Czechoslovakia:

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FC Porto had a second chance in the Cup tournament – they reached the final, after having easy opponent at the ½ finals: an away fixture, but against lowly Famalicao. FC Porto won 2-0. Meantime the foes from Lisbon fought each other – Sporting was losing ground in the championship, but as every club on downhill, but still strong, the Cup became the place for brief excellence. A derby with local enemy was highly motivating too – Sporting trashed Benfica 3-1, the only match Benfica lost this season.

The final was dramatic as well – the regular match ended in 1-1 tie. In the replay Sporting triumphed, however minimally – 2-1.

The 'new' FC Porto came very close to a double. The lost final only showed that the team was still unripe for true dominance. They needed polishing, a few new players, little things. This was still a squad of 'second-bests' in the general Portuguese scheme. Fernando Gomes was sill too young – 21 years old – and not in full bloom yet. FC Porto had to wait for a double.

Tough, dramatic, but well deserved Cup for Sporting Lisbon. 14^th Cup for them – big numbers historically, but the recent years showed clearly this was the most Sporting was able to reach now. Still, enjoyable and not just a consolation. For the moment, Sporting saved otherwise disappointing season.

Perhaps the trophy was to be cherished more – victories were increasingly harder for Sporting in the changing reality of Portuguese football. They were no longer able to build a great squad – the most famous players were in Benfica and the brightest younger talent in FC Porto. Sporting was becoming just 'solid'... it was quite telling that they depended on aging star like Salif Keita, well beyond his prime and nearing retirement. Similar was Artur, spending his best years with the arch-enemy, Benfica. Because of that perhaps Sporting's victory was to be appreciated more – it was a great success of spirit, against the odds, and brave attempt of disadvantaged club to stay among the best.

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

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

The championship of Switzerland: http://football-journey.com/

Switzerland – once upon a time having quite a strong football, but since mid-1960s outpaced by many European countries. After 1975 there were strong signs of recovery, yet, without real success on the level of national teams. Clubs did better and the progress continued. This was not to be truly great generation, but, may be because of the new format of the league, improvement continued. Although a championship without big and dominant clubs, Swiss football depended on the steady performance of Basel, FC Zurich, and Servette in the 1970s. One more club joined the group in 1977-78 - a familiar name, but staying in the shadow of the trio so far. Grasshopper (Zurich) reached the Cup final – not a big surprise, but rather a sigh of new ambition. Back then the club was better known as 'Grasshoppers' – the final 's', making the word plural in English, was old mistake, eventually corrected many years later. Anyhow, they went all the way to the Cup final, where Servette (Geneva) opposed them. As a footnote, the final was traditionally played in Bern – between 1936 and 2001 no other city hosted the Cup final. The final ended in 2-2 draw and had to be replayed. Servette clinched minimal victory by 1-0 in the second match. Small, big, victory is a victory. Servette won the Cup in 1971, lost the final in 1976, and now won it one more time: their 4th altogether.

Losers...crouching, from left: Lauper, Piccand, Herbert Hermann, Bauer, Heinz Hermann, Bouli.

Middle row: Brunner – masseur, Montanden, Hagenbuch (?), Berbig, Inderbitzin, Nafzger, Sulser, Johannsen – coach.

Top row: Bachmann (?), Traber (?), Ponte, Wehrli, Egli, Hey, Niggl, Meyer.

Hopes and ambitions crashed... Grasshopper badly wanted a cup – the last time they won it was foggy past: 1952. In 1963 they played at the final for the last time. Finally, they had a chance and missed it, a very disappointing moment, but there was joy at the end of the season, compensating for the lost final.

Servette (Geneva) were equally ambitious and much happier too – it was more than winning a trophy. So far, they were strong, consistent, but stayed second-best. Basel and FC Zurich won; Servette did not. They badly needed trophies as a recognition of their good years – and so far had only won the Cup in 1971. Already distant success...

Top row: Monnier (Betreuer), Marc Schnyder, Jean-Christophe Thouvenel, "Joko" Pfister, "Didi" Andrey, Jean-Luc Martin
Middle row: Martin Chivers, Hanspeter Weber, M. Locca, Roger Cohannier (President), Peter Pazmandy (Coach), Serge Trinchero, Lucio Bizzini
Sitting: Karl Engel, Gilbert Guyot, Franz Peterhans, Claude Sarrasin, Franco Marchi, Umberto Barberis, Aldo Brignolo

Success at last. A good squad, Servette – Engel, Guyot, Pfister, the young defender Thouvenel, who was to become French national team player, the Swiss footballer of the year in 1974-75 and long time regular of the national team Umberto Barberis, and perhaps the most important one at the time Martim Chivers. The former star of the great Tottenham Hotspur of 1968-73, regular English national team player, strong and dangerous centre-forward, scoring plenty. Chivers was one of the biggest foreign stars moving to Swiss clubs in the second half of the 1970s – to finish their careers in well-paying, but not very demanding league. Chivers did not win many trophies in England, so it was great that he ended his foreign spell with a cup. He was also voted the best foreign players of the season – admittedly, the competition was not exceptional, but still he was above everybody else at 33 years of age. Chivers also finished as the second best scorer in the championship with 17 goals.

http://football-journey.com/
Yugoslavia - the Cup 1977-78.