Scotland the Cups

 

The Cup finals were dramatic, both. Aberdeen reached both finals, where they met Celtic and Glasgow Rangers. High stakes for all involved.

Celtic – Aberdeen clashed in the Scottish Cup final. Celtic dearly wanted a trophy to save otherwise weak season. But Aberdeen wanted a trophy too. The final finished scoreless after overtime and penalty shoot-out followed, in which Aberdeen prevailed 9-8.

Huge disappointment for Celtic's hopes, but it was somewhat fair loss, considering the shape of Celtic this season. No trophy for them.

One may say Aberdeen was lucky to win the final, but they won and the Scottish Cup was in their hands.

The League Cup final: Rangers vs Aberdeen. Rangers wanted a double. Aberdeen wanted a second trophy as well – the League Cup final ended undecided, but in the overtime Aberdeen prevailed: 2-1.

No double for Rangers – a blow to their domination.

Once again, Aberdeen was lucky. Well, third-time lucky... which speaks volumes for their tough determination. Fighting tooth and nail for second place in the championship and both Cup finals – and prevailing at the very end. But very little, but coming on top. Getting more with less – that is, spending less than Rangers and thus having weaker squad, but the approach was sober one. Of course, the Dutch imports Theo Snelders and Willem van der Ark were not famous stars, but were dependable. Charlie Nickolas was fading already without fulfilling the great hopes he inspired some years before, but was good enough for Aberdeen. There were also Alex McLeish, Davie Dodds... the squad had enough strength. Double victors at the end – winning the 7^th Scottish Cup and the 4^th League Cup for the club.

Scotland I Division

 

Premier League – the top level. The 10 teams in it met 4 times against each other, so the season was still longer than most European championships: 36 rounds. The last team were relegated, as usual. Not much real fighting at both ends of the table – one outsider and one dominant leader. Familiar leader, whose arch-enemy was quite weak at the moment.

Dundee was the outsider – they finished with 24 points and went down to second level. Again.

St. Mirren - 9^th with 30 points.

Dunfermline Athletic - 8^th with 30 points.

Hibernian - 7^th with 34 points.

Motherwell - 6^th with 34 points.

Celtic - 5^th with 34 points. Very weak at the moment: they won only 10 games this season – only Dunfermline and Dundee won fewer matches than them.

Dundee United - 4^th with 35 points. Not as strong as they used to be in the first half of the 1980s, but managed to finish above Celtic and get the last UEFA Cup spot – Celtic was not going to play in Europe.

Heart of Midlothian – much stronger than Dundee United and the rest and entangled in battle for second place, but nothing more. Ended with 44 points, losing the battle on worse goal-difference and thus collecting bronze medals. Not bad at all, especially by securing early a UEFA Cup spot.

Dramatic and successful season for Aberdeen, but not a title contenders. Clinched 2^nd place on better goal-difference, for they finished, like Hearts, with 44 points.

Glasgow Rangers had no rival – and not only this season. Strong period and one can praise Graeme Souness – no longer playing, but acting only as manager – for his ambitious selection, aiming not only to dominate Scotland, but to succeed in Europe too. Critics grumbled, though: success was based on money – spend a lot to get top-class players and you will win, but was it a real winning? And this plan was rapidly draining Rangers' coffers – to try reaching the company of, say, Real Madrid and the top Italian clubs, one must have their kind of money – Rangers spent like the wealthiest clubs, but was not similarly wealthy (or existing in environment where huge debts will be written off by banks and revenue agency). Critics were quite right: Souness plan was based on hopes of European success – without it, collapse was almost certain. To avoid collapse, Souness must spend more to prolong the hope of success, increasing the risk of collapse. And Souness would gamble more and more – not just buying English players, but making even more risky moves, breaking long established religious lines in the Scottish Protestant-Catholic divide. So, he had Chris Woods, Terry Butcher, Trevor Steven, Ally McCoist, Mo Johnston, but... selling old Ray Wilkins (to QPR) was not equal to buying Wilkins precisely because of his age – such players were expensive to get, but much cheaply sold. That was the big picture – the smaller and immediate one was new triumph.

Glasgow Rangers won its 40^th title. Something big to celebrate, surely.

Scotland II Division

 

Second level – First Division. Only the champion promoted, the last two – relegated. Teams met 3 times against each other, 39 games total were played. Three teams fought between themselves to escape relegation, but at the top two teams were way above the rest.

Alloa Athletic ended last with 25 points and went down to third level.

Albion Rovers – down on their luck too: 13^th with 27 points and relegated.

Forfar Athletic managed to prevail in the battle of the weak and escaped relegation: 12^th with 29 points.

Morton - 11^th with 34 points.

Ayr United - 10^th with 35 points.

Clyde - 9^th with 35 points.

Partick Thistle - 8^th with 38 points.

Meadowbank Thistle - 7^th with 39 points.

Hamilton Academical - 6^th with 41 points.

Raith Rovers - 5^th with 42 points.

Falkirk - 4^th with 43 points.

Clydebank - 3^rd with 44 points. Strong season, yet, not able to compete for promotion.

Airdrieonians - 2^nd 54 points. Much stronger than the rest of the league, but not exactly up to winning the championship.

St. Johnstone won the championship with 58 points: 25 wins, 8 ties, 6 losses, 81-39 goal-difference. Practically, dominated the season and without a rival. Going back to the top league was their aim achieved with confidence.

Scotland III Division

 

Scotland. Ranked 7^th . Third Level – or Second Division. Two teams promoted, no relegation from the lowest professional level. Teams met 3 times against every opponent, so they played 39 games.

East Stirlingshire – last with 26 points.

Montrose - 13^th with 32 points.

Arbroath - 12^th with 34 points.

Queen's Park - 11^th with 36 points.

Queen of the South - 10^th with 36 points.

East Fife - 9^th with 36 points.

Stranraer - 8^th with 38 points.

Cowdenbeath - 7^th with 39 points.

Dumbarton - 6^th with 40 points.

Berwick Rangers - 5^th with 41 points.

Stenhousemuir - 4^th with 45 points.

Stirling Albion – 3^rd with 47 points. Unfortunately, missed promotion on worse goal-difference. The highest scoring team in the championship: 73 goals.

Kilmarnock – clinched 2^nd place and promoted with 47 points, but better goal-difference than Stirling Albion: +26 vs +23. They won most games this season – 21 – and had the best defensive record, permitting 41 goals in their own net Second-best strikers – 67 goals scored.

Brechin City won the championship with 49 points: 19 wins, 11 ties, 9 losses, 59-44 goal-difference. Prevailed over tough competition and, for such a modest club, a third-tier title was great success. Promotion to second level, naturally, was wonderful achievement.

Portugal the Cup

 

The Portuguese Cup final was unusual – small clubs reached it, one of them not even in the top league: Estrela Amadora and Farense. During the 1980s Cup tournaments lost some of their importance around Europe and the trend seemingly affected Portugal at last: it was no longer surprising to see Second Division teams reaching Cup final and even winning them. Technically, Estrela Amadora should have been considered the favourite, for Farense was playing the second tier, but historically Farense was the stronger and better known club and they were leading their Second Division Zone, clearly on the way to returning to the top league. Meantime Estrela Amadora had insignificant season, mostly trying to escape relegation. Winning a trophy was serious matter, however, and contestants proved to be pretty much equal – the final ended 1-1 after overtime and replay was scheduled. In it again 2 goals were scored, however both belonged to Estrela Amadora – 2-0 and the Cup was in their hands.

Farense tried hard – hats down to them – but lost. Dramatic loss and no Cup. Well, they got promoted to First Division, so the season was not bad after all. Sitting from left: Luisão, Ciro, Dicá, Sérgio Duarte, Bahia, Lemajic, Humberto, Jorge Humberto, Jorge Soares, Fernando Cruz, João José
Middle row: Marinho (Roupeiro), Dr.Aníbal Ponte (Médico), Fernando Belo (Massagista), Elísio Gouveia (Preparador Físico), Pitico, Manuel Balela (Adjunto), Ricardo, Paco Fortes (Treinador), Pedro Teixeira (Director), antónio Boronha (Presidente), João Pedro Carvalho (Chefe do Departamento de Futebol), Álvaro Braga Júnior (Director), Formosinho, Marco, Nelo, Adériro Melro (Director), Fernando Pires (Adjunto)
Top row: Helinho, Orlando, Mané, Barão, Lima, Eugénio, Ademar, Xabregas, Pereirinha, Carlos Pereira, Vitinha.

Estreala Amadora clearly had their best ever season – the small club, so far mostly playing in the Second Division, never won anything. So, winning their first trophy made the squad instant local legends. Top row from left: Duilio (Brazil), Nelson Borges (Brazil), Bobo (Guinea Bissau), Joaquim Melo, Pedro Barny, Ricardo Lopes. Crouching: Paulo Bento, Baroti (Cape Verde), Rui Neves, Joaquim Rebelo, Chico Oliveira (Mozambique). No big stars here, of course, but the boys did their best and won, as it turned out, the only trophy in the history of the club. Wonderful triumph, not to be diminished at all by the fact they played against Second Division team and not against one of the big clubs – it was not their fault the big clubs failed to reach the Cup final. Portugal had new name added to the list of Cup winners, Estrela Amadora got a trophy to display at last, it was great.

Such winners deserve a second look in their full glory.

Portugal I Division

First Division. The planned increase of the Portuguese top league benefited one team this season – because only 2 teams were relegated, 18^th place was safe spot for the moment. As for greater benefits... what benefits? Two teams dominated the championship. Bellow the leaders two other teams were way stronger than the rest of the league, yet, way weaker than the leaders. This configuration was traditional , no matter how many teams played in First Division. More teams hardly ever translate into more competitive championships.

Feirense – last with 20 points and relegated. Pretty much as expected.

Portimonense - 17^th with 21 points. Their 3 Bulgarians did not save the club from relegation.

Uniao Madeira survived - 16^th with 24 points.

Penafiel - 15^th with 26 points.

Nacional - 14^th with 28 points.

Estrela Amadora - 13^th with 28 points. Nothing much in the league, as usual, but this was also their greatest season.

Sporting Braga - 12^th with 28 points.

Beira Mar - 11^th with 29 points.

Maritimo - 10^th with 29 points.

Tirsense - 9^th with 30 points. Strong season for them, even surprisingly strong.

Boavista - 8^th with 34 points.

Vitoria Setubal - 7^th with 36 points.

Belenenses - 6^th with 36 points.

Chaves - 5^th with 38 points. Strong season for them, yet, unable to challenge the strongest.

Vitoria Guimaraes - 4^th with 45 points. Not concerned with the bulk of the league, but fighting only for bronze medals, eventually losing the battle.

Sporting Lisbon clinched 3^rd place with 46 points. More than that was not up to them.

And finally the two leaders – the usual suspects Benfica and FC Porto. The rest of the league was only point-providers, the top teams were way above the rest.

Benfica lost only 2 games and scored most goals this season – 76 – but they lost the battle, finishing with 55 points. 9 points ahead of their city rivals Sporting, but not the real enemy was from another city and Benfica was unable to beat it.

FC Porto was really flying this season: 27 wins, 5 ties, only 2 lost games, 72-16 scoring record and 59 points at the end – 4 more than Benfica, the rest of the league did not even count. Already famous coach, wonderful squad, more perspective than Benfica's – FC Porto established itself not just as leading Portuguese clubs, but as one of the top European clubs.

Not a squad to be taken lightly, combining talent with experience, combining worthy veterans with bright young talent. Not only they left Benfica behind, but looked like Benfica will stay behind FC Porto in the 1990s. As for the record, they won their 11^th title.