League Division 4P W D L F A W D L F A Pts 1. NOTTS COUNTY 46 19 4 0 59 12 11 5 7 30 24 69 2. BOURNEMOUTH 46 16 5 2 51 15 8 7 8 30 31 60
3. OLDHAM ATHLETIC 46 14 6 3 57 29 10 5 8 31 34 59
4. YORK CITY 46 16 6 1 45 14 7 4 12 33 40 56
5. Chester City 46 17 2 4 42 18 7 5 11 27 37 55
6. Colchester United 46 14 6 3 44 19 7 6 10 26 35 54
Left to right, back row: Peter Hawkins, Eric Brookes, John Clarke, Kim Brook, John Fairbrother, Frank Large, Joe Kiernan.
Front row: Keith East, Trevor Gould, Frank Rankmore, Ray Fairfax, Dixie McNeil.
7. Northampton 46 15 4 4 39 24 4 9 10 24 35 518. Southport 46 15 2 6 42 24 6 4 13 21 33 48
9. Exeter City 46 12 7 4 40 23 5 7 11 27 45 48
10. Workington 46 13 7 3 28 13 5 5 13 20 36 48
11. Stockport County 46 12 8 3 28 17 4 6 13 21 48 46 12. Darlington 46 15 3 5 42 22 2 8 13 16 35 45
13. Aldershot 46 8 10 5 32 23 6 7 10 34 48 45
14. Brentford 46 13 3 7 45 27 5 5 13 21 35 44
15. Crewe Alexandra 46 13 1 9 49 35 5 7 11 26 41 44
16. Peterborough United 46 14 3 6 46 23 4 4 15 24 48 43
17. Scunthorpe United 46 9 7 7 36 23 6 6 11 20 38 43
18. Southend United 46 8 11 4 32 24 6 4 13 21 42 43
19. Grimsby Town 46 13 4 6 37 26 5 3 15 20 45 43
20. Cambridge United 46 9 9 5 31 27 6 4 13 20 39 43
21. Lincoln City 46 11 4 8 45 33 2 9 12 25 38 39
22. Newport County 46 8 3 12 32 36 2 5 16 23 49 28 23. Hartlepool United 46 6 10 7 28 27 2 2 19 6 47 28
24. Barrow 46 5 5 13 25 38 2 3 18 26 52 22
1. PRESTON NORTH END 46 15 8 0 42 16 7 9 7 21 23 61
2. FULHAM 46 15 6 2 39 12 9 6 8 29 29 60
3. Halifax Town 46 16 2 5 46 22 6 10 7 28 33 56
4. Aston Villa 46 13 7 3 27 13 6 8 9 27 33 53
5. Chesterfield 46 13 8 2 45 12 4 9 10 21 26 51
6. Bristol Rovers 46 11 5 7 38 24 8 8 7 31 26 51
7. Mansfield Town 46 13 7 3 44 28 5 8 10 20 34 51
8. Rotherham United 46 12 10 1 38 19 5 6 12 26 41 50
9. Wrexham 46 12 8 3 43 25 6 5 12 29 40 49
10. Torquay United 46 12 6 5 37 26 7 5 11 17 31 49
11. Swansea City 46 11 5 7 41 25 4 11 8 18 31 46
12. Barnsley 46 12 6 5 30 19 5 5 13 19 33 45
13. Shrewsbury Town 46 11 6 6 37 28 5 7 11 21 34 45
14. Brighton & Hove Albion 46 8 10 5 28 20 6 6 11 22 27 44
15. Plymouth Argyle 46 6 12 5 39 33 6 7 10 24 30 43
Back row (left to right): P.Madden (coach)
17. Port Vale 46 11 6 6 29 18 4 6 13 23 41 42
18. Tranmere Rovers 46 8 11 4 27 18 2 11 10 18 37 42
19. Bradford City 46 7 6 10 23 25 6 8 9 26 37 40
20. Walsall 46 10 1 12 30 27 4 10 9 21 30 39
21. READING 46 10 7 6 32 33 4 4 15 16 52 39
22. BURY 46 7 9 7 30 23 5 4 14 22 37 37
23. DONCASTER ROVERS 46 8 5 10 28 27 5 4 14 17 39 35
24. GILLINGHAM 46 6 9 8 22 29 4 4 15 20 38 33
1. LEICESTER CITY 42 12 7 2 30 14 11 6 4 27 16 59
2. SHEFFIELD UNITED 42 14 6 1 49 18 7 8 6 24 21 56
3. Cardiff City 42 12 7 2 39 16 8 6 7 25 25 53
4. Carlisle United 42 16 3 2 39 13 4 10 7 26 30 53
5. Hull City 42 11 5 5 31 16 8 8 5 23 25 51
6. Luton Town 42 12 7 2 40 18 6 6 9 22 25 49
7. Middlesbrough 42 13 6 2 37 16 4 8 9 23 27 48
8. Millwall 42 13 5 3 36 12 6 4 11 23 30 47
9. Birmingham City 42 12 7 2 30 12 5 5 11 28 36 46
10. Norwich City 42 11 8 2 34 20 4 6 11 20 32 44
11. Queen’s Park Rangers 42 11 5 5 39 22 5 6 10 19 31 43
12. Swindon Town 42 12 7 2 38 14 3 5 13 23 37 42
13. Sunderland 42 11 6 4 34 21 4 6 11 18 33 42
14. Oxford United 42 8 8 5 23 23 6 6 9 18 25 42
15. Sheffield Wednesday 42 10 7 4 32 27 2 5 14 19 42 36
16. Portsmouth 42 9 4 8 32 28 1 10 10 14 33 34
17. Leyton Orient 42 5 11 5 16 15 4 5 12 13 36 34
18. Watford 42 6 7 8 18 22 4 6 11 20 38 33
19. Bristol City 42 9 6 6 30 28 1 5 15 16 36 31
20. Charlton Athletic 42 7 6 8 28 30 1 8 12 13 35 30
21. BLACKBURN ROVERS 42 5 8 8 20 28 1 7 13 17 41 27
22. BOLTON WANDERERS 42 6 5 10 22 31 1 5 15 13 43 24
O Elvas – hopeless outsiders and last with 14 points. But lucky – the decision to increase the league saved them well deserved relegation.
Farense – 15th with 21 points. Also saved from relegation because of the enlargement of the league.
Salgueiros – 14th with 24 points. In the relegation zone as well and also saved from going down.
Rio Ave – 13th with 25 points, but in danger of relegation. Under normal circumstances, they should have been in danger – going to the promotion/relegation tournament with the 3 second-place teams in the Second Division zones. But those weaker than Rio Ave and normally directly relegated were saved and Rio Ave was not. Weird and unfair – luckily, Rio Ave managed to win the promotion/relegation tournament and stay in the league.
Maritimo (Funchal) – 12th with 25 points. Rules were entirely against poor Rio Ave this season: Maritimo took the safe 12th position not even on better goal-difference – their record was worse than Rio Ave’s. But rules stipulated head-to-head record to be considered first in case of teams with same points. And Maritimo escaped trouble.
Portimonense – 11th with 26 points.
Academica (Coimbra) – 10th with 26 points.
Sporting (Braga) – 9th with 26 points.
Boavista – 8th with 27 points.
Varzim – 7th with 29 points. Strong season for them, even unusually strong season.
Belenenses – 6th with 30 points. A good chance for revival, if possible – because of the strong Portuguese international record Belenenses got a UEFA Cup spot.
Chaves – 5th with 33 points. Going to play in the UEFA Cup as well.
Sporting (Lisbon) – 4th with 38 points. Stronger than most of the league, but no match to the leading teams. Standing from left: Venâncio, Oceano, Duílio, Gabriel, Meade, Damas.
Vitoria (Guimaraes) – 3rd with 41 points. Battling with Sporting only, but bronze medals were great. Also UEFA Cup participant.
FC Porto – excellent season, as the title of the poster shows. May be the European campaign took its toll on the boys and they failed to win the championship. 2nd with 46 points. They had the best goal-difference: +45 and also scored most goals and shared the best defensive record: 67-22.
Benfica won yet another title. They had strong opponent, but luck had little to do with their victory: 20 wins, 9 ties, only 1 lost match (FC Porto lost 3), 51-23 goal-difference, 49 points.
Freamunde – one of the clubs never going higher then second level. 8th with 30 points.
Gil Vicente – 3rd with 34 points. Unable to return to top league football.
SC Espinho – won the group with 40 points and directly promoted. 16 wins, 8 ties, 6 losses, 52-20 goal-difference.
Est. Portalegre – 13th with 27 points.
AC Marinhense – 7th with 31 points.
Sporting Covilha – had no rivals and won the group with 45 points. 18 wins, 9 ties, 3 lost games, 40-17 goal-difference. This was great season for Covliha – not only promoted up, but champions of Second Division too – they won the tournament of the group champions after the season.
Uniao Madeira – 8th with 30 points.
Olhanense – 5th with 34 points.
Vitoria Setubal – very strong and winning the group with 48 points. 21 wins, 6 ties, 3 losses, 57-16 goal-difference. Return to First Division was the aim and was achieved. Vitoria – by name and regular season performance – should have been the champion of Second Division and they tried, but in the mini-tournament of zonal champions they lost to Sporting Covilha – on worse head-to-head results.
Estrella Amadora (Zona Sul) was the weakest now – last with 2 points. 1 win, 5 losses, 5-9.
Feirense (Zona Centro) ended 3rd with 4 points – 1 win, 2 ties, 3 losses, 4-9.
Penafiel (Zona Norte) won 3 games, tied 1 and lost 2. 7-7 goal-difference and 7 points. Unable to win the tournament, but strong second and thus promoted. Mission accomplished – back to First Division.
FC Swarovski-Tirol (Innsbruck) simply confirmed that they were 3rd and only 3rd… It may be picky, but their squad reveals the whole difference: the great West German Hansi Muller joined them in 1985, but he was now 30-years old and his game was going downhill after 1982. The other 2 foreigners were good Yugoslavs – the goalkeeper Tomislav Ivkovic (27) and Ivica Kalinic (31) – good, but not first class. Add the Austrian national team striker Peter Pacult and stop… that was all. Not enough to compete with Rapid and Austria. Not enough to win a trophy.
Rapid had it relatively easier this time, but still they were running more on good luck than anything. Lucky or not, they won a double – which was great! 28th title and 13th Cup.
This moment of the match between LASK (striped jerseys) and First Vienna perhaps tells best the troubles of Austrian football: the absurd usage of every possible part of the kit for adds.
Teams like UVB Vocklamarkt.
They won the promotion/relegation phase and were promoted.
SK VOEST – or SK Salesianer Miettex VOEST (Linz) – more or less ended the championship in the fall, when they were 5th. With guaranteed stay in the league, they seemingly did not care much anymore – 8th in the final table with 29 points (22 of them earned in the fall).
LASK (Linz) – 4th with 40 points. They pushed hard in the spring, adding 18 points, but were really not a match for the best three teams.
FC Swarovski-Tirol (Innsbruck) was the third strongest Austrian team at the moment, but inferior to the two leading clubs: 3rd with 45 points.
Austria – or FK Austria-Memphis (Vienna) won the fall part of the season, leading by 3 points, but in the spring their enemies were stronger and both teams ended with 52 points. Austria had 86-40 goal-difference and +46 was not enough… 2nd at the end.
SK Rapid (Vienna) was lucky winner: 22 wins, 8 ties, 6 lost games, 94-43 goal-difference, 52 points, like Austria. They had particularly strong spring, but their scoring really won the title. 94 goals – impressive on its own number, but that made a record of +51, beating Austria by 5 goals. Which was quite amazing, because Toni Polster scored fantastic 39 goals for Austria and Rapid did not have a man among the top three scorers in the championship. May be lucky at the end, but Rapid had arguably the best coach in Austria at this time – the Yugoslav Otto Baric – and strong Yugoslav connection as a whole: their 3 foreign players were Yugoslavs as well: strikers Zlatko Kranjcar (31 years old) and Sulejman Halilovic (32), and midfielder Petar Brucic (34). There were also one or two more with Yugoslav (Croatian, more precisely) roots in the team – a good amalgam of coach and players having the same football philosophy. Yet, Rapid was quite similar to Austria – with dangerously aging stars and newer talent slightly less impressive.
Dinamo (Bucharest) lost both the championship and the cup this season – a bitter pill to swallow for their numerous fans. Perhaps even bitterer pill for Securitate. In football terms, though… Dinamo had great squad at the time, excellent coach too, but they were somewhat shallower team than their rivals, who were at their peak. Objectively speaking, Dinamo was weaker and it was fair to lose.
Steaua won a double this season. In total, their 12th title and 15th Cup. One may argue this was their best season ever and the squad was at its peak – but such things are relative. One may also argue that the son of Ceausescu was simply too much to oppose behind the scene, but that would not explain the international success of his pet project. Unfortunately, the unhealthy political intrigues were giving food for rumours lasting for years: the hero of the European Champions Cup final of 1986, Helmut Ducadam, was missing. That was noticed, of course, and persisting rumour was born: that he rebelled against Ceausescu’s son and was punished right away. Erased. Once rumour starts circulating details can be added at will… seemingly, the boasting of Ducadam after the final against Barcelona that he is the best Romanian goalkeeper brought the wrath of younger Ceausescu and Dukadam was banished from playing football at all or even jailed, or worse… So was the evil power of Communist rule… so was the suppression of minorities under Communist rule (Hungarians – Boloni would not be written under his real name – and Germans – such was presumably Ducadam)… So was the brutality of Communist rule that even when they aimed at concurred the world, they were ready to jeopardize conquest in order of suppressing independence, however minor – what was the point of weakening the team by banishing their great goalkeeper, if not the iron rule of suppression? Well, Steaua could afford it – they had Stingaciu, a long time national team member, to play between the goalposts. Years later it was uncovered that Ducadam was out because of injury, but suspicion never disappeared: he simply disappeared, practically never played football again, and so trivial matter as injury was revealed only years after Communism went down the drain. All that had nothing to do with Steaua’s play and achievements, but political games were part of it, a norm at the time, casting dark shadow on otherwise great period of Romanian football – and rightly so, since few years later UEFA will cancel the Golden Boot award largely because of Romanian schemes for winning it. And Belodedici will run away and ask political asylum in Yugoslavia… It is not fair to this great squad of Steaua, but the dark side cannot be dismissed.