1978–79 Manchester United F.C. season

97th season in existence of Manchester United

Manchester United 1978–79 football season

Manchester United

1978–79 season

Steve Coppell taking a corner against Norwich City, 7 April 1979

Chairman

Manager

9th

Runners-up

Third Round

Top goalscorer

League:
Steve Coppell (11)
Jimmy Greenhoff (11)
All:
Jimmy Greenhoff (17)

Highest home attendance

56,139 vs Birmingham City (19 August 1978)

Lowest home attendance

33,678 vs Norwich City (25 April 1979)

Average home league attendance

46,164

Home colours

Away colours

Third colours

← 1977–78 1979–80 →

The 1978–79 season was Manchester United's 77th season in the Football League, and their fourth consecutive season in the top division of English football. They finished the season ninth in the league, but were more successful in the FA Cup, reaching the final where they lost 3-2 to Arsenal at Wembley, conceding a late goal from Alan Sunderland in the final minute of the game after coming from 2-0 down make it 2-2 in the closing minutes of the game.

First Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
19 August 1978	Birmingham City	H	1–0	Jordan	56,139
23 August 1978	Leeds United	A	3–2	Macari, McIlroy, McQueen	36,845
26 August 1978	Ipswich Town	A	0–3		21,802
2 September 1978	Everton	H	1–1	Buchan	53,982
9 September 1978	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–1	J. Greenhoff	23,477
16 September 1978	Nottingham Forest	H	1–1	J. Greenhoff	53,039
23 September 1978	Arsenal	A	1–1	Coppell	45,393
30 September 1978	Manchester City	H	1–0	Jordan	55,301
7 October 1978	Middlesbrough	H	3–2	Macari (2), Jordan	45,402
14 October 1978	Aston Villa	A	2–2	Macari, McIlroy	36,204
21 October 1978	Bristol City	H	1–3	J. Greenhoff	47,211
28 October 1978	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	4–2	J. Greenhoff (2), B. Greenhoff, Jordan	23,141
4 November 1978	Southampton	H	1–1	J. Greenhoff	46,259
11 November 1978	Birmingham City	A	1–5	Jordan	23,550
18 November 1978	Ipswich Town	H	2–0	Coppell, J. Greenhoff	42,109
21 November 1978	Everton	A	0–3		42,126
25 November 1978	Chelsea	A	1–0	J. Greenhoff	28,162
9 December 1978	Derby County	A	3–1	Ritchie (2), J. Greenhoff	23,180
16 December 1978	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–0	McIlroy, Ritchie	52,026
22 December 1978	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–3		32,390
26 December 1978	Liverpool	H	0–3		54,910
30 December 1978	West Bromwich Albion	H	3–5	B. Greenhoff, McIlroy, McQueen	45,091
3 February 1979	Arsenal	H	0–2		45,460
10 February 1979	Manchester City	A	3–0	Coppell (2), Ritchie	46,151
24 February 1979	Aston Villa	H	1–1	J. Greenhoff	44,437
28 February 1979	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–0	Coppell, J. Greenhoff	36,085
3 March 1979	Bristol City	A	2–1	McQueen, Ritchie	24,583
20 March 1979	Coventry City	A	3–4	Coppell (2), McIlroy	25,382
24 March 1979	Leeds United	H	4–1	Ritchie (3), Thomas	51,191
27 March 1979	Middlesbrough	A	2–2	Coppell, McQueen	20,138
7 April 1979	Norwich City	A	2–2	Macari, McQueen	19,382
11 April 1979	Bolton Wanderers	H	1–2	Buchan	49,617
14 April 1979	Liverpool	A	0–2		46,608
16 April 1979	Coventry City	H	0–0		43,035
18 April 1979	Nottingham Forest	A	1–1	Jordan	33,074
21 April 1979	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–1	McQueen	36,665
25 April 1979	Norwich City	H	1–0	Macari	33,678
28 April 1979	Derby County	H	0–0		42,546
30 April 1979	Southampton	A	1–1	Ritchie	21,616
5 May 1979	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–1		27,960
7 May 1979	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	3–2	Coppell (2), Ritchie	39,402
16 May 1979	Chelsea	H	1–1	Coppell	38,109

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
7	Arsenal	42	17	14	11	61	48	+13	48	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round
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

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

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

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
15 January 1979	Round 3	Chelsea	H	3–0	Coppell, J. Greenhoff, Grimes	38,743
31 January 1979	Round 4	Fulham	A	1–1	J. Greenhoff	25,229
12 February 1979	Round 4 Replay	Fulham	H	1–0	J. Greenhoff	41,200
20 February 1979	Round 5	Colchester United	A	1–0	J. Greenhoff	13,171
10 March 1979	Round 6	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–1	Thomas	51,800
14 March 1979	Round 6 Replay	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–0	McIlroy, Jordan	55,584
31 March 1979	Semi-Final	Liverpool	N	2–2	Jordan, B. Greenhoff	52,524
4 April 1979	Semi-Final Replay	Liverpool	N	1–0	J. Greenhoff	53,069
12 May 1979	Final	Arsenal	N	2–3	McQueen, McIlroy	100,000

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
30 August 1978	Round 2	Stockport County	H	3–2	McIlroy, J. Greenhoff, Jordan	41,761
4 October 1978	Round 3	Watford	H	1–2	Jordan	40,534

Squad statistics

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Gary Bailey	28	0	9	0	0	0	37	0
GK	Paddy Roche	14	0	0	0	2	0	16	0
DF	Arthur Albiston	32(1)	0	7	0	2	0	41(1)	0
DF	Martin Buchan	37	2	9	0	2	0	48	2
DF	Tom Connell	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
DF	Stewart Houston	21(1)	0	2	0	1	0	24(1)	0
DF	Gordon McQueen	36	6	9	1	2	0	47	7
DF	Kevin Moran	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Jimmy Nicholl	19(2)	0	6(2)	0	0	0	25(4)	0
DF	Steve Paterson	1(2)	0	0	0	0	0	1(2)	0
MF	Steve Coppell	42	11	9	1	2	0	53	12
MF	Brian Greenhoff	32(1)	2	5	1	2	0	39(1)	3
MF	Ashley Grimes	5(11)	0	3	1	2	0	10(11)	1
MF	Lou Macari	31(1)	6	5	0	1	0	37(1)	6
MF	David McCreery	14(1)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	14(2)	0
MF	Chris McGrath	0(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0
MF	Sammy McIlroy	40	5	9	2	2	1	51	8
MF	Tom Sloan	3(1)	0	0	0	0	0	3(1)	0
MF	Mickey Thomas	25	1	8	1	0	0	33	2
FW	Jimmy Greenhoff	33	11	9	5	2	1	44	17
FW	Joe Jordan	30	6	4(1)	2	2	2	36(1)	10
FW	Stuart Pearson	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
FW	Andy Ritchie	16(1)	10	3(1)	0	0	0	19(2)	10

References

"Manchester United Season 1978/79". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.

v t e Manchester United F.C. seasons
1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

Manchester United F.C. seasons

1883–84
1884–85
1885–86
1886–87
1887–88
1888–89
1889–90
1890–91
1891–92
1892–93
1893–94
1894–95
1895–96
1896–97
1897–98
1898–99
1899–1900
1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
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1904–05
1905–06
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1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
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1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
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1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
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2005–06
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2009–10
2010–11
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2012–13
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2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
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2023–24
2024–25

1978–79 in English football

« 1977–78 1979–80 »

National teams

League competitions

Levels 1–4	Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division, Fourth Division)
Levels 5–6	Isthmian League (Premier, One) Northern Premier League (level 5 only) Southern League (Premier, One North, One South)
Levels 7–9	Isthmian League (Two) Athenian League (level 7 only) Cheshire County League (One, Two) Town & Country League (level 7 only) Essex Senior League (level 7 only) Hellenic League (Premier, One) Home Counties League (level 7 only) Kent League (level 7 only) Lancashire Combination (level 7 only) London Spartan League (Premier, Senior) Midland Football Combination (level 7 only) Midland League (Premier, One) Northern League (level 7 only) South Midlands League (Premier, One) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (Premier, One, Two)

West Midlands (Regional) League (level 7 only)
Western League (Premier, One)
Yorkshire League (One, Two, Three)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) Charity Shield FA Trophy (Final)
Football League cups	League Cup (Final)

European competitions

Other

Manchester United 3–5 West Bromwich Albion (1978)

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 Luton Town Millwall Newcastle United Notts County Oldham Athletic Orient 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

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