished high school in the spring, so there was no even slight possibility he went to clubs in other cities earlier.

The new goalkeeper was universally seen as a back-up goalie – Levski-Spartak had the national team regular Stefan Staykov as a first choice. Youngsters were rarely given starting positions at 18 and goalkeepers even less so – Lafchis was perhaps to appear in a few matches, may be not even full games, but a few minutes here and there, against weak opponents, coming in as a reserve. May be not even that, because Staykov was in very good form and he played in the most matches of the national team in 1977. In general, Lafchis was expected to weight at the bench a few years, when he was to be more mature and experienced. But it was not so – he made very unusual debut in the fall of 1977 in the derby with CSKA. Youngsters without a single official game are the most unlikely choice for starting in a derby, but the circumstances were dire… A week before Levski-Spartak traveled to Amsterdam for the second leg of the 1/8 European Champions Cup with Ajax with only 12 players – the 12th was their single reserve, the second goalie Lafchis. The team was plagued by injuries and more players were added to the list after the matches with Ajax. For the derby Levski-Spartak scraped the very bottom… whoever was able to walk. The central defender Enchev was moved to midfield, just to make a starting eleven. Four players had no official match for Levski yet, among them – Lafchis. The improvised team was seen as sure loser… instead, they played fantastic match, annihilating CSKA 4-1. Lafchis was impressive between the goalposts – if so far he was seen as promising, but uncertain future player, now suddenly he was praised to the skies. However, in his first season he was still used sparsely – Staykov was the first choice. Lafchis ended his first season as a Bulgarian Cup winner, not bad for a start. His second year was vastly different – he edged Staykov from the regular place in the team, had a strong and unusually even for a young goalkeeper performance, and was expected to be called to the national team. Everybody was sure that he will be a long-lasting and solid addition of the national team – may be for the next ten or more years, what luck! Lafchis finished the season with a double… Staykov was reserve of Lafchis by now and how often an acting national team player sits on the bench of his club, a mere back-up of barely 20-years old?

Levski-Spartak, a Bulgarian champion and Cup winner in 1978-79. Lafchis sitting in the middle of the first row.

He was certainly becoming a star – this photo is telling: Lafchis with the championship trophy in his hands between Stefan Staykov and Pavel Panov (left). Taking the place of national team player and symbolically next to the greatest star and captain of Levski-Spartak of the 1970s, Panov. There was no doubt who was the next great player and it was not even a matter of time anymore.

There was no Lafchis in the squad of Levski-Spartak for the 1979-80 season… no such player in any other team… Nothing. Not a word, not even a hint, in the press – it was like there had not been such player at all… Eventually, the grapevine cleared the mystery – to a point, because rumors are hardly the truth. Lafchis was allowed to repatriate (to emigrate is perhaps the more proper term, for he was born in Bulgaria) – there was already a precedent: back in 1975 highly talented young midfielder and Bulgarian national team player Kostas Isakidis was permitted to go to Greece. True to their vow of silence, the Communist authorities said next to nothing and only after months. No more news of Isakidis ever came… it was not a football transfer, for Communist Bulgaria did not export players, but ‘only’ permitting the ethnic Greek to move to his homeland. Of course, it had to do with football – Bulgarian Greeks were not permitted to move to Greece: rarely, particular individuals were quietly allowed to do so, but very rarely. Isakidis went to play of Aris (Thesaloniki)… and vanished. He made no impression in Greece, rather faded away – to a point, his problem was that he already played for Bulgaria and had no chance of ever becoming Greek national team player. Four years later Lafchis was let go the rumor made his case slightly different than the one of Isakidis: it was said that the permission was actually a deal between Panathinaikos, who wanted the talented player, and Levski-Spartak. A hidden transfer, for foreign transfers were officially impossible. Lafchis was in much better position than Isakidis – he moved to the biggest Greek club (according to the rumor) and since he never played for Bulgaria, most likely he was to be soon the national goalkeeper of Greece. A great future was envisioned: Greek football was rising, Panathinaikos was rich club, Lafchis, young, talented, and now in true professional situation was most likely to become not just Greek, but European star. Nothing was heard of him for years… star named ‘Lafchis’ never appeared. Instead, a quick look at his statistic record shows a gap… Lafchis debuted not in the fall of 1979, when he moved to Greece, but in 1981. Not for Panathinaikos either, but for the still virtually unknown outside Greece OFI Crete, a small club… There he stayed for the next two years, but… a next glance of statistics is in order: Lafchis played for OFI a total of 33 matches. Playing in less than 50% of the official matches of so-so club hardly suggests impressive career…

Lafchis eventually reached Panathinaikos – in the summer of 1983 and stayed with the club for two years.

Here he is a PAO player, but a star? Hardly… His numbers improved – 55 matches in two years, well over 50%, yet, not exactly overwhelming starter. May be adapting to life in Greece was difficult and halted his career, but if one traces his complete record… to the end of 1984-85 season Lafchis was never a regular – 27 matches for Levski-Spartak in 2 season, then 2 ’empty’ years, then 33 for OFI in 2 seasons, and 55 for Panathinaikos in 2 years. After 7 years of professional football, Lafchis achieved roughly a 50% average – certainly, a doubtful player, not a star… Greece had weaker goalkeepers than Bulgaria at the time, so the fact that he never appeared for Greece casts more doubts. And just when he seemingly came into some more reliable performance, he vanished again… after the end of 1984-85 season he was no longer part of Panathinaikos – most statistical records do not mention any club; Wikipedia places him in Belgium. A mystery again: just ‘a Belgian club’ is written, no name, no appearances… at least statistical records of the First Belgian league have no mentioning of such player. If he ever played in Belgium, it had to be in the lower divisions – clearly a step down… after playing for the top Greek club. He reappeared again in Greece – between 1987 and 1989 he played again for OFI Crete, a measly 15 matches. 30-years old he was retired from football… 130 matches in 12 years is nothing… was Lafchis just one of the countless failed players, who showed great talent at first, but quickly faded into obscurity? May be, but even this cannot be supported by evidence – very little is written about Lafchis: generally, only that he was a professional player. His current life is similar mystery.

In 1991 he reemerged in Bulgaria, now presented as a successful businessman, who became president of his original club, Levski. At the time, his appearance was welcomed with great hopes: Communism just fell down and the grip of the Communist party over football as well. Levski restored its original name and Lafchis was seen clearly as a new and sound beginning of proper professional era: coming from the West, rich, experienced, and loyal to the club he started with as a kid, certainly a fan. He was to introduce ‘normal’ business practices in the club and guide it to greatness… Big hopes, and naivete, for football clubs are never run like ‘normal’ business… and it was soon clear: was Lafchis a president or an owner? It was said ‘authoritatively’ that when he finished his money, he got rid of the club. It was said that he sold a whole team just to cover personal losses… that he sold the club to the next owner, who was no longer even called president. But the information is scarce: Lafchis was at the helm of Levski for 8 years – as a whole, successful period. Very quickly Lafchis got the best coaches and players of Bulgaria and they were winning. With time, controversies popped up – he was accused of looking after his own profit and manipulates officials. Then he was accused of ruining the club by going personally broke… Nothing is really established – pros and cons are largely journalistic and opinions. Fans, both of Levski and rival clubs, add folklore.

Thomas Lafchis as Persident of Levski (Sofia). Perhaps the moment remaining most vividly in memory is his refusal to play a Cup final against CSKA in 1996. The boycott of the Bulgarian League Cup final is remembered just because it was a scandal. Lafchis wanted foreign referees – he accused the appointed one of manipulating matches in favour of CSKA. It was a big accusation implicating everybody in Bulgarian football in massive corruption. But it was not very convincing argument – first, it was nothing new, and second, Lafchis himself was accused on numerous occasions of scheming and manipulating . Not even Levski’s fans were entirely convinced he was doing the right thing – they were hoping for another victory over the arch-enemy, not for the opposite (CSKA was awarded victory, since Levski did not show up, and got the Cup.) Fans of CSKA argued that Lafchis thought CSKA was going to win anyway, and to save face cooked the whole ‘protest’ as an excuse. Apart from this scandal hardly anything was backed with facts about Lafchis, who was less in the news than other, much more vocal and scandalous ‘presidents’. He stepped dwon – or sold – the club in 1999 and once again vanished. It seems that he divides his time between Greece and Bulgaria, running some business, but also he is a FIFA licensed players agent (very low key, if so), but generally staying away from football. His name pops up once in while for occasional interview on football – his opinions are essentially very critical and he states that he has an opinion, but no desire to take active part. Recently he became quietly involved in the futsal championship of Bulgaria. Thus, the information about him is so small, it looks like he does not want anything to be known about him. There are just three sentences about him in Wikipedia, essentially telling that he was a football player… He was a great promise back in 1977-78, but he did not become a star. Was he just one of the many ’empty promises’, or there was something else blocking his playing career? Nobody knows… an enigma.

And a real retirement – Giacinto Facchetti. Low key, almost unnoticed. 1977-78 season ended, Inter won the Italian Cup and Facchetti retired. There was no fuss – but Facchetti was almost forgotten for years. The news were about others, yet he was not only playing, but on high level. His last match for Italy was in 1977 – months before he exited the game. A forgotten legend.

Born in 1942, Facchetti debuted for Inter (Milano) in 1960, only 18-years old. He played for no other club – one of the last ‘old-fashioned’ stars loyal to his club. For Inter he appeared in 476 championship matches, scoring 59 goals. His time was really the 1960s, when ‘Grande Inter’ ruled the football world: 4 Italian titles ( 1962-63, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1970-71), 2 European Champions Cups (1963-64, 1964-65), 2 Intercontinental Cups (1964 and 1965). Two lost European Champions Cup finals – 1966-67 and 1971-72. Impressive and successful to the end – he quit after Inter won the Italian Cup in 1977-78. Facchetti ended his illustrious club career as a winner. At 36, he was obviously not the same players as in the 1960s – he played only 18 matches during his last season – but still finished with a trophy.

No less impressive was his record with the Italian national team – he debuted for Italy in 1963, at 21 years of age, and his last match was almost coinciding with his retirement – in 1977. He played a total of 94 matches for Italy – an all-time record at the time, bested by very few in the following years (Zoff, Paolo Maldini, Cannavaro). He scored only 3 goals, but captained Italy in 70 matches!

Facchetti played at 3 World Cup finals (1966, 1970, 1974), ending with silver medal in 1970, but his greatest moment with the national team was in 1968, when Italy won the European championship.

Impressive statistics, but numbers don’t tell the whole story – Facchetti was hailed for years as a revolutionary player, one of those changing the game and the roles. He is considered – especially in the 1960s – the first modern full back: still a model in the 1970s, more desired than achieved, but in the 1970s the heroes were those who followed in Facchetti’s steps – Krol and Breitner, for instance – the full backs, who constantly participated in the attacks and scored goals. Back in the early 1960s this was unheard of. There were occasional forays on the wings, a rare goal scored by a defender, but most of the time defenders did not cross the middle line and watched their strikers from deep back. Facchetti changed that, although for the most of the decade he was pretty much the only full back consistently going into attacks. An unusual full back, though – Facchetti was 1.91 m and tall players were either centre-forwards or central defenders. As a junior Fachetti was exactly centre-forward – it was the great Helenio Herrera, who changed that, moving him back in defense and it was still strange move, for young Facchetti was placed as left full-back, a position not for tall players. But Herrera obviously saw the attacking skills of the youngster and made the right decision: catenaccio, also Herrera’s invention, reduced the number of strikers to two and they were most likely to operate in the centre, not on the flanks. Hence, there was often vast empty zone on the sides to be explored – the new role for a full-back, doubling as a winger. Facchetti was, if not the first to do so, the most effective and impressive. He surprised the opposition, adding more strength to Inter’s attack, and scored lots of goals.

A typical and familiar picture of Facchetti from the 1960s – another goal scored by the left full-back. But it was not only the novelty of striking back liner – Facchetti was impeccable defender, one of the very best in the world. A skilful player, who did not depend on rough tackles and intimidation, but on elegant outplaying the opposition. Italian defenders have a reputation for uncompromising, often brutal treatment. In 18 years of competitive football Facchetti was sent off only once – for sarcastically applauding the referee. No wonder he was loved and respected everywhere.

But the football changed in the early 1970s and the heroes suddenly were different. Facchetti was one of the revolutionaries in the 1960s, but still he was considered part of the dreadful defensive football introduced by Herrera and picked up by whole Italian football. With the introduction of total football, everything focused on those who practiced it. The new modern defender was no more Facchetti, but players who really just played like him – perhaps they went a step ahead, no longer restricted to the wings, but still Vogts, Suurbier, Krol, Breitner, and so on, did essentially what Facchetti did – helping the strikers, then quickly returning back to do their defensive job. A lot of running, excellent physical condition. Perhaps the end of Facchetti was in 1972, when Inter lost the European Champions Cup final to Ajax, the gods of total football: this day was the death of catenaccio – not as practice, but as a fashionable model. The final blow came in 1974, when Italy was clearly and hopelessly old-fashioned, ridiculous, and quickly eliminated. Facchetti, unfortunately, played in both 1972 and 1974… thus, immediately associated with catenaccio and no longer mentioned as a leading star. He was getting old, but it was not the age – it was the Italian style of football, which relegated him back to the gone 1960s, a historic fossil, mentioned in past tense. Perhaps this was one of the reasons his retirement went practically unnoticed – few thought he was still playing anyway. For most he was a 1960s icon, long gone… but he finished his career as a winner! Ending with a trophy and perhaps more importantly with a trophy he never won before – this was the only Italian Cup won by Inter during Facchetti’s long career! Of course, he was never forgotten in Milano – a legend of Inter, a shiny example of loyalty and class, he continued to work for the club until his death from pancreatic cancer in 2006. The club honoured him by retiring his playing number 3 and the city named a square after him. One of the all-time greatest players.