# 1978–79 Kilmarnock F.C. season

The 1978–79 season was Kilmarnock's 77th in Scottish League Competitions. They finished in 2nd place and were promoted at the end of the season to the Premier Division.

## Scottish First Division
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Dundee (C, P) | 39 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 69 | 36 | +33 | 55 | Promotion to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Kilmarnock (P) | 39 | 22 | 10 | 7 | 72 | 36 | +36 | 54 | Promotion to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Clydebank | 39 | 24 | 6 | 9 | 78 | 50 | +28 | 54 | |
| 4 | Ayr United | 39 | 21 | 5 | 13 | 73 | 54 | +19 | 47 | |
| 5 | Hamilton Academical | 39 | 17 | 9 | 13 | 63 | 61 | +2 | 43 | |

### Match results

| Match Day | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| 1 | 12 August | Clydebank | A | 1–2 | Cairney(60) | 1,854 |
| 2 | 19 August | Airdrieonians | H | 2–0 | Maxwell(53), Cairney(63) | 2,707 |
| 3 | 26 August | Ayr United | A | 0–0 | | 4,974 |
| 4 | 6 September | Dumbarton | H | 0–0 | | 2,420 |
| 5 | 9 September | Dundee | H | 1–1 | Cairney(23) | 3,113 |
| 6 | 13 September | St Johnstone | A | 0–0 | | 1,292 |
| 7 | 16 September | Stirling Albion | A | 4–1 | McDicken(32), Provan(33), Doherty(49), Maxwell(65) | 1,434 |
| 8 | 23 September | Montrose | H | 2–2 | Maxwell(37), Street(60) | 2,447 |
| 9 | 27 September | Clyde | A | 1–1 | McDowell(86) | 1,301 |
| 10 | 30 September | Queen of the South | A | 1–2 | Street(54) | 1,423 |
| 11 | 7 October | Arbroath | H | 3–1 | McDowell(8), Maxwell(28pen), Jardine(64) | 2,556 |
| 12 | 14 October | Raith Rovers | H | 3–0 | Cairney(28), Hughes(29), Bourke(71) | 2,621 |
| 13 | 21 October | Hamilton Academical | A | 3–2 | Cairney(55), Maxwell(80pen), Bourke(86) | 2,601 |
| 14 | 28 October | Airdrieonians | A | 1–4 | Bourke(84) | 2,505 |
| 15 | 4 November | Ayr United | H | 1–2 | Hughes(70) | 5,946 |
| 16 | 11 November | Dundee | A | 0–0 | | 5,620 |
| 17 | 19 November | Stirling Albion | H | 5–0 | Bourke(35,89), Gibson(52), Doherty(76), Maxwell(80) | 2,780 |
| 18 | 25 November | Montrose | A | 4–0 | Maxwell(8,39), Hughes(40), Jardine(86) | 874 |
| 19 | 2 December | Queen of the South | H | 0–0 | | 2,791 |
| 20 | 9 December | Arbroath | A | 2–3 | Street(81), Clark(85) | 880 |
| 21 | 16 December | Raith Rovers | A | 3–1 | Bourke(6,87), Maxwell(65) | 1,843 |
| 22 | 23 December | Hamilton Academical | H | 4–0 | Bourke(19,66,76), Gibson(59) | 2,850 |
| 23 | 20 January | Montrose | H | 4–1 | Clarke(30), Gibson(35,84), Bourke(39) | 1,906 |
| 24 | 3 February | St Johnstone | H | 3–2 | Bourke(14), Hamilton o.g.(19), Clark(42) | 3,200 |
| 25 | 10 February | Arbroath | A | 1–0 | Gibson(74) | 1,284 |
| 26 | 24 February | Raith Rovers | H | 2–1 | Maxwell(64), Street(65) | 3,267 |
| 27 | 3 March | Clydebank | H | 0–0 | | 3,518 |
| 28 | 7 March | Ayr United | A | 1–2 | Clark(52) | 5,693 |
| 29 | 13 March | Dumbarton | A | 3–0 | Cairney(23), Bourke(29), Maxwell(49pen) | 1,345 |
| 30 | 17 March | St Johnstone | H | 3–1 | Cairney(21), Gibson(70,77) | 2,315 |
| 31 | 24 March | Clyde | H | 2–1 | Bourke(19,24) | 2,417 |
| 32 | 31 March | Clydebank | A | 2–1 | Gibson(12), Bourke(16) | 2,519 |
| 33 | 4 April | Stirling Albion | A | 0–0 | | 1,352 |
| 34 | 7 April | Clyde | A | 1–0 | Bourke(2) | 2,509 |
| 35 | 11 April | Airdrieonians | H | 1–0 | Bourke(54) | 2,665 |
| 36 | 14 April | Queen of the South | H | 3–1 | Street(28), Bourke(38), Cairney(87) | 2,978 |
| 37 | 21 April | Hamilton Academical | A | 0–1 | | 2,897 |
| 38 | 25 April | Dundee | H | 2–1 | McDicken(59), Bourke(61) | 5,072 |
| 39 | 28 April | Dumbarton | A | 3–1 | Cairney(14), Gibson(51), Bourke(78) | 2,278 |

## Scottish League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| R2 L1 | 30 August | Alloa Athletic | H | 2–0 | McDowell(5), Street(32) | 2,080 |
| R2 L2 | 2 September | Alloa Athletic | A | 1–1 | Cairney(41) | 1,301 |
| R3 L1 | 4 October | Greenock Morton | H | 2–0 | Cairney(1), Maxwell(35) | 3,967 |
| R3 L2 | 11 October | Greenock Morton | A | 2–5 | McDicken(8), Welsh(70) | 5,623 |

## Scottish Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| R3 | 31 January | Clyde | A | 5–1 | Gibson(1), Bourke(47,82), Street(61,76) | 2,509 |
| R4 | 21 February | Rangers | A | 1–1 | McDicken(72) | 17,500 |
| R4R | 26 February | Rangers | H | 0–1 | | 19,493 |