1978–79 Scottish Premier Division

73rd season of top-tier football league in Scotland Football league season

Scottish Premier Division
Season	1978–79
Champions	Celtic 2nd Premier Division title 31st Scottish title
Relegated	Heart of Midlothian Motherwell
European Cup	Celtic
UEFA Cup	Dundee United Aberdeen
Cup Winners' Cup	Rangers
Matches played	180
Goals scored	483 (2.68 per match)
Top goalscorer	Andy Ritchie (22)
Biggest home win	Aberdeen 8–0 Motherwell
Biggest away win	Motherwell 1–5 Celtic
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

The 1978–79 Scottish Premier Division season was won by Celtic, three points ahead of Rangers.

Severe winter conditions meant that many games had to be rescheduled, with clubs finishing their fixture lists at different times. When Dundee United finished their season they were three points ahead of Rangers and four in front of Celtic, but both Old Firm clubs had four games left to play. Celtic subsequently clinched the championship in their final match with a 4–2 Old Firm derby victory against Rangers; although Rangers still had two further matches still to play, the resulting 5-point gap could not be closed.

Heart of Midlothian and Motherwell were relegated.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Celtic (C)	36	21	6	9	61	37	+24	48	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Rangers	36	18	9	9	52	35	+17	45	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
3	Dundee United	36	18	8	10	56	37	+19	44	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Aberdeen	36	13	14	9	59	36	+23	40	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
5	Hibernian	36	12	13	11	44	48	−4	37
6	St Mirren	36	15	6	15	45	41	+4	36
7	Morton	36	12	12	12	52	53	−1	36
8	Partick Thistle	36	13	8	15	42	39	+3	34
9	Heart of Midlothian (R)	36	8	7	21	39	71	−32	23	Relegation to the 1979–80 Scottish First Division
10	Motherwell (R)	36	5	7	24	33	86	−53	17	Relegation to the 1979–80 Scottish First Division

Source: Statto and RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1–18

During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away	ABE	CEL	DNU	HOM	HIB	MOR	MOT	PAR	RAN	STM
Aberdeen		1–1	0–2	5–0	0–0	1–2	8–0	2–1	2–1	1–2
Celtic	1–0		2–1	1–0	3–1	3–0	2–1	2–0	4–2	2–1
Dundee United	2–2	2–1		2–1	2–1	4–1	2–1	2–1	1–2	2–0
Heart of Midlothian	0–0	0–3	0–3		1–2	0–1	3–0	0–2	3–2	1–2
Hibernian	1–1	2–1	1–0	1–1		1–1	4–0	1–0	2–1	0–2
Morton	0–1	1–0	3–1	2–2	3–0		6–0	2–2	0–2	1–0
Motherwell	1–1	3–4	0–4	3–2	0–3	3–3		1–1	1–2	0–3
Partick Thistle	1–2	1–2	1–2	2–0	6–1	2–1	0–0		0–2	3–1
Rangers	2–0	1–0	1–0	4–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	1–0		1–0
St Mirren	2–2	0–2	2–1	2–1	2–3	3–1	1–0	1–1	1–2

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–36

During matches 19–36 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away	ABE	CEL	DNU	HOM	HIB	MOR	MOT	PAR	RAN	STM
Aberdeen		4–1	1–0	1–2	4–1	3–1	4–0	1–1	0–0	1–1
Celtic	0–0		1–1	4–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	1–0	3–1	2–1
Dundee United	1–1	1–0		3–1	0–0	1–2	2–1	2–0	3–0	1–1
Heart of Midlothian	1–4	2–0	2–0		1–1	1–1	3–2	0–1	0–0	1–1
Hibernian	2–1	2–2	1–1	1–2		1–1	2–2	0–0	0–0	1–0
Morton	2–1	1–2	3–1	3–2	2–2		1–2	1–0	2–2	1–3
Motherwell	1–1	1–5	0–1	0–1	2–3	1–1		0–1	2–0	1–2
Partick Thistle	0–1	2–3	1–1	3–2	2–1	2–1	2–0		1–0	2–1
Rangers	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–3	2–1	3–0	4–1	0–0		0–1
St Mirren	2–1	0–1	1–3	4–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–1

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

1978–79 Scottish Premier Division – Statto

^ Grahame, Ewing (15 April 2020). "Long break 41 years ago helped Celtic to claim title". The Times. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
‘Parkhead erupted as it had never done so before,’ David Potter’s 7 Magnificently Random Celtic Stories, The Celtic Star, 23 October 2019

v t e Top division football seasons in Scotland
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Premier Division	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
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Winners	List of champions Winning managers

v t e 1978–79 in European football (UEFA)
« 1977–78 1979–80 »
Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark '78 '79 England Faroe Islands '78 '79 Finland '78 '79 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '78 '79 Israel Italy Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '78 '79 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union '78 '79 Spain Sweden '78 '79 Switzerland Turkey Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Faroe Islands '78 '79 Finland '78 '79 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '78 '79 Israel Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '78 '79 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Wales Yugoslavia
League cups	England Republic of Ireland Scotland Switzerland
UEFA competitions	European Cup (Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Super Cup
Non-UEFA competitions	Intertoto Cup Balkans Cup '77–'78 '79–'80

v t e 1978–79 in Scottish football
« 1977–78 1979–80 »
Domestic leagues	Football League Premier Division First Division Second Division Highland League
Domestic cups	Scottish Cup Final League Cup Final Junior Cup
European competitions	European Cup European Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup Anglo-Scottish Cup
Related to national team	Results Euro 1980 qualifying (Group 2) British Home Championship
Club seasons
Premier Division	Aberdeen Celtic Dundee United Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Morton Motherwell Partick Thistle Rangers St. Mirren
First Division	Airdrieonians Arbroath Ayr United Clyde Clydebank Dundee Dumbarton Hamilton Academical Kilmarnock Montrose Queen of the South Raith Rovers St. Johnstone Stirling Albion
Second Division	Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Berwick Rangers Brechin City Cowdenbeath Dunfermline Athletic East Fife East Stirlingshire Falkirk Forfar Athletic Meadowbank Thistle Queen's Park Stenhousemuir Stranraer

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