1978–79 Football League

The 1978–79 season was the 80th completed season of the Football League.

The Football League

Season	1978–79
Champions	Liverpool
New Club in League	Wigan Athletic
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

Bob Paisley won his third league title at Liverpool as his side fought off competition from Nottingham Forest and West Bromwich Albion. Albion were in their first season under the management of Ron Atkinson, and pulled off a famous 5–3 away win over Manchester United with a team that included Bryan Robson, Brendan Batson, Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham.

The three relegation places went to Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City and Chelsea. QPR had declined since the departure of Dave Sexton in 1977 and were relegated just three years after finishing runners-up in the league. Meanwhile, Chelsea's manager Danny Blanchflower paid for his team's shortcomings by losing his job.

Money dominated the headlines during the season: Trevor Francis became England's first million-pound footballer after joining Nottingham Forest from Birmingham City. Liverpool became one of the first English clubs to have a shirt sponsor when they agreed a sponsorship deal with the Japanese hi-fi manufacturers Hitachi.

Crystal Palace won the Second Division title, followed by Brighton & Hove Albion, who were promoted to the top division for the first time, and third-placed Stoke City. Going down were Sheffield United, Millwall and Blackburn Rovers.

Shrewsbury Town were champions of the Third Division. The other two promotion spots were occupied by Watford and Swansea City. Peterborough United, Walsall, Tranmere Rovers and Lincoln City were relegated to the Fourth Division.

Reading, Grimsby Town, Wimbledon and Barnsley occupied the Fourth Division promotion places. The success came for Wimbledon in only their second season as a league club.

Final league tables and results

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website^[1] and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79,^[2] with home and away statistics separated.

During the first five seasons of the league, that is, until the season 1893–94, re-election process concerned the clubs which finished in the bottom four of the league. From the 1894–95 season and until the 1920–21 season the re-election process was required of the clubs which finished in the bottom three of the league. From the 1922–23 season on it was required of the bottom two teams of both Third Division North and Third Division South. Since the Fourth Division was established in the 1958–59 season, the re-election process has concerned the bottom four clubs in that division.^[2]

First Division

Football League First Division

Season	1978–79
Champions	Liverpool 11th English title
Relegated	Queens Park Rangers Birmingham City Chelsea
European Cup	Liverpool Nottingham Forest (defending champions)
Cup Winners' Cup	Arsenal
UEFA Cup	West Bromwich Albion Everton Leeds United Ipswich Town
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,217 (2.63 per match)
Top goalscorer	Frank Worthington (24 goals)[3]
Biggest home win	Liverpool 7–0 Tottenham Hotspur (2 September 1978)
Biggest away win	Tottenham Hotspur 0–5 Arsenal (23 December 1978)
Highest scoring	Middlesbrough 7–2 Chelsea (16 December 1978)
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

Bob Paisley guided Liverpool to their third league title in four seasons with the highest points total (68), best home record (40 points from 21 games) and highest goals scored to conceded ratio (85 scored, 16 conceded, ratio 5.3:1) ever attained in First Division history. Nottingham Forest built on their first league title triumph by winning the European Cup and retaining the League Cup under the management of Brian Clough, who in February signed striker Trevor Francis from Birmingham City in Britain's first million-pound transfer, although Forest finished eight points behind Liverpool in second place. West Bromwich Albion's first full season under Ron Atkinson brought an impressive third-place finish and a run to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, as well as a famous 5-3 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford just after Christmas.

Everton and Leeds United completed the top five. Seventh placed Arsenal compensated for a lack of a title challenge by beating Manchester United 3-2 in a memorable final of the FA Cup.

Chelsea, Birmingham City and QPR were relegated, while Derby County (champions just four years ago) only narrowly stayed up.

Pos	Team	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[a]
2	Nottingham Forest	42	21	18	3	61	26	+35	60
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
6	Ipswich Town	42	20	9	13	63	49	+14	49
7	Arsenal	42	17	14	11	61	48	+13	48	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round[b]
8	Aston Villa	42	15	16	11	59	49	+10	46
9	Manchester United	42	15	15	12	60	63	−3	45
10	Coventry City	42	14	16	12	58	68	−10	44
11	Tottenham Hotspur	42	13	15	14	48	61	−13	41
12	Middlesbrough	42	15	10	17	57	50	+7	40
13	Bristol City	42	15	10	17	47	51	−4	40
14	Southampton	42	12	16	14	47	53	−6	40
15	Manchester City	42	13	13	16	58	56	+2	39
16	Norwich City	42	7	23	12	51	57	−6	37
17	Bolton Wanderers	42	12	11	19	54	75	−21	35
18	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	13	8	21	44	68	−24	34
19	Derby County	42	10	11	21	44	71	−27	31
20	Queens Park Rangers (R)	42	6	13	23	45	73	−28	25	Relegation to the Second Division
21	Birmingham City (R)	42	6	10	26	37	64	−27	22
22	Chelsea (R)	42	5	10	27	44	92	−48	20

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

1. Nottingham Forest qualified for the European Cup first round as the 1978–79 European Cup winners.
2. Arsenal qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1978–79 FA Cup winners.

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	AST	BIR	BOL	BRI	CHE	COV	DER	EVE	IPS	LEE	LIV	MCI	MUN	MID	NWC	NOT	QPR	SOU	TOT	WBA	WOL
Arsenal		1–1	3–1	1–0	2–0	5–2	1–1	2–0	2–2	4–1	2–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	5–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	0–1
Aston Villa	5–1		1–0	3–0	2–0	2–1	1–1	3–3	1–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–1	1–2	3–1	1–1	2–3	0–1	1–0
Birmingham City	0–0	0–1		3–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–3	1–1	0–1	0–3	1–2	5–1	1–3	1–0	0–2	3–1	2–2	1–0	1–1	1–1
Bolton Wanderers	4–2	0–0	2–2		1–2	2–1	0–0	2–1	3–1	2–3	3–1	1–4	2–2	3–0	0–0	3–2	0–1	2–1	2–0	1–3	0–1	3–1
Bristol City	1–3	1–0	2–1	4–1		3–1	5–0	1–0	2–2	3–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–3	2–0	3–1	0–0	1–0	0–1
Chelsea	1–1	0–1	2–1	4–3	0–0		1–3	1–1	0–1	2–3	0–3	0–0	1–4	0–1	2–1	3–3	1–3	1–3	1–2	1–3	1–3	1–2
Coventry City	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–2	3–2	3–2		4–2	3–2	2–2	0–0	0–0	0–3	4–3	2–1	4–1	0–0	1–0	4–0	1–3	1–3	3–0
Derby County	2–0	0–0	2–1	3–0	0–1	1–0	0–2		0–0	0–1	0–1	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–3	1–1	1–2	2–1	2–1	2–2	3–2	4–1
Everton	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	4–1	3–2	3–3	2–1		0–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	3–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–1	0–2	2–0
Ipswich Town	2–0	0–2	3–0	3–0	0–1	5–1	1–1	2–1	0–1		2–3	0–3	2–1	3–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	0–1	3–1
Leeds United	0–1	1–0	3–0	5–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	4–0	1–0	1–1		0–3	1–1	2–3	3–1	2–2	1–2	4–3	4–0	1–2	1–3	3–0
Liverpool	3–0	3–0	1–0	3–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	5–0	1–1	2–0	1–1		1–0	2–0	2–0	6–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	7–0	2–1	2–0
Manchester City	1–1	2–3	3–1	2–1	2–0	2–3	2–0	1–2	0–0	1–2	3–0	1–4		0–3	1–0	2–2	0–0	3–1	1–2	2–0	2–2	3–1
Manchester United	0–2	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–3	1–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	4–1	0–3	1–0		3–2	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	3–5	3–2
Middlesbrough	2–3	2–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	7–2	1–2	3–1	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–1	2–0	2–2		2–0	1–3	0–2	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–0
Norwich City	0–0	1–2	4–0	0–0	3–0	2–0	1–0	3–0	0–1	0–1	2–2	1–4	1–1	2–2	1–0		1–1	1–1	3–1	2–2	1–1	0–0
Nottingham Forest	2–1	4–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	6–0	3–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	3–1	1–1	2–2	2–1		0–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	3–1
Queens Park Rangers	1–2	1–0	1–3	1–3	1–0	0–0	5–1	2–2	1–1	0–4	1–4	1–3	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–0		0–1	2–2	0–1	3–3
Southampton	2–0	2–0	1–0	2–2	2–0	0–0	4–0	1–2	3–0	1–2	2–2	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–2	0–0	1–1		3–3	1–1	3–2
Tottenham Hotspur	0–5	1–4	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–2	0–0	0–3	1–1	1–2	0–0	1–3	1–1	0–0		1–0	1–0
West Bromwich Albion	1–1	1–1	1–0	4–0	3–1	1–0	7–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	1–1	4–0	1–0	2–0	2–2	0–1	2–1	1–0	0–1		1–1
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–0	0–4	2–1	1–1	2–0	0–1	1–1	4–0	1–0	1–3	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–4	1–3	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	3–2	0–3

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Leeds United	Jimmy Armfield	Sacked	30 June 1978	Pre-season	Jock Stein	21 August 1978
Queens Park Rangers	Frank Sibley	Mutual consent	11 July 1978		Steve Burtenshaw	10 August 1978
Leeds United	Jock Stein	Signed by Scotland	4 October 1978	11th	Jimmy Adamson	25 October 1978
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Sammy Chung	Sacked	8 November 1978	21st	John Barnwell	20 November 1978
Chelsea	Ken Shellito		13 December 1978	22nd	Danny Blanchflower	14 December 1978

Maps

Arsenal

Chelsea

Queens Park Rangers

Tottenham

Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1978–1979

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Birmingham

Bolton

Bristol City

Chelsea

Coventry

Derby County

Everton

Ipswich Town

Leeds United

Liverpool

Middlesbrough

Manchester City

Manchester United

Norwich City

Nottingham Forest

QPR

Southampton

Tottenham

West Bromwich Albion

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Locations of the Football League First Division 1978–1979 teams

Second Division

Second Division

Season	1978–79
Champions	Crystal Palace
Promoted	Crystal Palace Brighton & Hove Albion Stoke City
Relegated	Sheffield United Millwall Blackburn Rovers
Cup Winners' Cup	Wrexham
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,174 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorer	Pop Robson (24 goals)[3]
Biggest home win	Luton Town 7–1 Cardiff City (16 September 1978) Luton Town 6–0 Notts County (21 October 1978)
Biggest away win	Millwall 1–4 Brighton & Hove Albion (2 September 1978) Cardiff City 1–4 Charlton Athletic (4 November 1978) Newcastle United 1–4 Sunderland (24 February 1979) Luton Town 1–4 West Ham United (26 February 1979) Blackburn Rovers 1–4 Cardiff City (28 February 1979) Charlton Athletic 1–4 Stoke City (14 April 1979) 0–3: 9 matches
Highest scoring	Bristol Rovers 5–5 Charlton Athletic (18 November 1978)
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

Crystal Palace continued to excel under the management of Terry Venables as their exciting young team finished top of a hotly contested Second Division promotion race, a point ahead of Brighton (in the First Division for the first time) and Stoke City. Sunderland missed out on promotion by a single point.

Newcastle United and Leicester City surprisingly failed to feature in the Second Division promotion race.

Blackburn Rovers, Millwall and Sheffield United went down to the Third Division.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Crystal Palace (C, P)	42	19	19	4	51	24	+27	57	Promotion to the First Division
2	Brighton & Hove Albion (P)	42	23	10	9	72	39	+33	56
3	Stoke City (P)	42	20	16	6	58	31	+27	56
4	Sunderland	42	22	11	9	70	44	+26	55
5	West Ham United	42	18	14	10	70	39	+31	50
6	Notts County	42	14	16	12	48	60	−12	44
7	Preston North End	42	12	18	12	59	57	+2	42
8	Newcastle United	42	17	8	17	51	55	−4	42
9	Cardiff City	42	16	10	16	56	70	−14	42
10	Fulham	42	13	15	14	50	47	+3	41
11	Orient	42	15	10	17	51	51	0	40
12	Cambridge United	42	12	16	14	44	52	−8	40
13	Burnley	42	14	12	16	51	62	−11	40
14	Oldham Athletic	42	13	13	16	52	61	−9	39
15	Wrexham	42	12	14	16	45	42	+3	38	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
16	Bristol Rovers	42	14	10	18	48	60	−12	38
17	Leicester City	42	10	17	15	43	52	−9	37
18	Luton Town	42	13	10	19	60	57	+3	36
19	Charlton Athletic	42	11	13	18	60	69	−9	35
20	Sheffield United (R)	42	11	12	19	52	69	−17	34	Relegation to the Third Division
21	Millwall (R)	42	11	10	21	42	61	−19	32
22	Blackburn Rovers (R)	42	10	10	22	41	72	−31	30

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	BLB	B&HA	BRR	BUR	CAM	CAR	CHA	CRY	FUL	LEI	LUT	MIL	NEW	NTC	OLD	ORI	PNE	SHU	STK	SUN	WHU	WRE
Blackburn Rovers		1–1	0–2	1–2	1–0	1–4	1–2	1–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–3	3–4	0–2	3–0	0–1	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–0	1–1
Brighton & Hove Albion	2–1		3–0	2–1	0–2	5–0	2–0	0–0	3–0	3–1	3–1	3–0	2–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	5–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–2	2–1
Bristol Rovers	4–1	1–2		2–0	2–0	4–2	5–5	0–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	0–3	2–0	2–2	0–0	2–1	0–1	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	2–1
Burnley	2–1	3–0	2–0		1–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	5–3	2–2	2–1	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	0–3	1–2	3–2	0–0
Cambridge United	0–1	0–0	1–1	2–2		5–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–0	0–1	3–3	3–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	1–0
Cardiff City	2–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	1–0		1–4	2–2	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–3	1–3	1–0	2–2	4–0	1–3	1–1	0–0	1–0
Charlton Athletic	2–0	0–3	3–0	1–1	2–3	1–1		1–1	0–0	1–0	1–2	2–4	4–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	3–1	1–4	1–2	0–0	1–1
Crystal Palace	3–0	3–1	0–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–0		0–1	3–1	3–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0
Fulham	1–2	0–1	3–0	0–0	5–1	2–2	3–1	0–0		3–0	1–0	1–0	1–3	1–1	1–0	2–2	5–3	2–0	2–0	2–2	0–0	0–1
Leicester City	1–1	4–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	0–3	1–1	1–0		3–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	2–0	5–3	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	1–2	1–1
Luton Town	2–1	1–1	3–2	4–1	1–1	7–1	3–0	0–1	2–0	0–1		2–2	2–0	6–0	6–1	2–1	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–3	1–4	2–1
Millwall	1–1	1–4	0–3	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–2	0–3	0–0	2–0	0–2		2–1	0–1	2–3	2–0	0–2	1–1	3–0	0–1	2–1	2–2
Newcastle United	3–1	1–3	3–0	3–1	1–0	3–0	5–3	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–0		1–2	1–1	0–0	4–3	1–3	2–0	1–4	0–3	2–0
Notts County	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	0–1	3–1	1–1	1–2		0–0	1–0	0–0	4–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–1
Oldham Athletic	5–0	1–3	3–1	2–0	4–1	2–1	0–3	0–0	0–2	2–1	2–0	4–1	1–3	3–3		0–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–2	1–0
Orient	2–0	3–3	1–1	2–1	3–0	2–2	2–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	3–2	2–1	2–0	3–0	0–0		2–0	1–1	0–1	3–0	0–2	0–1
Preston North End	4–1	1–0	1–1	2–2	0–2	2–1	6–1	2–3	2–2	4–0	2–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1		2–2	0–1	3–1	0–0	2–1
Sheffield United	0–1	0–1	1–0	4–0	3–3	2–1	2–1	0–2	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–0	5–1	4–2	1–2	0–1		0–0	3–2	3–0	1–1
Stoke City	1–2	2–2	2–0	3–1	1–3	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	2–0	4–0	3–1	1–1	2–1		0–1	2–0	3–0
Sunderland	0–1	2–1	5–0	3–1	0–2	1–2	1–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–0	3–2	1–1	3–0	3–0	1–0	3–1	6–2	0–1		2–1	1–0
West Ham United	4–0	0–0	2–0	3–1	5–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	3–0	5–0	5–2	3–0	0–2	3–1	2–0	1–1	3–3		1–1
Wrexham	2–1	0–0	0–1	0–1	2–0	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	3–0	0–0	3–1	2–0	3–1	2–1	4–0	0–1	1–2	4–3

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Charlton Athletic

Crystal Palace

Fulham

Orient

Millwall

West Ham

Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1978–1979

Blackburn Rovers

Brighton & Hove

Bristol Rovers

Burnley

Cambridge Utd

Cardiff City

Charlton

Crystal Palace

Fulham

Leicester City

Orient

Luton Town

Millwall

Newcastle

Notts County

Oldham

Preston North End

Sheffield United

Stoke

Sunderland

West Ham

Wrexham

Locations of the Football League Second Division 1978–1979 teams

Third Division

Football League
Third Division

Season	1978–79
Champions	Shrewsbury Town (1st title)
Promoted	Swansea City, Watford
Relegated	Lincoln City, Peterborough United, Tranmere Rovers, Walsall
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,388 (2.51 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ross Jenkins (Watford), 29 [3]
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Shrewsbury Town (C, P)	46	21	19	6	61	41	+20	61	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Watford (P)	46	24	12	10	83	52	+31	60
3	Swansea City (P)	46	24	12	10	83	61	+22	60
4	Gillingham	46	21	17	8	65	42	+23	59
5	Swindon Town	46	25	7	14	74	52	+22	57
6	Carlisle United	46	15	22	9	53	42	+11	52
7	Colchester United	46	17	17	12	60	55	+5	51
8	Hull City	46	19	11	16	66	61	+5	49
9	Exeter City	46	17	15	14	61	56	+5	49
10	Brentford	46	19	9	18	53	49	+4	47
11	Oxford United	46	14	18	14	44	50	−6	46
12	Blackpool	46	18	9	19	61	59	+2	45
13	Southend United	46	15	15	16	51	49	+2	45
14	Sheffield Wednesday	46	13	19	14	53	53	0	45
15	Plymouth Argyle	46	15	14	17	67	68	−1	44
16	Chester	46	14	16	16	57	61	−4	44
17	Rotherham United	46	17	10	19	49	55	−6	44
18	Mansfield Town	46	12	19	15	51	52	−1	43
19	Bury	46	11	20	15	59	65	−6	42
20	Chesterfield	46	13	14	19	51	65	−14	40
21	Peterborough United (R)	46	11	14	21	44	63	−19	36	Relegation to the Fourth Division
22	Walsall (R)	46	10	12	24	56	71	−15	32
23	Tranmere Rovers (R)	46	6	16	24	45	78	−33	28
24	Lincoln City (R)	46	7	11	28	41	88	−47	25

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	BLP	BRE	BRY	CRL	CHE	CHF	COL	EXE	GIL	HUL	LIN	MAN	OXF	PET	PLY	ROT	SHW	SHR	STD	SWA	SWI	TRA	WAL	WAT
Blackpool		0–1	1–2	3–1	3–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–2	0–1	5–0	1–2	1–3	5–2	2–0	2–1	1–1
Brentford	3–2		0–1	0–0	6–0	0–3	1–0	0–0	0–2	1–0	2–1	1–0	3–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–3	3–0	1–0	1–2	2–0	1–0	3–3
Bury	1–3	2–3		2–2	1–1	3–1	2–2	4–2	2–2	1–1	2–2	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–2	3–2	0–0	3–0	3–3	0–1	0–1	1–0	1–1	1–2
Carlisle United	1–1	1–0	1–2		1–1	1–1	4–0	1–1	1–0	2–2	2–0	1–0	0–1	4–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–0	1–0
Chester	4–2	3–1	1–1	1–2		3–0	2–2	3–0	1–1	2–1	5–1	1–1	4–1	1–1	0–0	0–1	2–2	0–0	0–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	2–1
Chesterfield	1–3	0–0	2–1	2–3	3–1		2–1	0–1	0–2	1–2	1–3	1–0	1–1	3–1	1–3	1–0	3–3	2–1	3–2	2–1	1–1	5–2	0–0	0–2
Colchester United	3–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	0–0		2–2	2–2	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	4–2	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–2	3–2	1–0	2–0	0–1
Exeter City	3–0	2–2	2–1	3–2	0–1	3–1	2–1		0–0	3–1	3–2	0–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–2	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–2	3–0	3–1	0–0
Gillingham	2–0	0–0	3–3	0–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	2–0		2–0	4–2	0–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–2	3–2	3–1	2–3
Hull City	0–0	1–0	4–1	1–1	3–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–1		0–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–1	4–1	4–0
Lincoln City	1–2	1–0	1–4	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	2–4	4–2		0–1	2–2	0–1	3–3	3–0	1–2	1–2	1–1	2–1	0–3	2–1	1–1	0–5
Mansfield Town	1–1	2–1	3–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0		1–1	1–1	5–0	0–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	2–2	0–1	0–0	1–3	0–3
Oxford United	1–0	0–1	0–0	5–1	0–0	1–1	2–0	3–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	3–2		0–2	3–2	1–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	0–2	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–1
Peterborough United	1–2	3–1	2–2	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	3–0	0–1	1–2	1–1		2–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–1	2–0	2–1	1–0	0–3	0–1
Plymouth Argyle	0–0	2–1	3–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	4–2	2–1	3–4	2–1	1–4	0–1	3–2		2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	2–2	1–0	1–1
Rotherham United	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–3	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	1–0		0–1	1–2	2–1	0–1	1–3	3–2	4–1	2–1
Sheffield Wednesday	2–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	4–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	2–3	0–0	1–2	1–1	3–0	2–3	2–1		0–0	3–2	0–0	2–1	1–2	0–2	2–3
Shrewsbury Town	2–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–2	0–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–2		2–0	3–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–1
Southend United	4–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	0–1	2–0	1–1	0–1	0–1	3–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	2–1	0–1		0–2	5–3	0–1	1–0	1–0
Swansea City	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–0	2–2	2–1	4–1	1–0	3–1	5–3	3–0	3–2	1–1	4–1	2–1	4–4	4–2	1–1	3–2		1–2	4–3	2–2	3–2
Swindon Town	0–1	2–0	2–1	0–0	2–0	1–0	1–2	1–1	3–1	2–0	6–0	1–0	2–0	3–1	1–3	1–0	3–0	2–1	1–0	0–1		4–1	4–1	2–0
Tranmere Rovers	0–2	0–1	0–0	1–1	6–2	1–1	1–5	2–2	1–1	1–3	0–0	1–2	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–2	1–2	1–1		0–0	1–1
Walsall	2–1	2–3	0–1	1–2	2–1	0–1	2–2	2–2	0–1	1–2	4–1	1–1	0–1	4–1	2–1	0–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–1	2–0		2–4
Watford	5–1	2–0	3–3	2–1	1–0	2–0	0–3	1–0	1–0	4–0	2–0	1–1	4–2	1–2	2–2	2–2	1–0	2–2	2–0	0–2	2–0	4–0	3–1

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Brentford

Watford

Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1978–1979

Blackpool

Brentford

Bury

Carlisle United

Chester

Chesterfield

Colchester

Exeter City

Gillingham

Hull

Lincoln City

Mansfield Town

Oxford

Peterborough

Plymouth Argyle

Rotherham

Sheffield Wednesday

Shrewsbury

Southend

Swansea City

Swindon

Tranmere

Walsall

Watford

Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1978–1979

Fourth Division

Football League
Fourth Division

Season	1978–79
Champions	Reading (1st title)
Promoted	Barnsley, Grimsby Town, Wimbledon
Failed re-election	None
New club in the league	Wigan Athletic
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,409 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorer	John Dungworth (Aldershot), 26 [3]
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Reading (C, P)	46	26	13	7	76	35	+41	65	Promotion to the Third Division
2	Grimsby Town (P)	46	26	9	11	82	49	+33	61
3	Wimbledon (P)	46	25	11	10	78	46	+32	61
4	Barnsley (P)	46	24	13	9	73	42	+31	61
5	Aldershot	46	20	17	9	63	47	+16	57
6	Wigan Athletic	46	21	13	12	63	48	+15	55
7	Portsmouth	46	20	12	14	62	48	+14	52
8	Newport County	46	21	10	15	66	55	+11	52
9	Huddersfield Town	46	18	11	17	57	53	+4	47
10	York City	46	18	11	17	51	55	−4	47
11	Torquay United	46	19	8	19	58	65	−7	46
12	Scunthorpe United	46	17	11	18	54	60	−6	45
13	Hartlepool United	46	13	18	15	57	66	−9	44
14	Hereford United	46	15	13	18	53	53	0	43
15	Bradford City	46	17	9	20	62	68	−6	43
16	Port Vale	46	14	14	18	57	70	−13	42
17	Stockport County	46	14	12	20	58	60	−2	40
18	Bournemouth	46	14	11	21	47	48	−1	39
19	Northampton Town	46	15	9	22	64	76	−12	39
20	Rochdale	46	15	9	22	47	64	−17	39
21	Darlington	46	11	15	20	49	66	−17	37	Re-elected
22	Doncaster Rovers	46	13	11	22	50	73	−23	37
23	Halifax Town	46	9	8	29	39	72	−33	26
24	Crewe Alexandra	46	6	14	26	43	90	−47	26

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Results

Home \ Away	BOU	ALD	BAR	BRA	CRE	DAR	DON	GRI	HAL	HAR	HER	HUD	NPC	NOR	POR	PTV	REA	ROC	SCU	STP	TOR	WIG	WDN	YOR
AFC Bournemouth		0–1	0–2	1–0	0–1	2–2	7–1	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	0–0	3–1	3–1	0–0	3–1	0–0	3–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	1–2
Aldershot	1–0		1–0	6–0	3–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–3	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	3–2	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0
Barnsley	1–0	2–0		0–1	3–1	1–1	3–0	2–1	4–2	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	6–2	3–1	0–3	4–1	4–4	1–2	0–0	3–1	3–0
Bradford City	2–1	0–2	1–2		6–0	0–0	1–0	1–3	3–0	1–2	2–1	1–1	1–3	3–0	2–0	2–3	2–3	1–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–0	2–1
Crewe Alexandra	1–0	1–1	0–2	1–2		1–1	2–4	0–3	1–0	0–1	0–0	3–3	0–1	2–4	0–0	1–5	0–2	1–2	0–2	2–2	6–2	1–1	1–2	0–1
Darlington	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–1	1–1		3–2	0–1	2–1	0–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	4–0	1–2	0–2	2–2	0–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–1
Doncaster Rovers	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	2–0	2–3		0–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–2	0–0	2–0	2–3	1–3	2–2	1–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–2
Grimsby Town	1–0	0–0	2–0	5–1	2–2	7–2	3–4		2–1	0–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	4–3	1–0	1–0	1–2	4–0	1–1	2–1	3–0	3–1	2–2	3–0
Halifax Town	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–0	0–2	0–0	1–2		2–4	1–0	2–3	1–2	2–2	2–0	0–3	0–0	2–1	2–3	2–1	1–0	1–2	2–1	0–1
Hartlepool United	0–0	2–2	1–1	2–2	2–2	0–2	3–4	1–0	3–1		2–1	2–0	0–0	2–0	1–1	1–2	0–0	5–1	1–1	1–3	3–2	1–1	1–1	1–1
Hereford United	0–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	6–1	1–0	2–0	0–1	2–2	1–0		3–0	0–3	4–3	0–1	1–0	0–0	2–2	3–1	1–0	3–1	0–0	0–0	1–0
Huddersfield Town	2–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	2–2	2–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–3		0–1	1–0	2–0	3–2	1–1	1–0	3–2	0–0	1–1	1–1	3–0	1–0
Newport County	2–0	1–2	1–1	2–4	1–2	2–1	3–0	1–1	2–0	3–2	4–1	2–1		2–1	1–2	1–0	3–2	0–0	2–0	1–2	1–1	2–1	1–3	1–1
Northampton Town	4–2	2–3	0–1	1–0	3–1	4–1	3–0	1–2	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–3	3–1		0–2	1–0	2–2	1–0	1–0	2–2	1–2	2–4	1–1	1–0
Portsmouth	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	3–0	3–0	4–0	1–3	3–1	3–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–0		2–0	4–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–1
Port Vale	1–2	1–1	3–2	2–1	2–2	2–1	1–3	1–1	0–1	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–2	0–0		0–3	1–1	2–2	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–0	0–0
Reading	1–0	4–0	1–0	3–0	3–0	1–0	3–0	4–0	1–0	3–1	3–0	1–1	2–1	5–1	2–0	0–0		2–0	0–1	3–3	1–0	2–0	1–0	3–0
Rochdale	2–1	1–1	0–3	1–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	2–5	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–0	4–1	0–2	0–1	1–0		1–0	2–0	1–0	0–2	0–0	1–2
Scunthorpe United	1–0	2–0	0–1	3–2	0–1	1–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	3–1	4–2	3–1	2–3	0–3	2–2	2–0	0–3	0–4		1–0	2–2	0–1	2–0	2–3
Stockport County	1–0	2–2	0–0	1–0	4–3	3–0	0–1	2–1	1–2	4–0	0–2	3–1	1–1	2–1	4–2	0–0	0–0	3–0	0–2		0–1	0–1	0–1	2–0
Torquay United	0–1	2–1	3–2	1–2	3–0	1–0	2–1	3–1	2–0	4–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–0		1–1	1–6	3–0
Wigan Athletic	1–0	3–2	1–1	1–3	1–0	2–2	1–0	0–3	1–0	2–2	0–0	2–1	2–3	2–0	2–0	5–3	3–0	3–0	1–0	2–0	3–1		1–2	1–1
Wimbledon	4–0	3–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–0	3–2	0–1	2–1	3–1	2–0	2–1	0–0	4–1	2–4	1–0	1–0	3–2	3–1	2–0	5–0	2–1		2–1
York City	2–1	1–1	0–1	2–2	1–0	5–2	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–3	1–2	1–0	5–3	4–0	0–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–4

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Aldershot

Barnsley

Bournemouth

Bradford City

Crewe Alexandra

Darlington

Doncaster

Grimsby Town

Halifax Town

Hartlepool

Hereford United

Huddersfield

Newport County

Northampton Town

Portsmouth

Port Vale

Reading

Rochdale

Scunthorpe & Lindsey

Stockport

Torquay

Wigan Athletic

Wimbledon

York City

Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1978–1979

Wimbledon

Locations of the Football League Fourth Division London teams 1978–1979

See also

• 1978-79 in English football