1978–79 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

Nottingham Forest F.C.
1978–79 season
Chairman	S.M. Dryden, J.P.
Manager	Brian Clough
Football League Division One	2nd
FA Cup	5th Round
League Cup	Winners
FA Charity Shield	Winners
European Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Garry Birtles (14); All: Garry Birtles (26)
Highest home attendance	41,898 vs. Liverpool (Division One, 28 April 1979)
Lowest home attendance	20,388 vs Southampton (Division One, 2 May 1979)
Average home league attendance	30,446
Home colours	Away colours
	← 1977–78 1979–80 →

The 1978–79 season was Nottingham Forest's second year back in the Football League First Division. They had won 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 28 November 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 ended up as league runners-up, 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 Malmö in Munich. 26 year old Colin Barrett suffered a serious leg injury 10 days after scoring in the win against Liverpool. He only played seven further competitive games for Forest and 12 in his career.

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
DF		Dave Needham	39	5	23+3	2	6	1	2	1	4	1	0+1	0
MF		Ian Bowyer	40	6	26+3	4	5	0	1	0	5	2	0	0
MF		John McGovern	55	4	36	0	7	2	3	1	8	1	1	0
MF		Archie Gemmill	41	2	24	1	6	0	3	0	7	1	1	0
MF		Gary Mills	6	1	4	1	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	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
=	Archie Gemmill	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
	Own Goals	2	0	0	0	0	2
	TOTALS	61	21	5	18	5	110

Transfers In

Pos	Player	From	Fee	Date
MF	Gary Mills	Youth system		September 1978
FW	Trevor Francis	Birmingham City	£1,000,000	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

Competition	Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
First Division	-	2nd	1 August 1978	2 May 1979
FA Cup	-	Fifth Round	1 August 1978
FA Cup	-	Fifth Round

Division One

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool (C)	42	30	8	4	85	16	+69	68	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Nottingham Forest	42	21	18	3	61	26	+35	60	Qualification for the European Cup first round^[a]
3	West Bromwich Albion	42	24	11	7	72	35	+37	59	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Everton	42	17	17	8	52	40	+12	51
5	Leeds United	42	18	14	10	70	52	+18	50
6	Ipswich Town	42	20	9	13	63	49	+14	49
7	Arsenal	42	17	14	11	61	48	+13	48	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round^[b]
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
12	Middlesbrough	42	15	10	17	57	50	+7	40
13	Bristol City	42	15	10	17	47	51	−4	40
14	Southampton	42	12	16	14	47	53	−6	40
15	Manchester City	42	13	13	16	58	56	+2	39
16	Norwich City	42	7	23	12	51	57	−6	37
17	Bolton Wanderers	42	12	11	19	54	75	−21	35
18	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	13	8	21	44	68	−24	34
19	Derby County	42	10	11	21	44	71	−27	31
20	Queens Park Rangers (R)	42	6	13	23	45	73	−28	25	Relegation to the Second Division
21	Birmingham City (R)	42	6	10	26	37	64	−27	22
22	Chelsea (R)	42	5	10	27	44	92	−48	20

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

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

Matches

Competitive

Football League First Division

19 August 1978 1	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Nottingham
	O'Neill 12'	^[1]	Villa 27'	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 41,223

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

14 October 1978 10	Bristol City	1–3	Nottingham Forest	Bristol
			Birtles Robertson ,	Stadium: Ashton Gate Attendance: 26,953

21 October 1978 11	Nottingham Forest	1–0	Ipswich Town	Nottingham
	O'Neill			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 28,911

28 October 1978 12	Southampton	0-0	Nottingham Forest	Southampton
				Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 22,530

4 November 1978 13	Nottingham Forest	0-0	Everton	Nottingham
				Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 35,415

11 November 1978 14	Tottenham Hotspur	1-3	Nottingham Forest	London
			Anderson Robertson Birtles	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 50,541

18 November 1978 15	Nottingham Forest	0-0	Queens Park Rangers	Nottingham
				Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 28.036

25 November 1978 16	Bolton Wanderers	0-1	Nottingham Forest	Bolton
	Robertson			Stadium: Burnden Park Attendance: 25,692

9 December 1978 17	Liverpool	2-0	Nottingham Forest	Liverpool
				Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 51,469

Last updated: 28 August 2011
Source: Bridport Red Archive

League Cup

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17 March 1979 Final	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

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

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

Last updated: 28 August 2011
Source: Bridport Red Archive

FA Charity Shield

12 August 1978 Final	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

First Round

13 September 1978 First Leg	Nottingham Forest	2–0	Liverpool	Nottingham
	Barrett 26' Birtles 87'			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 38,318 Referee: -

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

Second Round

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

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

Quarter Final

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

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

Semi Final

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

25 April 1979 Second Leg	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 Final	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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Last updated: 28 August 2011
Source: The City Ground

References

^ "Argentine cup star aids Tottenham tie". Montreal Gazette. 21 August 1978. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
^ "Forest make Soccer history". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 October 1978. Retrieved 20 January 2013.

[table_note_res_NFO0.78283715237995-1] Nottingham Forest qualified for the European Cup first round as the 1978–79 European Cup winners.

[table_note_res_CWC1R0.78283715237995-2] Arsenal qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1978–79 FA Cup winners.

[3] "Argentine cup star aids Tottenham tie". Montreal Gazette. 21 August 1978. Retrieved 20 January 2013.

[4] "Forest make Soccer history". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 October 1978. Retrieved 20 January 2013.

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