1978–79 Liverpool F.C. season

The 1978–79 season was Liverpool Football Club's 87th season in existence and their 17th consecutive season in the First Division. Liverpool won its 11th league title with a record-breaking season. They amassed a record points total of 68, with Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness as commanding influences in the team that had the highest goal scoring ratio under Bob Paisley's management. Defensively, Liverpool conceded only 16 goals (just four of them at Anfield) and goalkeeper Ray Clemence kept a total of 28 clean sheets in 42 League matches. Disappointing for Liverpool was the early exit of the European Cup, losing to domestic rivals Nottingham Forest in the inaugural round; Forest went on to win the European Cup along with the League Cup, and were proving to be Liverpool's most fierce competitors as the decade drew to a close. This ended Liverpool's chances of taking three European Cups in a row, an achievement only Real Madrid, Ajax and Bayern Munich have ever succeeded in doing.

Liverpool F.C.

1978–79 season
Manager	Bob Paisley
First Division	Champions
European Cup	First round
FA Cup	Semi-finals
League Cup	Second round
European Super Cup	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: Kenny Dalglish (21) All: Kenny Dalglish (25)
Home colours Away colours
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

Squad

Goalkeepers

•   Ray Clemence
•   Steve Ogrizovic

Defenders

•   Emlyn Hughes
•   Joey Jones
•   Brian Kettle
•   Colin Irwin
•   Phil Neal
•   Alan Hansen
•   Phil Thompson
•   Alan Kennedy

Midfielders

•   Ian Callaghan
•   Jimmy Case
•   Steve Heighway
•   Sammy Lee
•   Ray Kennedy
•   Terry McDermott
•   Kevin Sheedy
•   Graeme Souness

Attackers

•   David Fairclough
•   Kenny Dalglish
•   Howard Gayle
•   David Johnson

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool (C)	42	30	8	4	85	16	+69	68	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Nottingham Forest	42	21	18	3	61	26	+35	60	Qualification for the European Cup first round^[a]
3	West Bromwich Albion	42	24	11	7	72	35	+37	59	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Everton	42	17	17	8	52	40	+12	51
5	Leeds United	42	18	14	10	70	52	+18	50

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Nottingham Forest qualified for the European Cup first round as the 1978–79 European Cup winners.

Results

First Division

Main article: 1978–79 Football League § First Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
19 August 1978	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–1	Dalglish   27' Heighway   76'	50,793	Report
22 August 1978	Ipswich Town	A	3–0	Souness   17' Dalglish   22', 74'	28,114	Report	Report
26 August 1978	Manchester City	A	4–1	Souness   15', 48' R Kennedy   34' Dalglish   56'	46,710	Report
2 September 1978	Tottenham Hotspur	H	7–0	Dalglish   8', 20' R Kennedy   28' Johnson   48', 58' Neal   64' (Pen) McDermott   76'	50,705	Report
9 September 1978	Birmingham City	A	3–0	Souness   12', 57' A Kennedy   81'	31,740	Report	Report
16 September 1978	Coventry City	H	1–0	Souness   27'	51,130	Report	Report
23 September 1978	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–1	Dalglish   70'	33,834	Report
30 September 1978	Bolton Wanderers	H	3–0	Case   13', 39', 55'	47,099	Report	Report^[dead link]
7 October 1978	Norwich City	A	4–1	Heighway   6', 10' Johnson   36' Case   49'	25,632	Report
14 October 1978	Derby County	H	5–0	Johnson   29' R Kennedy   55', 78' Dalglish   61', 80'	47,475	Report	Report
21 October 1978	Chelsea	H	2–0	Johnson   6' Dalglish   71'	45,775	Report
28 October 1978	Everton	A	0–1		53,131	Report
4 November 1978	Leeds United	H	1–1	McDermott   81' (Pen)	51,657	Report
11 November 1978	Queens Park Rangers	A	3–1	Heighway   29' R Kennedy   45' Johnson   85'	26,626	Report
18 November 1978	Manchester City	H	1–0	Neal   86' (Pen)	47,765	Report	Report
22 November 1978	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–0		50,393	Report	Report
25 November 1978	Middlesbrough	H	2–0	McDermott   30' Souness   69'	39,812	Report
2 December 1978	Arsenal	A	0–1		51,902	Report
9 December 1978	Nottingham Forest	H	2–0	McDermott   29 Pen', 48'	51,469	Report	Report
16 December 1978	Bristol City	A	0–1		28,722	Report
26 December 1978	Manchester United	A	3–0	R Kennedy   5' Case   25' Fairclough   67'	54,940	Report
3 February 1979	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–1	Dalglish   21' Fairclough   53'	52,211	Report
13 February 1979	Birmingham City	H	1–0	Souness   37'	35,207	Report
21 February 1979	Norwich City	H	6–0	Dalglish   3', 48' Johnson   46', 51' A Kennedy   80' R Kennedy   90'	35,754	Report	Report
24 February 1979	Derby County	A	2–0	Dalglish   11' R Kennedy   70'	27,859	Report	Report
3 March 1979	Chelsea	A	0–0		40,594	Report	Report
6 March 1979	Coventry City	A	0–0		26,629	Report	Report
13 March 1979	Everton	H	1–1	Dalglish   15'	52,352	Report
20 March 1979	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–0	McDermott   34' Johnson   48'	39,695	Report
24 March 1979	Ipswich Town	H	2–0	Dalglish   41' Johnson   81'	43,243	Report
7 April 1979	Arsenal	H	3–0	Case   49' Dalglish   73' McDermott   88'	47,297	Report
10 April 1979	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–0	Hansen   33'	30,857	Report
14 April 1979	Manchester United	H	2–0	Dalglish   36' Neal   46'	46,608	Report
16 April 1979	Aston Villa	A	1–3	Johnson   65'	44,029	Report
21 April 1979	Bristol City	H	1–0	Dalglish   5'	43,191	Report
24 April 1979	Southampton	A	1–1	Johnson   12'	23,181	Report
28 April 1979	Nottingham Forest	A	0–0		41,898	Report
1 May 1979	Bolton Wanderers	A	4–1	Johnson   11' R Kennedy   51', 76' Dalglish   75'	35,200	Report
5 May 1979	Southampton	H	2–0	Neal   16', 80'	46,687	Report
8 May 1979	Aston Villa	H	3–0	A Kennedy   1' Dalglish   38' McDermott   57'	50,576	Report
11 May 1979	Middlesbrough	A	1–0	Johnson   56'	32,244	Report
17 May 1979	Leeds United	A	3–0	Johnson   21', 57' Case   42'	41,324	Report

FA Cup

Main article: 1978–79 FA Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
10 January 1979	Southend United	A	0–0		31,033	Report
17 January 1979	Southend United	H	3–0	Case   38' Dalglish   75' R Kennedy   85'	37.797	Report
30 January 1979	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–0	Dalglish   82'	43,432	Report
28 February 1979	Burnley	H	3–0	Johnson   43', 61' Souness   59'	47,161	Report
10 March 1979	Ipswich Town	A	1–0	Dalglish   52'	31,322	Report
31 March 1979	Manchester United	N	2–2	Dalglish   17' Hansen   82'	52,584	Report
4 April 1979	Manchester United	N	0–1		53,069	Report

League Cup

Main article: 1978–79 Football League Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
28 August 1978	Sheffield United	A	0–1		35753	Report

European Cup

Main article: 1978–79 European Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
13 September 1978	Nottingham Forest	A	0–2		38,316	Report
27 September 1978	Nottingham Forest	H	0–0		51,679	Report	Report

European Super Cup

Main article: 1978 European Super Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
4 December 1978	R.S.C. Anderlecht	A	1–3	Case   27'	35,000	Report	Report
19 December 1978	R.S.C. Anderlecht	H	2–1	Hughes   13' Fairclough   85'	23,598	Report	Report

References

• LFC History.net – Games for the 1978–79 season