# 1978–79 League of Ireland

Below are the statistics of League of Ireland in the 1978–79 season.

## Overview

It was contested by 16 teams, and Dundalk F.C. won the championship.

## Final classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dundalk (C) | 30 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 57 | 25 | +32 | 45 | Qualification to European Cup first round |
| 2 | Bohemians | 30 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 53 | 21 | +32 | 43 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Drogheda United | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 60 | 40 | +20 | 42 | |
| 4 | Waterford | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 48 | 32 | +16 | 42 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 5 | Shamrock Rovers | 30 | 17 | 3 | 10 | 45 | 25 | +20 | 37 | |
| 6 | Limerick | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 39 | 25 | +14 | 36 | |
| 7 | Athlone Town | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 56 | 41 | +15 | 35 | |
| 8 | Finn Harps | 30 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 56 | 41 | +15 | 34 | |
| 9 | Home Farm | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 47 | 33 | +14 | 33 | |
| 10 | Sligo Rovers | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 25 | |
| 11 | Cork Alberts | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 35 | 49 | −14 | 23 | |
| 12 | Thurles Town | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 35 | 62 | −27 | 23 | |
| 13 | Shelbourne | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 41 | 58 | −17 | 21 | |
| 14 | St Patrick's Athletic | 30 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 36 | 62 | −26 | 20 | |
| 15 | Galway Rovers | 30 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 41 | 79 | −38 | 13 | |
| 16 | Cork Celtic | 30 | 3 | 5 | 22 | 16 | 67 | −51 | 8 | |
* 1 2 3 4 5 After the matches Cork Celtic 0-0 Limerick, Drogheda United 0-1 Finn Harps and Thurles Town 0-1 Cork Celtic, the league awarded 1 point to Limerick from Cork Celtic, 2 points to Drogheda United from Finn Harps and 2 points to Thurles Town from Cork Celtic.
* ↑ Limerick changed their club name to Limerick United for next season.
* ↑ Cork Alberts changed their club name to Cork United for next season.
* ↑ Cork Celtic were expelled from the league at the end of the season.
U.C.D. were elected to the league for next season.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ATH | BOH | CAF | CCF | DRO | DUN | FHA | GAL | HOM | LIM | SHM | SHE | SLI | StP | THU | WAT |
| Athlone Town | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 6–2 | 3–1 |
| Bohemians | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 6–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Cork Alberts | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 6–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–5 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Cork Celtic | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Drogheda United | 1–1 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 6–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 |
| Dundalk | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 0–3 |
| Finn Harps | 2–3 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | — | 4–1 | 4–1 | 2–5 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 3–1 |
| Galway Rovers | 0–4 | 2–6 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | — | 1–6 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Home Farm | 4–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Limerick | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Shamrock Rover | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Shelbourne | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Sligo Rovers | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–4 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 4–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–0 | — | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| Thurles Town | 0–5 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–5 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | — | 0–1 |
| Waterford | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 1–0 | — |
* ↑ The points from the match between Cork Celtic and Limerick (0–0) have been credited to Limerick.
* ↑ The points of the match between Drogheda United and Finn Harps (0–1) were awarded to Drogheda.
* ↑ The points of the match Thurles Town and Cork Celtic (0–1) were awarded to Thurles.

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | John Delamere | Sligo Rovers (2) Shelbourne (15) | 17 |
| 2 | Hillary Carlyle | Dundalk | 16 |
| 3 | Turlough O'Connor | Bohemians | 15 |
| 4 | Pat O'Connor | Home Farm | 14 |
| 5 | Gerry Brammeld | Drogheda United | 13 |
| 5 | Jerome Clarke | Drogheda United | 13 |
| 5 | Gary Hulmes | Sligo Rovers | 13 |
| 5 | Mick Leech | Drogheda United | 13 |
| 9 | Derek Carthy | St Patrick's Athletic | 12 |
| 9 | Johnny Matthews | Waterford | 12 |