1978–79 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

The 1978-79 season was Nottingham Forest's first year in the Football League First Division since winning the title the previous season. This meant they qualified for the first time in their history for the European Cup.

Summary

Forest opened the defence of their title with six draws in their first seven league matches. On November 28 the 1-0 win at Bolton set an undefeated record of 42 consecutive league games. The record stood for over two decades. Garry Birtles broke into the first team and ended up being the club's top scorer as they finished runners-up in the league, retained the League Cup and won the European Cup. Along the way they knocked out holders Liverpool and came from behind to oust West German champions Cologne. Trevor Francis became the first £1,000,000 player when he signed for the Reds from Birmingham City and immediately proved his worth by scoring the only goal of the European Cup final against Malmo in Munich.

Players

Squad Stats

The statistics for the following players are for their time during 1978-79 season playing for Nottingham Forest. Any stats from a different club during 1978-79 are not included. Includes all competitive matches.

Position	Nation	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Position	Nation	Name	Total		Division One		League Cup		FA Cup		European Cup		Charity Shield
GK		Peter Shilton	63	0	42	0	8	0	3	0	9	0	1	0
GK		Jim Montgomery	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
GK		Chris Woods	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DF		Viv Anderson	59	3	40	1	7	2	3	0	8	0	1	0
DF		Colin Barrett	18	2	11	1	3	0	0	0	3	1	1	0
DF		Kenny Burns	37	1	25	0	5	1	1	0	5	0	1	0
DF		Frank Clark	31	0	20	0	3	0	2	0	6	0	0	0
DF		Bryn Gunn	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DF		Larry Lloyd	55	4	36	0	7	1	3	1	8	1	1	1
MF		Ian Bowyer	42	6	26+3	4	5	0	1	0	5	2	1	0
MF		John McGovern	55	4	36	0	7	2	3	1	8	1	1	0
MF		Gary Mills	6	1	4	1	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
MF		Dave Needham	39	5	23+3	2	6	1	2	1	4	1	0+1	0
MF		John O'Hare	14	0	9+2	0	1+1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
MF		Martin O'Neill	42	15	28	10	6	1	3	1	4	1	1	2
MF		John Robertson	63	16	42	9	8	4	3	0	9	2	1	1
MF		Steve Burke	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FW		Garry Birtles	54	26	35	14	7	6	3	0	9	6	0	0
FW		Steve Elliott	6	0	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FW		Trevor Francis	21	7	19+1	6	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
FW		Peter Withe	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
FW		Tony Woodcock	57	15	36	10	8	3	3	1	9	1	1	0

Top Scorers

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted by league goals when total goals are equal.

Last updated on 11 May 2010

Position	Name	Division One	League Cup	FA Cup	European Cup	Charity Shield	Total
1	Garry Birtles	14	6	0	6	0	26
2	John Robertson	9	4	0	2	1	16
3	Tony Woodcock	10	3	1	1	0	15
=	Martin O'Neill	10	1	1	1	2	15
5	Trevor Francis	6	0	0	1	0	7
6	Ian Bowyer	4	0	0	2	0	6
7	Dave Needham	2	1	1	1	0	5
8	John McGovern	0	2	1	1	0	4
=	Larry Lloyd	0	1	1	1	1	4
10	Viv Anderson	1	2	0	0	0	3
11	Colin Barrett	1	0	0	1	0	2
12	Gary Mills	1	0	0	0	0	1
=	Kenny Burns	0	1	0	0	0	1
=	Peter Withe	0	0	0	0	1	1
	TOTALS	58	21	5	17	5	106

Transfers In

Pos	Player	From	Fee	Date
MF	Gary Mills	Youth system		September 1978
FW	Trevor Francis	Birmingham City	£1 Million	February 1979

Transfers Out

Pos	Player	To	Fee	Date
FW	Peter Withe	Newcastle United	£200,000	August 1978

Club Kit

Supplier: Adidas

Home

Away

Source: Wikipedia Nottingham Forest Article

Competitions

Division One

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Liverpool	42	19	2	0	51	4	11	6	4	34	12	85	16	+ 69	68	European Cup 1979–80 First round
2	Nottingham Forest	42	11	10	0	34	10	10	8	3	27	16	61	26	+ 35	60	European Cup 1979–80 First round ^{[notes 1]}
3	West Bromwich Albion	42	13	5	3	38	15	11	6	4	34	20	72	35	+ 37	59	UEFA Cup 1979–80 First round
4	Everton	42	12	7	2	32	17	5	10	6	20	23	52	40	+ 12	51	UEFA Cup 1979–80 First round
5	Leeds United	42	11	4	6	41	25	7	10	4	29	27	70	52	+ 18	50	UEFA Cup 1979–80 First round
6	Ipswich Town	42	11	4	6	34	21	9	5	7	29	28	63	49	+ 14	49	UEFA Cup 1979–80 First round
7	Arsenal	42	11	8	2	37	18	6	6	9	24	30	61	48	+ 13	48	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1979–80 First round
8	Aston Villa	42	8	9	4	37	26	7	7	7	22	23	59	49	+ 10	46
9	Manchester United	42	9	7	5	29	25	6	8	7	31	38	60	63	– 3	45
10	Coventry City	42	11	7	3	41	29	3	9	9	17	39	58	68	– 10	44
11	Tottenham Hotspur	42	7	8	6	19	25	6	7	8	29	36	48	61	– 13	41
12	Middlesbrough	42	10	5	6	33	21	5	5	11	24	29	57	50	+ 7	40
13	Bristol City	42	11	6	4	34	19	4	4	13	13	32	47	51	– 4	40
14	Southampton	42	9	10	2	35	20	3	6	12	12	33	47	53	– 6	40
15	Manchester City	42	9	5	7	34	28	4	8	9	24	28	58	56	+ 2	39
16	Norwich City	42	7	10	4	29	19	0	13	8	22	38	51	57	– 6	37
17	Bolton Wanderers	42	10	5	6	36	28	2	6	13	18	47	54	75	– 21	35
18	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	10	4	7	26	26	3	4	14	18	42	44	68	– 24	34
19	Derby County	42	8	5	8	25	25	2	6	13	19	46	44	71	– 27	31
20	Queens Park Rangers	42	4	9	8	24	33	2	4	15	21	40	45	73	– 28	25
21	Birmingham City	42	5	9	7	24	25	1	1	19	13	39	37	64	– 27	22
22	Chelsea	42	3	5	13	23	42	2	5	14	21	50	44	92	– 48	20

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

^ Nottingham Forest won this year's European Cup and thus qualified as defending champions. They also won the League cup for the second year
running this year.

Key
	League Champions, qualified for European Cup
	Qualified for European Cup
	FA Cup winners, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
	Qualified for UEFA Cup
	League cup winners, see Nottingham Forest
	Relegated

Matches

Competitive

Division One

1 19 August 1978	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Nottingham
	O'Neill			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 41,223

2 22 August 1978	Coventry City	0–0	Nottingham Forest	Coventry
				Stadium: Highfield Road Attendance: 28,585

3 26 August 1978	Queens Park Rangers	0–0	Nottingham Forest	London
				Stadium: Loftus Road Attendance: 17,971

4 2 September 1978	Nottingham Forest	0–0	West Bromwich Albion	Nottingham
				Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 28,239

5 9 September 1978	Nottingham Forest	2–1	Arsenal	Nottingham
	Bowyer Robertson (pen.)'			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 28,124

6 16 September 1978	Manchester United	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Manchester
			Bowyer	Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 55,039

7 23 September 1978	Nottingham Forest	2–2	Middlesbrough	Nottingham
	O'Neill Birtles			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 26,287

8 30 September 1978	Aston Villa	1–2	Nottingham Forest	Birmingham
			Woodcock Robertson	Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 36,735

9 7 October 1978	Nottingham Forest	3–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Nottingham
	O'Neill Birtles ,			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 29,313

Last updated: 28 August 2011
Source: Bridport Red Archive

League Cup

R2 29 August 1978	Oldham Athletic	0–0	Nottingham Forest	Oldham
				Stadium: Boundary Park Attendance: 13,793

R2 Replay 6 September 1978	Nottingham Forest	4–2	Oldham Athletic	Nottingham
	Needham Burns Woodcock Robertson (pen.)'			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 19,669

R3 4 October 1978	Oxford United	0–5	Nottingham Forest	Oxford
			Anderson McGovern O'Neill Birtles Robertson	Stadium: Manor Ground Attendance: 14,287

R4 7 November 1978	Everton	2–3	Nottingham Forest	Liverpool
			Anderson Woodcock Lloyd	Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 48,503

R5 13 December 1978	Nottingham Forest	3–1	Brighton & Hove Albion	Nottingham
	McGovern Birtles Robertson			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 30,672

Semi-Final, 1st Leg 17 January 1979	Nottingham Forest	3–1	Watford	Nottingham
	Birtles , Robertson			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 32,438

Semi-Final, 2nd Leg 30 January 1979	Watford	0–0 (1–3 agg.)	Nottingham Forest	Watford
				Stadium: Vicarage Road Attendance: 27,656

Final 17 March 1979	Nottingham Forest	3–2	Southampton	Wembley, London
	Birtles 51', 79' Woodcock 83'		16' David Peach 88' Holmes	Stadium: Wembley Attendance: 96,952 Referee: P. Reeves

Last updated: 28 August 2011
Source: Bridport Red Archive

FA Cup

R3 10 January 1979	Aston Villa	0–2	Nottingham Forest	Birmingham
			Needham Woodcock	Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 29,550 Referee: -

R4 27 January 1979	Nottingham Forest	3–1	York City	Nottingham
	McGovern Lloyd O'Neill			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 25,228 Referee: -

R5 26 February 1979	Nottingham Forest	0–1	Arsenal	Nottingham
				Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 35,908 Referee: -

Last updated: 28 August 2011
Source: Bridport Red Archive

FA Charity Shield

Final 12 August 1978	Nottingham Forest	5–0	Ipswich Town	Wembley, London
	O'Neill , Lloyd Withe Robertson			Stadium: Wembley Attendance: 64,438 Referee: P. Reeves

Last updated: 28 August 2011
Source: Bridport Red Archive

European Cup

1st Round, 1st Leg 13 September 1978	Nottingham Forest	2–0	Liverpool	Nottingham
	Barrett Birtles			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 38,318 Referee: -

1st Round, 2nd Leg 27 September 1978	Liverpool	0–0 (0 – 2 agg.)	Nottingham Forest	Liverpool, England
				Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 51,679 Referee: -

2nd Round, 1st Leg 18 October 1978	AEK Athens	1–2	Nottingham Forest	Athens, Greece
			McGovern Birtles	Stadium: Nea Filadelfeia Stadium Attendance: 36,000 Referee: -

2nd Round, 2nd Leg 1 November 1978	Nottingham Forest	5–1 (7–2 agg.)	AEK Athens	Nottingham
	Needham Woodcock Anderson Birtles ,			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 38,069 Referee: -

Quarter-Final, 1st Leg 7 March 1979	Nottingham Forest	4–1	Grasshopper Club Zürich	Nottingham
	Lloyd Gemmil Birtles Robertson (pen.)'			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 31,949 Referee: -

Quarter-Final, 2nd Leg 21 March 1979	Grasshopper Club Zürich	1–1 (2–5 agg.)	Nottingham Forest	Zürich, Switzerland
			O'Neill	Stadium: Hardturm Attendance: 7,800 Referee: -

Semi-Final, 1st Leg 11 April 1979	Nottingham Forest	3–3	1. FC Köln	Nottingham
	Bowyer Birtles Robertson			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 40,804 Referee: -

Semi-Final, 2nd Leg 25 April 1979	1. FC Köln	0–1 (3–4 agg.)	Nottingham Forest	Cologne, West Germany
			Bowyer	Stadium: Müngersdorfer Stadion Attendance: 60,000 Referee: -

Final 30 May 1979	Nottingham Forest	1–0	Malmö FF	Munich, West Germany
	Francis			Stadium: Olympiastadion Attendance: 57,000 Referee: Erich Linemayr

Last updated: 28 August 2011
Source: Bridport Red Archive

Pre-season and Friendlies

Friendly 25 July 1978	Red Star Belgrade	3–2	Nottingham Forest	Belgrade, Yugoslavia
			O'Neill Withe	Stadium: Stadion FK Crvena Zvezda Attendance: 33,000 Referee: -

Friendly 27 July 1978	Dinamo Zagreb	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Zagreb, Yugoslavia
			Needham	Stadium: Stadion Maksimir Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Raus

Friendly 30 July 1978	NK Osijek	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Osijek, Yugoslavia
			Bowyer	Stadium: Stadion Gradski vrt Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Fresl

Friendly 2 August 1978	AEK Athens	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Athens, Greece
			Woodcock	Stadium: Nea Filadelfeia Stadium Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Aleksopoulos

Vigo Tournament 14 August 1978	R.C. Celta Vigo	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Vigo, Spain
	Senra 89'		90+2' Withe	Stadium: Balaídos Attendance: 13,000 Referee: Balsa-Ron

Vigo Tournament 16 August 1978	F.C. Porto	1–0	Nottingham Forest	Vigo, Spain
	Gonzales 81'			Stadium: Balaídos Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Garcia De Loza

Sandy Pate Testimonial 4 September 1978	Mansfield Town	1–6	Nottingham Forest	Mansfield
				Stadium: Field Mill Attendance: 7,051 Referee: -

Friendly 5 December 1978	Nottingham Forest	2–0	Dinamo Zagreb	Nottingham
	Birtles ,			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 5,338 Referee: Styles

Nick Jennings Testimonial 19 February 1979	Exeter City	0–5	Nottingham Forest	Exeter
			Anderson Birtles , Woodcock Bowyer	Stadium: St James Park Attendance: 9,479 Referee: Atkins

Trevor Stokes Testimonial 21 February 1979	West Bromwich Albion	0–0	Nottingham Forest	Witney
				Stadium: Marriots Stadium Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Ladbrook

Lawrie McMenemy Testimonial 11 May 1979	Southampton	0–4	Nottingham Forest	Southampton
			, Bowyer Birtles Mills	Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 14,693 Referee: -

Last updated: 28 August 2011
Source: Bridport Red Archive

References

External links

Nottingham Forest Football Club

The Club	The Club · History · Statistics · Seasons · Women's team · Players · Internationals

Stadia	Forest Recreation Ground · Trent Bridge · City Ground · New Stadium

Rivalries	Nottingham derby · East Midlands derby (Brian Clough Trophy) · Leicester City rivalry

Nottingham Forest F.C. seasons

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1978–79 in English football

« 1977–78 1979–80 »

FA competitions	FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds, Final) • Charity Shield • FA Trophy

Football League	Football League (First Division • Second Division • Third Division • Fourth Division) • League Cup (Final)

Lower leagues	Northern Premier League · Southern Football League · Isthmian League

European competitions	European Cup (Final) · UEFA Cup · European Cup Winners' Cup

Related to national team	Ron Greenwood • Home Championship • UEFA Euro 1980 (qualification)

Club seasons

First Division	Arsenal · Aston Villa · Birmingham City · Bolton Wanderers · Bristol City · Chelsea · Coventry City · Derby County · Everton · Ipswich Town · Leeds United · Liverpool · Manchester City · Manchester United · Middlesbrough · Norwich City · Nottingham Forest · Queens Park Rangers · Southampton · Tottenham Hotspur · West Bromwich Albion · Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Blackburn Rovers · Brighton & Hove Albion · Bristol Rovers · Burnley · Cambridge United · Cardiff City · Charlton Athletic · Crystal Palace · Fulham · Leicester City · Leyton Orient · Luton Town · Millwall · Newcastle United · Notts County · Oldham Athletic · Preston North End · Sheffield United · Stoke City · Sunderland · West Ham United · Wrexham

Third Division	Blackpool · Brentford · Bury · Carlisle United · Chester · Chesterfield · Colchester United · Exeter City · Gillingham · Hull City · Lincoln City · Mansfield Town · Oxford United · Peterborough United · Plymouth Argyle · Rotherham United · Sheffield Wednesday · Shrewsbury Town · Southend United · Swansea City · Swindon Town · Tranmere Rovers · Walsall · Watford

Fourth Division	Aldershot · Barnsley · Bournemouth · Bradford City · Crewe Alexandra · Darlington · Doncaster Rovers · Grimsby Town · Halifax Town · Hartlepool United · Hereford United · Huddersfield Town · Newport County · Northampton Town · Port Vale · Portsmouth · Reading · Rochdale · Scunthorpe United · Stockport County · Torquay United · Wigan Athletic · Wimbledon · York City

1978–79 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

Contents

Summary

Players

Squad Stats

Top Scorers

Transfers In

Transfers Out

Club Kit

Competitions

Division One

Table

Matches

Competitive

Division One

League Cup

FA Cup

FA Charity Shield

European Cup

Pre-season and Friendlies

References

External links