Football Journey

 

Republic of Ireland. Two changes before the start of the 1979-80 season: Cork Alberts changed its name to Cork United. Cork Celtic went into bankruptcy. There was no second division in the country, therefore, no promotions and relegations. Ocasional league changes were done by elections – University College Dublin was elected to replace Cork Celtic. The new league member, along with Cork United, were outsiders this season – they finished 14th and 15th . Cork United, 14th, was 9 points behind Home Farm. Last finished Shelbourne with 12 points. Like the league outsiders, the leaders were also in a category of their own. Athlone Town finished 3rd with 39 points – a point ahead of Shamrock Rovers. Behind Shamrock Rovers was Finn Harps, also with 38 points, but worse goal-difference. These three were comfortably ahead of the bulk of the league – Bohemians was 6th with 32 points. Yet, the real leaders were further ahead – Athlone Town ended 7 points behind the silver medalists. Dundalk and Limerick United fought for the title to the end, leaving the other teams in the dust. Dundalk finished with 46 points and lost the title by a point. One tie instead of a loss and much higher scoring made Limerick champions – 47 points they had, thanks to more aggresive play than Dundalk’s.

Limerick, relatively young for an Irish club – founded in 1937, had little success in its history. So far, they had been champions once – in 1959-60. The club was no longer called Limerick FC, but changed name to Limerick United – not the last change of name.

The new champions were typical Irish squad – there were no famous players, for big talent inevitably played in England. But it was historic squad nevertheless – they won not only the second title, but so far the last one for Limerick. The successful team deserves a second look because of that:

It was not just rare, but dramatic victory – Limerick United triumphed thanks to a single point in their favour. Well done, lads.

It was the season of the underdog: the Cup final opposed Waterford to St. Patrick’s Athletic. Neither team was much in the championship, so a trophy was more than desirable.

Waterford prevailed 1-0. Cumann Peile Aontaithe Phort Láirge as the club is called in Irish, won the Cup once before – in the long gone 1937. This was their second Cup.

The League Cup is the youngest Irish tournament and the last chance for St. Ptarick’s Athletic to win a trophy this year. Their opponents were Athlone Town, who enjoyed strong season and easily prevailed – 4-2.

Athlone Town – or Cumann Peile Bhaile Áth Luain – are very old endeed: founded in 1887. But success evaded them so far – to date, they had a single trophy and it was won long time ago – the Irish Cup in 1924. More than half a century later they won their second – the League Cup.

All winners of 1979-80 won their second trophies in their histories. Interesting footnote.

 

Norway. The winners of the two second division groups were both dominant: Hamarkameratene finished 7 points ahead of the next pursuer in Group A, and Brann – 6 points ahead in Group B. But three teams were promoted in Norway, so there was a play-off for the remaining spot between the second placed clubs. Mjøndalen (Group A) lost both legs to Haugar (Group B) – 0-1 and 0-3. As it was, all promoted teams had previous first division experience, so nothing new.

The happy players of Brann going back to familiar league.

First division had more dramatic season than second division. Skeid and Bodø/Glimt were too weak this year and finished at the bottom without much resistance, but the battle for escaping 10th place – the third relegation place – lasted to the very end. Molde ended 10th after in the very last round of the championship Lyn scored a winning goal in the 90th minute and thus finished with 19 points. Unlucky Molde had 18. The rest of the league was fairly equal and there was no large gap between those on top and the other clubs – 6 points divided 1st and 8th place. Nothing unusual – there was no really big club able to get together the best players of the country. The typical Norwegian team meant nothing to outsiders.

Fredrikstad – 7th with 23 points – was a fair sample: any name ringing a bell? Reidar Lund, Terje Jensen, Tore Jan Solvang, Per Egil Ahlsen, Kai Roger Olsen, Kai Erik Herlovsen, Åge Johansen, Steinar Berøe Mathisen, Frode Hansen, Tommy Warchol, Lars Sørlie, Jan Erik Audsen, Viggo Gilberg, Rino Nilsen, Lars Petter Hauge, Johnny Holberg, Frank Solvang, Stein Haugan. Perhaps the most important feature of the picture is that it was shot indoors: harsh climate kept Norwegian teams indoors often and many a picture was made in training halls.

Anyhow, bronze medals went to Lillestrom. The battle for the title, like the battle for survival down at the league bottom, lasted to the very end. 7 minutes before the final whistle Bryne was seemingly winning – they had 29 points and their rivals needed victory to top them. Yet, they were tied at 3-3… But Steinar Aase scored a 4th goal, the tiny lead was preserved in the remaining minutes and Bryne lost the title… Start finished also with 29 points, but with better goal-difference.

IK Start (Kristiansand) were happy and may be a bit lucky champions. Start won their 2nd title – and last so far – enjoying the best period in their long history.

The Cup final opposed Valerengen to Lillestrom. Since Lillestrom was one of the top Norwegian clubs in the 1970s and Valerengen was mid-table club normally, the winner would have been easily predictable… but predictions were not safe thing in Norway: Valerengen destroyed Lillestrom 4-1.

This was historic victory for ‘the Bohemians’ – first ever Cup! And there only 2nd trophy – the first was the champions title in 1965. Valerengen or Valerengens IF, or, more recently Valerenga Fotball – the name may be confusing, but the club belongs to and is name after the neighbourhood of Vålerenga in Oslo.The name is also pronounced Vål’enga by the fans, so go figure. It was founded in 1913, but the roots are deeper, just to make bigger confusion: the history of Vålerenga goes back to Fotballpartiet Spark which was founded in 1898, which became Idrettslaget Spring on 29 July 1913. Later the club changed its name to Vaalerengens Idrættsforening. Got the name at last?

Northern Ireland – nothing new, nothing exciting. Ups and downs in the professional league every year with little significance.

Glenavon (Lurgan) were strong in 1978-79, reaching UEFA Cup spot – apparently exhausted by the effort, they slipped down to 9th place in 1979-80. Three clubs finished behind them. Good season enjoyed Glentoran (Belfast) – 3rd, and Ballymena United – 2nd. And way above every other club was familiar name – Linfield. The usual champions… they finished 9 points ahead of Ballymena United, collecting one more and entirely routine title.

The champions left nothing to other clubs: they reached the Cup final too, and promptly won 2-0 over city rivals Crusaders. The statisticians website records 2-0 victory; the Irish newspaper bellow – 2-1. Whatever the result…

A double for Linfield (Belfast) and Peter Rafferty was perhaps becoming familiar name and face around Europe, thanks to repetition of local success. Crusaders (Linfield) earned a spot in the Cup Winners Cup as losing finalists, and Ballymena United won the single Irish spot in the UEFA Cup.

 

Wales. May be unjustly placed with the likes of Cyprus, may be not. Welsh clubs enjoyed strong time, but they played in the English leagues. And the Cup was peculiar by UEFA standards, for technically ‘foreign’ clubs were allowed to participate.

One of them, as it happened often in the Cup’s history, reached the final – Shrewsbury Town. The other finalist was Welsh – Newport County AFC. Internationally, it was OK – even if the English club won, Wales was going to be represented in the Cup Winners Cup by the losing finalist. But it was better than that – Newport won both legs of the final: 2-1 and 3-0.

Newport County was lowly even for a Welsh club – if they played professional football at all, it was in the 4th division, hardly something noticeable. But this was the best ever season of the small club – they won promotion to 3rd division and they won the Cup for the first time.

A historic victory, considering that Wales had its own ‘big clubs’ – Cardiff City and particularly Swansea Town, which enjoyed its best years exactly at that time, climbing up to the 1st English division. First trophy is a great moment in the history of any club, but in the case of Newport County it turned out to be the greatest moment ever, for the 1979-80 success was never repeated again – it remains the only trophy won by the club, which hit hard times almost 10 years later and disappeared for awhile. Since the distant future was unknown, the club enjoyed the moment – and more: after winning promotion and Cup, they had excellent run in the Cup Winners Cup. However, even this was still unknown yet.

Cyprus had one more transitional season – for a second year continued the reduction of the top division, which now consisted of 15 teams. Two team were relegated and one promoted in order of achieving the typical for the country league of 14 members. Apart from that, the season was marked by change of guard – the two strongest clubs were unquestionably best, but exchanged places.

The exile Nea Salamina (Famagusta) won the second league and the single promotion – a quick return of the usual first division member to their natural environment.

The two rivals from the city of Paphos were to play their derby in the next season as well, but in the lower league. Both finished with 19 points, goal difference placed APOP above Evagoras, but… we are talking of the last two places in first division. Both teams were relegated – and not surprisingly, for they played more often in second division than in the first. Above them it was business as usual without anything upsetting or really surprising. Six positions in the league were determined by goal-difference – that was perhaps the most characteristic feature of this season. Last place was decided by goal-difference and so was the title. Yet, the league as a whole was either above or bellow these struggles. Perhaps one club must be mentioned from the bulk:

Keravnos Strovolos, the tiny club from Nicosia, which hardly ever played among the best, managed to finish safely 12th – on better goal-difference too. A big success really – they were not expected to stay in the league, and escaping relegation was what success meant in their case. Meantime, Pezoporikos (Larnaca) finished 3rd – confidently above rivals, but not for a second a title contender. They finished with 33 points. The two clubs above them had 48 points each.

The usual suspects – Omonia and APOEL – raced head to head to the end. Omonia lost just one match and had the best defense. APOEL won the most matches and had the best striking record. At the end, a single goal decided winners from losers: APOEL had +53 goal-difference and Omonia +52.

APOEL triumphed over their arch-rivals by a single goal, but it was very sweet victory indeed – their first since 1973, finally breaking Omonia’s monopoly.

The Cup finals reversed the roles: APOEL did not reach it, but Omonia, which played for the last time Cup final in 1974 did, opposing Alki (Larnaca). Alki, traditionally not even the top club in their own city, had no chances – as ever, they were among those fighting for survival in the league, where they ended 11th. The difference of class was obviously not in their favour and they lost the final, as expected – 1-3.

Omonia lost the title, but on the other hand won the Cup – a trophy, which they did not hold since 1974. It was Omonia champions and APOEL Cup winners in the recent years, but now the roles reversed. APOEL in particular wished the new disposition to remain in the future.

Albania remained remote and obscure – hardly anything survived from 1979-80 championship. Only three clubs showed some class in the second division. Traktori Lushnje had no rival at all in Group A and won it with 6 points advantage – huge gap, considering that only 8 clubs participated. Group B was more competitive – tow clubs contested first place. Besëlidhja Lezhë prevailed by 2 points. Entirely unknown club – Dajti Kamëz – finished second, but 7 points ahead of the 3rd placed. As it was, former members of first division dominated the second level and got promoted.

First division was not much fun either. Apolonia Fier ended last without winning even a single match. Absolute outsiders, earning just 5 points during the season. Shkëndija Tiranë finished 13th – 14 points ahead of poor Apolonia, but 4 points behind Tomori Berat, which finished safely 12th. Apolonia and Shkëndija went down.

The rest of the league was seemingly fairly equal – 9 points divided silver medalists from 12th placed. Point or two difference decided higher or lower place. Vllaznia Shkodër finished 3rd and 17 Nëntori Tiranë second – neither club challenged the solitary leader.

Which was familiar name – Dinamo Tiranë. This season they were head and shoulders above the rest, finishing 5 points ahead of 17 Nëntori.

Dinamo easily won their 13th title, but how strong they were is hard to say – it was rather that their rivals were weak, especially Partizani Tiranë, which ended 4th and only because of better goal-differemce.

Partizani did not close the season empty-handed, though. Weak in the championship, they won the Cup. It was not easy victory, although their opponent was not a strong team. Labinoti Elbasan was a typical mid-table club, this year was no different – they finished 9th in the championship – but cup final is another matter. Labinoti kept Partizani at 1-1 tie and a second match was scheduled. It was also equal game, but Partizani managed to score a goal and thus to win the Cup. 1-1 and 1-0 – Partizani not only were not superior, but had really hard time winning the trophy.

Partizani saved the season by winning the Cup, but as a whole nothing changed in Albania – weak or strong, the top clubs Partizani and Dinamo got the trophies, as ever. Well, even if one of them failed, it would have been 17 Nentori winning… the three clubs from the capital Tirana dominated Albanian football.

By 1980 Icelandic football got some notice, but this was because of players making good impressions abroad. Domestic leagues continued to be weak.

Reynir Arskogsstrond won the 3rd division championship. Good for the team looking largely like bunch of teenagers, but otherwise the winners had only a novelty value. Promoted to second level, though.

KA and Thor, both from Akureyri, finished 1st and 2nd in the second division and promoted to top league. Both clubs were familiar with first division football and clearly above the rest of the second league. There is nothing more to say – half of the second division members were entirely unknown, only three clubs, apart from the winners, played in a minor role if first division occasionally.

First division was 50% Reykjavík clubs. Of them the smallest one, Trottur, was the league outsider, sinking to the bottom early in the championship and never moving from the last 10th spot. IB Keflavik, usually stronger, had a bad season and finished 9th. These were the relegated. On the brighter side was UB Kopavogur – unlikely first division member, but they finished 5th , seemingly determined to establish themselves among the best.

Four clubs at the top were more or less familiar to foreign public names, for those were usually stronger and played in the European tournaments. But there was no competitive race for the title. IA Akranes and Vikingur Reykjavik were comfortably above the rest of the league, yet, fought between themselves for the bronze medals. Both finished with 20 points and IA Akranes got the medals thanks to superior goal-difference. Way above them were Fram and Valur, but there was no much of the clash between them either: Fram ended 5 points ahead of IA Akranes, but 3 points behind the champions. In a small league of only 10 members, 3 points was rather big advantage.

Valur Reykjavík finished with one more title – their 17th and 3rd since 1975. Valur, traditionally one of the best clubs in the country, was seemingly the current strongest club.

The Cup final opposed Fram Reykjavík to ÍB Vestmannæyjar. IB were stronger in the first half of the 1970s, but sunk to the lower half of the table after 1975. Fram prevailed 2-1. Thus, the strongest Icelandic clubs at the moment won the trophies.

Fram won their 4th Cup. Although one of the most successful clubs, with 15 titles by 1980, Fram was well bellow their arch-rival Valur in recent times: since 1947 they won only 2 titles – one in 1962 and one in 1972. On the other hand, they excelled at last in the Cup tournament, winning their very first Cup in 1970 and steadily adding more during the 70s.

A strange play-off was staged between IA Akranes and Vikingur – strange, because the final table shows IA at third place. The play-off decided who will represent Iceland in the UEFA Cup and Vikingur won 2-1. Still, it looks weird, for if IA Akranes was awarded 3rd place, they automatically deserved the European spot. What the play-off did was just cementing the supremacy of the clubs from the capital – all three Icelandic representatives in the European tournaments hailed from Reykjavik.

The Cup final opposed one of the losers in the championship and a club which perhaps had bigger ambitions, but was down on its luck in the championship. Haka Valkeakoski, traditional strong clubs in Finland, lost the title by a single point. Winning the Cup would have been good… KTP Kotka had typical midtable season – 5th in the preliminary stage, far behind the top 4 teams, but also far ahead of the rest the league; and 5th in the final stage, once again far behind from the top four. The final was tightly contested. At the end KTP Kotka clinched 3-2 victory.

Happy winners. KTP Kotka were not exactly a great traditional powerhouse, but happened to win something from time to time. This was one such occasion – well done for obviously inferior club, but also a good example of football in the lower European regions: teams were relatively equal in strength and without real stars and relatively few good players, everything was possible. KTP Kotka had anonymous players to jaded outsider’s eye – but OPS Oulu were anonymous just as much.

Finland established complicated championship formula, seemingly suitable for the level of the game in the country: two-phased championship. At first standard league format was played. The second phase continued with the top 8 clubs of the league playing mini-league final tournament for the title. Every team carried half of their first-stage points to the final. The bottom 4 clubs plus the top 4 clubs of the second league proceeded to relegation/promotion tournament. Bonus points were given, depending on each club’s place in the opening stage – 4 points for the highest placed, going down to 1 point for the lowest. This combination worked fine for sifting out inferior teams, but in the same canceled winners of lower divisions and up and down movements were not guaranteed. OTP Oulu, Reipas Lahti, KTP Kuopio, and KPV Kokkola were the bottom 4 in the first stage of top division. MP Mikkeli, RoPS Rovaniemi, MiPK Mikkeli, and Kuusysi Lahti were at the top of the second division preliminary stage. The 8 clubs made the relegation/promotion group, which proved second division members better – at this moment – than the top flight teams. Only KTP Kuopio finished among the top 4, going to play first division football next year. KTP Kuopio finished 1st, but places are a bit misleading – all four teams finished with 11 points, a combined record of earned and bonus points. RoPS Rovaniemi, MP Mikkeli, and MiPK Mikkeli were promoted.

The final tournament for the title mirrored the preliminary stage – OPS Oulu, TPS Turku, HJK Helsinki, and Haka Valkeakoski were well above the rest of the league. With 30 points, HJK Helsinki and Haka Valkeakoski ended 6 points ahead of the 5th placed KTP Kotka. The original superiority brought instant advantage before the second stage started: the top clubs kept the gap by carrying more points. The top 4 were tightly packed in the first stage and went also together in the second – there was no outstanding favourite in neither phase. At the end, TPS Turku finished 4th with 23 points, HJK Helsinki got bronze medals with 24 points, Haka Valkeakoski clinched silver with 25, OPS Oulu were champions with 26 points.

OPS Oulu won a consecutive title, repeating their success in 1979. They did not dominate the championship at all, prevailing by a single point, but in itself their record is remarkable: OPS lost only one match this season. Their only loss came during the preliminary tournament – nobody managed to beat them in the final stage. But the champions did not depend on defensive tactics: they attacked and scored a lot. With 70 goals, they outscored the second best, Haka Valkeakoski, by 13 goals.

Arguably, those were the best years of the club, but on a larger scale, they were unknown. It was a team best measured only by Finnish standards: about 15 players were used in the campaign, mostly young. Among the regular substitutes were 21, 19, and 16 years olds. Two national team players and 2 Olympic team players, whose performance at the Moscow Olympic Games left no memory. More or less, the typical Finnish squad… perhaps what made difference was the employment of two foreigners:

Hugh Smith, 23-old Scottish midfielder, and

Keith Armstrong, 23-years old English forward. The duo came together from Hong Kong, where they played previously, after failing to impress English and Scottish clubs. They shined in Finland, however, and both cherished hopes of breaking into British professional football. Given their age and evident success abroad, their hopes were perhaps plausible, but there is no escape from measuring Finnish football against top European leagues: Smith and Armstrong instantly elevated the class of OPS Oulu and helped the club to a second title – the foreign stars, however, failed to establish themselves in Heart of Midlothian and Workington…

But let not judge OPS Oulu harshly: they were happy champions, prevailing over close and equal pursuers.

Luxembourg. Little worth mentioning.

Olympique Eischen and

Alliance Dudelange won promotions to first division.

One club was hopeless outsider in first division – US Rumelange. Last with 11 points. Half of the league fought for escaping relegation. Chiers Rodange was the looser, finishing 11th with 16 points. At the top of the table 4 teams were above the rest – Union Luxembourg finished 4th, 7 points ahead of the 5th placed. Progres Niedercorn got bronze medals with 30 points. Jeunesse Esch/Alzette and Red Boys Differdange fought the title and single point decided the winner. Red Boys finished 2nd.

Jeunesse won their 17th title – not a surprise at all, since the club was already the strongest club in the small country. As a whole, the top 4 were the usual better clubs at that tine.

Progres Niedercorn reached the Cup final and tried to win a trophy compensating for the lost title. But their opposition was also ambitious – Spora Luxembourg fought for survival this year and at the end finished 7th. However, Spora was one of the historically most successful clubs. The final ended without a winner. Spora prevailed in overtime 3-2.

A great ending of the season – Spora ensured another season in the first division and won the Cup. This was their 8th Cup and first trophy since 1965-66, when they won their 7th Cup. As for champions, Spora did not win the league since 1960-61. The club was declining – the best years were already in very distant past before the Second World War. Few trophies were added after the war, but may be a revival was beginning at last?

Standing from left: FIEDLER Jean, WÜNSCH Romain, HOSCHEID Pierre, BERCKES Louis, SAUBER Paul, PETRY Dirk, PLETSCH Gérard, BAUMERT Alain, ZENDER Raymond, LORANG Roger (Trainer).

First row: ZEUTZIUS Fernand, MOLITOR Marcel, MANNON Jean-Louis, MOUSEL José, URBING Gérard, ROB Pascal, MANNON Alain, FIEDLER Carlo.

Well done, but the names mean nothing outside Luxembourg.