1978–79 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
1978–79 season
Chairman	Harry Kartz
Manager	Ron Saunders
Stadium	Villa Park
First Division	8th
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Fourth round

The 1978–79 English football season was Aston Villa's 80th season in the Football League and their fourth consecutive season in the top division. Manager, Ron Saunders had signed a six-year contract in the pre-season.^[1]

There were debut appearances for Gary Williams (324), Colin J Gibson (185), Gary Shaw (165), Kenny Swain (148), Brendan Ormsby (117),^[2] Gary Shelton (24), Lee Jenkins (3), Joe Ward (3) and Willie Young.^[3]

Diary of the season

19 Aug 1978: The First Division season begins with a 1–0 home victory over Wolves.^[4]

8 May 1979: Liverpool beat Aston Villa 3–0 at Anfield to clinch the First Division title.^[5]

Villa won both games in the Second City derby.^[6]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
6	Ipswich Town	42	20	9	13	63	49	+14	49	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
7	Arsenal	42	17	14	11	61	48	+13	48	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round^[a]
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

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.

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
19 Aug 1978	Wolves	h	1–0	—	Andy Gray 60' ^[7]
23 Aug 1978	Tottenham Hotspur	a	4–1	—	Allan Evans 35', John Gregory 49', Brian Little 80', Gary Shelton 86'
26 Aug 1978	Bristol City	a	0–1	—	—
2 Sep 1978	Southampton	h	1–1	—	Andy Gray 23' ^[8]
9 Sep 1978	Ipswich Town	a	2–0	—	John Gregory 17', Andy Gray 90' (pen) ^[9]
16 Sep 1978	Everton	h	1–1	—	Tommy Craig 42' ^[10]
23 Sep 1978	Queens Park Rangers	a	0–1	—	— ^[11]
30 Sep 1978	Nottingham Forest	h	1–2	—	Tommy Craig 20' (pen) ^[12]
7 Oct 1978	Arsenal	a	1–1	—	John Gregory 84'
14 Oct 1978	Manchester United	h	2–2	—	John Gregory 32', 45'
21 Oct 1978	Birmingham City	a	1–0	—	Andy Gray 8'
27 Oct 1978	Middlesbrough	h	0–2	—	—
4 Nov 1978	Manchester City	h	1–1	—	John Deehan 62'
11 Nov 1978	Wolves	a	4–0	—	Gary Shelton 39', Ken McNaught 43', John Deehan 81', Dennis Mortimer 85'
18 Nov 1978	Bristol City	h	2–0	—	John Deehan 59', Gordon Cowans 70'
21 Nov 1978	Southampton	a	0–2	—	—
25 Nov 1978	West Bromwich Albion	a	1–1	—	Allan Evans 64'
9 Dec 1978	Chelsea	a	1–0	—	Allan Evans 15'
16 Dec 1978	Norwich City	h	1–1	—	Own Goal 79'
23 Dec 1978	Derby County	a	0–0	—	—
26 Dec 1978	Leeds United	h	2–2	—	John Gregory 21', 26'
31 Jan 1979	Everton	a	1–1	—	Gary Shelton 49'
24 Feb 1979	Manchester United	a	1–1	—	Kenny Swain 58'
3 Mar 1979	Birmingham City	h	1–0	—	Gordon Cowans 80'
7 Mar 1979	Bolton Wanderers	h	3–0	—	Andy Gray 17', Kenny Swain 30', Own Goal 45'
10 Mar 1979	Middlesbrough	a	0–2	—	—
20 Mar 1979	Queens Park Rangers	h	3–1	—	Allan Evans 34', John Gidman 72' (pen), Dennis Mortimer 89'
24 Mar 1979	Tottenham Hotspur	h	2–3	—	John Gidman 39' (pen), Andy Gray 44'
28 Mar 1979	Coventry City	h	1–1	—	Allan Evans 49'
4 Apr 1979	Nottingham Forest	a	0–4	—	—
7 Apr 1979	Coventry City	a	1–1	—	John Deehan 77'
11 Apr 1979	Derby County	h	3–3	—	Gordon Cowans 26', 55', John Gidman 51' (pen)
14 Apr 1979	Leeds United	a	0–1	—	—
16 Apr 1979	Liverpool	h	3–1	—	Allan Evans 33', Own Goal 41', John Deehan 84'
21 Apr 1979	Norwich City	a	2–1	—	Gary Shelton 13', Alex Cropley 72'
25 Apr 1979	Arsenal	h	5–1	—	Gary Shelton 49', 51', 85' (pen), John Deehan 69', 73'
28 Apr 1979	Chelsea	h	2–1	—	Own Goal 68', Kenny Swain 82'
2 May 1979	Ipswich Town	h	2–2	—	Kenny Swain 8', John Deehan 13'
5 May 1979	Bolton Wanderers	a	0–0	—	—
8 May 1979	Liverpool	a	0–3	—	—
11 May 1979	West Bromwich Albion	h	0–1	—	—
15 May 1979	Manchester City	a	3–2	—	Alex Cropley 50', Dennis Mortimer 72', John Deehan 75' ^[7]

Source: avfchistory.co.uk

FA Cup

League Cup

Squad

All Aston Villa players: 1979 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


Pos.	Nation	Player
GK	ENG	Jimmy Rimmer
DF	ENG	John Gidman
DF	ENG	John Gregory
DF	SCO	Allan Evans
DF	SCO	Ken McNaught
MF	ENG	Dennis Mortimer
FW	SCO	Tommy Craig
FW	ENG	Brian Little
FW	ENG	John Deehan
MF	ENG	Gordon Cowans
MF	ENG	Kenny Swain
DF	ENG	Gary Williams
MF	ENG	Gary Shelton


Pos.	Nation	Player
MF	SCO	Alex Cropley
FW	SCO	Andy Gray
DF	ENG	Colin Gibson
MF	ENG	Frank Carrodus
DF	ENG	Ivor Linton
DF	SCO	Gordon Smith
DF	WAL	Leighton Phillips
FW	ENG	Gary Shaw
MF	SCO	Willie Young
DF	ENG	Dave Evans
DF	ENG	Brendan Ormsby
FW	SCO	Joe Ward
MF	ENG	Lee Jenkins

References

^ Football, The Times, 11 August 1978
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/brendan-ormsby
^ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.
^ Football, The Times, 21 August 1978 Issue 60385
^ Smailes, Gordon (2000). The Breedon Book of Football Records. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 142. ISBN 1859832148.
^ "All Aston Villa's Matches". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^ ^a ^b https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/matches/league/1978-79
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3500
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3501
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3502
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3503
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3504

[table_note_res_CWC1R0.4104140169967-7] Arsenal qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1978–79 FA Cup winners.

[1] Football, The Times, 11 August 1978

[2] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/brendan-ormsby

[3] "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.

[4] Football, The Times, 21 August 1978 Issue 60385

[smailesleague-5] Smailes, Gordon (2000). The Breedon Book of Football Records. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 142. ISBN 1859832148.

[6] "All Aston Villa's Matches". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.

[avfc78-79-8] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/matches/league/1978-79

[9] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3500

[10] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3501

[11] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3502

[12] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3503

[13] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3504

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Aston Villa F.C. seasons
1870s	1870–71 1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80
1880s	1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
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1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26