# 1977–78 League of Ireland

Below are the statistics of League of Ireland in the 1977–78 season.

## Overview

It was contested by 16 teams, an increase of 2 team over the prior season. Galway Rovers and Thurles Town were the new additions. Bohemians won the championship.

## Final classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Bohemians (C) | 30 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 74 | 25 | +49 | 44 | Qualification to European Cup first round |
| 2 | Finn Harps F.C. | 30 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 60 | 38 | +22 | 42 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Drogheda United F.C. | 30 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 53 | 27 | +26 | 40 | |
| 4 | Shamrock Rovers F.C. | 30 | 14 | 12 | 4 | 45 | 22 | +23 | 40 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 5 | Waterford | 30 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 46 | 37 | +9 | 39 | |
| 6 | Sligo Rovers F.C. | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 47 | 31 | +16 | 34 | |
| 7 | Limerick F.C. | 30 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 36 | 29 | +7 | 32 | |
| 8 | Athlone Town A.F.C. | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 43 | 40 | +3 | 31 | |
| 9 | Cork Albert F.C. | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 30 | |
| 10 | St Patrick's Athletic F.C. | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 34 | 35 | −1 | 27 | |
| 11 | Dundalk F.C. | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 43 | 46 | −3 | 27 | |
| 12 | Shelbourne F.C. | 30 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 32 | 50 | −18 | 23 | |
| 13 | Home Farm F.C. | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 30 | 56 | −26 | 23 | |
| 14 | Cork Celtic F.C. | 30 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 34 | 58 | −24 | 22 | |
| 15 | Galway Rovers F.C. | 30 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 16 | 53 | −37 | 16 | |
| 16 | Thurles Town F.C. | 30 | 1 | 8 | 21 | 22 | 69 | −47 | 10 | |
* ↑ Cork Albert F.C. changed their club name to Cork Alberts F.C.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ATH | BOH | CAF | CCF | DRO | DUN | FHA | GAL | HOM | LIM | SHM | SHE | SLI | StP | THU | WAT |
| Athlone Town | — | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 |
| Bohemians | 0–0 | — | 6–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 7–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 7–3 |
| Cork Albert | 3–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Cork Celtic | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–0 | — | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–6 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Drogheda United | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Dundalk | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 | — | 0–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 6–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 |
| Finn Harps | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 7–4 | 3–3 | 4–2 | — | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Galway Rovers | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–3 |
| Home Farm | 1–1 | 0–8 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Limerick | 1–0 | 3–4 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | — | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Shelbourne | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Sligo Rovers | 0–1 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | — | 1–0 | 6–2 | 0–1 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Thurles Town | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–4 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–6 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–6 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 1–5 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 |
| Waterford | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | — |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Turlough O'Connor | Bohemians | 24 |
| 2 | Cathal Muckian | Drogheda United | 21 |
| 3 | Sid Wallace | Waterford | 18 |
| 4 | Ray Treacy | Shamrock Rovers | 17 |
| 5 | Donie Madden | Cork Celtic | 15 |
| 6 | Gary Hulmes | Sligo Rovers | 14 |
| 7 | Joey Salmon | Bohemians | 12 |
| 8 | Pat Byrne | Bohemians | 10 |
| 8 | John Delamere | Shelbourne | 10 |
| 8 | Joe Logan | Finn Harps | 10 |
| 8 | Charlie McCarthy | Cork Albert | 10 |
| 8 | Vinny McCarthy | Waterford | 10 |