# 1978–79 AC Perugia season

During the 1978–79 season A.C. Perugia competed in Serie A and Coppa Italia. They completed the season unbeaten, but did not win the league title.

## Summary

A.C. Perugia was the first team during the round-robin era to go through the season undefeated, although due to their 19 drawn matches, they finished second in the league.
The campaign is best recalled as Perugia and the undefeated season of miracles. The Grifoni, displaying the prowess of the gryphon – the legendary beast their nickname is derived from – produced a feat never before achieved at the highest level of Italian football: going a season undefeated.
'Never loses, but does not win' is an ill-thought barb often stabbed at this particular Perugia team's fate, and like so many such disparaging comments, although there is an element of truth in it, there also a substantial amount of bitterness from the tifosi of the more established powers in the game that their team did not achieve such a record.
With just six games of the season remaining, the unlikely title challengers sat just two points behind leaders Milan and still had to host the Rossoneri after gaining a 1–1 draw away earlier in the campaign. A win could have ensured that Perugia put themselves in pole position in the run-in. However, despite being cheered on by an immensely intimidating atmosphere, the game finished 1–1, with Gianfranco Casarsa's spot kick cancelling out Stefano Chiodi's penalty for Milan minutes earlier. This result meant that the title was Milan's to lose.
Despite disappointing draws away to Catanzaro and Hellas Verona in the weeks that followed, Perugia were still in with a chance of final day success providing that Milan lost and Perugia picked up the win away to Bologna.
Although Salvatore Bagni's brace put the visitors ahead and had their fans dreaming once more, Bologna rallied and fought to a 2–2 draw. This result brought an end to the fairytale, but still meant that against the odds, Perugia had mustered a title challenge and ended the season without once tasting defeat.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ITA | Marcello Grassi |
| — | GK | ITA | Nello Malizia |
| — | GK | ITA | Franco Mancini |
| — | DF | ITA | Antonio Ceccarini |
| — | DF | ITA | Paolo Dall'Oro |
| — | DF | ITA | Mauro Della Martira |
| — | DF | ITA | Pierluigi Frosio (Captain) |
| — | DF | ITA | Michele Nappi |
| — | DF | ITA | Daniele Tacconi |
| — | DF | ITA | Luciano Zecchini |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ITA | Salvatore Bagni |
| — | MF | ITA | Cesare Butti |
| — | MF | ITA | Paolo Dal Fiume |
| — | MF | ITA | Mario Goretti |
| — | MF | ITA | Giorgio Redeghieri |
| — | MF | ITA | Franco Vannini |
| — | FW | ITA | Marco Cacciatori |
| — | FW | ITA | Gianfranco Casarsa |
| — | FW | ITA | Walter Speggiorin |

## Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from |
| DF | Mauro Della Martira | Fiorentina |
| MF | Cesare Butti | Torino |
| MF | Giorgio Redeghieri | Parma |
| FW | Marco Cacciatori | Carrarese |
| FW | Gianfranco Casarsa | Fiorentina |
To :
| Pos. | Name | to |
| DF | Antonio Matteoni | Parma |
| MF | Mauro Amenta | Fiorentina |
| MF | Guido Biondi | Lecce |
| FW | Walter Novellino | A.C. Milan |
| FW | Walter Sabatini | Palermo |
| FW | Mario Scarpa | Parma |

## Competitions
### Serie A
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Milan (C) | 30 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 46 | 19 | +27 | 44 | Qualification to European Cup |
| 2 | Perugia | 30 | 11 | 19 | 0 | 34 | 16 | +18 | 41 | Qualification to UEFA Cup |
| 3 | Juventus | 30 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 40 | 23 | +17 | 37 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup |
| 4 | Internazionale | 30 | 10 | 16 | 4 | 38 | 24 | +14 | 36 | Qualification to UEFA Cup |
| 5 | Torino | 30 | 11 | 14 | 5 | 35 | 23 | +12 | 36 | Qualification to UEFA Cup |

#### Result by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | D | D | D | D | W | D | D | W | D | D | D | D | W | W | D | D | D | D | W | D | D | W | D |
| Position | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### Matches
### Coppa Italia
#### Quarterfinals
## Statistics
### Players statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Serie A | Serie A | Coppa | Coppa |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ITA | Malizia | 30 | -17 | 27+1 | -15 | 2 | -2 |
| | DF | ITA | Ceccarini | 35 | 1 | 29 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | ITA | Della Martira | 35 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | ITA | Frosio | 28 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ITA | Nappi | 25 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ITA | Dal Fiume | 34 | 4 | 28 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| | MF | ITA | Bagni | 31 | 8 | 28 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | ITA | Butti | 30 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ITA | Redeghieri | 28 | 0 | 20+3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | FW | ITA | Casarsa | 34 | 6 | 28 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| | FW | ITA | Speggiorini | 31 | 11 | 26 | 9 | 5 | 2 |
| | GK | ITA | Grassi | 7 | -2 | 3 | -1 | 4 | -1 |
| | DF | ITA | Zecchini | 16 | 0 | 8+6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ITA | Tacconi | 4 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ITA | Vannini | 21 | 4 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| | MF | ITA | Goretti | 18 | 1 | 9+3 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| | FW | ITA | Cacciatori | 18 | 1 | 7+7 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | GK | ITA | Mancini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ITA | Dall'Oro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | GK | ITA | Balducci | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | GK | ITA | Redomi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Source: http://calcio-seriea.net/presenze/1978/812/