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1978–79 Birmingham City F.C. season

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}

{{Use British English|date=December 2014}}

{{Infobox football club season

| club = Birmingham City F.C.

| season = 1978–79

| manager = Jim Smith

| chairman = Keith Coombs

| stdtitle = Ground

| stadium = St Andrew's

| league = Football League First Division

| league result = 21st

| cup1 = FA Cup

| cup1 result = Third round
(eliminated by Burnley)

| cup2 = League Cup

| cup2 result = Second round
(eliminated by Southampton)

| league topscorer = {{nowrap|Alan Buckley (8)}}

| season topscorer = Alan Buckley (8)

| highest attendance = 36,145 vs Aston Villa, 21 October 1978

| lowest attendance = 12,168 vs Norwich City, 27 March 1979

| average attendance = 20,164

| pattern_la1 =_whitelines

| pattern_b1 =_shoulder_stripes_white_stripes

| pattern_ra1 =_whitelines

| pattern_sh1 =_blue_stripes_adidas

| pattern_so1 =_color_3_stripes_blue

| leftarm1 =0000ff

| body1 =0000ff

| rightarm1 =0000ff

| prevseason = 1977–78

| nextseason = 1979–80

}}

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.

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/2993/29/ |title=The importer |first=Andy |last=Lyons |work=When Saturday Comes |date=January 2002 |access-date=16 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123141156/http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/2993/29/ |archive-date=23 November 2011}}

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.{{cite book |last=Clough |first=Brian |title=Clough: The Autobiography |year=1995 |publisher=Corgi |isbn=978-0-552-14003-4}}{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:TND1&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=132990324376F680&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 |format=reprint hosted at NewsBank |title=Landmark £1m fee for Francis was no big deal for Clough |newspaper=The Independent |last=Harris |first=Nick |date=4 February 2004 |access-date=16 February 2012}}

Football League First Division

{{main|1978–79 Football League}}

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"|Datescope="col"|League
position		scope="col"|Opponents

!scope="col"|Venue

scope="col"|Resultscope="col"|Score
F–A		scope="col"|Scorers

!scope="col"|Attendance

scope="row"|19 August 1978

|19th||align="left"|Manchester United||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–1||

|56,139

scope="row"|22 August 1978

|21st||align="left"|Middlesbrough||H

|style="background:#fcc"|L||1–3||align="left"|Bertschin

|24,409

scope="row"|26 August 1978

|20th||align="left"|Derby County||H

|style="background:#ffc"|D||1–1||align="left"|Givens

|21,973

scope="row"|2 September 1978

|17th||align="left"|Bolton Wanderers||A

|style="background:#ffc"|D||2–2||align="left"|Francis 2

|20,284

scope="row"|9 September 1978

|21st||align="left"|Liverpool||H

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–3||

|31,740

scope="row"|16 September 1978

|22nd||align="left"|Norwich City||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–4||

|15,701

scope="row"|23 September 1978

|21st||align="left"|Chelsea||H

|style="background:#ffc"|D||1–1||align="left"|Givens

|18,458

scope="row"|30 September 1978

|22nd||align="left"|Leeds United||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–3||

|23,331

scope="row"|7 October 1978

|22nd||align="left"|Manchester City||H

|style="background:#fcc"|L||1–2||align="left"|Ainscow

|18,378

scope="row"|14 October 1978

|22nd||align="left"|Tottenham Hotspur||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–1||

|41,230

scope="row"|21 October 1978

|22nd||align="left"|Aston Villa||H

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–1||

|36,145

scope="row"|28 October 1978

|22nd||align="left"|Coventry City||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||1–2||align="left"|Givens

|25,429

scope="row"|4 November 1978

|22nd||align="left"|West Bromwich Albion||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–1||

|32,130

scope="row"|11 November 1978

|22nd||align="left"|Manchester United||H

|style="background:#cfc"|W||5–1||align="left"|Dillon, Buckley 2, Givens, Calderwood

|23,550

scope="row"|18 November 1978

|22nd||align="left"|Derby County||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||1–2||align="left"|Givens

|24,720

scope="row"|21 November 1978

|22nd||align="left"|Bolton Wanderers||H

|style="background:#cfc"|W||3–0||align="left"|Dillon, Buckley, Jones og

|21,643

scope="row"|25 November 1978

|21st||align="left"| Bristol City ||H

|style="background:#ffc"|D||1–1||align="left"|Tarantini

|21,152

scope="row"|2 December 1978

|21st||align="left"|Southampton||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–1||

|18,957

scope="row"|9 December 1978

|21st||align="left"|Everton||H

|style="background:#fcc"|L||1–3||align="left"|Buckley

|23,391

scope="row"|16 December 1978

|21st||align="left"|Nottingham Forest||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–1||

|25,224

scope="row"|26 December 1978

|22nd||align="left"|Wolverhampton Wanderers||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||1–2||align="left"|Buckley

|26,872

scope="row"|30 December 1978

|22nd||align="left"|Arsenal||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||1–3||align="left"|Francis pen

|27,877

scope="row"|3 February 1979

|22nd||align="left"|Chelsea||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||1–2||align="left"|Bertschin

|22,511

scope="row"|10 February 1979

|22nd||align="left"|Leeds United||H

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–1||

|17,388

scope="row"|13 February 1979

|22nd||align="left"|Liverpool||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–1||

|35,207

scope="row"|24 February 1979

|22nd||align="left"|Tottenham Hotspur||H

|style="background:#cfc"|W||1–0||align="left"|Towers

|20,980

scope="row"|3 March 1979

|22nd||align="left"|Aston Villa||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–1||

|42,419

scope="row"|6 March 1979

|22nd||align="left"|Queens Park Rangers||H

|style="background:#cfc"|W||3–1||align="left"|Buckley, Towers pen, Broadhurst

|12,605

scope="row"|10 March 1979

|22nd||align="left"|Coventry City||H

|style="background:#ffc"|D||0–0||

|17,528

scope="row"|24 March 1979

|22nd||align="left"|Middlesbrough||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||1–2||align="left"|Givens

|15,013

scope="row"|27 March 1979

|21st||align="left"|Norwich City||H

|style="background:#cfc"|W||1–0||align="left"|Givens

|12,168

scope="row"|31 March 1979

|21st||align="left"|Bristol City||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||1–2||align="left"|Gallagher

|16,453

scope="row"|3 April 1979

|21st||align="left"|Ipswich Town||H

|style="background:#ffc"|D||1–1||align="left"|Gallagher

|12,449

scope="row"|7 April 1979

|21st||align="left"|Southampton||H

|style="background:#ffc"|D||2–2||align="left"|Barrowclough 2 (1 pen)

|12,825

scope="row"|14 April 1979

|21st||align="left"|Wolverhampton Wanderers||H

|style="background:#ffc"|D||1–1||align="left"|Ainscow

|20,556

scope="row"|17 April 1979

|21st||align="left"|Ipswich Town||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–3||

|17,677

scope="row"|21 April 1979

|21st||align="left"|Nottingham Forest||H

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–2||

|22,189

scope="row"|24 April 1979

|21st||align="left"|West Bromwich Albion||H

|style="background:#ffc"|D||1–1||align="left"|Gallagher

|19,897

scope="row"|28 April 1979

|21st||align="left"|Everton||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–1||

|23,048

scope="row"|1 May 1979

|21st||align="left"|Manchester City||A

|style="background:#fcc"|L||1–3||align="left"|Lynex

|27,366

scope="row"|5 May 1979

|21st||align="left"|Arsenal||H

|style="background:#ffc"|D||0–0||

|14,015

scope="row"|7 May 1979

|21st||align="left"|Queens Park Rangers||A

|style="background:#cfc"|W||3–1||align="left"|Buckley 2, Dark

|9,600

=League table (part)=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Final First Division table (part){{cite web |url=http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1978-1979/table |title=Birmingham City 1978–1979 : English Division One (old) Table |publisher=Statto Organisation |access-date=16 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005084757/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1978-1979/table |archive-date=5 October 2015}}

!scope="col"|{{abbr|Pos|League position}}

!scope="col"|Team

!scope="col"|{{abbr|Pld|Played}}

!scope="col"|{{abbr|W|Won}}

!scope="col"|{{abbr|D|Drawn}}

!scope="col"|{{abbr|L|Lost}}

!scope="col"|{{abbr|GF|Goals for}}

!scope="col"|{{abbr|GA|Goals against}}

!scope="col"|{{abbr|GD|Goal difference}}

!scope="col"|{{abbr|Pts|Points}}

scope="row"|18th

|align="left"|Wolverhampton Wanderers||42||13||8||21||44||68||−24||34

scope="row"|19th

|align="left"|Derby County||42||10||11||21||44||71||−27||31

scope="row"|20th

|align="left"|Queens Park Rangers||42||6||13||23||45||73||−28||25

style="font-weight:bold"

!scope="row"|21st

|align="left"|Birmingham City

42610263764−2722
scope="row"|22nd

|align="left"|Chelsea||42||5||10||27||45||92||−47||20

FA Cup

{{main|1980–81 FA Cup}}

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"|Round

!scope="col"|Date

scope="col"|Opponentsscope="col"|Venue

!scope="col"|Result

scope="col"|Score
F–A		scope="col"|Scorers

!scope="col"|Attendance

scope="row"|Third round

|align="left"|6 January 1979||align="left"|Burnley||H

|style="background:#fcc"|L||0–2||

|19,034

League Cup

{{main|1980–81 Football League Cup}}

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
scope="col"|Round

!scope="col"|Date

scope="col"|Opponentsscope="col"|Venue

!scope="col"|Result

scope="col"|Score
F–A		scope="col"|Scorers

!scope="col"|Attendance

scope="row"|Second round

|align="left"|29 August 1978||align="left"|Southampton||H

|style="background:#fcc"|L||2–5||align="left"|Gallagher, Francis

|18,464

Appearances and goals

:Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.

:Players with name in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.

:Players marked {{dagger}} left the club during the playing season.

:Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ Players' appearances and goals by competition

rowspan="2" scope="col" width="50"|{{abbr|Pos.|Playing position}}

!rowspan="2" scope="col" width="75"|{{abbr|Nat.|Nationality}}

!rowspan="2" scope="col" width="180" scope=col|Name

!colspan="2"|League

!colspan="2"|FA Cup

!colspan="2"|League Cup

!colspan="2"|Total

scope="col" width="55"|{{abbr|Apps|Appearances}}scope="col" width="45"|Goals

!scope="col" width="55"|{{abbr|Apps|Appearances}}

scope="col" width="45"|Goals

!scope="col" width="55"|{{abbr|Apps|Appearances}}

scope="col" width="45"|Goals

!scope="col" width="55"|{{abbr|Apps|Appearances}}

scope="col" width="45"|Goals
GK{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Neil Freeman

|29

00000290
GK{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Jimmy Montgomery

|13

01010150
DF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Kevan Broadhurst

|13 (3)

1101015 (3)1
DF{{flag|SCO}}

!scope="row"| Jimmy Calderwood

|24 (1)

1000024 (1)0
DF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Mark Dennis

|31

01000320
DF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Joe Gallagher

|41

31011434
DF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Pat Howard

|5

0000050
DF{{flag|WAL}}

!scope="row"| Malcolm Page

|32

01010350
DF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Garry Pendrey

|9 (1)

0001010 (1)0
DF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Mick Rathbone {{dagger}}

|2

0000020
DF{{flag|ARG}}

!scope="row"| Alberto Tarantini

|23

11000241
DF{{flag|WAL}}

!scope="row"| Pat Van Den Hauwe

|7 (1)

000007 (1)0
MF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Alan Ainscow

|27 (4)

2001028 (4)2
MF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Stewart Barrowclough

|26 (3)

2001027 (3)2
MF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Trevor Dark

|2 (3)

100002 (3)1
MF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Kevin Dillon

|36 (1)

2100037 (1)2
MF{{flag|WAL}}

!scope="row"| Gary Emmanuel {{dagger}}

|12 (1)

0001013 (1)0
MF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Steve Fox {{dagger}}

|13 (1)

0000013 (1)0
MF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Steve Lynex

|2

1000021
MF{{flag|SCO}}

!scope="row"| Bruce Rioch *

|3

0000030
MF{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Tony Towers

|31 (1)

2100 (1)032 (2)2
FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Keith Bertschin

|9

20 (1)01010 (1)2
FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Malcolm Briggs

|0 (1)

000000 (1)0
FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Alan Buckley

|24 (4)

8100025 (4)8
FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Trevor Francis {{dagger}}

|8 (1)

3101110 (1)4
FW{{flag|IRL}}

!scope="row"| Don Givens

|38 (1)

7101040 (1)7
FW{{flag|ENG}}

!scope="row"| Paul Ivey

|3 (2)

000003 (2)0

See also

Sources

  • {{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Tony |title=Birmingham City: A Complete Record |year=1995 |publisher=Breedon Books |location=Derby |isbn=978-1-85983-010-9}}
  • {{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Tony |title=Birmingham City: The Complete Record |year=2010 |publisher=DB Publishing |location=Derby |isbn=978-1-85983-853-2}}
  • For match dates and results: {{cite web |url=http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1978-1979/results |title=Birmingham City 1978–1979 : Results |publisher=Statto Organisation |access-date=16 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060436/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1978-1979/results |archive-date=4 March 2016}}
  • For lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 392–93.

References

{{reflist}}

{{Birmingham City F.C.}}

{{Birmingham City F.C. seasons}}

{{1978–79 in English football}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1978-79 Birmingham City F.C. season}}

Category:Birmingham City F.C. seasons

Birmingham City