# 1979 Campeonato Paulista

The 1979 Campeonato Paulista da Divisão Especial de Futebol Profissional was the 78th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. América's Luís Fernando was the top scorer with 27 goals. Corinthians won the championship by the 17th time. Velo Clube was relegated.

## Championship

The twenty teams of the championship were divided into four groups of five teams, with each team playing twice against all other teams, and the three best teams of each group passing to the Second phase, and the team with the fewest points out of all the twenty being relegated, while the team with the second-fewest points would dispute a playoff against the runner-up of the Second level.
In the second phase, the twelve remaining teams would be divided into two groups of six, each team playing once against the teams of its own group and the two best teams of each group qualifying to the Semifinals.

### First phase
#### Série A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Corinthians | 38 | 15 | 17 | 6 | 48 | 28 | +20 | 47 | Qualified |
| 2 | América | 39 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 40 | 26 | +14 | 48 | Qualified |
| 3 | Botafogo | 38 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 40 | Qualified |
| 4 | Francana | 38 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 31 | 42 | −11 | 34 | |
| 5 | São Bento | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 36 | 46 | −10 | 32 | |

#### Série B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Guarani | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 55 | 26 | +29 | 47 | Qualified |
| 2 | Santos | 38 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 48 | 37 | +11 | 44 | Qualified |
| 3 | Portuguesa | 38 | 11 | 18 | 9 | 43 | 35 | +8 | 40 | Qualified |
| 4 | Inter de Limeira | 38 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 36 | 46 | −10 | 39 | |
| 5 | Comercial | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 35 | 38 | −3 | 38 | |

#### Série C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | São Paulo | 38 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 42 | 33 | +9 | 43 | Qualified |
| 2 | Ponte Preta | 38 | 10 | 19 | 9 | 32 | 27 | +5 | 39 | Qualified |
| 3 | Ferroviária | 38 | 10 | 17 | 11 | 27 | 33 | −6 | 37 | Qualified |
| 4 | XV de Piracicaba | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 32 | 48 | −16 | 32 | |
| 5 | Velo Clube | 38 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 22 | 52 | −30 | 21 | Relegated |

#### Série D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Palmeiras | 38 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 60 | 30 | +30 | 52 | Qualified |
| 2 | Juventus | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 33 | 43 | −10 | 35 | Qualified |
| 3 | Noroeste | 38 | 7 | 21 | 10 | 29 | 30 | −1 | 35 | Qualified |
| 4 | XV de Jaú | 38 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 33 | 45 | −12 | 31 | |
| 5 | Marília | 38 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 25 | 42 | −17 | 28 | Relegation Playoff |

#### Relegation Playoffs

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| Marília | 4–2 | Santo André | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–1 |

### Second phase
#### Group 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Ponte Preta | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 8 | Qualified |
| 2 | Corinthians | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 | Qualified |
| 3 | Ferroviária | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 7 | |
| 4 | São Paulo | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 | |
| 5 | América | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 2 | |
| 6 | Botafogo | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 2 | |

#### Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Palmeiras | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 2 | +11 | 9 | Qualified |
| 2 | Guarani | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | Qualified |
| 3 | Juventus | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| 4 | Santos | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 4 | |
| 5 | Portuguesa | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 4 | |
| 6 | Noroeste | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 3 | |

### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Corinthians | 2–1 | Palmeiras | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Ponte Preta | 3–1 | Guarani | 2–1 | 1–0 |

### Finals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| Corinthians | 3–0 | Ponte Preta | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2-0 |