Football Journey

The First Division was divided into three groups during 1979-80 season – 2 outsiders, two favourites, running head to head to the end, and between the lowest and the highest vast fairly equal bulk, almost a league by itself. 13 points separated the bronze medalist from the third relegated team at 16th place. 13 points also separated bronze from silver…

Malaga was last with 19 points.

Standing, from left:Burgueña,Orozco,Brescia,Cantarutti,Viberti,x,x,Mesquida,x,Corral,Popo,Nacho,Muñoz Pérez; Middle row:Javi,Aido,Migueli,Vargas,Salguero,Santi;

Sitting:Salcedo,Castro,Juan Carlos,Astorga,Alcaide?,Macías,Aráez,Filgueira,Collantes,Martín.

To a point, Malaga was largely a warning for the newly promoted: promoted in 1978-79, relegated in 1979-80. The longest time Malaga played in Primera was 5 consecutive seasons. Normally, they lasted a year or two. They were hopelessly last, finishing with fewer points than they actually earned: 3 points were deducted as a penalty for forfeiting their match against AD Almeria.

Thanks to the deducted points, Burgos CF finished 19th. They were really the worst team team this year, earning just 20 points.

The only thing to say about Burgos has nothing to do with their pathetic season, but about their history and that only from contemporary standpoint. Burgos was found in 1922 as Gimnastica Burgalesa Club de Futbol. In 1948 the name was changed to Burgos Club de Futbol and under this name they reached and played their bit in the top Spanish league. But today the club has two foundational years – 1922 and 1994 and this is because they disappeared in 1983 due to grave financial problems. Their reserve team – Burgos Promesas – was renamed Real Burgos Club de Futbol and played under this name until 1993, when once again the club was bankrupt and dissolved. Only to be refounded again as Burgos Club de Futbol. The painfully familiar scheme of preserving a club without paying mounting debts, leading to historic confusion. Arguments are pointless – if only Burgos was not relegated in 1980, money would not have been a problem; if money was not a problem, they would have been outsiders in 1979-80. Which came first – the chicken or the eggs?

Unlike the two outsiders, the third relegated club fought to the end and lost the battle for survival.

Dwarfed by its giant neighbours – Atletico and Real – Rayo Vallecano is the third significant club in Madrid, but the world was largely unaware of its existence until 1976-77, when Rayo Vallecano won promotion for the first time. Modest and somewhat restricted to its own neighbourhood, Vallecas, Los Franjirrojos (the Red Sashes) is almost a club from another city: nobody seriously considers a match between them and the big two a derby. And so big are the neighbours, Rayo Vallecano never managed to elevate itself from its insignificant predicament. Going to Primera in 1977 was their biggest success since founded in 1924. Staying in Primera was almost heroic achievement, but the Cindarella story ended in 1979-80. They fought as much as they could, but at the end were 2 points short – Hercules (Alicante) survived with 28 points – Rayo finished with 26 and unlucky 16th. No surprise, really. They had only one great player – Fernando Morena. The Uruguayan star delivered what he was hired for – 20 goals – but he was the only strong player in the team and his performance was not enough to save the club. Rayo Vallecano went down to its familiar second division apparently for good.

This was not a great year for another club from Madrid – Atletico had miserable season. They finished 13th with 31 points. Five points ahead of minuscule Rayo Vallecano, but 22 points behind Real. If Rayo Vallecano escaped relegation, may be they would have been proud to be on similar level with Atletico, but from the other point of view it was only shame: to be compared to Rayo was a disgrace.

Sinking so low seemed illogical: Luis Aragones, already successful and respected, was coaching them. The squad was strong, as far as names, one more Brazilian star was added to Luis Pereira – Dirceu, no less. But the crisis is understandable: Atletico aged as a team. No radical changes were made for a long time – only small additions. Some key players left (Leivinha) or were too old to make a difference (Ayala). Luis Pereira was beyond his peak and Dirceu did not fit well for whatever reason. Atletico needed a new squad, a full rebuild. The season should have been a wake-up call – a bit too late may be, but much needed.

The other club in need of waking call was Barcelona – they finished 4rd, but far behind the leading clubs. Since the real measure for Barcelona is only Real Madrid, the red signal for danger was flashing: Barcelona ended with 15 points less than their arch-enemy and Real was not particularly great . Barcelona suddenly found itself in unlikely company – similar to Sporting Gijon, Real Betis, Salamanca, and Almeria.

Like Atletico Madrid, Barcelona needed radical rebuilding – they kept a cluster of players too long. There were problems unsolved for years – particularly goalkeeping. Asensi and Rexach were getting too old. Krankl and Simonsen presented a problem for the future – they were both strikers, but the team needed a defender and a playmaker to organize a new team around them. Which meant that both foreigners were not going to last, for they represented to a point the old guard. At least one of them was to be out soon to open space for a foreign midfielder. A good goalkeeper had to be found – and quickly.

The weakness of the usual strong clubs – Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla, Real Zaragoza – suddenly elevated smaller clubs.

The league debutante Almeria finished 10th. Excellent season for almost anonymous club. Of course, they benefited by the weakness of the traditionally strong, but never mind. The team depended on 5 South Americans – the typical for Spanish clubs combination of Argentines (Daniel Pavon and Ricardo Martinez), Paraguayans ( Rolon and Oscar Lopez), and the odd Brazilian (Odair). Some of them were surely oriundi – to have that many foreign players did not make sense otherwise.

Salamanca finished 9th , a point better than Almeria. The big star of this vintage was a newcomer – the Paraguayan striker Carlos Diarte, who arrived from Valencia. Diarte never achieved European fame, but in Spain he was a star – one of the first crop of foreigners, he arrived in 1973, when he was just 19-year old.

Real Betis ended 5th , 2 points behind Barcelona. Up and down club, but this season clearly up and once again coming on top of their rivals Sevilla.

Yet, none of the clubs above was really rising – they simply had a good season, most likely not to be repeated. The rising clubs were two: Sporting Gijon and Real Sociedad.

Sporting Gijon bettered Barcelona by a point and got the bronze medals. Gijon jumped from 14th place the previous season to 3rd, leaving for the first time the lower half of the table. The team was not made of famous players, but it was sturdy, well rounded, and lead by a big star – Quini. Enrique Castro, known as Quini, was already the top Spansih striker and a goal-scoring machine. He was the top scorer of the league this year with 24 goals. In attack, Quini was helped by newly added Aguilar, who had been a starter of Real Madrid for years. The formula was good in general: individually, the players were not so great to attract the appetites of the big clubs. Sporting was strong as a team, but there was a question mark: Quini. It all depended on how long he will stay with the club – of he moved the scheme was liable to collapse. And the danger was real: Sporting had no means to keep a superstar. Thus, Sporting Gijon was up and coming, but continued rise depended largely on Quini.

The other ascending club was entirely different: Real Sociedad had an young and very talented generation, almost entirely home-made. The bright youngsters were still only hopefuls, so they were not yet a target for the big clubs. But they were going up and there was no doubt that this squad will be a decisive factor in Spanish football very soon. Real Sociedad run for the title this season and lost it by a point. They lost only one match! They also had the best defensive record by far – Real Sociedad allowed only 20 goals. Real Madrid and Barcelona shared the second best record, receiving 33 goals each.

The club from San Sebastian had their best season ever, but still the feeling was that this achievement will be outdone soon. So far, Lopez Ufarte and Zamora were recognized as almost full-fledged stars, but already the big name – and captain of the team – was the goalkeeper Arconada. He debuted in 1973 and by now was experienced, yet still young – just 26 years old, which for goalkeepers is not even the peak. No wonder Real Sociedad received so few goals – Arconada was rapidly becoming one of the best European goalkeepers. Perhaps luckily for the club, Arconada appeared when the big clubs had the previous generation of solid keepers still playing well (Iribar, Reina, Sadurni). By 1979-80 the veterans were gone, those of the immediate next generation aged (Garcia Remon and Miguel Angel), Arconada was national team regular, and Real Sociedad was rising – no point to go elsewhere. And he did not – he was in the right club at the right time. His greatest years coincided with the greatest years of Real Sociedad. The best was still to come. As for the picture, Real Sociedad here is dressed in their second kit – since their usual colours will fly for quite some time, let see their lesser known second option.

At a glance – nothing new: Real Madrid champion once again. But it was difficult victory – Real Madird prevailed by a single point, winning a tough race from start to the end. A happy end, but the future did not look bright – Real Sociedad was breathing in the neck of mighty Real Madrid. But for the club and the fans only victory counts – and this season gave them a double, so everybody was happy.

The usual suspects, dressed in blue: standing from left: Garcia Remon, San Jose, Cunningham, Benito, Pirri, Camacho.

First row: Stielike, Juanito, Del Bosque, Garcia Hernandez, Santillana.

What can one say? A famous squad. The top Spanish players of the 1970s plus Stielike, already recognized as an international mega-star, and fresh strong addition in Cunningham, who apparently settled well. With Vujadin Boskov at the helm, everything looked just fine. The future was also seemingly bright: Stielike and Cunningham provided a backbone for the years to come. But this team won the championship with difficulty and was far from overwhelming. And as great as these players were, Real Madrid was reduced to domestic victories – internationally, the 1970s were poor. And even poorer was the performance of the Spanish national team, which was based largely on Real’s stars. Stielike and Cunningham had few trophies with their previous clubs and nothing with their national teams. Real was strong, no doubt about it, but not all that strong – the point was not missed by the administration. It was a very successful season, but with a grain of salt.

 

Perhaps three moments characterize the 1979-80 Spanish season best – two transfers and the Cup final. The Cup final not only opposed a second division to first division team, but most importantly two sides of one and the same club. The transfers mark the high and the low of players’ luck and more. The first transfer announced the arrival of the best ever Uruguayan scorer Fernando Morena to Spain.

Morena was arguably the best Uruguayan player of the 1970s, famous for a long time, and arriving to Spain with a fantastic record: in his previous 6 years with Penarol he scored 162 goals in 140 matches. What was unusual then? Two things: first, he was coming to Europe quite old, approaching his 28th year. Of course, playing for famous club like Penarol seemingly explains his late transfer, but given the political and economic situation of Uruguay in the 70s confronts such explanation: tough military regime and terrible economic situation were the realities leading to great exodus of players. The military Junta was not interested in football, so the clubs were in poor shape and short on money. It is strange that a player of such a caliber stayed at home that long. May be too long… Morena was perhaps less known abroad in 1979 than in 1974. He signed with Rayo Vallecano, not with any of the big clubs. Not even with the solid middle Spanish clubs, but with a small one. Hardly a transfer for a star – rather, for a faded star, former star, or just a journeyman. Lesser players had better and more lucrative careers with Spanish clubs – Fernando Morena did not last long in Europe and was hardly noticed.

The other transfer was the very opposite: one day in the summer of 1979 a young guy knocked at Real Madrid’s door and tell them he wants to play for them. This was unheard of case,especially for a club like Real – it was taken for granted that the famous Real can have only policy: ‘you don’t call us, we call you’. Yet, the player persuaded the club to give him a try, was found more than good enough and Real decided to sign him – which meant buying him from his former club to the tune of 960 000 English pounds! It was a story so unusual, it became the big news in the summer of 1979: it was not just that a player offered his services to Real Madrid. What made it so exciting story was that the player was young, fairly unknown, and came from England.

Laurie Cunningham – pictured here in his early days with Leyton Orient – was born in 1956 and played professional football since 1974, but it was just by the end of the decade when he climbed to some fame. That is, after he moved from Leyton Orient to rising West Bromwich Albion in 1977. In 1979 the talented left-winger fulfilled his dream – he was included and debuted for the national team of England – but whatever he was so far was only a bright hopeful. Hardly a big star and almost unknown outside England. His daring move to Madrid instantly made him famous and expensive – West Bromwich Albion certainly jumped on the opportunity and hiked his price. Real Madrid was impressed enough to pay and Cunningham became the first ever English player to play for Real Madird. Not only that, but he was black – at the time when black English players were still few and just breaking into the national team. There was some luck too: Real Madrid did not have a second foreigner at the moment and Cunningham was instant starter. A transfer in sharp contrast to Morena’s – a oldish player, all but forgotten by now, went to a small club, but the young fairly unknown Englishman moved to the biggest club in the world and became a big star even before playing an official match for Real. As for what was real and what was inflated… Morena played for Uruguay from 1971 to 1983; Cunningham played for England 6 times, all of them during the 1979-80 season, did not make the team for the European finals in 1980, and was never called again. But that is visible when looked from a distance – at the time, Cunningham was the wonder in everybody’s mind and mouth.

Once the summer was over, it was back to business and the heat of the transfer market was replaced by the heat of the championship. The gritty Second Division had no big names to attract attention, but it had rules worth mentioning – B teams of clubs were allowed to participate in the leagues, only having no right to play in the same league with their A team. The rule was not new at all and mostly concerned the big Spanish clubs – Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao often had their B team in the Second Division. Normally, information of Second Division came with the note that so-and-so teams cannot be promoted, if they finish at the top of the league. As it happened, this season there was only one B team playing in the second level, and it was different. Different by name – if B teams appeared just as that: Barcelona B or Atletico Madrid B, and so on, Real Madrid visibly had no such team. Instead, there was Castilla CF. A small club, which was taken by Real. The name was preserved, but this was the B team of Real Madird and like any other B team, had no right of playing in the same league with the first team. That is, Castilla CF would not be promoted to First Division. Nothing to worry, though – they finished 7th. The problem came from another angle. Castilla CF had a good run, others faced disaster – especially from today’s perspective.

At the end of the table and relegated finished: Algeciras CF – 20th, Gimnastic de Tarragona – 19th, Deportivo La Coruna – 18th, and Celta Vigo – 17th. Strange to see La Coruna and Celta going to Third Division today, but back then neither club was even well known. Similar to modest Algeciras really. Gimnastic was also of the same ilk, long ago reduced only to a name of historic importance.

Second Division was largely made of similar clubs – most had played in first division, but never a big role. They moved up and down, depending on momentary luck. They were not particularly strong – Castilla, the second team of Real Madrid, was 7th with 40 points. The champions of the league finished with 47. That is, pretty much on the level of Real’s B team – but the top three were promoted.

CA Osasuna ended 3rd with 44 points and got the third promotional spot.

In Basque, the name means ‘health’ – in the sense of ‘strength’ or ‘vigor’. As for performance, Osasuna so far played 8 seasons in First division and 13 seasons in Third Division since their foundation in 1920. Their most successful years were between 1955 and 1960, when they enjoyed the longest run in First Division – 4 consecutive seasons, reaching the 5th place in 1958-59. However, their last visit to Third Division was 1976-77. The home city of Osasuna – Pamplona – is world-famous, but not for football. Osasuna did not play first division football since 1963.

With 45 points Real Valladolid finished 2nd.

Founded in 1928, they had a bit better history than Osasuna – played longer in the top league and only once in the third division. But like Osasuna, they did play in the First Division for a long time – since 1964.

With 19 wins, 9 ties, and 10 losses Real Murcia won the Second Division. 2 points ahead of Real Valladolid and not the best in anything – Osasuna won more matches and scored more goals, Castilla and Alaves allowed the same number of goals.

The oldest of the promoted teams – officially founded in 1908 – ‘Los Pimentoneros’ (Paprika-men) had the same kind of history as the other two. Their longest run in first division was 3 seasons – from 1944 to 1947, and the they were in 3rd division in 1976-77. But they played in the top league in 1974-75, unlike their rivals, which did not such joy for a log, long time.

Happy winners, well done, good for them, and so on. Yet, neither club appeared much different than previous winners of Segunda – smallish clubs, lucky to be among the best, and struggling to last more than season.

 

 

The Cup final opposed Roma to Torino – a replay of 1963-64 final, the last time Roma won a trophy, after tough 0-0 match, which had to be replayed and only then Roma prevailed 1-0. The finalists were quite equal in 1979-80 – strong running Torino and up and coming Roma, neither team strong enough to win the championship. Since both teams were pretty much matched, there was no favourite. The final was played in Rome, which gave – on paper – the edge to Roma, but on the field there was no edge: the final finished 0-0, the overtime kept the parity, 1963-64 was repeating itself entirely, except that there was no longer replay, but penalty shoot-out. Back in 1964 Roma prevailed by a single goal – and the same happened in 1980: Roma won the shoot-out 3-2.

Standing from left: Terraneo, Claudio Sala, Volpati, Graziani, Pileggi, Vullo.

Crouching: Patrizio Sala, Pulici, Salvadori, Mandorlini, Pecci.

Coming close does not count… Torino lost.

Standing from left: Romeo Benetti, Turone, Ancelotti, Pruzzo, Di Bartolomei, Santarini.

Crouching: Scarnecchia, Maggiora, Amenta, Bruno Conti, Paolo Conti.

By names, Roma was perhaps a bit stronger than Torino and also they were the rising team, but in reality both opponents were equal. Shoot-outs are always a lottery – Roma was lucky winner. For the fans, it was great moment, of course – a trophy at last! Waiting since 1964 for one! But perhaps the most important aspect of the victory was confirmation of the rise of Roma.

 

 

Italian football as a whole was not in great shape to begin with, but the Totonero scandal made this season very difficult for evaluation. It was easier to judge declining clubs and the stagnated ones, but which were improving and perhaps rising? Under the dark shadow of fixed matches, there is no certainty and clarity.

Ascoli finished 5th , a great season for the small club, but one-time wonder at the end. Ascoli had no impressive players, suggesting they could stay among the best.

Perhaps the only club emerging with promising squad at the end of the 1970s was Roma.

With Liedholm at the helm, Roma somewhat quietly was going up. Since the club was not a factor for many years, no attention was focussed on it – Lazio was the Roman news during the 1970s. Roma finished 7th this season, thus continuing to stay under the radar, but a group of strong players was already gathered: Benetti, Spinosi, Tancredi, Pruzzo, De Sisti, and especially Di Bartolomei and Bruno Conti. It was not a finished and polished team, but it had strong backbone. It all depended on what the club would do in the following years – so far, there was no reason for paying close attention: the key players were quite old and perhaps over the hill. Solidity was achieved, it was a matter of adding quality. Roma was not yet ready to concur.

Without a truly ascending team, the top of the table was occupied by familiar names – traditionally strong Milan and Inter, plus the good since 1974 Torino, and the best Italian team of the 1970s Juventus. Milan finished 3rd, but was relegated for its involvement in Totonero.

With 35 points, Torino finished 4th. Led by Graziani, Claudio and |Patrizio Sala, Pulici, Pecci, Torino was still very strong, but the leading players were familar since 1975 and no new younger names emerged since then – Torino more or less reached its peak and only maintained its position.

Juventus finished 2nd, 3 points behind the champions. They won the most matches this season – 16, but unfortunately lost too many – 8. Seven of the losses were away matches – in itself, nothing unusual in a league heavily depending on home turf, but only 2 clubs lost more away games than Juventus – Catanzaro (14th) and Pescara (16th). Juventus played a bit more open football than the typical Italian team, but such approach required stronger strikers and Juventus fell short in this department: Bettega was the key figure and he was getting a bit old.

The team sticking to tradition won the title – 14 wins, 13 ties, 3 losses. Try to win at home, get a point away – the tired conservative formula. Inter did not risk and perhaps it was wise aprroach considering what kind of players they had.

Bordon, Baresi, Altobelli, Oriali – younger players, just becoming first rate stars. A bit unfinished team, a bit short of full great team, especially if compared to Juventus. But younger and hungrier. Not very exciting on the pitch, but fighting for the point and getting it. May be lucky a bit too – except Juventus, there was no well-rounded team in the league. As a team, Inter needed quite a lot to measure up to the teams it had in the 1960s – it was largely a promising team and no more. In itself, the victory was important one – the 1970s were terrible years for Inter and the last title they won was in 1970-71. At last they added one more – their 12th. Looked like revival was starting and the victory was excellent moment to reinforce the team, to add a few more classy players. There was a problem, though – seemingly, Inter decided to go for young talent, which was right. It was just that there was not plenty of young talent in Italy, especially strikers.

 

On March 23 1980 the Totonero scandal eruprted – or, rather, the Financial Police of Italy made it public. The real investigation dragged for a long time and marked not only that season, but the next one as well. Essentially, it was a scheme for fixing matches, thus affecting winning and losing lottery bets. A black lottery, but players, clubs, and officials were involved. The principal protagonists were Milan, Lazio, Bologna, Perugia, Avellino, Taranto, and Palermo. The investigation worked its way slowly, so the season continued. Then the guilty were punished. Then new facts appeared. Then the punished cried innocense and the whole legal mess led to punishments changed, some carried right away, some delegated to the next season, players found guilty, then suspencions reduced or not. The media had a feast, of course, but originally nobody thought the investigation would produce any meaningful results. Surprisingly, it did: there were no longer untouchables in Italian football. Milan was pelegated to Serie B and its president Felice Colombo was dibarred for life. Lazio’s punishment was increased – from a 10 millions fine to relegation. All other clubs involved ended with 5 points punishment attached to the 1980-81 season. 20 players were also punished, three of them were originally banned from football for life, but eventually penalties were reduced. Finally, the biggest suspencion fell on Stefano Pellegrini (Avellino) – 6 years, and Franco Colomba (Bologna) and Oscar Damiani (Napoli) recieved the smallest ban – 3 months. The biggest news was the case of Paolo Rossi, but he was not the only big name involved in the scandal: Giuseppe Wilson (Lazio) got 3 years ban, Giuseppe Savoldi (Bologna) – 3 years and 6 months, Lionello Manfredonia (Lazio) – 3 years and 6 months, Bruno Giordano (Lazio) – 3 years and 6 months, Enrico Albertosi (Milan) – 4 years. Effectively, Albertosi suffered most – his original punishment was a ban for life, reduced later to 4 years, but the European champion of 1968 was already 40 years old, so practically any suspencion was ending his career. The veteran still came back – his ban was waved in 1982, thanks to Italy winning the World Cup, and he played two more seasons, but… in 5th Division for Elpidiense. A huge drop from Milan to semi-professional football. Paolo Rossi was, of course, the biggest news and the most controvercial one too – he claimed innosence, was found guilty and banned for 3 years at first. The original punishment was later reduced to 2 years and stayed at that. Rossi not only persisted he was not guilty, but cliams so to this very day. Years later he found support in some memoirs and journalistic investigations, but nothing concluisive is established in his favour. The most irritating part of Rossi’s case was that he was needed for the coming European championship finals, but he was punished anyway. Enough for the scandal – by the end of the 1979-80, it was still unfolding and really concerns only the First Division relegations.

On the field it was business as usual, not counting the scandal – the single point was king and the low scoring. 2-goals per game average was unimaginable already in Italy – the best scoring records were achieved by Inter – 44 goals, and Juventus – 42. Ten clubs did not reach even 1-goal per game average. 13 teams finished with more than 10 ties – Lazio and Udinese finished with 15. That is, they tied exactly half of their matches. The stagnated Italian football was losing fans and money, so the clubs were pushing for lifting the ban on foreign players in the hope of attracting the fans back to the stadiums and perhaps changing the game for better. The ban was lifted after the end of the season, so the Totonero scandal run along with exciting news of and speculations on big transfers. In any case, the season was played and finished. Pescara was the outsider this year.

4 wins, 8 ties – 16 points in total. Dead last and nothing surprising about it. Pescara, if playing in Serie A at all, were a relegation candidate.

Udinese finished 15th with 21 points. Again, not a surprise.

Catanzaro took he 14th place, a bit unlucky, for they ended only a point short from safety. None of the last three teams had anything in its favour and saying goodbye to Serie A was familiar to every one of them.

Lazio topped Catanzaro with 25 points and, by the final table, escaped relegation, finishing 13th. Decline settled soon after winning the title in 1973, so their lowly place was hardly a big news. But compared to others at the end of the table, Lazio appeared much stronger – they had Wilson, Giordano, Manfredonia, and D’Amico. The remains of the champion squad were, unfortunately, just that – remains. It may look strange today to see Lazio that low, but the club was not among the big Italian clubs in the 1970s and played in second division in the 1960s, so it was hardly shocking to see them down. And down they went after found heavily involved in the Totonero scandal. Along with Milan, they were relegated as a punishment.

Milan finished 3rd and although they were not really involved in the race for the title, were nothing like Lazio – the team was strong, they won the championship the previous year. By now, Milan was strong only by contemporary Italian measures – it was not the great team of the 1960s, it was not much by European standards, it had problems, especially in the attacking line, but it had clout. Yet, Milan was relegated with Lazio and Catanzaro and Udinese were saved.

Second division, 20 teams strong, was tough and resistant to changes: the single point was king. Not even one club finished with less than 10 ties. As for the record: Pistoiese tied 22 of their 38 champiosnhip fixtures. Sampdoria followed with 21, and Bari was third with 20. Scoring was not just low – it was fantastically low. Only four teams had better record than 1 goal per game average – but how better? Vicenza was the highest scoring team – 49 goals. Monza was second with 40, and Brescia and Cesena followed with 39… All the rest had lesser than 1 goal per game average… Fortify the back, preserve 0-0 , get a point – the dominant philosophy of Italian football since the 1960s. Slight variations and may be pure luck made the final table, which ideally should have been 20 teams with 38 points from 38 ties each, and 0-0 goal-difference. But the ideal is impossible, so there were winners and losers.

Matera finished last, doomed long before the final stage of the championship. Third division was more familiar level for them anyway.

Parma finished 19th. This may sound strange today, but not at the time – Parma was practically insignificant and unknown club, meandering between third and second division.

Ternana was 18th – they finished 4 points ahead of Parma, but there was any comfort in that. The club was fading away since the 1960s, sinking lower and lower. Nothing surprising by 1979-80.

Sambenedettese was 17th. In itself, nothing unusual – the small club had been fighting for mere survival during the 1970s. Yet, too bad they lost the fight this year – by a single point – just because they were too small even by the measures of second division. This was the relegated group at the bottom of the table. Up the scale all clubs played at one or another time top level football – similar clubs with similar fate: not rich enough to make and keep strong teams, going up now and then, going back to second division, some eventually going into permanent decline. From today’s perspective the most interesting name in the league was Sampdoria.

Sampdoria finished 7th, but make no mistake about it: although Genoa ended bellow them, Sampdoria was still the second and lesser club of teh city. And first division football was not exactly familiar to them yet. More likely the club was slowly building strength.

The club going down was L. R. Vicenza – they finished 5th, but they were Italian bronze medalists just two years earlier! Relegated the next season, now played again in the painfully familiar second division.

There was no mystery – Vicenza climbed up from second division to bronze medals thanks to Paolo Rossi. But he was no longer here: a messy dispute between Juventus and Vicenza left him Vicenza’s property, but since the club was relegated – and spent huge amount of money to beat Juventus – was loaned to Perugia. Vicenza, rattled by the problems surrounding his ownership, sunk to their familiar status – the eternal fate of any small club: success, if any, was temporary and almost entirely due to a great player, impossible to keep for long. Once he moved, the club sunk. Vicenza was among the best second division clubs and came close to promotion, but finished 5th at the end.

Same was Cesena – they ended 4th, losing the promotional race by 2 points. Small differences divided winners from losers. Brescia clinched 3rd place with 17 wins, 11 ties, and 10 losses.

More aggressive approach paid off: Brescia was the only club among the top 5 which attempted to break the deadly 0-0 philosophy – they went for victory and that carried them to the third place. Hardly exciting, but promoted – and that is all what mattered.

A point ahead of Brescia finished the ultra-conservative Pistoiese, as if to mock any attempt for more open and attacking football. 12 wins, 22 ties, and only 4 losses. Not winning, not losing, point by point to promotion.

The Italian second league hardly had any known names – Pistoiese had two, however, different. Mario Frustalupi, never a great star, but well enough known, was playing his last years here. As for Marcello Lippi – he is famous nowadays, not back then as a player. Pistoiese was seen, especially abroad, almost as a surprise – the Arancioni (Oranges) were found in 1921, but were shaky and went through two refoundings – in 1937 and 1945. Arguably, their strongest years were the late 1970s, when the club climbed to second division and finally – won promotion to Serie A.

The champions of Serie B were balanced – well fortified defense, but keeping an eye for a scoring opportunity. Looking for 1-0 instead for 0-0. It worked – 16 wins, 16 ties, 6 losses. 33-17 goal-difference. Obviously, the emphasis was on defense. Como finished 2 points ahead of Pistoiese.

The champions were a bit similar to Pistoiese – they were rising by the end of the 1970s after almost 20 years of insignificant moving between second and third division. So far, the best years of Como were distant memory – they played first division football between 1949 and 1953. Going up again at last. As for the team – nobody famous, but one bright young defender, who soon will be world-famous: Pietro Wierchowod. He is often given as the most important player, the mover and shaker, bringing Como up, but this is post-factum assessment: Pyetro Ivanovich Vekhovod, the son of Ukrainian Red Army soldier, was only 21 at the end of the successful season and years away from becoming nick-named ‘the Tzar’ and considered by Maradona and Lineker their toughest opponent. Talent is talent, though – Vierchowod was with the first team of Como since 1976, when he was just 17 years old.

So, the happily promoted clubs were Como, Pistoiese, and Brescia. From the perspective of first division – hardly very dangerous team. Most likely easy pray…

And one last note on this season – changes of kit’s designs. New fashion was making room for itself – it started a few years earlier, but perhaps became well pronounced in 1979-80. The new designs were questionable, but they were to become a norm in the 1980s.

Palermo’s kit is an excellent sample – a more playful design of few hoops and sleeves coloured differently. Sometimes the design worked, sometimes not. Palermo’s seems fine may be because the club colours – pink, black, and white – can be combined in smart contrasts. Or, well, 10 years later such kits will be great, compared to the extremes of the early 1990s.

The Italian season started normally, but ended badly shaked by the Totonero scandal. Tremors were felt for the next years, but the peak was reached at the end of this season, especially because it affected the national team’s preparation for and perhaps performance at the European Championship finals. The scandal made the other big news insignificant – the coming reopening of Italian football for foreign players, which happened in the summer of 1980. As for the scandal, the unthinkable happened: Italian football was accused of wide-spread corruption for a long time. Along with that went accusation of nepotism – the clubs were too powerfull and there was no will to investigate, let alone punish culprits. At first the common opinion was that the scandal would be the usual Italian soap-opera: much noise and nothing else. Thus, the real surprise came when the Italians not only investigated, but found and punished the guilty. It was astonishing – the Italians punished even untouchables: Lazio was expelled from the first division, but also Milan! To this moment nobody really thought the investigation was serious – to punish players, to punish small clubs, to punish Lazio was going very far for a country plagued by corruption and back-room deals of dubious legality. But to expell Milan… it went beyond the wildest imagination. And the punishment was not revoked – the final miracle. Italian football ended its arguably worst decade in disgrace. In the same time it started the new decade optimistically: it looked like the Italians were determined to clean their stables and restore the tarnished image of their game. Even the lift of the old ban on imported players seemed well thought, restrained, and helpful to the sport – the clubs were permitted to have one foreign player, but that was ruling for the next season.

As for the season on the field, it was not so great even without the scandal. The old problem remained – careful, defensive football. The tie was still the king and the prime argument for permitting foreign players: they were to help changing the approach. But here were foreigners in 1979-80 and it was the same as ever… low scoring, many ties, no fun, but bitter battles for 0-0 and 1 point. Point by point… champions emerged at the end. The winners of the thrid level groups were promoted, happy teams, clubs, and fans.

Rimini – for them going to second division was big success.

Ups and downs for Foggia – from first division to third, and up again. To second division for the moment.

Catania remembered better days, but decline settled in the 1970s and winning a third division group was good enough.

And one more club similar to those above: Varese. At least they had very strong basketball team at the time… but football is the real passion.

Three of the promoted clubs played first division, but at the beginning of the 1980s perhaps only Foggia could have hardboured some hopes for climbing higher. Eventually.

French football was rising, but in its peculiar way – no trully dominant super-clubs emerged. Thus, doubles were rarely possible and no matter how strong particular club was at any given year, they were not overwhelming. A bit shaky St. Etienne and strong, but somewhat lacking depth Nantes were good in the championship, but the cup was too much. Other clubs reached the final. One was absolute surprise, for they played a minor role in the second division. AS Monaco vs US Orleans. For a second consecutive year one of the finalists was second division club. But if Auxerre was climbing up, Orleans was not. It took overtime to overcome Auxerre the previous year – now Orleans was not a problem. Monaco won 3-1.

Albaladejo – Bodji – Plissonneau – Germain – Lemée – Viot

Berthouloux – Drouet – Loukaka – Hamerschmitt – Marette

Naturally, Orleans deserves praise – it was fantastic run for a lowly club. Unfortubately, heroics were not enough – as a smallish second-division team, Orleans lacked strong enough players. Albaladejo and Loukaka were the only faintly recognizable names. But playing at the final was great and memorable event. Too bad they had no chance of winning.

Monaco won the Cup easily, thus finishing the season on more than bright note. Onnis, Dalger, Petit, Ettori, Emon… good players, but the their number was a bit small for staying among the favourites without a boost. The Cup was the needed boost, yet, the team needed re-enforcement. Dalger, Emon, and Onnis were getting old – the whole attacking line. Beating Orleans was one thing, but for the next year at least one, may be two new strikers were a must. But never mind the next season – this one finished wonderfully.

The big news of French football was the transfer of Michel Platini in the summer of 1979. That he was destined to play for a big club was obvious – Platini was already one of the biggest European stars and playing for Nancy was out of the question. The queastion was rather for whom he will play and it turned out, perhaps logically, he went to Saint Etienne. If France had anything similar to the European grands, it was St. Etienne in the 1970s. Dominant, successful, and wealthy enough to buy players at will. The great team of the mid-70s also aged and major reshaping was in the works as well, so it was seemingly the prime destination for Platini. Along with him, St. Etienne aquaired the services of another big star – Johhny Rep, who spent the last two years with Bastia. The point was made: St. Etienne really acted as a big club: when in need, getting the best, with the clear intention to continue its dominance. With this two transfers St. Etienne appeared too strong for the French league – on paper. The championship developed differently, or, rather, in traditional terms of French football. In short, St. Etienne did not win despite appearance. There was more than that, of course, but it concerned the end of the table. Two clubs reached pretty much the bottom of a decline started a few years back – Marseille and Lyon. Again, pretty much in accord with tradition: French football did not have mighty clubs, everybody experienced ups and downs and downs often meant relegation.

Brest finished last in the championship – a team well below any other.

Standing from left: RICO, ROCH, KEDIE, CORRE, GUENNAL, DE MARTIGNY, BOUTIER, JUSTIER, BERNARD.

Crouching: VABEC, GOAVEC, KERUZORE, MARTET, LETEMAHULU, LENOIR, HONORINE.

Kind of expected – apart from Vabec and Keruzore, nobody really classy. A small club, Brest was hardly able to compete with wealthier clubs, but even so the season was pathetic. They were the only team without away win and earned only 15 points from 4 wins and 7 ties.

If Brest was expected outsider, their immediate neighbours were not. Olympique Marseille – who would think. With 24 points, much stronger than poor Brest – but 24 points also meant they were 5 points behind the 18th placed.

Looking at the squad, it is unbelievable – Tresor, Six, Berdoll, Linderoth (Sweden) going to second division? Marseille started the 1970s as the top French club, but gradually went down – perhas by 1975 the signs of crisis were visible. The club rather desperately tried player after player, all big names, and nothing worked. Instead of going up, Marseille slowly sunk and finally was relegated. Perhaps the policy was wrong – Marseille had more money than most French clubs and therefore no trouble to get stars. The stars somewhat underperformed, or did not mix well with the other players, and were gone as quickly as they came. As for relegation – Marseille played second division in 1965-66 for the last. Welcome back…

Marseille was not theonly club in decline – Olympique Lyon was in the same situation. They finished 18th, with 29 points, so not in real danger, but just above the relegation zone.

Lyon mirrored Marseille – strong in the first half of the 1970s, they gradually faded away. Like Marseille, they were unable to replace outgoing players – the newcomers were somewhat of lesser class. Point in case: the current Yugoslavian imports, Aleksic and Zivaljevic, were not stars at all. Chiesa was getting too old. Tigana was not yet the famous player. Pretty much the same make like Marseille – and clearly not working.

The other declining clubs were Bastia – 16th this year, and Nice – 15th.

Standing from left: PAPI, MARCIALIS, BURCKARDT, KRIMAU, DE ZERBI.

First row : MARCHIONI, HIARD, ORLANDUCCI, RAJKOVIC, CAZES, VERSTRAETE.

Nothing strange here – Bastia were normally found in the lower half of the table and their sudden climb to the top was unsustainable, for to stay there, the club needed stronger recruits. Buying good players was not financially possible. Keeping Johhny Rep was not possible either – and with him gone, Bastia immediately went down. Back to normal, so to say.

Nice, like Lyon and Marseille, was in decline, although their started earlier.

Having only a few strong players – Bjekovic, Bousdira, and perhaps Ferry – was no longer news. Nice was just keeping afloat and the queastion was for how long. There were no signs of improvement.

Those, who eather maintained relatively strong position or were slightly improving, were familiar names. Good season for Valenciennes – 8th place, but that only because they had worse goal-difference than Paris SG and Bordeaux.

To be in the top half of the table pretty much equals success for Valenciennes. They never had a truly strong team and this vintage was hardly more promising than earlier ones. It was even curiously strong year for a team whose most famous players were already veterans long beyond their peak – the former Polish national team defender Wrazy and the much-travelled Hungarian exile Ladinsky.

Paris St. Germaine finished 7th, which was typical. Compared to Valenciennes, Paris SG was vastly superior – they had money and therefore stars. But Paris SG had stars for years and nothing good came out of it so far – the constant underachieavers of the league. 40 points – the same modest Valenciennes earned.

What was wrong with Paris SG? Perhaps their approach… finishing lower than hoped, they discarded expensive players, bought new expensive players, underperformed, discarded, bought, the vicious cycle . One Brazilian – Abel, one Portuguese – Alves, three French stars – Bathenay, Baratelli, Huck. What was common between them? They were all getting old… just like players Paris SG had before them. Perhaps Dahleb was the true star of the team, for he survived many purges, but… the star players were the newcomers. At the end, the former Paris SG player Toko, now with Valenciennes, finished equal to the expensive bunch. Somehow, Paris SG did not learn that a group of famous names is not yet a winning team.

Also with 40 points, but with better goal-difference than Paris SG and Valenciennes, Bordeaux finished 6th. They were the only rising club – not ready to concur the league yet, but gradually going up.

On the surface, Bordeaux looked similar to Paris SG – a whole bunch fairly well known players, brought from other clubs. Some getting old, some already failing to become big stars. Lacombe, Gemmrich, Rohr, van Straelen. But here were also ambitious players, gradually becoming first rate – Giresse, of course, but also Domergue, Sahnoun, Soler, Lacuasta. Bordeaus was still shaping, but chemistry was good and the club was slowly going up. The most promising team at the moment.

The next two teams enjoyed strong years, but were not becoming big powers – they rather maintained positions. Strasbourg finished 5th.

Strasbourg, the champions of 1978-79, did what champions do – tried to enforce their team. The new big name was he top scorer Carlos Bianchi, formerly of Paris SG. Not a bad team, but the problem was age – Strasbourg was largely made of aging stars, who made their names elsewhere and were going downhill. The best such a team would do was exactly maintaining position among the best. Thus, a good season, but not in the title race – with 43 points, Strasbourg finished 7 points behind Monaco.

Which was similar to Strasbourg.

4th place was fine, but also outside of the real competition. 4 points behind the bronze medalist.

St. Etienne took the bronze – may be a bit disappointed. 54 points, good attack, leaky defense…

St. Etienne came close to the big European clubs – unusual for France and showing ambition. But there was something missing – perhaps, the attempt to keep strong squad since 1970 blinded a bit Robert Herbin: inevitably, the squad aged and although strong, the peak was reached in the middle of the 1970s. The big transfers in the summer of 1979 confirmed ambitions, but also signaled a major change of approach: Platini and Rep, perhaps the start of building a new team. Not players,who would fit in, but players to lead and conduct the play. New leaders often need time so the others to get used to the new scheme. To a point, St. Etienne finished 3rd because this was reshaping year. But they did not win a title since 1976 and their last cup came in 1977 – perhaps the team needed more new players, a whole new team, if it was to begin winning again. Indicative of that was that they, with Platini and Rep, finished behind Sochaux.

Second row from left: Jean-Luc Ruty, Joël Bats, Abdel Djaadaoui, Moussa Bezaz, Bernard Genghini, Zvonko Ivezic

Couching: Patrick Parizon, Eric Benoît, Yannick Stopyra, Patrick Révelli, Jean-Pierre Posca.

It was only thanks to better goal-difference Sochaux clinched silver, but for the usually insignificant club the season was fantastic. It was a good team, true, but nothing similar to St. Etienne – Stopyra and Bats were still promising youngsters. Stardom came a few years later. Ivezic was solid import, but ranking bellow other Yugoslavians. Genghini was fairly unknown yet too. As for Parizon and Petrick Revelli – they were let go from St. Etienne some time ago. Aging and no longer needed. The rejects finished ahead of their former club, however. All fine, but this was not a squad to take France by storm, let alone staying on top for long – one-time wonder, rather. Good, but not good enough to really run for the title.

Which went to an usual suspect – FC Nantes. Given the circumstances – some teams shaky, other not so strong, some other – not fine-tuned yet, and yet others in decline, Nantes was in shape, not ifs and buts. At the end, they finished 3 points ahead of Sochaux and St. Etienne.

Nantes was practically the only rival of St. Etienne during the 1970s, so they run similar risks: a squad established for years, slowly getting old, familiar, and may be no longer hungry. But Nantes was beginning the 80s strong and able, with little adjustments, to keep its leading position. Michel, Bertrand-Demanes, and Pecout were nearing retirement and gradually losing their edge, but Amisse, Rio, Tusseau, and particualry Bosis were in their prime – and in the national team. The foreign additions blended well – the Argentinian brothers Enzo and Victor Trossero. A squad in good shape by all means.

 

Group B were more equal than Group A and the season, if not stronger than the other group, was at least more dramatic from top to bottom. The relegated clubs are already mentioned, so let see the top. A bit of inacuracy first: FC Toulouse finished 6th.

Normally, a picture of second division club is taken at face value, but the dating of this one is wrong: the Belgian Gilbert van Binst arrived from Anderlecht in July 1980, so this starting eleven is not from the given season, but the next one. Apart from that, it is rather rare example of big name moving to the French Second division.

But inaccuracies are not the exiting mark of the season – it was the battle for the promotional first place. Cannes eventually dropped from the race, finishing 3rd with 40 points. Above two clubs finished with 44 points.

Olympique Avignon tried hard to win and return to the top league – they were the most successful in attack, winning 20 of the 34 games they played. But it was a bit of a case of ‘all or nothing’: they either won or lost. Won 20 matches, but lost 10, and usually such gamble leaves a team with too many goals recieved. Which at the end worked against Avignon. Equal points and equal goals scored, but the competition had stronger defense and Avignon took the 2nd place on worse goal-difference.

The group winners clinched the first place thanks to 16 wins, 12 ties, and only 6 losses. Their more careful aproach provided them with much better defensive record than Avignon: the winners allowed 30 goals, Avignon – 41. This gave them the edge: 54-30 was much better than 54-41. Like the winners of Group A, the champions here never played in the first division so far.

Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise was found in 1905 by a priest – Father Ernest Abbe Deschamps – and played at first in the Catholic leagues. Moving to professionalism was done much later, but the roots somehow remained – Auxerre had one of the most charismatic figures in French football, Guy Roux. The maker of modern Auxerre, but also a father figure for many of his players, who normally started playing the game in the club, moving through the youth system. The close-knit, almost family approach, perhaps close to the orginal intention of the founder, already brought fruits. Unlike Tours, seemingly coming from nowhere, Auxerre was noticed: in 1978-79 they played at the Cup final, and lost it in overtime. Now they won the Group B of Second Division, their first trophy.

Standing from left: Guy Roux – coach, Maryan SZEJA, Jean-Paul NOEL, Olivier BOREL, ?, Christian ROQUES, Lucien DENIS, ?, Dominique CUPERLY, Jean-Paul PESANT.

First row: Jozsef KLOSE, ?, Patrick REMY, Jean-Marc SCHAER, Serge MESONES, André TRUFFAUT, Paul BROT, Jean-Marc FERRERI.

This was not yet the well-known Auxerre of mid-1980s, but the foundational pillars were already at place and the team differed from most second division clubs: two Polish players provided experience, the former Polish national team goalkeeper Maryan Szeja and the father of world-famous Miroslav Klose – Jozsef Klose. Jean-Marc Ferreri would be French national team player in few years time. Some of the rest became well respected names. Guy Roux had more surprises in his sleeves too.

Rising Auxerre, but still unknown and not taken all too seriously. Like Tours, they had to face the challenge of every debutant the next year, but seemingly had better chances than Tours. After 75 years of existance Auxerre was going to play at top level. Father Ernest would have been very happy.