Football Journey

Third Division. Girone B. If there was no problem with promotion or relegation, then there was no play-off: the champion of the league was decided by goal-difference.

Nocerina – last and relegated with 23 points.

Akragas – 17th with 24 points.

Francavilla – 16th with 30 points. Relegated.

Reggina – 15th with 31 points. Relegated om head-to-head record against Cavese.

Cavese – lucky 14th with 31 points.

Foggia – 13th with 32 points.

Barletta – 12th with 32 points.

Benevento – 11th with 32 points. Record number of ties this season – 20. 10 at home and 10 away.

Ternana – 10th with 32 points.

Casarano – 9th with 32 points.

Campania – 8th with 32 points.

Cosenza – 7th with 37 points.

Casertana – 6th with 37 points.

Monopoli – 5th with 37 points.

Salernitana – 4th with 38 points.

Messina – 3rd with 42 points.

Palermo – 2nd with 45 points. Lost first place on goal-difference, but promoted, so no worry.

Catanzaro – champions of Girone B and promoted. Better goal-difference than Palermo’s did it, but no matter. 17 wins, 11 ties, 6 losses, 54-30, 45 points.

Third Division – Serie C/1. Two groups of 18 teams each, the top 2 promoted, the last 4 – relegated. In case of equal points, all depended on table positions – if promotion was at stake, a play-off was staged. If relegation was at stake – head-to-head results decided. Some familiar names pop up here.

Girone A. Old habits – so difficult to change: two teams amassed 20 ties in the 34-rounds championship.

Treviso – last with 22 points. And out.

Pistoiese – 17th with 27 points. Relegated.

Asti T.S.C. – 16th with 27 points. Out.

Jesi – 15th with 30 points. Unlucky and may be rules were unfair in situation like this: they were relegated instead of SPAL, because SPAL had better head-to-head record against them. Yet, both teams finished not only with equal points, but with equal goal-difference: -10.

SPAL – lucky survivors: 14th with 30 points.

Carrarese – 13th with 31 points.

Sanremese – 12th with 32 points.

R.M. Firenze – 11th with 32 points.

Pavia – 10th with 32 points.

Legnano – 9th with 32 points.

Modena – 8th with 33 points.

Livorno – 7th with 35 points.

Ancona – 6th with 35 points.

Reggiana – 5th with 36 points.

Rimini – 4th with 40 points. Rimini stood above most of the league, but failed to reach the leaders – three teams competed for 2 promotional spots and it went to post-season play off.

Piacenza was unlucky and ended 3rd. Same points and even same record as Vicenza, only worse goal-difference, but this did not count. In the play-off Piacenza lost in overtime 1-3.

Thanks to the play-off, L.R. Vicenza clinched 2nd place and promotion. Successful season for one Roberto Baggio, still unknown to the public at large.

Brescia won the championship with 48 points. 15 wins, 18 ties, only a single loss, 47-18 goal-difference. It was not overwhelming victory – just 3 points ahead of Vicenza and Piacenza – but it was important to climb up and that was achieved. Like Vicenza, Brescia was not a club to play 3rd level football.

Serie C/2 – continued.

Girone C.

Cattolica – 18th with 13 points. The weakest team in the whole 4th Division.

Fermana – 17th with 27 points. Relegated.

Forli – 16th with 28 points. Relegated.

Cesenatico – 15th with 30 points.

Vigor Senigallia – 14th with 31 points.

Galatina P.I. – 13th with 31 points.

Matera – 12th with 32 points.

Giulianova – 11th with 33 points.

Maceratese – 10th with 34 points.

Martina – 9th with 34 points.

Centese – 8th with 35 points.

Fidelis Andria – 7th with 36 points.

Sassuolo – 6th with 36 points.

Foligno – 5th with 41 points.

Strange or not, but the next 3 teams went to promotional play-off – they all finished with 42 points and almost the same goal-difference: Teramo and Civitanovese with +11 and Fano with +9. Similar problem was solved differently in Girone A, but here – play-offs. They decided nothing, except the elimination of Teramo. Fano and Civitanovese proceeded to a final, played in Perugia. Regular and extra time ended 0-0. In the penalty shoot-out Fano prevailed 6-5. Great luck or what?

Teramo 4th with 42 points.

Civitanovese – 3rd with 42 points.

Fano – 2nd with 42 points and promoted.

Brindisi – group champions with 45 points and promoted.

Girone D.

Crotone – last with 27 points and relegated.

Frattese – 17th with 29 points. Relegated.

Alcamo – 16th with 29 points and relegated.

Potenza – 15th with 30 points.

Canicatti – 14th with 30 points. Canicatti had 5 points deducted for some infringement, but was not in danger of relegation.

Aesernia – 13th with 31 points.

Nissa – 12th with 31 points.

Gladiator – 11th with 31 points.

Ischia Isolaverde – 10th with 31 points.

Ercolanese – 9th with 33 points.

Paganese – 8th with 33 points.

Rende – 7th with 34 points.

Siracusa – 6th with 34 points.

Afragolese – 5th with 34 points.

Turris – 4th with 41 points.

Frosinone – 3rd with 42 points. Familiar name? Not back then.

Sorrento – clinched 2nd place with 43 points and promoted.

Licata – group champion with 44 points. Promoted, of course.

Italy. Suffice to say who played in Italy this season: Michel Platini (Fra) and Zbigniew Boniek (Pol) – Juventus; Falcao and Toninho Cerezo (Bra) – Roma; Daniel Passarella (Arg) and Socrates (Bra) – Fiorentina; Diego Maradona and Daniel Bertoni (Arg) – Napoli; Graeme Souness (Sco) and Trevor Francis (Eng) – Sampdoria; Ray Wilkins and Mark Hateley (Eng) – Milan; Edinho and Zico (Bra) – Udinese; Hansi Muller (BRD) and Dan Cornesiusson (Swe) – Como; Hans-Peter Briegel (BRD) and Preben Ekjaer-Larsen (Den) – Verona; Ludo Coeck (Bel), Dirceu (Bra), Patricio Hernandez (Arg) and Aleksandar Trifunovic (Yug) – Ascoli; Junior (Bra) and Walter Schachner (Aus) – Torino; Geronimo Barbadillo (Peru) and Ramon Diaz (Arg) – Avellino; Batista (Bra) and Michael Laudrup (Den) – Lazio; Glenn Stromberg and Lasse Larsson (Swe) – Atalanta; Julio Uribe (Peru) – Bologna; Jan Peters (Hol) and Eloi (Bra) – Genoa; Wladyslaw Zmuda (Pol) and Juary (Bra) – Cremonese; Klaus Berggreen (Den) and Wim Kift (Hol) – Pisa; Luvanor and Pedrinho (Bra) – Catania. Let add some ‘exotic’ names too: Silvano Martina (Bosna and Herzegovina) – Torino; Richard Mapuata (Switzerland) – Lazio; Massimo Bonini (San Marino) – Juventus; Marco Macina (San Marino) -Parma; Daniele Zoratto (Luxembourg) – Brescia; Enzo Concina (Canada) – Cesena. The top championship of the whole world, even without mentioning Italian stars! Of course, invisible from the lower levels of Italian football.

Forth Division – Serie C/2. 4 groups of 18 teams each, the top 2 promoted and the lowest 3 relegated. Girone A:

Imperia – 18th with 29 points. Relegated.

Nuorese – 17th with 29 points. Relegated.

Olbia – 16th with 29 points. Relegated.

Vogherese – 15th with 29 points.

Carbonia – 14th with 29 points.

Spezia – 13th with 29 points.

Civitavecchia – 12th with 31 points.

Montevarchi – 11th with 31 points.

Savona – 10th with 31 points.

Torres – 9th with 32 points.

Massese – 8th with 33 points.

Lodigiani – 7th with 35 points.

Pontedera – 6th with 39 points.

Lucchese – 5th with 39 points.

Derthona – 4th with 39 points.

Alessandria – 3rd with 42 points. Unlucky – lost promotion not even on goal-difference, but only because scored 1 goal less than the rivals. That is, the same happened in the play-off against Prato – 2-3.

Prato – 2nd with 42 points. Lucky – even their goal-difference matched Alessandria’s, but they scored 45 goals to Alessandria’s 44. The only team without a lost match at home, but this one goal… they won the play-off against Alessandria 3-2.

Siena – champions of the group with 44 points. Promoted.

Girone B.

Mira – 18th Relegated.

Gorizia – 17th with 19 points. Relegated.

Rhodense – 16th with 23 points. Relegated.

Venezia – 15th with 31 points.

Omegna – 14th with 32 points.

Pro Patria – 13th with 33 points.

Montebelluna – 12th with 34 points.

Mestre – 11th with 35 points.

Pievigina – 10th with 35 points.

Pordenone – 9th with 35 points.

Fanfulla – 8th with 35 points.

Pro Vercelli – 7th with 36 points.

Mantova – 6th with 36 points.

Novara – 5th with 38 points.

Pergocrema – 4th with 39 points.

Ospitaletto – 3rd with 44 point. Lost promotion after tough play-off against Trento (0-0 after overtime and 4-5 in the penalty shoot-out) and amusingly low scoring team: only 29 goals in 34 games.

Trento – 2nd with 44 points. Lucky – clinched promotion after play-off.

Virascit Boccaleone – group champions with 45 points. Tough battle with strong opposition, so the victory was sweeter. Promoted, of course.

The Cup final opposed mighty Bayern to Bayer Uerdingen. For all its good form, Bayer was nothing compared to the giant, and the final was predictable: Bayer will put the good fight, but Bayern will enjoy a double. Hoeness scored in the 8th minute and everything seemed finished, fulfilling the prediction. Feilzer equalized right away, in the 9th minute, but so what? Bayern will score again – after all, Hoeness and company were not almost anonymous guys like Feilzer. He may have scored, but a second one? Now, Bayern scored and scored goals. Second goal arrived, of course, but in the second half and the scorer was neither Hoeness, nor Rummenigge Junior. Schaffer scored for Bayer in the 66th minute and to the end of the game Bayern was unable to equalize. No double.

Rather modest squad delightfully triumphed.

The Cup was theirs – what joy!

Bayern lost the final and the double, which was not a happy moment for them. This is not the team which played at the Cup final – from left to right: Augenthaler, Pfaff (practically hidden), Willmer, Lerby, Wohlfarth, Pflugler, Durnberger, Eder, Kogl, Dieter Hoeness, Mathaus. It could have been a mistake made because of the obvious superiority Bayern had over all others: with squad so deep and strong, looked like that Lattek varied the starting eleven, often mixing 2-3 reserve players with the regulars. The approach, although plausible, is also risky – it may misfire on occasion. It builds too much comfort, the team may get a bit lazy and self-assured: after all, we beat everybody even with reserves. To a point, the prize for over-comfidence was paid at the Cup final: no matter what, Bayern was facing a German opponent and German teams at least match Bayern in physicality and fighting spirit.

Great victory of the underdog! Bayer had their best year ever, crowned with winning the Cup. Feldkamp coached them excellently, but as a squad, it was a modest one. Herget, Schafer, the Icelandic import Gudmundsson… not much and understandable so: Bayer, after all, was not a big club with tons of money. They were still the better ‘Aspirins’, but whatever money the pharmaceutical giant invested in football was split between their two clubs and already looked like Leverkusen was going to be the first choice of the sponsor. Thus, the victory was priceless – against any odds, even against corporate policy, if you wish. Beating Bayern in itself may endear many to the winners. And for clubs of the caliber of Uerdingen a win is particularly cherished, for both club and supporters know down in theit hearts that success can be only occasional, most likely never to be repeated. Lovely moment.

A moment deserving to be repeated – as it was, for the photo is not from the Cup final, but a bit later – a proud display for the fans. And not only.

The Bundesliga. Hardly a memorable season – Bayern was the only solid team. The rest betrayed various problems – problems of West German football in general. The pool of talent was seemingly smaller than before, no foreigners of big quality were coming, German stars leaving to play in lucrative Italy. Perhaps the international failure of VfB Stuttgart was the best diagnosis: it its peak, the club made no impact on European football. Of course, the championship was competitive and tough, but the level was lower and the direction was downwards.

Eintracht Braunschweig was one of the two outsiders this season and finished last with 20 points. Not a big surprise, given the club’s tradition.

Karlsruher SC – the second outsider. 17th with 22 points. Along with Braunschweig, directly relegated.

Arminia Bielefeld – 16th with 29 points. As usual, struggling to stay in the league and not succeeding. Lost safety on goal-difference – unfortunate, but not the end of the world yet. Losing the promotion/relegation play-off against the 3rd place in Second Division, 1.FC Saarbrucken was the painfully familiar end: once again down to second level football. Curious note: they had Japanese co-trainer this year. Something very exotic and as far as coaching goes… practically unique for an European club. The Japanese player Ozaki was not a news – his presence only showed increasing class of Japanese players.

Fortuna Dusseldorf – in obvious decline and only lucky to escape the rick of relegation on better goal-difference: 15th with 29 points.

Borussia Dortmund – 14th with 30 points. Only 2 or 3 years ago Borussia was seen as ascending team, possibly going to the top. Instead, it went the opposite direction and looking at the squad the reasons for the plunge are quite obvious: Russmann, Zorc, Egli, Storck were getting only older ann naturally fading. Immel was the only player with star potential and going up.

Bayer Leverkusen – 13th with 31 points. Nothing special, but nobody expected much of them – Bayer was still a suspect newcomer, perhaps happy to play a few seasons in the top division, before sinking back to obscurity. The club surely had different ideas, but they were following them rather quietly and methodically. Very good coach, few decent – but not outstanding – players, hard work. Still among the weaker teams, but keeping place in the league.

Eintracht Frankfurt – another club in decline. 12th with 32 points. Compared to the squad of 10 years ago, the current one was pitiful. Only one thing worthy of mentioning: Korbel. The sturdy defender was becoming something like eternal feature of Bundesliga.

1.FC Kaiserslautern – 11th with 33 points. Traditionally, they fluctuated widely, so low position this season fitted the pattern.

VfB Stuttgart – a big disappointment: 10th with 33 points. Not only they were at the top just a few months earlier, but this was the only squad at the moment pretty equal to Bayern’s. Such players and nothing…

Schalke 04 – 9th with 34 points. Hard to tell – the squad was not much, but Schalke was coming back from a crisis, so one cannot expect some awesome team. Compared to Stuttgart, this team was poorly, yet, they finished ahead of Stuttgart.

VfL Bochum – 8th with 34 points. The great survivors – modest squad as ever, but playing with heart and soul and doing just fine as a result.

Bayer Uerdingen – 7th with 36 points. Their finest season ever, so more about them later.

SV 07 Waldhof Mannheim – 6th with 37 points. Arguably, having their best season in history, but hardly anybody was fooled: it was one-time performance. The squad was nothing to speak of and the club was modest, so whatever better players they had (Gaudino and Walter) most likely would go elsewhere.

Hamburger SV – 5th with 37 points. The beat the accidental Waldhof only on goal-difference was quite telling: HSV already reached its peak and now was slowly going down. It was enraging to see such team unable to compete for the title – may be they were a bit weaker than Stuttgart, but must have been rubbing shoulders with Bayern, not Waldhof. Not so terrible season as Stuttgart’s, but on slippery sloap nevertheless, giving the distinct feeling that there was no climbing back to top. Short-lived greatness.

Borussia Moenchengladbach – 4th with 39 points. Their great years were over, that was clear for some time already, but Borussia was hanging on – ate least their fading away was not going to be rapid and drastic. They were also the club easily excused: everybody knew they were always short of money and to have decent squad was nothing but a miracle even in their greatest years. They still managed to keep a number of good players against the odds, but perhaps the most important reason for staying relatively strong was their new coach – Heynckes was rapidly transforming from great player into great coach. Borussia was not to be dismissed yet.

1.FC Koln – 3rd with 40 points. For some reason this club was unable to built on their now distant title in the late 1980s. The potential was there, but they, although keeping among the best, remained unfulfilled promise. Why Koln never really happened is a question without meaningful answer: may be wrong recruiting policy. The current team was very similar to their champion team – good, but short of great and in need of few strong additions. This need was not solved after winning the title, nor in the following years, and it was surely not going to be solved now. Koln somehow remained a decent, but unfinished team – hence, 3rd, but distant 3rd.

Werder – 2nd with 46 points. The shameful exile in Second Division was already fading memory, now Werder was enjoying one of their sudden and not lived strong periods. Frankly, even with Voller, already singled out as rapidly becoming a superstar, Werder was not equal to Stuttgart and Hamburger. Not even to Koln. Pezzey and Okudera were aging, the rest were just capable second-raters. Good team, but hardly a title contender – and they were not, Bayern easily left them in the dust. But Werder left far behind Koln and HSV and Stuttgart were nowhere to be seen. Hats off to Otto Rehhagel.

Bayern – one more title, apparently, easily won. 21 wins, 8 ties, 5 losses, 79-38, 50 points. Werder was left 4 points behind, the others did not even count. The only trouble was that it was always Bayern… in the 1970s the great rivalry with Borussia Moenchengldabach kept the intrigue, but now it was only Bayern. Cannot blame them – this was the only European-class squad, well rounded and deep, coached by still excellent Lattek.

Bayern had the luxury to field a team like this one: top, left to right: Klaus Aughentaler, Wolfgang Dremmler, Hans Pfleugler, Bernd Martin, Soren Lerby, Lothar Matthaus. Bottom, left to right: Norbert Nachtweith, Raimond Aumann, Norbert Eder, Michael Rummenigge, Reinhold Mathy. Or some other version, just as strong. It was a club on entirely different level, compared to the other West German clubs. And that suggested only one thing – West German football was going to be dominated by one club. Too bad for the game.

West Germany. This championship lost quite a lot of its edge – there were more teams in decline and there were those which had short lived prominence, contrary to expectation. More or less, the West German football became one-team show. Nothing like the glorious 1970s. Top players were going to Italy and no big international talent was coming.

Second Division. 20 teams, the last 4 relegated, the top 2 directly promoted and the 3rd going to promotion/relegation play-off against the 16th in the Bundesliga. One outsider this season, 4 teams competing for promotion.

SSV Ulm 1846 was the outsider – last with 22 points, winning only 5 games.

Kickers Offenbach – 19th with 32 points. Unclear why they were placed 19th, since they finished with more points than the 18th.

VfR 1910 Burstadt – 18th with 31 points. Newly promoted, they were relegated immediately.

FC St. Pauli – 17th with 33 points. Like Burstadt, just promoted and going back to third level right away.

FC 08 Homburg – lucky 16th with 34 points. Also just promoted and barely avoiding relegation.

Darmstadt 98 – 15th with 35 points. Another lucky escape.

Hertha BSC – 14th with 35 points. Their misery continued – just lucky to avoid relegation.

MSV Duisburg – 13th with 35 points. Like Hertha, fighting for dear life and grateful for escaping the Regional leagues.

Rot-Weiss Oberhausen – 12th with 35 points. One more team struggling to stay in the league. Perhaps even their fans forgot that Rot-Weiss played top league football once upon a time.

Fortuna Koln – 11th with 36 points. A bit weaker than usual, but second division was truly their environment, so they were not seen as declining.

SG Wattenscheid 09 – 10th with 36 points. Like Fortuna, a bit weaker than usual, but no big deal.

Stuttgarter Kickers – 9th with 37 points. One more typical second division team, performing accordingly: neither too strong, nor too weak.

SC Freiburg – 8th with 38 points.

Blau-Weiss 90 Berlin – the best of the newly promoted teams: 7th with 39 points. However, it did look like a season fueled by enthusiasm and unlikely to be repeated.

SG Union Solingen – 6th with 41 points. Strong season, but hardly suggesting anything more than just occasional good year.

Alemannia Aachen – 5th with 43 points. Their usual – quite remote from promotional ambitions.

That was the bulk of the league, separated clearly from the top 4 teams. They fought for promotion and one team had to be out. Fierce race – 1 point was the whole difference, the unlucky 4th losing on goal-difference.

KSV Hessen Kassel – what a misfortune: 4th with 49 points. Weaker goal-difference worked against them and that was only too bad, for Hessen had modest existence, practically never aiming at promotional spot and quite unlikely to repeat their strong season.

1. FC Saarbrucken – lucky to finish 3rd. 49 points and better goal-difference than Hessen gave them a chance for promotion. They did not miss their chance, beating Arminia (Bielefeld) in the play-off and climbing up for one more try of top flight football. The team was not very promising, so it was going to be a very hard task, but at least this season ended on high note. Perhaps this was the highest achievement of the former Bulgarian star Abadjiev, who was one of their coaches.
Hannover 96 clinched direct promotion, ending with 50 points. Lost first place on goal-difference, but promotion mattered most. Well, up and down, up and down – that was there history. Now it was up. Staying in First Division was another matter.

1.FC Nurnberg – 50 points and better goal-difference made them champions of Second Division. Lucky to win the 4-team battle, but they were not promising squad either. 23 wins, 4 ties, 11 losses, 71-45 goal-difference – not a very impressive record for a champion. Like Hannover 96, they were doomed to meandering between 1st and 2nd divisions. It was great to go up again, but… neither of the three promoted teams looked like it will make some impact in the highest league. est Germany. This championship lost quite a lot of its edge – there were more teams in decline and

The English Cups. Cups are cups – different ‘logic’. It is always amusing to see lowly clubs playing great in cup tournaments and the Football League Cup supplied exactly that: Norwich City and Sunderland reached the final. That is, the team which finished 20th and 21st in the championship and were relegated. Well, at least they were equal opponents. In front of 100 000 fans they fought greatly and Norwich prevailed by a single goal, scored not even by their player, but own goal by Sunderland’s Chisholm. 1-0 and the Cup was theirs.

Disappointment for Sunderland, surely, but they were weak this season, weaker even than Norwich. Poor Chisholm.

Norwich City was happy indeed – trophies is something they lack. Relegation after this success was not all that tragic. Mike Channon was still a winner – always good to see a veteran, slipping out of mind already, to win. A victory leading them out of resignation, so the next season would be driven by ambition. Perhaps.

The FA Cup was just the opposite of the League Cup final: two of the finest and most ambitious clashed. Everton, looking for a double, vs Manchester United, eager to win something. In the semis, Manchester United eliminated Liverpool! Again, it was a battle of equals, tough and unpredictable, decided by single goal. Manchester United managed to score – Norman Whiteside did it – and won.

When equals play, it is unfair to say one was weaker – it was more a matter of luck than anything. Everton lost and if there was anything to point out about them, it could be that the team was not yet at its peak. A double did not happened, but so what? The future was theirs.

Manchester United was happy to win the Cup, it was a bit of relieve, but also a consolation prize. Besting the strongest team this year was great, but a cup is not a title and Manchester United desperately needed a title. May be this victory would help fueling the next season? Unfortunately, European season was not going to be.

First Division. Of course, Oxford’s victory would have been bigger news if there was no bigger bang in the top league, which takes more attention anyway. A new champion is always welcome and the irritating dominance of Liverpool made many want a change, but it was pleasantly surprising one, even if the title was not so heavily contested. What made the victory of Everton more important was the perception that England was on verge of having the biggest derby in the world – the biggest, because it involved not just leading teams, but world-leading teams. For all their aura, Milan vs Inter, Real vs Atletico, Boca Juniors vs River Plate, Flamengo vs Fluminense were either challenged by intercity derbies or at least one of the rivals was not a leading team at particular moment. Everton vs Liverpool, however, had both opponents at the top of world football and everything spoke in favour of staying on top of the world for years to come: Liverpool maintained its class for so many years and still there was no sign of coming crisis or losing focus. Everton was not at its peak yet, so it was expected the team to only get stronger. At least, that was how it looked at the moment, the potential was there. The season itself was not so bright and optimistic – it appeared that Tottenham Hotspur reached its limit and Manchester United seemingly was not able to win, always something missing. At least, there was a group of 4 strong teams, which was much better than having overwhelming Liverpool. The league was still competitive enough for dramatic season; the hooligans were still fighting and destroying everything in sight, the national team was promising at last, the clubs still trampled Europe, the foreign players still disliked and dimmed incapable to play the true British game. On the down side was having an outsider so weak it was a shame: no last placed team finished First Division season with fewer points since 1893-94 and that with current 3 points for a win! Speaking of wins, only one team matched the sorry achievement of this season – ironically, it was a record made by the same club both times, only the first time Stoke City distinguish itself with winning just 3 games was in 1889-90, when the league had only 12 teams, not 22.

Stoke City – arguably, the worst squad in the history of the English First Division. 3 wins, 8 ties, 31 losses, 24-91, and 17 points. Having Sammy McIlroy and Alan Hudson and nothing… or may be because of having McIlroy and Hudson there was nothing… from a certain perspective, both have been underachievers.

Sunderland was terrible as well, but Stoke City brought a level so low, everybody else looked if not a giant, at least a decent squad. Sunderland ended with 40 points. They won 10 games. They scored 40 goals. 8 teams allowed more goals in their nets than them. They finished 21st, though, and were relegated.

About 8 teams were in danger of relegation as well and battle for survival was fierce.

Norwich City was unlucky – they finished with 49 points and took the 20th place, the third relegation place. It was even ironic, because the Football League Cup final opposed Norwich to Sunderland. High and low in one season.

Queens Park Rangers was lucky to survive – 19th with 50 points. The squad was nothing like the one of the mid-70s, so nothing surprising this vintage just struggled for survival.

Coventry City – 18th with 50 points. Never great, but masters of keeping place in the league no matter what. Hard season, but the end was satisfying – no relegation. Just like the previous two seasons.

Ipswich Town – forget the dazzling team conquering Europe only a few years ago. The club took sharp turn after that and went down rapidly. Hard to tell why – looking at the squad, it was more than decent. Stronger names than the players most teams had. It did not look like real crisis, it looked like managerial incompetence: with such team, Ipswich barely escaped relegation. 17th with 50 points.

West Ham United – perhaps this squad tells of what the Hammers converted into: a smallish club, which occasionally could have strong year, but in general will be concerned only with avoiding relegation. Moving to the ranks of the leaders? Impossible. For good. 16th with 51 points and thanks God they were not relegated. Frank Lampard seemed to be eternal, although he still had to catch with Billy Bonds. Trademarks of West Ham eternity: long hairs and beards.

Leicester City – 15th with 51 points. One more lucky survivor,which was perhaps great for Gary Lineker – world class player should not suffer the disgrace of Second Division.

Newcastle United – 14th with 52 points. Managed to avoid relegation, but it was fine in general – they just came back from 6 years of Second Division exile, so the priority was to hold to the top league for now. Done. The trouble was Chris Waddle and Peter Beardsley were not likely to remain.

Luton Town – they never lasted long in the top league, so survival was more or less their only aim. 13th with 54 points was not bad at all.

West Bromich Albion – in decline, but not yet hitting the bottom. Too bad Nobby Stiles was not 20 years younger. 12th with 55 points.

Watford – 11th with 55 points. Looked like Watford was settling comfortably as a midtable team. Even Elton John could not make them a big club – modest budget was their fate and solid and steady performance the best under the circumstances. Graham Taylor was still at the helm, so everything was fine, if not great. John Barnes was their hope for the future – at least in terms of potential income from a sale.

Aston Villa – there was hardly any doubt they were one-time wonder when they won the championship and the European Champions Cup: the almost unchanged winning squad was now 10th with 56 points. Even 9th place was far outside their reach. A team akin to Watford, not to the leading clubs. Midtable and nothing more.

Nottingham Forest – a bit of an enigma: they were never great even in their best years and surely lost their edge, but not a midtable team either. A lot had been said about the squad losing interest after winning everything, but more likely reason was the predicament of the club and its manager: little available money for big transfers on one hand and the inclination of Clough to make teams of somewhat oldish second-raters. So, Bowyer, Davenport, Hodge, and the former Dutch international Johhny Metgod were not exactly top-class players and may be even their peaks were passed, but it was a team able to give trouble to anybody, especially the leading teams. A team able to climb even to the top on occasion – but not a team able to stay on the top. 9th with 64 points – which is telling, for Forest was good 8 points ahead of Aston Villa.

Sheffield Wednesday – 8th with 65 points. Just came back from second division exile and doing very well. A team giving the impression of going up, a team to watch in the future. No great names here, but perhaps their Hungarian player was a clue: Imre Varadi was never a big star attracting tons of attention, but he proved to be very dependable and useful. For a relatively modest player, he made impressive foreign career, spending years in England and elsewhere. No many foreigners survived English football in the 1980s, but he adapted well. Wednesday was a team of such players and it was reasonable to look at it with hope.

Arsenal – 7th with 66 points. Somehow Arsenal always looked more promising than actually shown on the field. Judging by the names, this squad should have been a title contender. Instead, they finished behind Chelsea’s nobodies… it happened before, it will happen again. Doomed to underachievement.

Chelsea – 6th with 66 points. Great season, but the team was not eyed with hope and rightly so – it was quite a pedestrian squad, perhaps able to climb up, mostly driven on enthusiasm, for a year or two. Coming back from second division often brings a good season, but even the club fans did not believe this squad really belonged to the best teams. Unfortunately, making something better needed money and Chelsea’s financial problems were notorious.

Southampton – 5th with 68 points. Nothing to do with the real top of the table, but one more wonderful season. If Arsenal were underachievers, Southampton were overachievers. It was weird approach, but so far it did not misfire: the concept of acquiring old stars, well beyond their prime, is always risky and not long lasting. Amazingly, it worked perfectly for Southampton – a parade of great veterans, quickly stepping down and replaced with similar veterans. So, no Keegan anymore, but Peter Shilton (well, who would tell he will play another 10 years and some more? He was 34-35 already.), Mick Mills, Joe Jordan this season. As the things were going, Southampton provided particular excitement: who will be the next ancient player hired to ensure another strong season?

The last 4 teams were set apart and involved in their private struggle for outdoing each other. However, one team soared alone. It was exciting race for… second place.

Manchester United lost it, ending without a medal – 4th with 76 points. It was more than unfortune: Manchester United was underachiever bigger than Arsenal – Arsenal usually had not very deep sqaud, but United had plenty of talent for years. A good 13 worthy names here plus strong group of more than decent lads – a squad which should have been mighty champion, but it was not. It was hardly matter of wrong purchases – anyone can be blue with envy of a club getting Arnold Muhren, Gordon Strachan and Jesper Olsen on top of the players they already had. Manchester United traditionally made bigger purchases than Liverpool and yet never catch up with Liverpool. Ron Atkinson was to blame – great manager, but not a winner and it was already clear to the fans, perhaps the brass was coming to realizing it too. It was always something missing and the team lost season after season. Then again, it was the same with Docherty and Sexton… passion was getting thin.

Tottenham Hotspur – 3rd with 77 points. Lost second place on goal-difference. This was perhaps the finest season of that vintage – it was quite clear they would not go higher, that was their peak. The team achieved a lot, but the title was beyond their reach.

Liverpool – clinched 2nd place only thanks to better goal-difference and not really a title contender. It all depends on standpoint: to see Liverpool without any trophy in their hands almost spelled out ‘crisis’. But in England most viewers and observers were quite happy to see that, to see a change of Liverpool’s dominance and return to ‘true’ English game. However, Liverpool was not showing any signs of decline, the squad was formidable as ever, they reached the European Champions final again, they were world class. Their ‘weak’ season was only a momentary slip and perhaps not even that. If anything, this season was going to invigorate them, for they were stung by enemy next door and surely were not going to let it at that.

FC Liverpool lost, but Liverpool was still the king of England – Everton won the championship in such dominant manner, there was no doubt they were going to stay on top. 28 wins, 6 ties, 8 losses, 88-43, 90 points. The last number was all-time league record, eventually matched later, but remaining unbeaten until 1993-94. On the surface, it was monumental victory of the underdog, for Everton did not give any sign of improvement in the previous years and came more or less out of the blue. For club and fans it was splendid season, of course – finally coming out of the shadow of their hated neighbours and winning their first title since 1969-70. At last, after long years suffering the triumphs of Liverpool. And it was not some lucky victory, coming after ragged and gritty season and thanks to the mistakes of others and driven by oversized ambition rather than actual skills: Everton also triumphed in Europe and clearly it was not one-time-wonder. The club quietly built more than decent squad, having even advantage over Liverpool – for years, Livepool mostly managed to keep high level, but it was not developing further in game terms. Everton, on the other hand, was climbing up and was not yet on its peak. It was a team going to get stronger with time, most likely by carefully adding more talent. They were hungrier and success only wetting their appetite for more. Besting Liverpool was a great spur as well, so it looked like fantastic rivalry was coming fast and going to last long. It was more than potential unfolding of the greatest ever rivalry in the world – it looked like a fact. Now it looked like a fact even more, for thanks to Liverpool – their fans really – Everton did not become ruler of world football: unfortunately, the year of their success was also the year of the shameful tragedy in Brussels after which UEFA banned all English clubs from participation in the continental tournaments. As a result, the ‘fact’ became something stitched from speculations and ‘ifs’, a long litany of laments, perpetuated by the players of this Everton’s vintage. Usually, they claim they could have been the best in the world, if only UEFA did not cruelly punished the innocent, thus preventing Everton from conquering the world. They were the best, but had no chance to show it. How unfair, their development was stunted viciously. May be it was unfair and may be Everton was capable of becoming a world-class team similar to Liverpool, but speculations can go as far as one wishes them to go – wishful thinking is not a fact. Yet, the potential was there and it was lost. However, Everton did not become one-time wonder because of UEFA’s ban – they were really good and they stayed good. How much better they could have been will never be known, though – and that was unfortunate, but nothing can be done about it.

Second Division. Two leaders, no outsiders, real battle only for third place and avoiding relegation, and yet another Cinderella story. Second Division was perhaps the place the drama of English football really unfolded – here struggled the remains of the 1970s leaders, some sinking further down, and here better adjusted to the realities of the 1980s teams pushed up.

Woolverhampton Wanderers finished last with 33 points. This was one of the terrible examples – a crisis so big, the club had only one direction: down.

Cardiff City – 21st with 35 points. Relegated, of course.

Notts County – 20th with 37 points. They played top league football just the previous season and now were going to third level. Back row: Beaver, Clarke, Dalton, McDonagh, Hunt, Richards

Middle row: Walker(Youth), Jones, Lahtinen, Leonard, O’Neill, Harkouk, Short(Physio)

Front row: Benjamin, Downing, Fashanu, Lloyd(Manager), Hodson, McParland, Goodwin.

Middlesbrough – 19th with 40 points. A bright team in the 1970s, now struggling just to keep place in the Second Division.

Sheffield United – 18th with 44 points.

Charlton Athletic – 17th with 45 points.

Carlisle United – 16th with 47 points.

Crystal Palace – 15th with 48 points.

Oldham Athletic – 14th with 53 points.

Huddersfield Town – 13th with 55 points. Sam Allardyce this and Sam Alardyce that today? That is the coach. Before the coach was the player and he played here.

Wimbledon – 12th with 58 points. Unlike other stellar teams, they moved at slower pace. Just promoted, but nothing special – only getting familiar with this division, it may be said.

Barnsley – 11th with 58 points.

Grimsby Town – 10th with 62 points. Bravely holding their ground, may be surprisingly so.

Fulham – 9th with 65 points.

Shrewsbury Town – 8th with 65 points. May be their best period.

Leeds United – 7th with 69 points. No recovery in sight… David Harvey and Frank Gray used to play European and World Cup finals, now – Shrewsbury. What a fate and what a disaster. Dennis Irwin is also here, but still very young – his fame will come with another club.

Leeds was close to the group fighting for third place this year, but slightly weaker and a credible contender.

The battle for 3rd place, giving promotion, was fierce, involving 4 teams. 2 points was the whole difference at the end.

Brighton & Hove Albion got the short stick at the end – 6th with 72 points – and one may wonder was it because they depended on aged stars. Frank Worthington, Joe Corrigan, Jimmy Case, the Dutch import Hans Kraay – a formidable bunch, but too old already.

Blackburn Rovers – 5th with 73 points. They haven’t been in the spotlights for a long, long time, so their sudden climb to the top was a bit suspect: was it a recovery at last, or just an occasional good season? They had to stay in Second Division.

Portsmouth – 4th. Unlucky, for sure – they lost promotion only on goal-difference, finishing with 74 points. Alan Ball did a great job, but the squad was not great and it was unlikely small club like Portsmouth to be able to recruit classier additions. One can be sorry for them just for that – a brave, unassuming team with limited resources really deserved promotion.

Manchester City clinched 3rd place with 74 points and slightly better goal-difference than Portsmouth – nobody thought that Manchester City will accept live in Second Division, but the squad was rather poor. It was not a big comeback at all, only a struggle to get promoted somehow. Nothing impressive, but at least the club looked like changing its old wrong ways, which led it to relegation: no more big names on their last legs. Unfortunately, no bright young talent either…

Birmingham City – 2nd with 82 points. Confident squad, trying to win the championship and losing it by 2 points, but promotion was never in doubt. Birmingham, though, was perhaps the only English team coming close to the continental ‘unsettled’ clubs – too strong for second level, too weak for the first, constantly moving up and down. Just relegated, Birmingham bounced back right away – obviously, not a squad for this league, but were they good enough for first division? Looked like they needed more than what they had. David Seaman was not yet a famous name.

Oxford United won the championship: 25 wins, 9 ties, 8 losses, 84-36, 84 points. It was fantastic success, the team worked hard and eventually prevailed over seasoned Birmingham. And it was one more Cinderella story in the age of the underdog – in the wake of Watford, Swansea, Notts County, Brighton & Hove, and Bolton Wanderers came Oxford United, just promoted to Second Division. Champions of Third Division in 1983-84, champions of Second Division in 1984-85, what a climb! And there was more – unlike the underdogs above, Oxford did not have long professional history: they debuted in the 4th Division in 1962-63, taking the place of Accrington Stanley, which resigned during the previous season. So far, nothing commended Oxford – yes, they eventually climbed to Second Division, but spent 10 years in the Third before winning the 1983-84 championship. Never played top league football – a real debutantes, which was extremely rare in English football. Would they be able to survive first division football remained to be seen, but promotion itself was fantastic achievement. And in grand style – not just promotion, but after winning the tough Second Division championship.