Throughout the last 30 years, AC Milan have been one of the world’s biggest clubs. In the early 1980s, however, things were not as we now know it for the Rossoneri
Some things in football are unthinkable, yet even so, they come to pass. Italian football has had its fair share of incidents that looking back seem almost as improbable as they would have done for those imagining them beforehand.
Perugia went unbeaten for a season in 1978-79 but failed to win the Scudetto. In 1984-85, a year in which the two best players in the world were in Serie A, Hellas Verona beat both Diego Maradona’s Napoli and Michel Platini’s Juventus to the top prize.
Between those two seasons, something even more unusual occurred. In 1980, AC Milan were relegated from Serie A as a result of their part in the Totonero betting scandal.
Having returned to the top tier immediately, in 1982 Milan were relegated from Serie A because they were abject.
There were some good players in the Rossoneri side that season. Franco Baresi, Alberigo Evani and Mauro Tassotti were all to enjoy better times in red and black, but they could do nothing to stop the inexorable slide that took Luigi Radice, then Italo Galbiati’s side slipping down the table.
The end, when it came, was cruel but it was not undeserved.
To understand the season, one has to understand the nature of Serie A at the time. Maradona and Platini were big names, and foreign, but there was a limit of two overseas players in each team and as such, they had to be chosen wisely.
Despite global superstars such as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (he joined Inter in 1984), Zico (Udinese in 1983) and Jan Ceulemans (he refused the deal) being linked with a move to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, the only non-Italian to don the now famous ‘Pooh’ sponsored shirt – the first time a Milan shirt bore a sponsor across the front – was Scottish striker Joe Jordan.
Jordan’s case is a strange one. The fans quickly took to the Scot, not just because of his hard-working ethic, but he seemed to demonstrate a genuine antipathy towards Inter. He soon earned the nickname ‘the Shark’ because of his distinctive grin.
At that time, the Coppa Italia started with a group phase before the Serie A season. Drawn together, Jordan took great delight in scoring against the Nerazzurri, a strike that look set to see Milan through until an 89th minute Giuseppe Bergomi equaliser.
However, in Serie A he found it almost impossible to score goals. He was not alone in that. In total, Milan found the net on just 21 occasions all season, with Jordan responsible for two of that figure. They scored just once at home before 1982 began – that was Jordan, in a 1-1 draw with bottom side Como.
There were other problems. Franco Baresi was one of the key members of the defence by this point, and he missed a significant part of the season with a blood disorder. Without him, the team rather fell apart. From matchday four, a 1-0 home defeat to Juventus, to seventeen, another 1-0 loss to Fiorentina, Milan collected just eight points.
Gianni Rivera, the president, had enough. “I cannot get rid of all the players,” he admitted, “so I am changing the coach”.
Out went Radice and in came Italo Galbiati. Things did improve under the new tactician, but the results did not come quickly. There was a 3-2 defeat at Juventus on St Valentine’s Day that began to indicate things were turning round, and when that was followed by a 2-1 win over Bologna, the Rossoneri were just one point from safety.
The season continued in similarly desperate fashion; a 2-0 defeat at marooned Como a lowlight. Even by that stage, with seven games remaining, there was still time to rally. That game in Como changed much. Fan dissatisfaction led to unpleasant scenes and new captain Fulvio Collovati was hit in the head with a stone.
With two home games coming up, the Rossoneri were forced to play at a neutral venue, which was Verona. They failed to win either, giving Milan just five games to save their season.
The first two of those, in Genoa and at home to Avellino, were won 2-1. Suddenly an improbable escape looked possible. However draws against Cagliari and Torino meant that the Rossoneri went into the last game of the season, at Cesena, needing not just a win, but to hope other results went their way.
With just over an hour gone, Milan trailed 2-0. An agonising opener from Oliviero Garlini was followed by a sumptuous second from Adriano Piraccini. At the home of Seahorses, the Rossoneri looked sunk. When better for the Shark to find his teeth?
Jordan pulled Milan back into it, before two fabulous goals from Francesco Romano and Roberto Antonelli put the visitors into the lead.
Nine minutes remained, and the Diavolo looked redeemed. However, it was not to be. Relying on Genoa to lose at Napoli, word filtered through that Mario Faccenda had bundled home an 85th minute equaliser for the Grifone. Milan, for the first time in their history, were down on merit.
They would bounce back, of course, and soon the arrival of Silvio Berlusconi would transform the Rossoneri into the best side in the world. In 1982, however, they were far, far from the best side in the world.
