# 1978–79 Leicester City F.C. season

During the 1978–79 English football season, Leicester City F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

## Season summary

In the 1978–79 season, Jock Wallace left Rangers to become Leicester's new boss following the Foxes' relegation from the First Division. It was a disappointing season for the Foxes but were not helped by lack of finances to sign quality players but the only positive from the season was that Wallace had to use youth policy and play some youngsters and it brought some success in results. Despite that they finished the season in 17th place.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 15 | Wrexham | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 45 | 42 | +3 | 38 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 16 | Bristol Rovers | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 48 | 60 | −12 | 38 | |
| 17 | Leicester City | 42 | 10 | 17 | 15 | 43 | 52 | −9 | 37 | |
| 18 | Luton Town | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 60 | 57 | +3 | 36 | |
| 19 | Charlton Athletic | 42 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 60 | 69 | −9 | 35 | |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: 1978–79 Football League Second Division table

### Results 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 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | D | L | D | D | L | D | W | W | L | L | L | D | W | W | D | D | L | D | L | D | D | W | D | L | W | W | L | L | D | W | W | D | L | D | L | L | L | D | W | L | D | D |
| Position | 8 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 17 |

## Results

Leicester City's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Second Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 19 August 1978 | Burnley | A | 2–2 | 12,048 | Hughes, Christie (pen) |
| 23 August 1978 | Sheffield United | H | 0–1 | 19,381 | |
| 26 August 1978 | Cambridge United | H | 1–1 | 14,148 | Christie |
| 2 September 1978 | Wrexham | A | 0–0 | 12,785 | |
| 9 September 1978 | Notts County | H | 0–1 | 14,485 | |
| 16 September 1978 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–1 | 7,908 | Weller |
| 23 September 1978 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 4–1 | 14,307 | Christie, Hughes (2, 1 pen), Weller |
| 30 September 1978 | Orient | A | 1–0 | 5,430 | Christie |
| 7 October 1978 | Newcastle United | A | 0–1 | 25,731 | |
| 14 October 1978 | Charlton Athletic | H | 0–3 | 15,960 | |
| 21 October 1978 | Cardiff City | A | 0–1 | 8,791 | |
| 28 October 1978 | Bristol Rovers | H | 0–0 | 12,498 | |
| 4 November 1978 | Luton Town | A | 1–0 | 10,608 | Christie |
| 11 November 1978 | Burnley | H | 2–1 | 12,842 | Weller, Christie |
| 18 November 1978 | Cambridge United | A | 1–1 | 8,875 | Henderson |
| 22 November 1978 | Wrexham | H | 1–1 | 14,734 | Christie |
| 25 November 1978 | West Ham United | H | 1–2 | 16,149 | Christie |
| 2 December 1978 | Stoke City | A | 0–0 | 15,950 | |
| 16 December 1978 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–3 | 17,330 | May |
| 23 December 1978 | Preston North End | H | 1–1 | 10,481 | Davies |
| 26 December 1978 | Sunderland | A | 1–1 | 24,544 | Henderson |
| 1 January 1979 | Oldham Athletic | H | 2–0 | 12,757 | Buchanan, Smith |
| 20 January 1979 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 1–1 | 13,234 | May |
| 3 February 1979 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 1–3 | 19,973 | Davies |
| 10 February 1979 | Orient | H | 5–3 | 12,050 | Smith, Buchanan, May, Williams, Goodwin |
| 17 February 1979 | Newcastle United | H | 2–1 | 15,106 | Peake, Buchanan |
| 24 February 1979 | Charlton Athletic | A | 0–1 | 7,936 | |
| 3 March 1979 | Cardiff City | H | 1–2 | 12,820 | Grewcock |
| 10 March 1979 | Bristol Rovers | A | 1–1 | 6,381 | Smith (pen) |
| 21 March 1979 | Fulham | H | 1–0 | 10,396 | Buchanan |
| 28 March 1979 | Luton Town | H | 3–0 | 10,465 | May, Smith, Williams |
| 31 March 1979 | West Ham United | A | 1–1 | 23,992 | Henderson |
| 4 April 1979 | Millwall | A | 0–2 | 4,758 | |
| 7 April 1979 | Stoke City | H | 1–1 | 17,502 | Buchanan |
| 14 April 1979 | Sunderland | H | 1–2 | 20,740 | Henderson |
| 16 April 1979 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–2 | 7,179 | Smith |
| 17 April 1979 | Preston North End | A | 0–4 | 10,394 | |
| 20 April 1979 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–1 | 16,767 | Smith |
| 24 April 1979 | Notts County | A | 1–0 | 8,702 | Lineker |
| 28 April 1979 | Fulham | A | 0–3 | 7,002 | |
| 5 May 1979 | Millwall | H | 0–0 | 12,828 | |
| 8 May 1979 | Sheffield United | A | 2–2 | 15,178 | Peake, Duffy |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 6 January 1979 | Norwich City | H | 3–0 | 19,680 | May, Weller, Henderson |
| R4 | 26 February 1979 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–3 | 11,972 | Henderson |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 | 30 August 1978 | Derby County | H | 0–1 | 18,827 | |

## 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 | ENG | Mark Wallington |
| - | GK | ENG | Steve Humphries |
| - | GK | ENG | Sean Rafter |
| - | DF | SCO | Tommy Williams |
| - | DF | ENG | Steve Whitworth |
| - | DF | ENG | Larry May |
| - | MF | ENG | George Armstrong |
| - | MF | SCO | Eddie Kelly |
| - | MF | ENG | Keith Weller |
| - | FW | ENG | Trevor Christie |
| - | FW | SCO | Martin Henderson |
| - | DF | SCO | Bobby Smith |
| - | DF | ENG | Dennis Rofe |
| - | MF | ENG | John Ridley |
| - | FW | SCO | Billy Hughes |
| - | MF | ENG | Steve Kember |
| - | DF | ENG | Steve Sims |
| - | FW | ENG | Roger Davies |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | MF | ENG | Andy Peake |
| - | MF | ENG | Mark Goodwin |
| - | MF | SCO | Alan Lee |
| - | DF | NIR | John O'Neill |
| - | DF | SCO | Peter Welsh |
| - | FW | ENG | Gary Lineker |
| - | MF | ENG | Mick Duffy |
| - | MF | ENG | Winston White |
| - | DF | ENG | David Webb |
| - | MF | ENG | Kevin Reed |
| - | FW | ENG | David Buchanan |
| - | MF | ENG | Neil Grewcock |
| - | DF | ATG | Everton Carr |
| - | FW | ENG | John Allen |
| - | DF | ENG | Bob Atkins |
| - | FW | SCO | John Stalker |
| - | DF | ENG | Mark Warburton |