# 1977–78 Liverpool F.C. season

The 1977–78 season was Liverpool Football Club's 86th season in existence and their 16th consecutive season in the First Division. It was a season of contrasts for Liverpool as they retained the European Cup, following a 1–0 victory against Club Brugge in the final at Wembley in London, and won the European Super Cup by beating Hamburg, who included former Liverpool forward Kevin Keegan in their side, 7–1 on aggregate with a 6–0 Second Leg win at Anfield. However, in both the Football League and the Football League Cup they would end as runners-up to newly promoted Nottingham Forest managed by Brian Clough. The replay of the Football League Cup final would prove to be very controversial with a penalty that decided the match, followed by a disallowed goal when it was adjudged that Terry McDermott handled the ball.
Liverpool manager Bob Paisley bought Kenny Dalglish from Celtic for £440,000, a record transfer fee between British clubs. Dalglish went on to score 20 goals in the league and 31 in all competitions, including the winner in the European Cup Final. Realising that Ian Callaghan was nearing the end of his career at Liverpool, the club also spent £352,000 on Graeme Souness from Middlesbrough.
However, Callaghan's final season started with a call up to the England squad, and would play in the match against Switzerland on 7 September 1977 under new manager Ron Greenwood. It was to be his first cap since playing in the 1966 FIFA World Cup finals against France.
Terry McDermott's emergence would also see him make his debut in the same match with Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Emlyn Hughes and Ray Kennedy also playing as well. Kevin Keegan also played in the match, making it seven current and former Liverpool players in that game.

## Squad
### Goalkeepers

* Ray Clemence
* Peter McDonnell
* Steve Ogrizovic

### Defenders

* Emlyn Hughes
* Joey Jones
* Brian Kettle
* Alec Lindsay
* Phil Neal
* Tommy Smith
* Phil Thompson
* Alan Hansen
* Colin Irwin

### Midfielders

* Ian Callaghan
* Jimmy Case
* Steve Heighway
* Sammy Lee
* Ray Kennedy
* Terry McDermott
* Graeme Souness

### Forwards

* David Fairclough
* Kenny Dalglish
* Kevin Kewley
* John Toshack
* David Johnson

## Squad statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Division 1 | Division 1 | FA Cup | FA Cup | Charity Sheild | Charity Sheild | League Cup | League Cup | European Cup | European Cup | European Super Cup | European Super Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | MF | ENG | Ian Callaghan | 41 | 1 | 25+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Jimmy Case | 51 | 11 | 30+3 | 5 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 8+0 | 2 | 7+0 | 4 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | GK | ENG | Ray Clemence | 60 | 0 | 40+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 9+0 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Kenny Dalglish | 62 | 31 | 42+0 | 20 | 1+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 | 9+0 | 6 | 7+0 | 3 | 2+0 | 1 |
| | FW | ENG | David Fairclough | 42 | 15 | 26+3 | 10 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 3+4 | 3 | 1+1 | 0 | 2+0 | 2 |
| | DF | SCO | Alan Hansen | 26 | 1 | 18+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | IRL | Steve Heighway | 46 | 6 | 28+0 | 5 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 8+0 | 0 | 6+1 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Emlyn Hughes | 59 | 1 | 39+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 9+0 | 0 | 7+0 | 1 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | David Johnson | 17 | 5 | 7+5 | 3 | 1+0 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 |
| | DF | WAL | Joey Jones | 27 | 0 | 20+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Ray Kennedy | 61 | 7 | 41+0 | 4 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 9+0 | 1 | 7+0 | 2 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Kevin Kewley | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Sammy Lee | 2 | 1 | 0+2 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Terry McDermott | 53 | 8 | 36+1 | 4 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 8+0 | 0 | 6+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 3 |
| | DF | ENG | Phil Neal | 62 | 7 | 42+0 | 4 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 9+0 | 1 | 7+0 | 2 | 2+0 | 0 |
| | GK | ENG | Steve Ogrizovic | 2 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Tommy Smith | 34 | 2 | 22+0 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 6+0 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Graeme Souness | 18 | 2 | 15+0 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Phil Thompson | 43 | 4 | 27+0 | 3 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 7+0 | 0 | 5+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 1 |
| | FW | WAL | John Toshack | 5 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Nottingham Forest (C) | 42 | 25 | 14 | 3 | 69 | 24 | +45 | 64 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Liverpool | 42 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 65 | 34 | +31 | 57 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 3 | Everton | 42 | 22 | 11 | 9 | 76 | 45 | +31 | 55 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Manchester City | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 74 | 51 | +23 | 52 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Arsenal | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 60 | 37 | +23 | 52 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
* ↑ Liverpool qualified for the European Cup first round as the 1977–78 European Cup winners.

## Results
### First Division

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Report 1 | Report 2 |
| 20-Aug-77 | Middlesbrough | A | 1–1 | Dalglish 7' | 31,000 | Report | Report |
| 23-Aug-77 | Newcastle United | H | 2–0 | Dalglish 46' McDermott 87' | 48,267 | Report | Report |
| 27-Aug-77 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 3–0 | Dalglish 18' Heighway 81' Case 85' | 48,525 | Report | Report |
| 03-Sep-77 | Birmingham City | A | 1–0 | R. Kennedy 2' | 28,239 | Report | Report |
| 10-Sep-77 | Coventry City | H | 2–0 | Fairclough 65' Dalglish 67' | 45,574 | Report | Report |
| 17-Sep-77 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–1 | Dalglish 22' | 29,658 | Report | Report |
| 24-Sep-77 | Derby County | H | 1–0 | McDermott 80' | 48,309 | Report | Report |
| 01-Oct-77 | Manchester United | A | 0–2 | | 55,109 | Report | Report |
| 04-Oct-77 | Arsenal | A | 0–0 | | 47,110 | Report | Report |
| 08-Oct-77 | Chelsea | H | 2–0 | Dalglish 2' Fairclough 79' | 40,499 | Report | Report |
| 15-Oct-77 | Leeds United | A | 2–1 | Case 36', 63' | 45,500 | Report | Report |
| 22-Oct-77 | Everton | H | 0–0 | | 51,668 | Report | Report |
| 29-Oct-77 | Manchester City | A | 1–3 | Fairclough 29' | 49,207 | Report | Report |
| 05-Nov-77 | Aston Villa | H | 1–2 | Own Goal 65' | 50,436 | Report | Report |
| 12-Nov-77 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 0–2 | | 25,625 | Report | Report |
| 19-Nov-77 | Bristol City | H | 1–1 | Dalglish 12' | 41,053 | Report | Report |
| 26-Nov-77 | Leicester City | A | 4–0 | Fairclough 18' Heighway 69' Dalglish 81' McDermott 84' | 26,051 | Report | Report |
| 03-Dec-77 | West Ham United | H | 2–0 | Dalglish 37' Fairclough 82' | 39,659 | Report | Report |
| 10-Dec-77 | Norwich City | A | 1–2 | Thompson 80' | 24,983 | Report | Report |
| 17-Dec-77 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1–0 | Neal 30 Pen' | 38,249 | Report | Report |
| 26-Dec-77 | Nottingham Forest | A | 1–1 | Heighway 30' | 47,218 | Report | Report |
| 27-Dec-77 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–0 | Neal 22 Pen' | 50,294 | Report | Report |
| 31-Dec-77 | Newcastle United | A | 2–0 | Thompson 48' Dalglish 89' | 36,456 | Report | Report |
| 02-Jan-78 | Middlesbrough | H | 2–0 | Johnson 39' Heighway 80' | 49,305 | Report | Report |
| 14-Jan-78 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–0 | Johnson 10' | 35,809 | Report | Report |
| 21-Jan-78 | Birmingham City | H | 2–3 | Thompson 74' R. Kennedy 87' | 48,401 | Report | Report |
| 04-Feb-78 | Coventry City | A | 0–1 | | 28,965 | Report | Report |
| 25-Feb-78 | Manchester United | H | 3–1 | Souness 39' R. Kennedy 49' Case 84' | 49,590 | Report | Report |
| 04-Mar-78 | Chelsea | A | 1–3 | Neal 48 Pen' | 35,550 | Report | Report |
| 08-Mar-78 | Derby County | A | 2–4 | Fairclough 70' Dalglish 88' | 23,413 | Report | Report |
| 11-Mar-78 | Leeds United | H | 1–0 | Dalglish 47' | 48,233 | Report | Report |
| 25-Mar-78 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 3–1 | Case 35' Dalglish 75', 82' | 27,531 | Report | Report |
| 01-Apr-78 | Aston Villa | A | 3–0 | Dalglish 3', 19' R. Kennedy 21' | 40,190 | Report | Report |
| 05-Apr-78 | Everton | A | 1–0 | Johnson 13' | 52,759 | Report | Report |
| 08-Apr-78 | Leicester City | H | 3–2 | Smith 42', 76' Lee 56' | 42,979 | Report | Report |
| 15-Apr-78 | Bristol City | A | 1–1 | Heighway 41' | 31,471 | Report | Report |
| 18-Apr-78 | Ipswich Town | H | 2–2 | Dalglish 58' Souness 62' | 40,044 | Report | Report |
| 22-Apr-78 | Norwich City | H | 3–0 | Own Goal 4' Fairclough 35', 46' | 44,857 | Report | Report |
| 25-Apr-78 | Arsenal | H | 1–0 | Fairclough 24' | 38,318 | Report | Report |
| 29-Apr-78 | West Ham United | A | 2–0 | McDermott 38' Fairclough 66' | 37,448 | Report | Report |
| 01-May-78 | Manchester City | H | 4–0 | Dalglish 24', 55', 80' Neal 53 Pen' | 44,528 | Report | Report |
| 04-May-78 | Nottingham Forest | H | 0–0 | | 50,021 | Report | Report |

## FA Charity Shield

| Liverpool | Manchester United |
Ray Clemence :
| RB | 2 | Phil Neal |
| LB | 3 | Joey Jones |
| CB | 4 | Phil Thompson |
| LM | 5 | Ray Kennedy |
| CB | 6 | Emlyn Hughes |
| CF | 7 | Kenny Dalglish |
| CM | 8 | Jimmy Case |
| CF | 9 | David Fairclough |
| CM | 10 | Terry McDermott |
| RM | 11 | Ian Callaghan |
| Substitutes: ||||
| DF | 12 | Tommy Smith |
| FW | 13 | David Johnson |
| DF | 14 | Alan Hansen |
| MF | 15 | Steve Heighway |
| GK | 16 | Peter McDonnell |
| Manager: ||||
| Bob Paisley ||||
Alex Stepney :
| DF | 2 | Jimmy Nicholl |
| DF | 3 | Arthur Albiston |
| MF | 4 | Sammy McIlroy |
| DF | 5 | Brian Greenhoff |
| DF | 6 | Martin Buchan (c) |
| MF | 7 | Steve Coppell |
| MF | 8 | Jimmy Greenhoff |
| FW | 9 | Stuart Pearson |
| FW | 10 | Lou Macari |
| MF | 11 | Gordon Hill |
| Substitutes: ||||
| MF | 12 | David McCreery |
| Manager: ||||
| Dave Sexton ||||
* Match rules
* 90 minutes, no extra time
* Five named substitutes
* Maximum of three substitutions

## FA Cup

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Report 1 | Report 2 |
| 07-Jan-78 | Chelsea | A | 2–4 | Johnson 61' Dalglish 80' | 45,449 | Report | Report |

## Football League Cup

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Report 1 | Report 2 |
| 30-Aug-77 | Chelsea | H | 2–0 | Dalglish 25' Case 47' | 33,170 | Report | Report |
| 26-Oct-77 | Derby County | H | 2–0 | Fairclough 72', 75' | 30,400 | Report | Report |
| 29-Nov-77 | Coventry City | H | 2–2 | Fairclough 40' Neal 44 Pen' | 33,817 | Report | Report |
| 20-Dec-77 | Coventry City | A | 2–0 | Case 5' Dalglish 80' | 36,105 | Report | Report |
| 17-Jan-78 | Wrexham | A | 3–1 | Dalglish 14', 58', 87' | 25,641 | Report | Report |
| 07-Feb-78 | Arsenal | H | 2–1 | Dalglish 26' R. Kennedy 81' | 44,764 | Report | Report |
| 14-Feb-78 | Arsenal | A | 0–0 | | 49,561 | Report | Report |

### Final

| Nottingham Forest | Liverpool |
| Nottingham Forest Red shirts/White shorts/Red socks | 0–0 (final score after extra time) | Liverpool White shirts/Black shorts/White socks |
| Manager: Brian Clough Team: 1 Chris Woods (GK) 2 Viv Anderson 3 Frank Clark 4 John McGovern (c) 5 Larry Lloyd 6 Kenny Burns 7 Martin O'Neill 8 Ian Bowyer 9 Peter Withe 10 Tony Woodcock 11 John Robertson Substitute: 12 John O'Hare Scorers: None | Half-time: 0–0 Competition: Football League Cup (Final) Date: 15.00 GMT Saturday 18 March 1978 Venue: Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 100,000 Referee: Pat Partridge Match rules: 90 minutes. 30 minutes extra-time if necessary. Match replayed if scores still level. One named substitute. Report Report Report | Manager: Bob Paisley Team: 1 Ray Clemence (GK) 2 Phil Neal 3 Tommy Smith 4 Phil Thompson 5 Ray Kennedy 91' 6 Emlyn Hughes (c) 7 Kenny Dalglish 8 Jimmy Case 9 Steve Heighway 10 Terry McDermott 11 Ian Callaghan Substitute: 12 David Fairclough 91' Scorers: None |

### Final Replay

| Nottingham Forest | Liverpool |
| Nottingham Forest Yellow/Yellow shorts/Yellow socks | 1–0 (final score after 90 minutes) | Liverpool Red shirts/Red shorts/Red socks |
| Manager: Brian Clough Team: 1 Chris Woods (GK) 2 Viv Anderson 3 Frank Clark 4 John O'Hare 5 Larry Lloyd 6 Kenny Burns (c) 7 Martin O'Neill 8 Ian Bowyer 9 Peter Withe 10 Tony Woodcock 11 John Robertson Substitute 12 Scorers: John Robertson (pen.) | Half-time: 0–0 Competition: Football League Cup (Final) Date: 19.45 BST, Wednesday, 22 March 1978 Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 54,375 Referee: Pat Partridge Match rules: 90 minutes. 30 minutes extra-time if necessary. Match replayed if scores still level. One named substitute. Report Report Report | Manager: Bob Paisley Team: 1 Ray Clemence (GK) 2 Phil Neal 3 Ray Kennedy 4 Tommy Smith 5 Phil Thompson 6 Emlyn Hughes (c) 7 Kenny Dalglish 8 Jimmy Case 64' 9 Steve Heighway 10 Terry McDermott 11 Ian Callaghan Substitute 12 David Fairclough 64' Scorers: None |

## European Super Cup
### First leg

| Hamburger SV | Liverpool |
Jürgen Stars :
| DF | 2 | Manfred Kaltz |
| DF | 3 | Hans-Jürgen Ripp |
| DF | 4 | Ivan Buljan | 67' |
| MF | 5 | Kurt Eigl |
| MF | 6 | Klaus Zaczyk |
| MF | 7 | Caspar Memering |
| MF | 8 | Felix Magath | 64' |
| FW | 9 | Kevin Keegan |
| FW | 10 | Ferdinand Keller |
| MF | 11 | Arno Steffenhagen |
| Substitutes: ||
| DF | | Andreas Karow | 67' |
| MF | | Horst Bertl | 64' |
| Manager: |||
| Arkoç Özcan Man of the Match: Assistant Referees: ||||
Ray Clemence :
| RB | 2 | Phil Neal |
| LB | 3 | Joey Jones | 33' |
| CB | 4 | Phil Thompson |
| LM | 5 | Ray Kennedy |
| CB | 6 | Emlyn Hughes |
| CF | 7 | Kenny Dalglish |
| CM | 8 | Jimmy Case | 58' |
| RM | 9 | Steve Heighway |
| CF | 10 | David Fairclough |
| CM | 11 | Ian Callaghan |
| Substitutes: |||
| DF | 12 | Tommy Smith | 33' |
| FW | 13 | David Johnson | 58' |
| MF | 14 | Terry McDermott |
| FW | 15 | John Toshack |
| GK | 16 | Peter McDonnell |
| Manager: |||
| Bob Paisley ||||

### Second leg

| Liverpool | Hamburger SV |
Ray Clemence :
| RB | 2 | Phil Neal |
| LB | 3 | Tommy Smith |
| CB | 4 | Phil Thompson |
| LM | 5 | Ray Kennedy |
| CB | 6 | Emlyn Hughes |
| CF | 7 | Kenny Dalglish |
| CM | 8 | Terry McDermott |
| RM | 9 | Steve Heighway | 46' |
| CF | 10 | David Fairclough |
| CM | 11 | Jimmy Case |
| Substitutes: |||
| FW | 12 | David Johnson | 46' |
| FW | 13 | John Toshack |
| DF | 14 | Alan Hansen |
| DF | 15 | Joey Jones |
| GK | 16 | Peter McDonnell |
| Manager: |||
| Bob Paisley Man of the Match: Assistant Referees: ||||
Rudi Kargus :
| DF | 2 | Hans-Jürgen Ripp |
| DF | 3 | Peter Nogly |
| MF | 4 | Horst Bertl |
| DF | 5 | Peter Hidien |
| DF | 6 | Manfred Kaltz |
| FW | 7 | Kevin Keegan |
| FW | 8 | Ferdinand Keller | 69' |
| MF | 9 | Klaus Zaczyk | 69' |
| MF | 10 | Felix Magath |
| FW | 11 | Georg Volkert |
| Substitutes: ||
| MF | | Kurt Eigl | 69' |
| MF | | Arno Steffenhagen | 69' |
| Manager: |||
| Arkoç Özcan ||||

## European Cup

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Report 1 | Report 2 |
| 19-Oct-77 | Dynamo Dresden | H | 5–1 | Hansen 14' Case 21', 57' Neal 44 Pen' Kennedy 66' | 39,835 | Report | Report |
| 02-Nov-77 | Dynamo Dresden | A | 1–2 | Heighway 67' | 33,000 | Report | Report |
| 01-Mar-78 | Benfica | A | 2–1 | Case 37' Hughes 72' | 70,000 | Report | Report |
| 15-Mar-78 | Benfica | H | 4–1 | Callaghan 6' Dalglish 17' McDermott 78' Neal 88' | 48,364 | Report | Report |
| 29-Mar-78 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | A | 1–2 | Johnson 88' | 67,000 | Report | Report |
| 12-Apr-78 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | H | 3–0 | Kennedy 6' Dalglish 35' Case 56' | 51,500 | Report | Report |

### Final

| Liverpool | Club Brugge |
Ray Clemence :
| RB | 2 | Phil Neal |
| LB | 3 | Alan Hansen |
| CB | 4 | Phil Thompson |
| LM | 5 | Ray Kennedy |
| CB | 6 | Emlyn Hughes (c) |
| CF | 7 | Kenny Dalglish |
| RM | 8 | Jimmy Case | 29' | 63' |
| CF | 9 | David Fairclough |
| CM | 10 | Terry McDermott |
| CM | 11 | Graeme Souness |
| Substitutes: |||
| MF | 12 | Steve Heighway | | 63' |
| GK | 13 | Steve Ogrizovic |
| DF | 14 | Joey Jones |
| DF | 15 | Colin Irwin |
| MF | 16 | Ian Callaghan |
| Manager: |||
| Bob Paisley ||||
Birger Jensen :
| DF | 2 | Fons Bastijns (c) |
| DF | 3 | Edi Krieger |
| DF | 4 | Georges Leekens |
| DF | 5 | Gino Maes | | 80' |
| MF | 6 | Julien Cools |
| MF | 7 | René Vandereycken | 35' |
| MF | 8 | Dany De Cubber |
| MF | 9 | Jan Simoen |
| FW | 10 | Lajos Kű | | 58' |
| FW | 11 | Jan Sørensen |
| Substitutes: |||
| GK | 12 | Leen Barth | |
| MF | 13 | Dirk Sanders | | 58' |
| DF | 14 | Jos Volders | | 80' |
| FW | 15 | Raoul Lambert | |
| FW | 16 | Bernard Verheecke | |
| Manager: |||
| Ernst Happel ||||