Football Journey

First Division. Fairly equal championship, as it always was. Two teams eventually built a gap between themselves and the rest, but the rivals for the title did not really dominate the championship. However, their was already noticed change – the favourites were not traditionally strong clubs and in the same time there was sharp decline of some former leading clubs.

The most noticeable decline was that of Stal (Mielec), one of the best Polish clubs in the 1970s. But the stars, who made Polish football famous, were long gone to play abroad and without new talent of similar quality the club slipped down. They finished next to last this season and were relegated.

Gwardia (Warszawa) ended 16th, but their relegation was not surprising – Gwardia belonged to a distant past already. Their strong years ended with the end of the 60s and by now they were expected to play in the second division, not in the first.

The other club in sharp decline was Gornik (Zabrze) – they finished 12th with 28 points. Well, they had to worry – the sorry example of Stal was more than warning. By now, Gornik was reduced to the caliber of modest Zaglebie (Sosnowiec).

Which bested Gornik by a point and finished 11th. For Zaglebie this was almost great – just keeping a place in the top league meant successful season.

Legia (Warszawa), 8th, and Wisla (Krakow), 5th, were more or less in decline as well – still in the upper half of the league, but not a factor.

Wisla (Krakow) – nothing memorable this season, but at least preserving its traditional place in the upper half of the league. Perhaps the most steady and consistent Polish club, although rarely a title contender.

And to a point, Slask (Wroclaw) was down – they finished 6th, but for a team expected to play strong role in Polish football since 1975 to finish with 30 points from 30 games was more of a sign of general weakness than an occasional underperformance: looked like Slask was unable to keep strong team in long term.

Of all clubs leading in the 1970s and putting Polish football on high world scale, only Ruch (Chorzow) preserved its leading position.

Ruch finished 3rd with 35 points. Granted, the team was not as strong as the squads of the 1970s, but unlike the other leaders of the previous decade it was not declining. At least not much declining – a good squad, but not able to keep up with more inspired teams and eventually slipping out of the race for the title. True, they ended only 3 points behind the 2nd placed this season, but it is also true that 35 points from 30 games is not much. Ruch did not lose many games – only 6 – but winning was also not up to them: they tied 13 matches and only lowly Cracovia (Krakow) tied more – 15. But Cracovia was merely fighting for survival and succeeded, finishing 14th – Ruch was supposed to win the championship…

Which left the two strongest.

Widzew (Lodz) was unable to defend its title of the previous year – they were short of a single point. Battling for the top place, they scored the most goals this championship – 50 – and lost only 5 games, but unfortunately tied too many – 12 – which at the end left them at second place. Since their greatest star, Zbigniew Boniek, left them to join Juventus, a drop was expected, but surprisingly Widzew not only remained strong, but arguably had their finest season, reaching the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup. Perhaps international success was the reason they lost the Polish title – objectively, the squad was not that great to handle successfully two challenging competitions. Yet, by Polish standards it was the best team at the moment, lead by Smolarek, Mlynarczyk, and Wojcicki. Wladyslaw Zmuda more than knew his job – he was already experienced winning coach. May be the best squad, but also typically Polish – the team depended largely on its stars. If Smolarek was the second greatest Polish player at the moment after his former teammate Boniek, Wojcicki and Mlynarczyk were not at the same high level. Mlynarczyk was a point in case: he may have been the best goalkeeper at the moment, but he also was surrounded by controversies and was in the center of a scandal, starting with rather typical dismissal from the national team for drinking, but quickly evolving into political bitter fight. Between the goalposts, he was hardly world-class, yet, he got bronze from 1982 World Cup and later became European club champion. Compared to, say, Zygmunt Kalinowski, Mlynarczyk was a giant: after becoming (without playing even a minute) World Cup bronze medalist in 1974, Kalinowski not only was hardly ever called to the national team again, but was playing second division football by 1982-83.

Widzew lost the race for the title to unlikely opponent – Lech (Poznan).

Winning made them champions – Widzew won 13 matches, Lech – 17, including a 3-1 home win against their rivals. At the end, Lech had 1 point more than Widzew and triumphed for the first time in their history.

New champions, standing from left: coach Wojciech Łazarek, Józef Adamiec, Józef Szewczyk, Krzysztof Pawlak, Janusz Kupcewicz, Zbigniew Pleśnierowicz, Piotr Mowlik, Bogusław Oblewski, Andrzej Strugarek, Janusz Małek, Damian Łukasik, assistant coach Włodzimierz Jakubowski.

First row: Mariusz Niewiadomski, Jacek Bąk I, Grzegorz Łazarek, Mirosław Okoński, Leszek Partyński, Jerzy Krzyżanowski, Hieronim Barczak.

At a glance, the champions were nothing much… Kupcewicz, Mowlik, and Okonski were the stars, but stars more of the yesteryear. Piotr Mowlik, for instance, not only was out of the national team already, but played fewer matches than his backup, Zbigniew Plesnierowicz. But that was Polish football – a sturdy squad with 3-4 stars was quite enough to get the title – after all, Szombierki (Bytom) won the title without a single classy player. Lech may have been lucky, but champions they were. ‘Kolejorz’ (the Railwayman) was founded in 1922 and from 1933 to 1994 was closely linked to the Polish State Railways, hence, the nickname. A solid club, but never a winner, so this season should have been truly historic. True, the time was hardly perfect for big celebration and football was perhaps not in the mind even of the fans, but strangely this team is hardly mentioned even in the club’s history. Of course, Lech was much more successful years later, after the fall of Communism, but the first champions are not worthy even for a photo today.

Poland. Perhaps one of the most difficult for evaluation seasons – on one hand, in the summer of 1982 Poland finished 3rd in the whole world. Boniek was hailed as one of greatest stars on world scale. Widzew (Lodz), already without Boniek, reached the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup. On the other hand, the country was mostly in the news because of the turmoil and the ongoing clash between its Communist government and the people. Football was affected, naturally – players got involved in the bitter struggle and the sport was hardly on the mind of many. Strange results came at the end and it is almost impossible to say with any certainty were they good or bad – unusual winners could be a sign of positive change and of weakness simultaneously. Especially when players were moving to play abroad in great numbers and traditionally Polish football was fairly equal and without dominating big clubs.

Second Division was hardly something to brag about, so at a glance everything appeared as it was. Some former First Division members played here, but they were smallish clubs anyway. No big surprise if some of them dropped even further down – it was not like famous and powerful club suddenly went into a grand decline.

So, ROW (Rybnik) ended 13th and was relegated from Group 1 of Second Division? Big deal… so far ROW reached once the Cup final, their only claim for success.

At the other end of the table two teams fought for promotion – Olimpia (Poznan) and Gornik (Walbrzych). On a big scale, the season was indeed good for Poznan’s football. Yet, Olimpia finished 2nd and remained in Second Division. On the same scale the season was good for Walbrzych’s football too – it was the only city with representatives in Group 1 of Second Division and both performed well: Zaglebie finished 6th.

Gornik clinched the top spot with 41 points – 2 more than Olimpia (Poznan). Naturally, it was great victory for Gornik – they hardly ever played top level football and going up was wonderful achievement.

Group 2 was no different than Group 1 – one city with two representatives, both performing well this year, one better known club, but in decline for many years already, was relegated – Polonia (Warszawa), two clubs competing for the 1st place and promotion. The city of Radom had the only local derby in the league. Bron finished 8th with 30 points.

Radomiak, however, got the 3rd place with 35 points. Well done, but they were out of the promotional race. Scored the most goals in the league, though.

Resovia (Rzeszow) and Motor (Lublin) competed for the 1st place and at the end a single point decided their immediate future. Resovia remained in second division, finishing with 40 points.

Motor triumphed with 41 points, clinching promotion. Standing from left: administrator Tadeusz Kamiński, coach Lesław Ćmikiewicz, Zbigniew Slipiko, Dariusz Bartoszewski, Janusz Kudyba, Dariusz Opolski, Zygmunt Kalinowski, Stanisław Karwat, Modest Boguszewski, Krzysztof Witkowski, Roman Żuchnik, assistant coach Waldemar Wiater, specialist Ryszard Sowiński.

First row: Mirosław Car, Andrzej Łatka, Marek Szaniawski, Leszek Iwanicki, Roman Dębiński, Andrzej Pop, Waldemar Fiuta, Robert Grzanka, Zbigniew Kakietek, Tomasz Jasina, Kazimierz Gładysiewicz.

Like the winners of Group 1, Motor had minimal experience with top level football and just going up was fine enough. Unlike the other promoted team, they had some familiar names in the squad – or at least players, who eventually became familiar names. Like Zygmunt Kalinowski, bronze medalist of the 1974 World Cup, although he did not play a minute, and Stanislaw Karwat, who made his name years later. Both goalkeepers, one from the past, the other of the future.

In a nut shell, Second Division was significant only in terms of promotions for the next season – Gornik (Walbrzych) and Motor (Lublin). Neither club was expected to make a big impact, but then again who can ever tell what would happen in the future.

Sweden. IFK Norrköping and Kalmar FF won promotion from Second Division, both teams returning to the top league.

First Division was in the second season of new formula – after the regular championship, the top 8 teams continued through direct elimination – the winner becomes champion. Hardly the best way to improve football – whoever schemed to preserve strength during the regular games and peak at the last stage had better chances. Four teams played only 22 regular season games, however. BK Häcken finished last with 12 points. Mjällby AIF was 11th with 13 points. Both were relegated.

Gefle, also with 13 points took 10th place and survived on better goal-difference.

With 16 points, IK Brage finished 9th. The season ended for these 4 teams after the regular phase.

The top 8 continued in the direct-elimination phase after draws decided the pairs. Two legs were played all the way and luck and calculations helped: the regular part of the season was won by AIK and very confidently at that. AIK was in good shape, but reached only the semi-final. Same was the fate of the 2nd in the first phase, Malmo FF.

Halmstads BK, 6th in the regular phase, registered the biggest loss in the elimination phase – they lost both legs to Malmo FF, the 2nd 0-6.

Hammarby IF, 5th in the first phase, was destroyed by AIK in the opening leg 2-5 and the second match was mere protocol, ending peacefully 1-1. IFK Goteborg won both legs against IF Elfsborg, orginally 7th, and Östers IF also won confidently against Örgryte IS, originally 8th .

If regular season was real indication of strength, AIK and Malmo FF should have won – but they lost.

AIK, so good and high scorers too in the opening phase, now lost the first leg to IFK Goteborg 0-3 and were unable to recover – they won 2-0 at home and the season was over. Standing from left: Rolf Zetterlund – coach, Göran Göransson, Ove Rübsamen, Göran Karlsson, Sven Dahlkvist, Thomas Johansson, Jyrki Nieminen, Björn “Lill-Garvis” Carlsson.

First row: Ulf Sundlöf, Thomas Bergman, Björn Kindlund, Bernt Ljung, Kari Virtanen, Lars Zetterlund.

Meantime Malmö FF lost only 0-1 visiting Östers IF, but was unable to prevail at home – the match ended 1-1 and Malmö FF was out.

Östers IF and IFK Göteborg, orginally 4th and 3rd, now were going for the title. Östers IF was unable to get some advantage at home – the first leg was 1-1 tie. Which pretty much decided the championship: objectively stronger IFK Göteborg destroyed their opponent in front of joyous home supporters 3-0. Champions for a second consecutive year.

The boys also reached the Cup final, where Hammarby IF was the opposition. The final was played in Stockholm, but this was not stopping IFK Göteborg – it was not an easy win, but 1-0 was just enough.

Hammarby IF unfortunately lost the Cup final. They were not much of a force in the championship too, but still got a spot in the Cup Winners Cup as losing finalist. Top row from left: Magnus Frykman, Jan Wegerman, Jörgen Sandell, Mats Werner, Jonnie Efraimsson, Thom Åhlund, Sten-Ove Ramberg, Thomas Dennerby, Thomas Lundin.

Middle row: Mikael Samuelsson, Sulo Vaattovaara, Michael Andersson, Mats Wahlberg, Anders Holmberg, Björn Hedenström, Per Holmberg, Per-Anders Andersson.

Sitting: Peter Gerhardsson, Kenneth Ohlsson, Anders Forsberg, Kjell Schött, ?, Bengt Persson – coach, Anders Markström, Ulf Eriksson, Tomas Turesson.

A double for IFK Göteborg – when it mattered, they played strong football. Third row, from left: Glenn Holm, Roland Nilsson, Thomas Karlsson, Ruben Svensson, Dan Corneliusson, Jan-Eric Nilsson.

Middle row: Kjell Pettersson – coach, Bengt Westerberg – coach, Per-Olof Nilsson, Stephan Kullberg, Tommy Holmgren, Jerry Carlsson, Peter Andersson

Sitting: Stig Fredriksson, Glenn Hysén, Glenn Schiller, Ove Tobiasson, Thomas Wernerson, Håkan Sandberg, Tord Holmgren, Martin Holmberg.

Wales. The Cup final pretty much the best Welsh football had to offer – no English club reached the final, Wrexham vs Swansea City. Wrexham in good shape and Swansea struggling in First Division. Still class got the upper hand – the Swans won both final legs: 2-1 and 2-0.

Like their opponents, Wrexham had to compensate for a rather weak season – but they were 3rd division team playing against 1st division one. Still, they played bravely.

Swansea really had to win the Cup – objectively, they were much stronger than Wrexham and subjectively needed to compensate for their troubles in the championship. The squad was transitional – John Toshack started rebuilding and although notable veterans were recruited (Ray Kennedy and Jimmy Rimmer), mostly youngsters played. Naturally, the new team suffered in the championship, but it was strong enough to win the Welsh Cup for third consecutive year. Alas, this was the end of the arguably greatest period in the club’s history – but ended in style.

The Cup final opposed Fenerbahce to lowly Mersin Idmanyurdu. Galatasaray and Besiktas – empty-handed and Fenerbahce with good chance for a double. Or not? The rise of the underdog in the Europe affected Turkey as well. To a point… Fenerbahce won both legs of the final – 2-0 and 2-1.

Mersin did what they could, but it was unequal battle even before the start: lowly, just promoted from Second Division team against one of the mightiest clubs, which was also in perfect form. Mersin lost, but there was no shame or blame. And because Fenerbahce was also the league champion, Mersin was going to play in the Cup Winners Cup – great! Relegated and going to play in Europe – weird fate.

Standing from left: Selçuk Yula, Hasan, Nurettin, Müjdat,Cem, Alpaslan.

Crouching: Erdoğan Arıca, Arif, Bulgar Mehmet, Önder, Osman.

Double winners – what a great season. And a good blow to the arch-rivals! Hardly the strongest team or season, but overall winners nevertheless. One rather curious player, listed here as Bulgar Mehmet – the young talent was born in 1959 in Bulgaria, hence the nickname. In reality he is Mehmet Hacioglu.

First Division. 18 teams in it and still the classic point-system was in use: 2 points for a win, 1 for a tie. One outsider this year, fairly equal bulk, and 5 teams stronger than the rest. Perhaps the most important outcome of this season was negative: the decline of Izmir reached its bottom. Goztepe was already in Second Division and not coming back. Now their city rivals followed them.

Altay (Izmir) was the outsider of championship, finishing last with 21 points. Thus, Izmir was completely out of First Division for the next year.

The other three relegated teams were more or less unlucky – a point or two would have placed them outside relegation zone. Gaziantepspor was 17th with 27 points.

Samsunspor – 16th with 28 points. Standing from left: Naim Anuştekin, Kenan Topçu, Eyüp Gümüş, Adnan Öztekin, Önder Mustafaoğlu, Murat Şimşek.

First row: Tanju Çolak, Emin Kar, Metin Karabulut, Hasan Şengün, Ahmet Usta.

Mersin Idmanyurdu SK was 15th with 29 points – taking this place and relegated only because of worse goal-difference. Mersin, however, distinguished itself this year in few aspects: first, freshly promoted teams were still prime candidates for immediate relegation – 2 of the 4 newcomers went down right away: Samsunspor and Mersin. Second, Mersin scored the least goals in the championship – only 19 in 34 games. The only club scoring less than 20 goals. Third, Mersin was relegated, but also was going to play in the European tournaments. The good, the bad, lucky, unlucky – all in one bag.

Antalyaspor survived, thanks to better goal-difference – lucky 14th. How close were the teams of the bulk of the league? Seven points was the difference between the 6th and the 17th in the final table.

Adanaspor – 10th with 32 points.

Kocaelispor (Izmit) – 9th with 33 points.

Bursaspor – 8th with 33 points.

Ankaragücü SK was at the top of bulk of equal teams: 6th with 34 points. Most of their points came from ties – a league record 18 ties! As a whole, it was almost perfect 50% performace: 8 wins, 8 losses, 38 goals scored, 37 received. Nothing special, playing safe – and high in the final table at the end. It was performances like that triggering the point change around Europe from 2 points for a win to 3 – teams like Ankaragücü already the old system meaningless – why risking, if you could get a point in most matches. Two ties were safer bet than one win. But ties do not make champions and Ankaragücü was 5 points behind the 5th placed.

Besiktas was 5th with 39 points. Lean and disappointing period for one of the big three of Turkish football – once again, not in the race for the title.

Boluspor took the 4th place – a great season for them, even surprising one.

Galatasaray finished with 44 points. Close to the top, but only that. Good only for bronze medals, which for Galatasaray counts only as a disaster.

The title was contested between Trabzonspor and Fenerbahce and was decided by tiny difference – 2 points. Fenerbahce won one game more than their rivals and that was that.

There was no question by now – Trabzonspor was firmly established as the 4th strongest Turkish club, consistently running for the title. They lost it this year, but there was nothing to be ashamed of – the team fought to the end. Standing from left: Güngör, Tuncay, Levent, Lemi, Şenol, Necati

First row:İskender, Dobi Hasan, Osman, Kemal, Turgay .

Fenerbahce prevailed minimally, so it was even sweeter victory. Standing from left: Güngör Tekin, Yaşar Duran, Selçuk Yula, Ibrahim Begovic, Zafer Dinçer, Arif Kocabıyık, Sertaç Olcayto, Sedat Karaoğul, Hasan Özdemir, K.Hasan, Alparslan Eratlı

Crouching: Özcan Kızıltan, Alper, Önder Çakar, Erdoğan Arıca, Müjdat Yetkiner, Can, Suat, Osman Denizci, İsmail, Metin.

18 wins, 13 ties, only 3 lost games. 43 goals scored, 20 received. 49 points. Second-best defensive record – Trabzonspor received fewer goals, 19, and third in scoring – Galatasaray (50) and Besiktas (49) outscored the champions. But where were the top scorers and where was Fenerbahce at the end?

Adding one more trophy to their illustrious collection. Turkish football was getting stronger, yet, foreign players were few – Fenrebahce had one this season, the Yugoslav Ibrahim Begovic – not a famous player. But useful enough in this wonderful season, for Fenerbahce took it all.

Turkey, II Division. Four teams were promoted at the end of the season and gradually the lower level of Turkish football was becoming more fierce and competitive – of course, most clubs playing there were practically unknown outside the country, but there were quite a few well known names.

Balikesirspor – a typical lower level Turkish club. Most of Second Division was clubs like that. But there were others too:

Rizespor had some First Division experience. Standing from left: Hasan Fehmi, Bahadır, Mehmet, Refah, Neşat, Hüsnü.

First row: Hüseyin, Muhammet, Erol, Ergün

Eskisehirspor was quit successful only a few years ago.

Goztepe (Izmir) was still one of the most familiar to Europeans Turkish club – it was even surprising to find it in the Second Division. And one expected Goztepe along with Eskisehirspor to be promoted. But they were not. Instead, the winners were a mix bag:

Orduspor, with very little top level experience.

Karagümrük SK (Istanbul), which hardly ever played top level football and, if anything, a glimpse of the depth of Istanbul football – there was much more than Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, and Besiktas.

Gençlerbirligi SK (Ankara), returning to top flight after short exile. The club was never strong, but still was forceful part of Ankara’s attempt to rival Istanbul.

Denizlispor – hardly well known, but with a club with long First Division history.

Good luck to the promoted in the next season, although at least two of them were expected only to try to stay in the league.

Denmark. On the surface – rather routine and thus unremarkable championship. Fairly equal, except for one outsider. But the 1980s already changed the familiar status quo – the newly forged physical and covering the whole field kind of football changed the picture: teams, not known for winning previously, popped up everywhere in Europe, having successful just because all teams became quite the same and there were not particularly outstanding stars making the difference. The collective approach was the great equalizer. One result was the new pointing system, becoming universal in 1982-83 – 3 points for a win and 1 for a tie became the norm. It came as a response to bland and scoreless football – it was also artificial invigoration of the game. But there was no tactical revolution and the spur changed little: a solid collective was capable to neutralize artistic, but less disciplined team – and win at the end. Denmark is hardly the best example, yet, the new reality was present there too. If one looks closely, of course.

KB, B 1909, and Herfølge BK were promoted from Second Division and nothing strange about it – in a country without dominant clubs, ups and downs were normal.

Kolding IF was hopelessly last in the 1st Division with 16 points. B 93 and B 1903 were the other relegated, but they were not exactly outsiders – they just lost a fairly equal race. Yet, this relegation suggested a change – old, traditional clubs, used largely to amateur approach were in decline. Most often financially. Yet, the changes were not overwhelming – Danish clubs were not great and their fate changed from season to season, keeping rather equal championship as a result.

Thus, Køge Boldklub was 10th this year.Top row, from left: Per Møller, læge Søren Thyssen, Arne Rastad, Leif Staun, Torben Bastholm, Lars Olsen, coach Jan Poulsen, Jørgen Sparre.

Middle row: Morten Petersen, Søren Petersen, Per Thomsen, Peter Knudsen, Frank Johansen, Tim Jensen, Erik Rasmussen.

Crouching: Michael Haagensen, Lars Frisch, Jan Olesen, Tommy Sejersen, Søren Grenå Larsen, Claus Bahne Nielsen.

As every other club, Køge had its ups and downs, and no wonder, since there was no Danish club having a cluster of big names and every promising talent moved abroad fast. However, the boys finished with 28 points – 4 points better than the relegated 15th and 8 points worse than the bronze medalists. AGF Aarhus, 3rd this year, lost 10 games – Køge lost 11. In the same time AGF Aarhus had a good chance to win the championship almost to its end – they finished 4 points behind the champions. Consistency decided final positions – and those on top were a mix, illustrating the new football reality: if OB Odense was traditionally stronger club, Lyngby BK was not. But it was Lyngby prevailing at the end.

17 wins, 6 ties, and 7 losses, 63-33 goal-difference and 40 poinst – 2 more than OB Odense. Not a great record, but enough.

Of course, it all depends on one’s standpoint: Lyngby was hardly a great champion and clearly not an emerging powerhouse even domestically. But it was their greatest moment in history – champions for the first time. Instantly the greatest squad, instantly a fantastic achievement. A wonderful victory of the underdog, what could be better even for one, who is not a fan?

The Cup final opposed OB Odense and second division B 1901. Well, in terms of traditional consistency, OB Odense was obviously not giving up. In terms of pure tradition, the old clubs like B 1901 were still resisting the new realities. In terms of new reality, though… one more lower-division club ready to jump on international stage… and deteriorate further the Cup Winners Cup. It was not to be, though: OB Odense easily won the final 3-0.

Happy Cup winners.

A Cup and 2nd place in the championship – the old guard, represented by OB Odense, seemingly was not giving up, making Lyngby’s title incidental. May be ‘the new reality’ was more imagined than real?

Ireland. Changes before the season: Galway Rovers renamed Galway United. Cork United went into bankruptcy and was out. Thurles Town, last in the 1981-82 season, was not re-elected and was out of the league. No new team was elected, so the league was reduced from 16 to 14 teams. There was no Second Division, thus, no direct promotions. The whole Europe was concerned with football becoming too dull and looking for the point instead of the win, so attempts to spur the game into more competitive – and hopefully, more attractive – spirit were starting. Ireland tried a new reward formula the previous year: 4 points for away win, 3 for home win, 2 for away draw, and 1 point for home draw. This was dropped for 1982-83 season and the point system, which eventually became universal, was introduced: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw. After all that actual football was played. The better known clubs underperformed.

Bohemians finished 4th with 46 points. Shamrock Rovers was further down – 6th with 38 points. Dundalk was 3rd with 48 points. None was a factor this season.

At the bottom, the picture was painfully familiar – Thurles Town was far too weak in generally weak league the previous year. Now it was Home Farm – they finished last with 9 points. University College (Dublin) was hardly much better, but still got 16 points – 5 less than Sligo Rovers, which was also 5 points behind Galway United, which, in its turn, was 6 points behind Waterford. Apart from a race for the 2nd place, won by Drogheda United with 48 points, there was nothing competitive, regardless of the new point system. One team vastly dominated the championship, finishing with 65 points from 20 wins, 5 ties, and a single loss.

Athlone Town was enjoying its strongest period ever and won its 2nd title, after getting its 1st in 1980-81. And the championship was their sole success – the boys also won the League Cup for the second time, beating Dundalk 2-1 at the final. Splendid season.

The Cup Final opposed Bohemians to Sligo Rovers. Bohemians was the obvious winner: they did not have a strong year, but were among the top teams. On the other hand, Sligo Rovers was miserable with only 2 teams weaker than them in the championship. But a Cup final… that is different. Sligo Rovers fought bravely and clinched a 2-1 victory.

In a way, Sligo Rovers had even better reason to celebrate than Athlone Town – they won the Irish Cup for the 1st time. Wonderful success of the underdog.

Cyprus. Same as ever, in a way. Second Division was more interesting:

Ermis (Aradippou) and

Ethnikos (Achna) topped the league and were promoted – both teams never played First Division before, thus, the 1982-83 was the best season in the histories of the winners. They were going to replace APOP (Paphos) – 14th in 1st Division and Olympiakos (Nicosia), 13th. Olympiakos lost the battle for survival on worse goal-difference – Nea Salamina (Famagusta) survived.

A weak season for Apollon (Limassol) – they finished 11th.

A weak season for APOEL too – they were 3rd and did not get even a UEFA Cup spot – it went to Anorthosis (Famagusta), 2nd in the final table. But that was just about all Anorthosis was capable of – with 25 points, they were hardly a title contender, finishing 3 points behind the champions.

As for the champions, there is hardly a need even to mention them. They also reached the Cup final and although Enosi Neon (Paralimni) fought bravely the champions prevailed 2-1.

One more title, one more Cup, one more double… Omonia (Nicosia) dominated Cypriot football since the beginning of 1970s and there was no end to their success. No point even to count their trophies.