Football Journey

Portugal. Good period for the Portuguese football, but even at the best times it was a matter of three clubs – and Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, and FC Porto competed with each and nobody else. The picture completely changed in the second level – it was almost another world. Tiny venues, often games played on sand – not on grass. But nothings stopped the game.

Second Division was still divided into 3 zones and the winners were directly promoted. The second-best in each zone competed between themselves for the last promotional spot.

Norte. Nothing much – one team dominated the championship.

Rio Ave had excellent season – they did not lose even a single match! 19 wins and 11 ties, 52-19 goal-difference, 49 points. The nearest pursuer was 7 points behind. Standing from left: Carvalho, Santana, Sérgio, Brito, Duarte. Front: Álvaro, Juanico, Rui Lopes, Pinto, Pires, Alberto. Going back to top level football, but it was eternal struggle – going up, then down, then up again.

Varzim finished 2nd with 42 points and had a chance to get promoted.

Centro. The only competitive second division zone – 3 teams battled for 1st place.

Down the table there was a team with ‘perfect’ record: Mangualde finished 7th with 10 wins, 10 ties, 10 losses, and 33-33 goal-difference.

The three-team race ended somewhat surprising: Feirense missed a step or two and finished 3rd with 40 points. Agueda was 2nd with 42 points and had only to hope for the last qualification spot.

O Elvas clinched the first place with 43 points. Unheard of outside Portugal club, modest and small, which depended on tight defense and eventually won the championship. Getting promoted was perhaps wildest dreams coming true, but the boys made it with 18 wins, 7 ties, 5 losses, 42-15 goal-difference.

Sul. One team dominated, even more so than the winner of Norte.

Silves, 14th with 23 points, was one of the 4 relegated teams. That was Second Division though – playing on something like neighbourhood ground for Sunday kick-abouts, no grass at all. Test of character…

Sacavenense did much better on tough surface – 8th with 29 points.

Uniao Madeira finished 2nd with 39 points. Top position was not up to them at all, but still they got a chance to climb up.

Farense reigned supreme – 21 wins, 5 ties, 4 losses, 59-22 goal-difference and 47 points. Uniao was left 8 points behind. It was great to go back to First Division – at least they will play on grass again, if nothing else.

Varzim won the last promotion – for them, it was a rollercoster: one year in second division, then in the first, then again in second… the same on, and on, and on.

The Cup. A bit of surprise, but this surprise also made the final absolutely predictable: RBC Roosendaal reached the final. Nice – the 10th placed Second division team. But the other finalist was Ajax… only miracle could help RBC, but Cruijff was not exactly the man allowing miracles to happen. And on top of everything the final was played at Ajax’s stadium… so 3-0 was perhaps graceful loss for RBC.

RBC Roosendaal had nothing to be ashamed of – the difference of class was so great and there was nothing to do about it. They reached the Cup final and that was may be their greatest achievement ever. Too bad Ajax did not win the championship, but even without European tournament it was wonderful.

Winning the final was not big deal by itself, but winning the Cup was important – Ajax and Cruijff finished the season with a trophy. This squad had only one rival – PSV Eindhoven – and the battle with them was exciting. Most importantly, Ajax seemingly managed to build a team close to the legendary one from the 1970s. Holland was theirs, now it was time for reconquering Europe.

First Division. One outsider and two outstanding leaders, but PSV Eindhoven dominated the season. It was also marked by massive return of those playing in England. Particularly high scoring records at the top of the table.

SC Heracles’74 – last and out with 12 points. They distinguished themselves by winning more away than home games. 2 vs 1.

NEC Nijmegen – 17th with 23 points and relegated.

MVV Maastricht – 16th with 24 points. Relegated as well. Third row from left: Paul Penders, Jean Maas, Arie van Staveren, Chrit Baetsen, Marcel Spa, Huub Driesen, Eric Gerets (short spell, quickly joining PSV Eindhoven), Hans Linders.

Middle row: Frans Schobbe, Cor Bromm – coach, Reginal Thal, Toin van Mierlo, Marcel Adam, Bert van de Poppe, Bert van Marwijk, Gilbert Hautvast, Huub Smeets, Ron Weyzen – assistant coach, John Voorts.

Sitting: Berry Penders, Jos Schmeitz, Eric Merk, Eric van der Luer, Rob Delahey.

Excelsior – 15th with 25 points.

Twente – 14th with 27 points. Top row from left: Henk Eysink – physiotherapeut, Martin Koopman, John Scheve, Evert Bleuming, Willy Carbo, Ron Willems, Andre Paus, Niels Overweg – assistant coach.

Middle row: Jan Steenbeeke – masseur, Dick Schoenaker, Bert-Jan Janssen, Ulrich Wilson, Rene Roord, Theo ten Caat, Fred Rutten, Epi Drost – assistant coach, Fritz Korbach – coach.

Sitting: Michael Birkedal, Manuel Sanchez Torres, Theo Snelders, Marcel Fleer, Patrick Bosch, Martien Vreijsen.

Not enough good players for something better – only Schoenaker, Snelders, and Sanchez Torres.

VVV Venlo – 13th with 27 points. Top row from left: Veggel – masseur, F. Verbeek, P. Berkens, J. Taihuttu, J. Rutten, J. Roux, L. Gilkes, H. Ringels, W. Hooreman.

Middle row: W. Teeuwen – manager, G. Kopp, H. Coort, W. Jacobs, R. Libregts, R. Reynierse, E. van Berge Henegouwen, P. Corbijn, C. burhenne, M. Verlijsdonk, G. Janssen, G. van Rosmalen.

Sitting: J. van Aerts, H. Winkelmolen, F. Nijssen, S. Vergoossen – coach, J. Versleijen – assistant coach, S. Valckx, J. Versleeuwen, W. van den Beek.

FC Utrecht – 12th with 32 points. Third row from left: John v. d. Linden, Jan v. d. Akker, Ton du Chatinier, John van Loen, Ton de Kruyk, Gerrit Plomp, Herman Verrips.

Middle row: Gijs v. d. Bidt, Gert Kruys, Peter v. d. Waart, Edwin Godee, Jan-Willem van Ede, Jan Lecker, Wim Rijsbergen, Ben Rietveld, Martin Ockhuyzen.

Henk Vonk – assistant coach, Fred Tuinman, Johan v. d. Hooft, Nol de Ruiter – coach.

Wim Rijsbergen playing his last days here – and, seemingly, helping enough.

Haarlem – 11th with 32 points. Top row from left: P. Keur, J. Bockling, C. Baas, C. Verkaik, M. Metgod.

Middle row: J. van Doorneveld – coach, R. Talan, R. Moniz, R. Hesp, L. Nijholt, M. Liesdek, Th. Immers – assistant coach.

Sitting: W. Balm, R. Attefveld, R. Collewijn, E. Metgod, K. Masefield, A. Leysner, R. Matthaei.

Go Ahead Eagles – 10th with 33 points.

AZ’67 – 9th with 34 points. Sinking… There still were few well-known players, but nothing like what Alkmaar had at its great days – Kees Kist (33 years old), Peter Arntz (32 years old), Gerrie Kleton (32 years old). It was much lower lever, no doubt – the English import David Loggie used to play for York City…

Fortuna – 8th with 34 points. Top row from left: H. A. Jessen, Mario Eleveld, Wim Koevermans, Anne Evers, Roger Houtackers, John Linford, P. Bruls.

Middle row: Dick Voom – assistant coach, Wilbert Suvrijn, Theo van Well, Tiny Ruys, Rene Maessen, Gerrie Schrijnemakers, Jos Nordang, Roger Reijners, Frans Thijssen, Bert Jacobs – coach.

Sitting: Wouter Holverda, willy Boessen, Andre van Gerven, Chris Korver, Arthur Hoyer, Rob Philippen.

Frans Thijssen back from Englsih glory and getting too old now.

Sparta – 7th with 37 points. Top row: Oomen, Schuurhuizen, v.d. Weel, Noortwijk, Dilberto, De Kant, Veldhoen.

Middle row: Nijmen, Klamer, Andriessen, De Goey, Fraser, Lengbeek, van Gaal, Vonk.

Sitting: Schmidt, Blind, Olde Riekernik, Eijer, Tiktak, v. Polanen, Tebbens.

Van Gaal was still playing along with bright young talent Blind and de Goey. One will retire soon and become famous coach, the other will move to the big clubs and also become stars. Sparta was just a donor, unfortunately.

FC Den Bosch – 6th with 37 points. Most famous was their coach Rinus Israel. On the field – Hans Gilhaus was great promise, but still too young.

Roda JC – 5th with 39 points. Third row from left: Norbert Keulen, Hennie Meijer, Marco Grassi, R. Frolichs, Jos Daerden, Rene Trost, Jimmy Calderwood.

Middle road: Frans Korver – coach, John de Jong, Hans Cremer, Ron Jans, Jan Nederburgh, Harry Klein, Martin van Geel, Peter van de Veen.

Sitting: Eugene Hanssen, Edwin Gorter, Rene Hofman, Jos Smits, Pierre Blatter, Rinie Verwest, Michel Haan.

Their best years, but such a squad could no go really high – the Englishman Calderwood was the their most recognizable player.

FC Groningen – 4th with 40 points. Top row from left: Jan Jaap Kooistra, Ron van den Berg, Stoffer Bakker, John de Wolf, Mark Verkuyl, Adri van Tiggelen.

Middle row: Han Berger – coach, Paul Mason, Johan de Kock, Pieter Beuzenberg, Edwin Bakker, Pieter Huistra, Harris Huizingh, Sief Ronde – assistant coach.

Sitting: Henk Hagenauw, Rob McDonald, Sjaak Storm, Steve Goble, Jos Roossien, Jan van Dijk, John Visser.

Wonderful season, but to keep even this level – good, but far from challenging the big clubs – they needed the impossible: to keep players like van Tiggelen and de Wolf. To keep their imports too.. Rob McDonald may not have been great player in the large scheme, but attractive enough for PSV Eindhoven to grab him.

Feyenoord – 3rd with 44 points. Too strong for the rest of the league, but in the same time much weaker than the other two big clubs. The last title came with Cruijff, who was never accepted by Feyenoord fans, and was often booed – the sign of weakness was in continuing using former Ajax stars: there were three of them this season – Johnny Rep, Tscheu La Ling, and Simon Tahamata. Perhaps the fans were not hostile to them, but it was a story of inability to either bring up own talent or hire stars from elsewhere – to keep up, Feyennord had to look to Ajax’s veterans… In general, it was aging team – including the 3 Danish national team players Nielsen, Eriksen, and Sorensen.

Ajax – 2nd with 52 points. Officially, Spitz Kohn was the coach – in reality, it was Cruijff, whose lack of proper credentials needed a bit of trickery – he had different position on paper. The team was wonderful and there was direct link with the greatest Ajax – Cruijff and van Dord coaching and Arnold Muhren back from England. Enough for inspiration, it seems – Ajax scored astonishing 120 goals this season. But it was good only for distant second place with 52 points.

PSV Eindhoven won the championship without letting any challenge: 27 wins, 6 ties, only 1 lost match, 100-22 goal-difference, and 60 points. Massive gap between them and Ajax – 8 points! Great scorers, best defenders, well-rounded, still having live link with the great squad from the 1970s – Willy van de Kerkhof, fresh great recruits – van Breukelen, Gerets, and most importantly Gullit. The advantage the had over Ajax was not that much talent, but experience – PSV was wonderfully coming to its peak as team and that was coming along with the peaks of their key players.

 

Holland. After the decline of late 70-s and early 80s, Dutch football was rapidly coming back – with talented young generation of players, talented crop of coaches, and two strong teams, playing exciting football. And scoring spectacular number of goals.

Second Division. Promotion was the only important thing – two teams directly and the third: the winner of promotional tournament after the end of the regular season.

Spcl. Cambuur – 19th with 19 points. Last.

Emmen – 18th with 24 points.

SC Heerenveen – 17th with 27 points.

FC Eindhoven – 16th with 29 points.

DS’79 Dordrecht – 15th with 29 points.

FC Wageningen – 14th with 30 points.

NAC Breda – 13th with 32 points.

Helmond Sport – 12th with 32 points.

SVV Schiedam – 11th with 33 points.

RBC Roosendaal – 10th with 33 points.

De Graafschap – 9th with 33 points.

Vitesse – 8th with 38 points.

FC Volendam – 7th with 40 points.

Telstar – 6th with 41 points.

Willem II – 5th with 42 points.

SC Veendam – 4th with 44 points.

RKC Waalwijk – 3rd with 45 points.

PEC Zwolle – 2nd with 51 points. Way stronger then most of the league and promoted as a result.

FC Den Haag – 1st with 62 points. Dominant and impressive champions: they did mot lose even one match! 26 wins, 10 ties, 0 losses, 85-33 goal-difference. They left the second-best team 11 points behind. Was it really important or not, but FC Den Haag had the only player with well established name in the whole league: Martin Jol, now 30-years old and back from successful career in West Germany and England.

The third promoted team had to be decided in the traditional small tournament after the season between 4 teams, qualifying by performance in different stages of the regular championship. Probably ambition played biggest role at this stage.

Vitesse was last just 2 points. RKC Waalwijk – 3rd with 3 points. Willem II – 2nd with 7 points. Veendam played perfect tournament – 6 games-6 wins – and won the last promotion to First Division.

The Cup final opposed Bordeaux to Marseille. Now, cup tournaments escape common wisdom and logic, but there were also critical signs to the current state of affairs there: Marseille, at its current state, was big outsider – Bordeaux had the best squad in the country. Yes, Bordeaux won, but it was only 2-1 and they prevailed only near the end of the overtime. The first half ended with Marseille leading 1-0 and in regular time Bordeuax managed only to equalize. That was the rub: against quite mediocre Marseille, mighty Bordeaux prevailed with great difficulty. Age… the signs of dangerous aging were there.

Nothing surprising Marseille lost – after all, they had only one high-class players and he was the goalkeeper. But even the loss was no big deal – it brought new confidence, something to step on and build on. Of course, losing a trophy was no fun, but determination to do better was probably freshly fueled.

Bordeaux was still on top – lost the championship, but won the Cup. And this was not just a small consolation for failing in the championship: this was only the 2nd Cup Bordeaux won and the first time was in ancient 1941. May be not confident victory, but still a great victory! That was also a third year in a row the team won a trophy – two titles, now the Cup. They were still best, still running fast, still focused and eager for more. Aging? But they were winning, so who cares? Well, it was not the end. Not this year.

First Division. A two-team duel for the title, one outsider, and more dramatic battle for escaping relegation, involving almost half the league.

Bastia was the outsider – last with 20 points, only 4 of them acquired on the road and the only team without away win. It is rather shocking to see the Polish national goalkeeper Mlynarczyk going down: he played at the 1986 World Cup and is mostly remembered for winning the European Champions Cup – but that happened later and with another club.

Strasbourg – 19th with 31 points and relegated. This may have been direct result from faulty selection policy – Bulgarian Zhelyazkov and Czechoslovakian Knapp were the imports and they old and far gone , pale shadows of their former selves.

Nancy – 18th with 33 points. Although coached by now legendary Wenger, they lost the battle for survival. However, they were not relegated yet – they still had to play against Mulhouse in the promotion/relegation play-off. This time they won and kept first division place.

Le Havre – 17th with 33 points. Lucky to survive on better goal-difference.

Toulon – 16th with 33 points. Also lucky, thanks to better goal-difference. Now Emon was coached by his former national team co-player Dalger. Meaning, Emon was too old for inspired play and may be the same applied to the Yugoslav second-string star Cukrov.

Sochaux – 15th with 34 points. Their strong period was evidently over – now the main concern was not how to play in the European tournaments, but to avoid relegation.

Brest – 14th with 34 points. Vladimir Petrovic was playing here after his English misadventure – the gentle and more forgiving French football was closer to his technical style, but he was no longer first-rate star. Enough for modest Brest, though.

Rennes – 13th with 34 points. Traditionally unpredictable and wildly fluctuating team, now they on the lower end.

Olympique Marseille – 12th with 34 points. Still in the darkness, but they managed to come back from Second Division and, for the moment, achieved their most urgently important goal: to keep themselves in the top division. Still a poor squad – the best players were the two imports: the great Cameroonian goalkeeper Bell and the Dane Brylle, who somewhat never became a great star and reached his peak a few years back as well. Really, Marseille had to start building entire new team if wanting to return to leading position.

Like Toulon, Le Havre, Brest, Laval was quite happy to keep a top-league place – 11th with 35 points. Not bad finish by their modest standards.

Lille – 10th with 36 points. Typical mid-table club, so nothing new here even if they were mostly concerned with escaping relegation this season. Traditionally, Yugoslavs were heavily imported by French clubs and there was no surprise Lille had two: Primorac and Savic. Oldish, but still good enough.

Monaco – 9th with 37 points. Given the squad, rather disappointing season. But this was France – rarely a club had well-balanced squad and ups and downs were frequent. Monaco traditionally was up-and-down club, so it was a down season. Hardly unusual… then again, one expects more from a bunch like Amoros, Bellone, Bravo, Stojkovic, Genghini, Ettori, and Fofana.

Nice – 8th with 39 points, Their final position suggests a beginning of recovery to their former strong presence, but such conclusion would be misguided: given the relative mediocrity of the current squad, it was more of a chancy strong season.

Auxerre – 7th with 41 points. Perhaps the sounder team in the league, continuing to solidify its presence. Still depending on Polish talent – Janas – and producing new hopefuls like Basile Boli.

Metz – 6th with 42 points. Unassuming squad, led by Didier Six, but perhaps better balanced than most.

Lens – 5th with 43 points. Top row from left: Marx, Arghirudis, Mattelin, Leclerq, Sowinski, Rousseaux. Middle row: Lea, Gillot, Dubois, Warlop, Dewilder, Makengo, Krawczyk, Delache. Sitting: Huard, Pagal, Catalano, Carreno, Lerat, Xuereb, Ramos, Denizart, El Ouard, Gardie. Like Rennes, inconsistency was the trademark of Lens, so this season they were on their high end. As for the next – who knows.

Toulouse – 4th with 43 points. A pleasant surprise, but it looked like they were going to have strong stretch for a change. Perhaps it was quite a fall for Tarantini to end up playing for relative unknown, but at this point of his unlucky career it was even good that he was in a team going up. There was second Argentine as well – Marcico – and two prominent Frenchmen – Domergue and Stopyra. Bergeroo was still among the best French goalkeepers, so Toulouse had a solid skeleton already and with few additional players would be even stronger.

Bordeaux – 3rd with 49 points. Much stronger than most of the league, but almost a title contender – not all that strong to really run for the title. Still the most solid team in France, but getting old – Battiston, Dropsy, Giresse, Tigana, Lacombe and the imports Chalana and Reinders too. Thouvenel, Tusseau, and Girard were not exactly of the class of the already mentioned stars, so inevitable transitional period was going to be rough – if quick changes were not made. And radical reinforcement may not have been in the books for this team was still well-rounded and formidable when compared almost to everybody.

Nantes – 2nd with 53 points. Lost the race for title by three points, but there was nothing to worry about: they were the steadiest club in the country, consistently among the leaders for about 25 years already. Unlike any other French clubs, Nantes was capable of changing generations without tremors and weaknesses – transitions were smooth and the current version confirmed tradition: enough experienced stars – Amisse, Le Roux, Bertrand-Demanes, Halilhodzic, very strong new addition – Burruchaga, World champion with Argentina this very year, and young talent pushing up – Deschamps, Toure.

Raris SG triumphed 3 points clear of Nantes: 23 wins, 10 ties, 5 losses – 56 points and 66-33 goal-difference. Well, that was why Paris SG was created in the first place – to win titles, but so far there were none. At last they won their first – which was, of course, fantastic. The rest was not so great – Paris SG from its beginning employed risky philosophy: get big names and then again, and again. It did not work so far up to expectations: as a rule, they were getting famous veterans, no longer at their prime and also not lasting, because of the age factor. Fan base was built thanks to this policy and Paris SG managed to become one of the leading French clubs, but no more. Even cups were won only in the recent years. On the other hand, it may be argued that the policy was sound – precisely because the young club established itself among the strongest and became popular. Eventually, success too – first in the Cup competition, now in the championship. Nothing wrong with winning, right? But it was still a team for the moment, depending on few stars – in this vintage: Rocheteau, Bats, Fernandez, Susic, Couriol, Bibard. Most of them were getting old… There was no similar classy players to take the leading positions. Same old story – Paris SG had to get new veterans to keep the level, still not having real team to last on top for a period of time. To a large point the title was due to the talent of their Houllier, himself rapidly becoming famous. Really, Paris SG needed big mental change if wanting to be truly successful club.

Second Division, Group B. One favourite and one outsider.

CS Sedan-Ardennes – last with 22 points and relegated.

FC Rouen – 17th with 27 points and relegated.

FC Lorient – unlucky: 16th with 28 points and relegated on worse goal-difference.

SCO Angers – 15th with 28 points.

RCFC Besancon – 14th with 28 points.

US Dunkerque – 13th with 28 points.

US Valenciennes – 12th with 28 points.

AS Beauvais – 11th with 29 points.

FC Limoges – 10th with 29 points.

SC Abbeville – 9th with 30 points.

Stade Quimper – 8th with 32 points.

US Orleans – 7th with 33 points.

Stade Malherbe Caen – 6th with 37 points.

Chamois Niort – 5th with 37 points.

Stade Reims – 4th with 43 points. Carlos Bianchi back in Reims, no longer as great goalscorer, but coaching them. A beginning of successful coaching career, eventually reaching its peak in his native Argentina.

En Avant Guingamp – 3rd with 47 points. Unlike Group A, Group B virtually had no famous veterans – only Szarmach.

FC Mulhouse – 2nd with 50 points. Incapable of competing for top position, but strong enough season to have a chance for promotion – Mulhouse went to the promotion/relegation play-off against the 18th in First Division, Nancy, but lost it and remained in Second Division.

Racing Club easily won the championship after 24 wins, 8 ties, and only 2 lost games. 78-24 goal-difference and 56 points. The involvement of Matra, not merely a sponsor, but more directly involved with the club, was bringing results. Recovery from the big decline started in the late 1960s was going to take time, of course – so far: promotion to First Division. There was no other way. The squad was also getting stronger little by little – now Bossis was leading it. The Yugoslav star of the 1960s Takac successfully coached Racing this season, but Matra’s ambitions were big and that was still a step in the building process. Anyhow, Racing club was returning to First Division after many years of mediocrity.

France. Brand new champion and some tiredness detected. A generation was going to change.

Second Division, Group A.

No contest at the top – one favourite. Two outsiders.

FC Grenoble – last and relegated with 19 points. Two Eastern European veterans going way downhill now – Csapo was playing for Hungary not long ago and Zdenek Nehoda was champion of Europe with Czechoslovakia in 1976.

ECAC Chaumont – 17th with 26 points and relegated.

Red Star – lucky survivor: 16th with 30 points.

SF Istres – 15th with 30 points.

FC Montceau Bourgogne – 14th with 30 points.

CS Thonon – 13th with 31 points.

AS Cannes – 12th with 31 points. Ruud Krol was taking it easy at his old age here. It was somewhat fitting to have famous player in the city of the glamorous film festival.

FC Martigues – 11th with 32 points.

FC Gueugnon – 10th with 33 points.

FC Tours – 9th with 34 points.

AS Beziers – 8th with 35 points. Janvion played here now and fared better than Krol.

CO Le Puy – 7th with 35 points. This group was like a reserve for 1970s heroes – Hugo Bargas here.

Olympique Nimes – 6th with 38 points. More old species – Poortvliet and Nygaard.

La Paillade Montpellier – 5th with 39 points. Back to the 1978 World Cup – two Hungarians, Torocsik and Zombori.

FC Sete – 4th with 40 points. Bathenay here, not to miss encounters with his old playmate Janvion and those well known others.

Olympique Lyon – 3rd with 40 points. Another relic – Topalovic. 10 years ago he was seen as better option than Schumacher and that was that… a momentary chance, missed.

Olympique Ales – 2nd with 41 points. Good season, but promotion was out of reach.

AS Saint Etienne – won the championship easily with 46 points from 18 wins, 10 ties, and 6 losses. 50-29 goal-difference. Kasperczak did good job coaching the team and it was quick return to top flight, but it was not much of a squad. Milla was practically the star and it was not at all sure such a team could survive in the first division. Restoring the old glory was out of question.

The Cups – one final was pleasant contest between underdogs and the other simply continued the Liverpool rivalry. The Football League Cup final opposed Queen’s Park Rangers to Oxford United. QPR eliminated Liverpool at the semi-finals and overall was the likelier winner, having tradition and stronger squad in its favour. But this is England… In front of more than 90 000 fans, little Oxford practically destroyed QPR: 3-0!

QPR had stronger squad and desperately needed trophies, but trophies are to be won and winners score goals. Let say, it was wonderful achievement reaching the final.

Oxford was a pure delight – may be they did not play great football, may be they had rather anonymous squad, but victory of the underdog is always delightful. And it was very confident victory, nothing chancy – a triumph of commitment and desire.

Of course, Oxford was not going to win any more trophies, so the winners deserve a second look – the great team Oxford United ever had. The best moment in their history.

The FA Cup opposed Liverpool to Everton. Never-ending battle… Perhaps here the whole difference between the two rival clubs was fully displayed: Liverpool won 3-1. No matter how hungry Everton was, Liverpool was hungrier. And, overall, classier…

Everton lost twice to Liverpool this year and finished the season emptyhanded. However, it was not that much the lost tournaments, but the perspective – what works against Everton’s myth of stunted development is the fact that Liverpool usually prevailed over this very vintage of Everton: Liverpool prevailed in the 1983-84 League Cup final, they prevailed in this final, they prevailed in the championship. That is, Liverpool was getting the upper hand against this excellent Everton’s squad. Everton was a bit weaker…

Liverpool with double this season. Beating Everton twice. Simply great. Standing from left: Kenny Dalglish, Bruce Grobelaar, Alan Hansen, Mark Lawrenson, Gary Gillespie, Ian Rush, Kevin McDonald. First row: Jim Beglin, Steve Nicol, Craig Johnston, Ronnie Whelan, Steve McMahon. It is always good to see who was sitting on the bench – otherwise the might of Liverpool could not be truly grasped. And that was the big difference between them and Everton… Liverpool was much deeper, had very strong and experienced players in the back. Even banished from European football Liverpool was not slowing down. On the other hand… it was quite boring to see Liverpool win year after year.

First Division. At the bottom, two teams were quite inferior to the league in general. At the top a battle between 3 clubs for the title, one of them quite surprising and perhaps incidental. The real battle was in Liverpool and was exciting to the very end of the season.

West Bromwich Albion – last and relegated with 24 points. Good times were over, downhill now.

Birmingham City – 21st with 29 points. Quite the expected – relegation was traditionally the likelier outcome.

Ipswich Town – lost the battle for survival between 7 teams and was relegated: 20th with 41 points. Like WBA, their strong period ended and now was going down fast.

Leicester City – barely survived: 19th with 42 points.

Oxford United – 18th with 42 points. Mere survival could be end of terrible season for another club, but for Oxford it was wonderful result – after all, they were modest club, playing for the first time among the best. It was not only that, though – this season was the best ever!

Coventry City – the eternal survivors. 17th with 43 points.

Aston Villa – 16th with 44 points. Their success a few years back was pretty much accidental one-time affair, it was quite clear at the time, so going down was hardly a surprise. They were losing players, not piling up talent: the predicament of poorer clubs.

Manchester City – 15th with 45 points. The prime goal – to stay in the league after their fresh return – was achieved, but building formidable team and restoring the leading position they had about 15 years ago was unlikely to happen. It was a matter of life or death only.

Southampton – 14th with 46 points. Their strange approach of getting few big-name veterans every year sooner or later was going to misfire. And it did – after few seasons in the top of the league they found themselves trying to avoid relegation.

Queen’s Park Rangers – 13th with 52 points. Not worried by possible relegation and even having good season, but the team was a bit uneven and hardly able for something better than midtable existence.

Watford – 12th with 59 points. Doing well actually, for a small club like them would not challenge the leading clubs for long. Now the surprise was gone and they settled in the middle of the league. It was great.

Newcastle United – 11th with 63 points. No miracles were expected from them and no miracles happened, but here was the future, already protruding in the grim present of the mid-80s: Paul Gascoigne and Peter Beardsley. A club like Newcastle cannot be blamed for having two vastly talented strikers and nothing else, though.

Tottenham Horspur – 10th with 65 points. Perhaps they were praised too much in the recent years and that somewhat blinded management: the squad was not truly great, it needed additional strong players, but remained unfinished. It reached its peak already, it was not going to go higher. The Spurs were not going to win a championship, that was certain.

Great season for Luton Town, perhaps their best ever – 9th with 66 points. But it was also an accidental one. Unfortunately, Luton was modest club.

Looking at the names here, this squad should have been able to do much better than 8th place and 68 points. Clough may have been a genius, but his much repeated excuse – that the team won everything and lost motivation for there was nothing else to concur – was lame: he had very strong squad and to end a bit ahead of Luton Town was not even routine, but a disaster. But Nottingham Forest did not have money, traditionally was a modest club, thus even the fans easily forgave. Too bad, really – the slow decline already started.

Arsenal – 7th with 69 points. Underachievers, that was what they were for many, many years.

Chelsea had second consecutive strong season after coming back from second division darkness – again 6th, but this time with 5 points more than the previous year: 71. However, it did not look like real comeback and even less like rapidly developing club – the squad was ordinary at best and running on adrenalin. Unlikely to stay among the top clubs for long.

Sheffield Wednesday – 5th with 73 points. Now, this was a team in good shape and having strong period. Perhaps not expected to become a title contender, but nearing its peak and bright.

Manchester United – 4th with 76 points. One looks at this squad and wants to cry – so much talent and not even a title contender. Year after year – nothing. Ron Atkinson must go…

Surprising and wonderful – West Ham United run for the title and came close to winning it. 3rd with 84 points at the end. Looking at the squad and one understand why they lost the title race: inferior squad compared to the other candidates. A freak accident at best, one time wonder. It was so nice the Hammers challenged the mighty, but… they did not have the real power.

With West Ham short on great talent, the real battle for the title happened in Liverpool – a clash between old local rivals, one at its peak and the other… well, the other was on its peak for something like 25 years.

Eventually, Everton lost the race by 2 points and finished 2nd with 86 points. Naturally, club and fans were more than disappointed, but with time excuse was found: Liverpool was blamed for stunting their development. Sky was the limit, goes the story, often repeated to this very day, and Everton was on the road to concur the world, but because of the Liverpool’s fans English clubs were banished from international football and thus Everton’s wings were viciously clipped off. Speculations cannot be proved with fact, though… as good as this Everton vintage was, the club historically had only sporadic strong periods. It is also questionable how would Everton fare in the changing reality of football – to keep and improve a strong squad… it was a big matter of policy, money, and competing with rich Italian and Spanish sharks. Liverpool had great tradition built already, almost uncanny ability to sell and buy at the right moment and very successful string of home grown managers – Everton did not have anything similar at its hands, so it was not that much a minute matter of who won or lose one championship, but long-term vision and ability to put it to practice. However, Everton was here to stay – they had great team, they worked on reinforcement.

It was not easy, but the end was… routine: one more title for Liverpool. 26 wins, 10 ties, 6 losses, 89-37 goal-difference. A little ahead of Everton in every department – a little, but ahead. The squad was the typically great squad, most names already more than well known. The biggest change this season was their new manager – Kenny Dalglish, a player-manager at first. Bob Paisley was returned as a consultant, given the unusual for Liverpool position and the lack of experience of Dalglish, but there was no problem. Liverpool continued its own tradition: change one great manager with another, coming from ranks, just like his predecessor. It was seamless and smooth transition as it was before.