France Second Division Group A: http://football-journey.com/

Holland the Cup: http://football-journey.com/

Holland I Division

First Division. The usual suspects were where they always were, high above the rest of the league, yet, there was no drama. Feyenoord was not only unable to defend its title of the previous year, but lost even the second place. Not a big surprise, really: some shortcomings were present even in the champion squad and after winning the title Cruijff retired for real and Jelyazkov went back to his native Bulgaria. Other key players were also aging and beyond their peak. In the same time there was hardly any bright young talent, except Ruud Gullit. In the same time PSV Eindhoven was not at its peak yet, still getting in shape – aging stars were still around, but on their way out, inevitably, and PSV needed a few quality additions to replace the old horses. Not ready for anything big yet. So, they clashed with Feyenoord for the second place, but were no match to Ajax. There was no drama at the bottom of the table either – two teams were settled down there early and with enough outsiders present nobody else had to worry.

PEC Zwolle was last with 17 points and out of the league. Top row from left: verzorger A. Bunnik, Erik Nijboer, J. Muller, Ruud van Wijnen (fysiotherapeut), Willems, Veldwijk, C. Adriaanse (trainer). Middle row: Wilkens, Ijzerman, Ravens, Van Moorst, Mulder, Rep.

Sitting: Van Kooten, Wiggemansen, v.d. Hengst, Drost, Schrijvers, Booy, Weggelaar, Waslander.

Johnny Rep and Jan Mulder here, but old and far from their great days. Not enough to provide bite even if were in best shape.

NAC Breda - 17^th with 19 point. Did not have even one recognizable name, young or old, so going down was obvious.

FC Volendam - 16^th with 25 points. No heroics are ever expected from Volendam, but they had enough bite to stay out of trouble. Top row from left: Henny Meijer, Jaap Jonk, Jan Klouwer, Frans Hoek, Nico Zwarthoek, Klaas Tuyp.

Middle row: Rene Kraay, Jan Rooyen, Albert Plugboer, Leo Tholens, Leo Beenhakker, Bob Haarms, Dick Helling, Kees Guyt.

Sitting: Jan Molenaar, Jan Schokker, John Holshuysen, Keje Molenaar, Ton Blanken, Nico Runderkamp.

Go Ahead Eagles - 15^th with 28 points.

MVV Maastricht - 14^th with 29 points. Nothing much, just happy to be in the top league.

AZ'67 - 13^th with 30 points. Good days were over, it seemed, and it was inevitable result of risky policy – Alkmaar climbed to the top mostly thanks to its policy of buying classy veterans and talented younger players overlooked by the big clubs. But they had to sell as well, to balance the books somewhat. And veterans did not last long. Expected drop arrived and perhaps it was time just to cherish memories of glory years.

Excelsior (Rotterdam) - 12^th with 30 points. No bad, considering their lowly position in the pecking order. Just staying in the top league equaled success, so this season was rather strong and enjoyable.

Roda JC - 11^th with 32 points. Unnoticed so far and perhaps for their own good – the Kerkrade club was slowly getting better and stronger. Very slowly and no surprise, given the Dutch predicament: not a large pool of great talent and just a few clubs with real money.

FC Utrecht - 19^th with 32 points. Their usual performance on the surface – they were not much in the championship, but this was perhaps their best season ever in the same time.

Haarlem - 9^th with 33 points. Still holding its ground and not bad at all. Against the odds perhaps, but in a good way.

FC Twente - 8^th with 34 points. Trying to reestablish themselves in the top league after terrible exile in the second division. A far cry from the great squad of the 1970s, but recovery was not going to be easy, that much was understood. Top row from left: Martin Koopman, Jan Pouls, John Scheve, Andre van Benthem, Billy Ashcroft, Bert-Jan Janssen.

Middle row: trainer Fritz Korbach, masseur Jan Steenbeeke, Jan Sorensen, Evert Bleuming, Jeroen Korpershoek, Theo ten Caat, Rene Noord, fysiotherapeut Henk Eysink.

First row: Patrick Bosch, Fred Rutten, Manuel Sanchez Torres, Theo Snelders, Michael Birkedal, Willy Barbo, Martten Vreijsen, ass. trainer Epi Drost.

Fortuna (Sittard) - 7^th with 34 points. A little known Dutch club, which was doing well at the moment and climbing up. Which perhaps explains a publication mistake: the Bulgarian magazine Start indicated that this is the squad for 1984-85 season. Sitting from left: Huud Smeets, Wilbert Suvrijn, Willy Boessen, Nico Hanssen, Rene Maessen, Gerrie Schrijenemakers, Tonnen (?).

Middle row: Wessolek (?) - masseur, Frans Korver - coach, Theo van Well, Wim Koevermans, Chris Korver, Tiny Ruys, Anne Evers, Vorn (?) - assistant coach, Bruls (?) - superintendant.

Third row: Dr. Jessen (?) - doctor, Chis Dekker, Mario Eleveld, Jaap van den Berg, Jo Bux, Arthur Hoyer, Kasten Miller (?) - manager.

Almost the same squad, but of 1983-84, not 1984-85. They had new coach this season and some minor changes in the squad.

As for 1984-85 – this is actual photo, however bad.

FC Den Bosch - 6^th with 34 points and the best defensive record this season: they allowed 32 goals – PSV Eindhoven received 33. Not bad at all, strong season.

FC Groningen - 5^th with 41 points. Good period for this club, even if they were not especially promising as a squad. Top row from left: Adri van Tiggelen – Jan de Jonge – Harry Schellekens – Pieter Beuzenberg – Rob McDonald – Bert Wiebing.

Middle row: Paul Zweverink (assistent) – Karel Hiddink – Walter Waalderbos – Erwin Koeman – Bud Brocken – Ron Jans – Henk de Haan – Han Berger (trainer)

Sitting: Jan van Dijk – Fandi Ahmad – Theo Keukens – John Visser (verzorger) – Jos Roossien – Anne Mulder – Ronald Steenge.

Two players will be quite famous soon, but one of them was already on his way out – Erwin Koeman would rich fame as player of Belgian KV Mechelen.

Sparta (Rotterdam) - 4^th with 42 points. Enjoying strong season and excellent final position, although the title was entirely out not of reach, but of dreaming. And the same magazine made the same mistake as with Fortuna (Sittard) – this is not the squad for 84-85, as stated, but of 983-84. Sitting from left: Wout Holverda, Robin Schmidt, Henk Dirven, Rene Oomen, Ruys (?).

Middle row: J. Nijman – assistant coach, Adnan Gulek, Danny Blind, Valentin (?), Edwin Olde Riekerink, Ron Stevens, Silvio Diliberto, Bert Jacobs – coach, Henk Klamer – superintendant.

Top row: Arie Andriessen, Ron van de Berg, Ronald Lengkeek, Louis van Gaal, Leen van Oosten, John de Wolf, Robert Verbeek.

This is the squad for 1984-85. Top row from left: Robert Verbeek, Ron Stevens, Leen vd Weel, Bert Potuyt, Ronald Lengkeek, Leen van Oosten, John de Wolf.

Middle row: Henk Klamer (verzorger), J. Nijman (2e trainer), Arie Andriessen, Bas van Noortwijk, Gerrie Slagboom, Ron vd Berg, Louis van Gaal, Theo Vonk, trainer.

Sitting: Robin Schmidt, Danny Blind, Edwin Olde Riekerink, Rene Eijer, Silvio Diliberto, Rene Oomen, Bert Veldhoen.

Minor changes, really – coach gone, the Turkish player Gulek gone. Louis van Gaal was still playing, though. And intriguing pair of young defenders – Danny Blind and John de Wolf. Both will be big stars , but of arch-enemies Ajax and Feyenoord. Nice squad, begging the question 'what if they added a few more players of quality?' But the predicament of Sparta was to lose top players, not to get more. Unfortunately.

Feyenoord – above the crowd, of course, but 3^rd with 48 points. Naturally, club and fans entertained hopes for another title after the success in the previous year, but it was not to be. The team lost good players and did not replace them of similar talent. Gullit was rapidly becoming world-class players, but as a whole the squad was not all that great – the defense was particularly leaky, for instance. Cannot win a title when allowing 51 goals in 34 games. Feyenoord was a bit 'all-or-nothing' this season – won 21 games, but lost 7, which is the total of matches Ajax and PSV Eindhoven lost together! Eventually, Feyenoord lost the second place on goal-difference.

PSV Eindhoven - 2^nd with 48 points and lucky perhaps, for they clinched silver thanks to better goal-difference. Their current shortcomings prevented them to compete for the title in earnest, but the team was more perspective than the one Feyenoord had. Rebuilding was smoother, Guus Hiddink was in the coaching stuff, definitive stars of the 80s were already here and looked like PSV Eindhoven would transition from one generation to another without tremors. But they were in the process of rebuilding, not ready yet for success.

A relatively easy, but well deserved victory of Ajax. A title for Ajax is, of course, a cliché, but this one was important: Ajax was really coming back and a new great team was almost completed. Just a few finishing touches were needed, a bit more experience – for this was mainly new and young generation, a bit of s spur from inspirational coach. Details. Yes, the team was not yet at its prime, but it was almost there and credit must be given to policy of rebuilding almost always more sound and effective than the rivals, Feyenoord in particular. 24 wins, 6 ties, 4 losses, 93-46 goal-difference, 54 points. PSV and Feyenoord were 6 points behind and the rest of the league did not even count. Aad de Mos was wonderful coaching this squad, which was nice mixture of talent and experience, of domestic players and foreigners. Meeuws (Belgium), Gaselich (Austria), Molby (Denmark) from abroad, seasoned Spelbos, Schoenaker, bright and already with few seasons behind them Rijkard, van Basten, Ronald Koeman, Vanenburg, Silooy, Menzo, van't Schip. It was also a deep squad, with good reserves eager to push forward and prove themselves. Even their assistant coach was something – Spitz Kohn was the man behind the wonderful years of Twente about 10 years back. There was strong sense that the next great team of Ajax arrived and it was again like in 1969: just a little more was needed to become truly great. Perhaps in terms of adding experience this season was crucial – like 1969 was. Not everybody was to stay, that was traditional Ajax policy anyway, but, like in the early 70-s selling a player or two was not going to dissolve the team – it had enough debt and the internal competition was already fierce. Just look for this team in the near future, that was all.

Holland II Division: http://football-journey.com/

Belgium the Cup: http://football-journey.com/

Belgium: http://football-journey.com/

Portugal the Cup:  http://football-journey.com/

Portugal I Division: http://football-journey.com/

Portugal II Division: http://football-journey.com/

Romania the Cup: http://football-journey.com/

Romania I Division: http://football-journey.com/

Romania II Division: http://football-journey.com/

Yugoslavia the Cup: http://football-journey.com/

Yugoslavia I Division: http://football-journey.com/

Yugoslavia II Division: http://football-journey.com/

Yugoslavia: http://football-journey.com/

USSR the Cup: http://football-journey.com/

USSR I Division

First Division. First of all, rules. A limit of 10 ties and no points for those ties above the limit. Five teams lost points because of the rule – Kairat (Alma-Ata) most of all, 3 points. However, most teams were 'wise' and lost points were not only few, but did not affect final standings. Face-to-face results determined positions in case of equal points and only if teams were still equal goal-difference was applied – the last point saved Dinamo (Moscow). The coming reduction of the league made the battle for survival most important – and also justified the reduction, for one round before the end of the championship, for 8 clubs were in danger of relegation at that point. The last two were directly relegated; the 15^th and 16^th teams were going to promotion/relegation play-off against the winners of Second Division. At the top end of the table the battle ended a bit earlier, when Dinamo (Kiev) secured the title. It was not overwhelming victory, but it was a bit surprising one – Dinamo was not playing very good in the recent years and was not expected to improve suddenly. But they did, although not at their peak yet. Spartak (Moscow) proved to be eternal loser – once again, the most they could do was to finish 2^nd. The recent provincial champions proved to be just good – not great – and thus unable to repeat their successes. The decline of Dinamo (Moscow), Ararat (Erevan), and Dinamo (Tbilisi) continued and now it looked like Shakhter (Donetzk) was joining the sorry bunch. One irritating point was the artificial pitch used in Moscow to which visitors had no way to adapt – the pitch gave enormous advantage to the Moscow teams and was even decisive on some occasions, but complains fell on death ears.

SKA (Rostov) was the hopeless outsider of the championship – last with 21 points. If anything, they confirmed the massive decline of Army clubs – there will be no such team in the next championship.

Fakel (Voronezh) was 17^th with 27 points. They did what they could, but were generally expected to be relegated and did not disappoint – they and SKA were directly relegated.

The big drama was above the last two – the dangerous spots had to be avoided and that was decided in the last round, where sheer will seemingly helped, for direct opponents met. Ararat and Shakhter ended in a 3-3 tie. The clash between Neftchi and Dinamo (Moscow) ended scoreless. And Chernomoretz lost at home to Kairat 0-1. After that...

Neftchi (Baku) was 16^th with 28 points and going to promotion/relegation play-off.

Chernomoretz (Odessa) was 15^th with 29 points. What a plunge down... this is picture of the team against Real (Madrid), playing for the UEFA Cup. The previous season was great and now – going to promotion/relegation play-off. Chernomoretz was a bit unlucky, for they were 15^th only because of worse goal-difference. Then again... who lost its most important home game of the season?

Dinamo (Moscow) barely survived - 14^th with 29 points. Better goal-difference helped them, but, frankly, it could have been just fine if they were relegated. The decline was seemingly endless... perhaps a relegation would have shaken them from the stupor.

Ararat (Erevan) - 13^th with 30 points. Their last match may have been fixed – the 3-3 tie with neighbours Shakhter gave neither team a point and it looked like a gamble: keep the already earned 30 points and hope those below to lose their own matches. It worked... Dinamo (Moscow) got 1 point and Chernomoretz – 0. However, if those clubs won, Ararat was going down. And if Ararat won, then Shakhter was in danger... so, suspect tie. It kept Shakther safe and Ararat almost safe.

Shakther (Donetzk) - 12^th with 30 points, but, curiously, with positive goal-difference. It looked like they gave up on the championship and concentrated on the Cup, but such argument is lame: the Cup final was played at mid-season. Rather, Shakhter betrayed signs of coming crisis.

Torpedo (Kutaisi) looked good in the final table - 11^th with 31 points. But that only thanks to 2-1 home victory in the last round – Dinamo (Kiev) had nothing to play for and was generous. Torpedo survived, that was the reality. However, if Dinamo still had to fight for the title... Torpedo could have been down to promotion/relegation play-offs.

Metallist (Kharkov) - 10^th with 31 points. Nothing special this season, but managed to survive a bit earlier than most and the last round did not matter to them.

Kairat (Alma-Ata) - 9^th with 32 points. Thanks to their last minute victory in Odessa. Happy survivors, but the only thing to say about them was that they lost most points to 10-ties-limit rule.

Dinamo (Tbilisi) - 8^th with 32 points. Decline was the word.

Zhalgiris (Kaunas) - 7^th with 32 points. Not that many points, but this was a bright team, settling comfortably in the top league and gaining experience. One of the noticeable teams, expected to climb higher in the future.

Zenit (Leningrad) - 6^th with 35 points. Nobody expected them to win a second title, but the team disappointed in the European Champions Cup and generally it was felt they underperformed. First row from left: Vedeneev, Vorobyov, Dolgopolov, Afanassyev, Chukhlov, Zakharikov, Kuznetzov.

Standing: Mikhaylichenko – masseur, Melnikov, Gerassimov, Davydov, Barannik, Dmitriev, Stepanov, Biryukov, Sadyrin – coach.

Torpedo (Moscow) - 5^th with 36 points. The best of the 'lower' teams, for the 4 teams above were in their own separate category. Crouching form left: A. Petrov – masseur, Dozmorov, Prigoda, Gostenin, Redkous, Petrakov, Petrenko, A. Solovyev, N. Sarychev, Yu. Sarychev, Filatov – assistant coach.

Second row: Ivanov – coach, Zhendarev – administrator, Susloparov, Buryak, Sarychev, Pivtzov, Polukarov, Kobzev, Zhupikov, N. Vassilyev, V. Kruglov, Proyaev – doctor, Zolotov – team chief.

Torpedo was criticized – along with Dnepr and Dinamo (Kiev) – for passive play and disrespect for the game and the public and the accusations were true, but so what? There was almost nothing to play for near the end of the season – Torpedo was safe and up in the table, but the very top was unreachable. Nothing new, in their case, for the club maintained good squad, but generally of second-stringers, some of them aging.

Dinamo (Minsk) – considered one of the candidates for the title, as all recent champions, but not an outstanding leader. Dinamo had limited options, like most provincial club, and it was almost a miracle they were able to keep their stars. But it was pretty much the same team which won the title a bit back – may be no worse, but certainly no better. No great new recruits. 4^th with 41 points – mostly because of weak finish, but their most important losses came against direct opponents playing home games on artificial pitch. This was too much Dinamo, used to grass.

Top row from left: Aleksandr Chernukho – masseur, Aleksandr Gorbylev, Sergey Gorlukovich, Lyudas Rumbutis, Aleksandr Metlitzky, Andrey Sosnitzky, Viktor Sokol, Vassily Dmitrakov – doctor, Mikhail Tzeytin – assistant coach.

3^rd row: Ivan Savostikov – assistant coach, Yury Trukhan, Aleksandr Kisten, Mikhail Vergeenko – assistant coach, Ivan Zhekyu, Andrey Zygmantovich, Andrey Shalimo, Leonid Vassilevsky – administrator.

2^nd row: Yury Kurnenin, Viktor Yanushevsky, Leonid Garay – team chief, Veniamin Arzamastzev – coach, Igor Gurinovich, Viktor Shishkin.

Front row: Georgy Kondratyev, Sergey Gotzmanov, Sergey Aleynikov, Sergey Borovsky.

Dnepr (Dnepropetrovsk) – 3^rd with 42 points. Perhaps the most promising team at the time, but hardly stronger than the other leading teams. One of the teams accused of disrespecting the sport and the fans this season. What Dnepr was not accused of was their super-physical way of playing – very often they were dangerous, but somehow the truly ugly side of their football never came under criticism in USSR.

Spartak - 2nd  with 46 points. This was painfully familiar trend: every year Spartak was considered prime favorite for the title and every year they failed. The most consistent Soviet team, but second-best. Their coach Konstantin Beskov blamed recruitment difficulties and perhaps he was right – at best, Spartak was able to match the quality of exiting players with those of newcomers. No more than that, so there was good regular team – good, but almost always with a weak post or two – and rather insignificant group of reserves. Why Spartak, considered not only leading team, but the one playing the most exciting football in the country, was unable to attract top-level talent could be asked of the coaching staff – were they blind? After the end of the season 3 leading players left and none similar to them arrived.

Dinamo (Kiev) was the championship with 20 wins, 8 ties, and 6 losses. 64-26 and 48 points. Easy to shrug shoulders today and say 'who else', but it was surprise victory in 1985. Dinamo had tough spell in recent years, so they were not seen as top favorite. Further, the squad was unusually short for Lobanovsky's team – strong regulars, but nobody worth mentioning behind them. Further: frictions between coach and players were no longer just dark rumors, but public knowledge – Leonid Buryak, for instance, was not shy at all and did not hide why he went Torpedo (Moscow) from journalist. Tremors of this period can still be heard today – recently a player, who left Dinamo, spoke of 1983 in this way: 'talent sat on the bench and Lobanovky's pets were on the pitch'. Tense relations were seen as part of Dinamo's recent failures. And finally Chanov broke his arm and missed a considerable chunk of the season – just as Dinamo finally got decent goalkeeper. So, Dinamo was seen as one of leaders, but no stronger than Spartak, Dnepr, Dinamo (Minsk), and Zenit. Unlikely winner. And it was not an easy victory, perhaps helped a bit by inconsistent performance and various weaknesses of the rivals. It was essentially the work of tied short team – a cluster of 12-13 regulars, supported by typical Dinamo group of reliable second-stringers, 3 or 4, who would never be regulars, but just support for a few years and then dismissed. 14 players really played this season – V. Khlus, the author of the accusation mentioned above, appeared only twice! As a whole, Dinamo was not exactly an impressive team, but they stepped up a bit near the end of the season – especially in their European games, and at least the foundation of the great football they played in 1986 was laid. Well, 11^th title. Difficult one, yes, but compared to the rivals, Dinamo had superior team – well-rounded, slightly deeper than what others had, and the top players of USSR were really here. Dinamo was also the only club having no problems of recruitment – they took anybody they wanted, which was mainly robbing the other Ukrainian clubs of their stars – Dnepr was already on the list: they had goalscoring machine, Oleg Protassov, and Dinamo was not going to leave him there.

USSR II Division: http://football-journey.com/

USSR III Division: http://football-journey.com/

Scotland the Cups: http://football-journey.com/

Scotland I Division:  http://football-journey.com/

Scotland: http://football-journey.com/