Background – At the start of the
1980’s, Spain was a country that was experiencing huge economic and political
change. Following the death of Franco in 1975, the country had witnessed a
transformation in many areas of public life. On the face of it however,
football appeared to be oblivious to the change, with Real Madrid winning four
of the five titles since the passing of the military dictator. Whilst this
appeared to be the case outwardly, football in the provinces was on the march,
with Sporting Gijon and Real Sociedad in particular, proving to be a thorn in
the side of Los Merengues.
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| Real Sociedad - Provincial pretenders to the throne |
Story of the Campaign – 12 months earlier, Real Sociedad had
missed out on a chance to secure their first title when they lost on the penultimate
week of the season to 9-man Sevilla. Erreala’s
start to the 80-81 campaign was at best mediocre, lying as low as ninth by the
end of week six. Real Zaragoza made the early running but fell away, before Atlético
Madrid took control, remaining top for 25 weeks. In truth, it was a strange and
compelling season, with everybody seemingly capable of beating each other. However
it was Atlético’s spectacular capitulation that left the door open. After
beating Barcelona in week 27, Atléti failed to win any of their final seven
fixtures, leaving the door open for their cross-city rivals and Real Sociedad. Both
Real Madrid & Erreala finished
the season with a surge, and with one match to play, it was Real Sociedad who led
Los Merengues by a point.
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| The showdown for the title would be played out at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla & El Molinón |
Significant Matches – In the end it all came down to the
final day and Real Madrid’s trip to Real Valladolid and Real Sociedad’s match
at Sporting Gijon. In the event of a tie on points, head-to-head records would
be decisive and Erreala held the
upper hand, thanks to a 3-1 victory at Atotxa in week 27. The final days proceedings
are part of La Liga folklore, with the destination of the title unresolved
until the very last minute of the season. Real Madrid was expected to win
against a Real Valladolid side that had nothing to play for and was viewed as sympathetic
towards its opponents. Real Sociedad and the Basques as a whole did not have
many friends in Asturias, and Sporting’s home form at El Molinón was
particularly impressive. Real Madrid did chalk up a relatively easy 3-1 at
Valladolid, with two goals from Carlos Santillana and a decisive third from
German Uli Stielike. With Real Sociedad losing 1-2 up in Gijón, and the match
at Valladolid’s old Estadio Jose Zorrilla finished, the Real Madrid players,
officials and travelling support began to celebrate, egged on by erroneous
reports that Sporting had won 2-1. Then with less than 15 seconds of normal
time remaining in Gijon, midfielder Jesus Mari Zamora latched on to a desperate
cross-shot, and fired the ball into the roof of Sporting’s net. The Basque
contingent erupted and when news filtered through to Valladolid, the revelling
Real Madrid players fell to the floor. You can watch the final day's action here.
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| Jesus Mari Zamora's crucial strike |
Extras - Real Sociedad’s win heralded a short
period of Basque dominance, with Erreala
retaining their title a year later, before Athletic Club won back to back
titles from 1982-84. Real Madrid
experienced a particularly wretched end to the season, beaten in Paris by
Liverpool in the European Cup final then knocked out of the Copa del Rey by
Sporting Gijón. At the tail-end of the table, the relegation places had been
pretty much decided by mid-season with Real Murcia, UD Salamanca & AD
Almeria finishing adrift at the bottom. Sporting Gijón continued to figure
prominently, in what was arguably their most successful era, reaching the
King’s Cup final, where they lost 3-1 to Barcelona.
For the Record – Barcelona & Real Madrid topped
the scoring charts with 66 goals apiece, with Barca recording 6-0 home
victories over Almeria, Hercules & Osasuna. Real Madrid beat Athletic Club
by seven goals to one, to record the biggest victory of the season, whilst
Athletic were the team to watch if you wanted goals, scoring 64, but conceding 53.
Pichichi - Barcelona’s Quini finished top scorer
on 20, despite missing four weeks of the season after being kidnapped at the
beginning of March. This was the fourth of Quini’s five Pichichi’s and his
total of 219 top-flight goals places him fifth in the list of all-time scorers
in Spain’s top division. Quini started his career at Sporting Gijon, before
joining Barcelona in 1980. He also played 35 times for La Selección, scoring 8
goals and playing at two world cup tournaments.
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| Top Shot - Quini |
Zamora – This was the second of three
consecutive Zamora Trophies for Real Sociedad’s talismanic goalkeeper, Luis
Arconada. A native of San Sebastian, Arconada joined the club at the age of 16,
clocking up a total of 414 league appearances. His sheer athleticism and
shot-stopping ability earned him the nickname of ‘El Pulpo’ or the octopus. Arconada
won a total of 68 caps for the national side, captaining them on many
occasions, always wearing his trademark white club socks when turning out for
La Selección.
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| The Octopus - Arconada in action |
The Clubs Today – Twelve of the 18 clubs feature in
this season’s La Primera. Hercules, Real Valladolid, UD Las Palmas and Real
Murcia can be found in La Segunda, whilst UD Salamanca has had a season to
forget in Segunda B. This was AD Almeria’s second and last season in the top
flight and a year later, following a further relegation from La Segunda, the
club was wound up with an accumulated debt of 223 million pesetas.
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| The Final Table 1980-81 |
Labels: A Season in the Spotlight
