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1979–80 Birmingham City F.C. season

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Birmingham City F.C.
1979–80 season
ChairmanKeith Coombs
ManagerJim Smith
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League Second Division3rd (promoted)
FA CupFifth round
(eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur)
League CupThird round
(eliminated by Exeter City)
Anglo-Scottish CupGroup stage
Top goalscorerLeague: Keith Bertschin (12)
All: Keith Bertschin (18)
Highest home attendance33,863 vs Notts County, 3 May 1980
Lowest home attendance7,631 vs Bristol City, Anglo-Scottish Cup, 4 August 1979
Average home league attendance20,427

The 1979–80 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 77th in the Football League and their 32nd in the Second Division, to which they were relegated in 1978–79. They finished in third position in the 22-team division, level on points with Chelsea but with a better goal difference, so were promoted to the First Division for 1980–81. They entered the 1979–80 FA Cup in the third round proper and lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the fifth, and were eliminated from the third round of the League Cup by Exeter City. They also entered the Anglo-Scottish Cup, but failed to progress past the group stage.

Twenty-one players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were eleven different goalscorers. Midfielder Alan Curbishley appeared in all 51 first-team games of the season – defender Joe Gallagher missed only one – and Keith Bertschin was the club's top scorer with 18 goals, of which 12 were scored in the league.

Football League Second Division

Main article: 1979–80 Football League

The league programme did not end on the same day for all clubs. Although Birmingham were in second place after their last match, on 3 May, the last Second Division fixture was played nine days later, they were overtaken by Sunderland, and finished third.[1]

Date League
position		 Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
18 August 1979 15th Fulham H L 3–4 Evans, Dillon, Bertschin 19,330
22 August 1979 22nd Sunderland A L 0–2 25,877
25 August 1979 16th Cardiff City A W 2–1 Evans 2 11,465
1 September 1979 16th Bristol Rovers H D 1–1 Dillon 15,320
8 September 1979 13th Chelsea A W 2–1 Lynex, Curbishley 17,711
15 September 1979 7th Charlton Athletic H W 1–0 Lynex 16,155
22 September 1979 9th Orient A D 2–2 Lynex, Curbishley 5,550
29 September 1979 9th Newcastle United H D 0–0 19,967
6 October 1979 11th Preston North End A D 0–0 10,772
9 October 1979 6th Sunderland H W 1–0 Lynex 18,960
13 October 1979 11th Wrexham A L 0–1 13,693
20 October 1979 7th Swansea City H W 2–0 Lynex, Gemmill 18,624
27 October 1979 5th Shrewsbury Town H W 1–0 Ainscow 17,869
3 November 1979 5th Fulham A W 4–2 Gemmill pen, Givens 2, Lock og 8,338
10 November 1979 3rd Cambridge United H W 1–0 Lynex 17,120
17 November 1979 6th Watford A L 0–1 14,378
24 November 1979 6th Luton Town A W 3–2 Bertschin 3 13,720
1 December 1979 6th Leicester City H L 1–2 Gallagher 25,748
8 December 1979 6th Notts County A D 1–1 Lynex 11,383
15 December 1979 5th Burnley H W 2–0 Worthington 2 13,997
21 December 1979 6th Oldham Athletic A L 0–1 6,728
29 December 1979 6th Cardiff City H W 2–1 Worthington, Bertschin 16,682
1 January 1980 5th Queens Park Rangers H W 2–1 Ainscow, Gemmill 25,963
12 January 1980 6th Bristol Rovers A L 0–1 9,351
2 February 1980 5th Charlton Athletic A W 1–0 Gemmill 6,821
9 February 1980 5th Orient H W 3–1 Bertschin 3 17,474
20 February 1980 5th Newcastle United A D 0–0 27,069
23 February 1980 4th Wrexham H W 2–0 Dillon, Evans 19,302
29 February 1980 1st Swansea City A W 1–0 Lynex 16,363
8 March 1980 4th Shrewsbury Town A L 0–1 14,801
11 March 1980 1st Chelsea H W 5–1 Broadhurst, Borota og, Dillon, Ainscow 2 27,297
15 March 1980 2nd Preston North End H D 2–2 Gemmill pen, Worthington 19,548
22 March 1980 3rd Cambridge United A L 1–2 Smith og 6,805
29 March 1980 2nd Watford H W 2–0 Bertschin, Gemmill pen 16,582
1 April 1980 2nd Oldham Athletic H W 2–0 Gemmill, Ainscow 17,118
5 April 1980 1st Queens Park Rangers A D 1–1 Dillon 16,609
7 April 1980 1st West Ham United H D 0–0 28,377
12 April 1980 4th Leicester City A L 1–2 Gemmill pen 26,075
19 April 1980 4th Luton Town H W 1–0 Bertschin 23,662
22 April 1980 1st West Ham United A W 2–1 Ainscow, Bertschin 36,167
26 April 1980 2nd Burnley A D 0–0 10,388
3 May 1980 3rd Notts County H D 3–3 Bertschin, Curbishley, Dillon 33,863

League table (part)

Final Second Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GD Pts
1st Leicester City 42 21 13 8 58 38 20 55
2nd Sunderland 42 21 12 9 69 42 27 54
3rd Birmingham City 42 21 11 10 58 38 20 53
4th Chelsea 42 23 7 12 66 52 14 53
5th Queens Park Rangers 42 18 13 11 75 53 22 49
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 [2]

FA Cup

Main article: 1979–80 FA Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Third round 5 January 1980 Southampton H W 2–1 Bertschin, Gallagher 24,548
Fourth round 26 January 1980 Middlesbrough H W 2–1 Gemmill pen, Bertschin 29,152
Fifth round 16 February 1980 Tottenham Hotspur A L 1–3 Bertschin 49,936

League Cup

Main article: 1979–80 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Second round 1st leg 28 August 1979 Preston North End H W 2–1 Ainscow, Dillon 13,660
Second round 2nd leg 4 September 1979 Preston North End A W 1–0 Lynex 11,043
Third round 26 September 1979 Exeter City H L 1–2 Ainscow 13,669

Anglo-Scottish Cup

Main article: Anglo-Scottish Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Group stage 4 August 1979 Bristol City H L 0–4 7,631
Group stage 6 August 1979 Plymouth Argyle A D 1–1 Bertschin 3,137
Group stage 8 August 1979 Fulham A W 5–0 Bertschin 2, Evans, Ainscow, Dillon 2,899

Appearances and goals

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.
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 Anglo-Scottish Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK  ENG Neil Freeman 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 5 0
GK  ENG Jeff Wealands 40 0 2 0 3 0 1 (1) 0 46 (1) 0
DF  ENG Kevan Broadhurst 23 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 26 1
DF  SCO Jimmy Calderwood 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 4 0
DF  ENG Mark Dennis 40 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 45 0
DF  ENG Joe Gallagher 41 1 3 1 3 0 3 0 50 2
DF  ENG Terry Lees 9 (1) 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 13 (1) 0
DF  WAL Malcolm Page 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 7 0
DF  ENG Colin Todd 33 (1) 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 37 (1) 0
DF  ENG Tony Towers 22 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 26 0
DF  WAL Pat Van Den Hauwe 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 (1) 0 3 (1) 0
MF  ENG Alan Ainscow 37 6 3 0 3 2 2 1 45 7
MF  ENG Alan Curbishley 40 (2) 3 3 0 3 0 3 0 49 (2) 3
MF  ENG Kevin Dillon 30 (1) 3 0 0 3 1 2 (1) 1 35 (2) 5
MF  SCO Archie Gemmill 37 8 3 1 3 0 1 0 44 9
MF  SCO Willie Johnston* 15 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 18 0
MF  ENG Steve Lynex 20 (10) 8 0 (3) 0 2 1 2 0 24 (13) 9
FW  ENG Keith Bertschin 34 (3) 12 3 3 1 (1) 0 3 3 41 (4) 18
FW  ENG Tony Evans 10 (3) 4 0 0 2 0 3 1 15 (3) 5
FW  IRL Don Givens 7 (3) 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 (3) 2
FW  ENG Frank Worthington 17 (2) 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 20 (2) 4

See also

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 1979–1980 : Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 394–95.
  • Source for Anglo-Scottish Cup attendances: Matthews (1995), Complete Record, p. 243.
Specific
  1. ^ "Birmingham City 1979–1980 : Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  2. ^ "Birmingham City 1979–1980 : English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
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