# 1978–79 Celtic F.C. season

The 1978–79 Celtic F.C. season began with a significant change. Former club captain Billy McNeill took over from Jock Stein. Stein stepped down after 13 incredibly successful years, during which he led the club to numerous triumphs. His final season, however, was disappointing, with Celtic finishing fifth in the league, missing out on European football qualification, and failing to secure any silverware in the domestic cups.
Billy McNeill returned to Celtic after a promising spell managing Aberdeen F.C., where he finished as runners-up in both the Premier Division and the Scottish Cup. During the summer, McNeill appointed his former defensive partner and assistant at Aberdeen, John Clark, as his assistant at Celtic. and brought in Frank Connor to manage the Reserve team, Jimmy Lumsden also joined as a player with additional coaching responsibilities for the reserve team. In the transfer market McNeill made two significant signings in the autumn: winger David Provan from Kilmarnock F.C. and midfielder Murdo MacLeod from Dumbarton F.C.. Both were young and talented players who would go on to play key roles at Celtic for many years. Additionally, former Celtic players Bobby Lennox and Vic Davidson returned to the club later in the season.
Celtic made a bright start in the league during August and early September. However, their form became inconsistent from October through December, and they dropped several points. Harsh winter weather caused all league games in January and February to be postponed. When the league resumed in March, Celtic's form improved significantly, helped by the return of Captain Danny McGrain, who had been out with a serious long term injury. The club faced a busy schedule in May, playing six games, with the final match against Rangers F.C. becoming the decisive fixture for the league title. A victory in this match would ensure the league flag returned to Celtic Park in McNeill's first season as manager. In a dramatic encounter, Celtic triumphed 4-2, despite being down to 10 men for most of the game—a match that remains fondly remembered by Celtic supporters.
In the League Cup, Celtic progressed to the semi-finals but were narrowly defeated by Rangers 3-2 after extra time.
In the Scottish Cup, a fifth-round replay loss to Aberdeen allowed Celtic to focus solely on their pursuit of the Premier Division title.
Billy McNeill's first season was regarded as a success, restoring the club to the top of Scottish football and allowing the club to make a return to compete in Europe's premier competition the following season.

## Pre-season and friendlies

Due to the 1978 FIFA World Cup, Celtic only managed 2 pre-season friendlies plus the Jock Stein Testimonial game against Liverpool two days after the League opener against Morton.

## Competitions
### Scottish Premier Division
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Celtic (C) | 36 | 21 | 6 | 9 | 61 | 37 | +24 | 48 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Rangers | 36 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 52 | 35 | +17 | 45 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Dundee United | 36 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 56 | 37 | +19 | 44 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Aberdeen | 36 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 59 | 36 | +23 | 40 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Hibernian | 36 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 44 | 48 | −4 | 37 | |

#### Matches
### Glasgow Cup
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| Pos. | Name | League | League | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Peter Latchford | 26 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| GK | Roy Baines | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| GK | Packie Bonner | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | Joe Filippi | 19(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 28(1) | 0 |
| DF | Danny McGrain | 18 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 2 |
| DF | Alan Sneddon | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| DF | Andy Lynch | 27(1) | 7 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 38(1) | 12 |
| DF | Roddie MacDonald | 18 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 31 | 3 |
| DF | Mike Conroy | 20(1) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 25(1) | 5 |
| DF | Jóhannes Eðvaldsson | 34 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 47 | 2 |
| MF | Jim Casey | 1(4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(3) | 0 | 2(7) | 0 |
| MF | Murdo MacLeod | 23 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 |
| MF | Peter Mackie | 0(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(2) | 0 |
| MF | Roy Aitken | 36 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 48 | 6 |
| MF | Tommy Burns | 28(1) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 39(1) | 4 |
| MF | Paul Wilson | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 1(2) | 0 |
| FW | Ronnie Glavin | 9(1) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4(2) | 2 | 13(3) | 5 |
| FW | Tom McAdam | 24(4) | 7 | 0(1) | 0 | 9 | 6 | 33(5) | 13 |
| FW | Johnny Doyle | 23(3) | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6(1) | 3 | 33(4) | 6 |
| FW | David Provan | 30 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 39 | 4 |
| FW | George McCluskey | 16(5) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1(3) | 0 | 19(8) | 8 |
| FW | Joe Craig | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| FW | Alfie Conn Jr. | 12(1) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 19(1) | 7 |
| FW | Bobby Lennox | 6(8) | 4 | 1(1) | 1 | 1(1) | 1 | 8(10) | 6 |

### Goalscorers

| R | Pos. | Nation | Name | Premier Division | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | | Tom McAdam | 7 | 0 | 6 | 13 |
| 2 | DF | | Andy Lynch | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| 3 | FW | | George McCluskey | 5 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| 4 | FW | | Alfie Conn Jr. | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | MF | | Roy Aitken | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | FW | | Bobby Lennox | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | FW | | Johnny Doyle | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | FW | | Ronnie Glavin | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | DF | | Mike Conroy | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | MF | | David Provan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | MF | | Tommy Burns | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | MF | | Murdo MacLeod | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | DF | | Roddie MacDonald | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | DF | | Danny McGrain | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | DF | | Jóhannes Eðvaldsson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 60 | 8 | 21 | 89 |

## Club
### Officials

| Position | Name |
| Chairman | Desmond White |
| Secretary | Desmond White |
| Directors | Thomas Devlin James Farrell Kevin Kelly |

### Management

| Position | Name |
| Manager | Billy McNeill |
| Assistant manager | John Clark |
| Reserve Team Manager | Frank Connor |
| Reserve Coach | Jimmy Lumsden |
| Trainer | Neil Mochan |
| Physio | Bob Rooney |
| Masseur | Jimmy Steele |
| Chief Scout | John Kelman |

### Kit

Celtic continued to wear their Umbro home shirt that was released the previous season which incorporated the club badge on a home shirt for the first time. Celtic only wore their home shirt during the entire season.

#### Home
## Transfers
### In

| Date | Name | From | Transfer Fee |
| July 1978 | Jim Lumsden | Clydebank | £10,000 |
| September 1978 | Davie Provan | Kilmarnock | £120,000 |
| October 1978 | Bobby Lennox | Houston Hurricane | Free |
| November 1978 | Murdo MacLeod | Dumbarton | £100,000 |
| March 1979 | Vic Davidson | Blackpool | £35,000 |
| | | Total Transfer Fees | £265,000 |

### Out

| Date | Name | To | Transfer Fee |
| August 1978 | Pat Stanton | Retired | Released |
| September 1978 | Paul Wilson | Motherwell | £50,000 |
| September 1978 | Joe Craig | Blackburn Rovers | £40,000 |
| March 1979 | Roy Baines | Greenock Morton | £12,000 |
| April 1979 | Alfie Conn Jr. | Derby County | Free Transfer |
| April 1979 | John Dowie | Doncaster Rovers | Free Transfer |
| | | Total Transfer Fees | £102,000 |