1978–79 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1978–79 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 76th in the Football League and their 45th in the First Division. They were in the bottom two positions in the 22-team division from 9 September onwards, eventually finishing 21st position, so were relegated to the Second Division for 1979–80. They lost in their opening matches in both the 1978–79 FA Cup and the League Cup, eliminated by Burnley and Southampton respectively.

Birmingham City F.C.
1978–79 season
ChairmanKeith Coombs
ManagerJim Smith
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League First Division21st
FA CupThird round
(eliminated by Burnley)
League CupSecond round
(eliminated by Southampton)
Top goalscorerLeague: Alan Buckley (8)
All: Alan Buckley (8)
Highest home attendance36,145 vs Aston Villa, 21 October 1978
Lowest home attendance12,168 vs Norwich City, 27 March 1979
Average home league attendance20,164

Twenty-seven players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Defender Joe Gallagher played in every game but one over the season, and Alan Buckley was the club's top scorer with 8 goals, all scored in the league. Jim Smith, in his first full season as Birmingham's manager, brought Argentina's World Cup-winning full-back Alberto Tarantini to the club.[1]

Trevor Francis, who joined Birmingham as a 15-year-old, became the first British footballer to be transferred for a fee of at least £1 million when Brian Clough signed him for league champions Nottingham Forest in February 1979. The basic fee was below £1m – Clough claimed in his autobiography to have set the fee at £999,999 because he did not want the idea of being the first £1m player going to Francis's head – but VAT and the transfer levy raised the total payable to £1.18m. Within three months he scored the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup Final.[2][3]

Football League First Division
Main article: 1978–79 Football League
DateLeague
position		Opponents VenueResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
19 August 1978 19thManchester UnitedA L0–1 56,139
22 August 1978 21stMiddlesbroughH L1–3Bertschin 24,409
26 August 1978 20thDerby CountyH D1–1Givens 21,973
2 September 1978 17thBolton WanderersA D2–2Francis 2 20,284
9 September 1978 21stLiverpoolH L0–3 31,740
16 September 1978 22ndNorwich CityA L0–4 15,701
23 September 1978 21stChelseaH D1–1Givens 18,458
30 September 1978 22ndLeeds UnitedA L0–3 23,331
7 October 1978 22ndManchester CityH L1–2Ainscow 18,378
14 October 1978 22ndTottenham HotspurA L0–1 41,230
21 October 1978 22ndAston VillaH L0–1 36,145
28 October 1978 22ndCoventry CityA L1–2Givens 25,429
4 November 1978 22ndWest Bromwich AlbionA L0–1 32,130
11 November 1978 22ndManchester UnitedH W5–1Dillon, Buckley, Givens, Calderwood 23,550
18 November 1978 22ndDerby CountyA L1–2Givens 24,720
21 November 1978 22ndBolton WanderersH W3–0Dillon, Buckley, Jones og 21,643
25 November 1978 21st Bristol City H D1–1Tarantini 21,152
2 December 1978 21stSouthamptonA L0–1 18,957
9 December 1978 21stEvertonH L1–3Buckley 23,391
16 December 1978 21stNottingham ForestA L0–1 25,224
26 December 1978 22ndWolverhampton WanderersA L1–2Buckley 26,872
30 December 1978 22ndArsenalA L1–3Francis pen 27,877
3 February 1979 22ndChelseaA L1–2Bertschin 22,511
10 February 1979 22ndLeeds UnitedH L0–1 17,388
13 February 1979 22ndLiverpoolA L0–1 35,207
24 February 1979 22ndTottenham HotspurH W1–0Towers 20,980
3 March 1979 22ndAston VillaA L0–1 42,419
6 March 1979 22ndQueens Park RangersH W3–1Buckley, Towers pen, Broadhurst 12,605
10 March 1979 22ndCoventry CityH D0–0 17,528
24 March 1979 22ndMiddlesbroughA L1–2Givens 15,013
27 March 1979 21stNorwich CityH W1–0Givens 12,168
31 March 1979 21stBristol CityA L1–2Gallagher 16,453
3 April 1979 21stIpswich TownH D1–1Gallagher 12,449
7 April 1979 21stSouthamptonH D2–2Barrowclough 2 (1 pen) 12,825
14 April 1979 21stWolverhampton WanderersH D1–1Ainscow 20,556
17 April 1979 21stIpswich TownA L0–3 17,677
21 April 1979 21stNottingham ForestH L0–2 22,189
24 April 1979 21stWest Bromwich AlbionH D1–1Gallagher 19,897
28 April 1979 21stEvertonA L0–1 23,048
1 May 1979 21stManchester CityA L1–3Lynex 27,366
5 May 1979 21stArsenalH D0–0 14,015
7 May 1979 21stQueens Park RangersA W3–1Buckley 2, Dark 9,600

League table (part)
Final First Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GD Pts
18th Wolverhampton Wanderers42138214468−2434
19th Derby County421011214471−2731
20th Queens Park Rangers42613234573−2825
21st Birmingham City42610263764−2722
22nd Chelsea42510274592−4720
Key Pos = League position; Pld = Matches played;
W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;
F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Source [4]

FA Cup
Main article: 1980–81 FA Cup
Round DateOpponentsVenue ResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
Third round 6 January 1979BurnleyH L0–2 19,034

League Cup
Main article: 1980–81 Football League Cup
Round DateOpponentsVenue ResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
Second round 29 August 1978SouthamptonH L2–5Gallagher, Francis 18,464

Appearances and goals
Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.
Players with name struck through and marked left the club during the playing season.
Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.
Players having played at least one first-team match
Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
GK ENG Neil Freeman 2900000290
GK ENG Jimmy Montgomery 1301010150
DF ENG Kevan Broadhurst 13 (3)1101015 (3)1
DF SCO Jimmy Calderwood 24 (1)1000024 (1)0
DF ENG Mark Dennis 3101000320
DF ENG Joe Gallagher 4131011434
DF ENG Pat Howard 50000050
DF WAL Malcolm Page 3201010350
DF ENG Garry Pendrey 9 (1)0001010 (1)0
DF ENG Mick Rathbone 20000020
DF ARG Alberto Tarantini 2311000241
DF WAL Pat Van Den Hauwe 7 (1)000007 (1)0
MF ENG Alan Ainscow 27 (4)2001028 (4)2
MF ENG Stewart Barrowclough 26 (3)2001027 (3)2
MF ENG Trevor Dark 2 (3)100002 (3)1
MF ENG Kevin Dillon 36 (1)2100037 (1)2
MF WAL Gary Emmanuel 12 (1)0001013 (1)0
MF ENG Steve Fox 13 (1)0000013 (1)0
MF ENG Steve Lynex 21000021
MF SCO Bruce Rioch* 30000030
MF ENG Tony Towers 31 (1)2100 (1)032 (2)2
FW ENG Keith Bertschin 920 (1)01010 (1)2
FW ENG Malcolm Briggs 0 (1)000000 (1)0
FW ENG Alan Buckley 24 (4)8100025 (4)8
FW ENG Trevor Francis 8 (1)3101110 (1)4
FW IRL Don Givens 38 (1)7101040 (1)7
FW ENG Paul Ivey 3 (2)000003 (2)0

See also
  • Birmingham City F.C. seasons

References
General
  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • Source for match dates and results: "Birmingham City 1978–1979 : Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 392–93.
Specific
  1. Lyons, Andy (January 2002). "The importer". When Saturday Comes. Archived from the original on 23 November 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  2. Clough, Brian (1995). Clough: The Autobiography. Corgi. ISBN 978-0-552-14003-4.
  3. Harris, Nick (4 February 2004). "Landmark £1m fee for Francis was no big deal for Clough" (reprint hosted at NewsBank). The Independent. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  4. "Birmingham City 1978–1979 : English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.