# 1978–79 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1978–79 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 76th in the Football League and their 45th in the First Division. They were in the bottom two positions in the 22-team division from 9 September onwards, eventually finishing 21st position, so were relegated to the Second Division for 1979–80. They lost in their opening matches in both the 1978–79 FA Cup and the League Cup, eliminated by Burnley and Southampton respectively.
Twenty-seven players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were thirteen different goalscorers. Defender Joe Gallagher played in every game but one over the season, and Alan Buckley was the club's top scorer with 8 goals, all scored in the league. Jim Smith, in his first full season as Birmingham's manager, brought Argentina's World Cup-winning full-back Alberto Tarantini to the club.
Trevor Francis, who joined Birmingham as a 15-year-old, became the first British footballer to be transferred for a fee of at least £1 million when Brian Clough signed him for league champions Nottingham Forest in February 1979. The basic fee was below £1m – Clough claimed in his autobiography to have set the fee at £999,999 because he did not want the idea of being the first £1m player going to Francis's head – but VAT and the transfer levy raised the total payable to £1.18m. Within three months he scored the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup Final.

## Football League First Division

| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 19 August 1978 | 19th | Manchester United | A | L | 0–1 | | 56,139 |
| 22 August 1978 | 21st | Middlesbrough | H | L | 1–3 | Bertschin | 24,409 |
| 26 August 1978 | 20th | Derby County | H | D | 1–1 | Givens | 21,973 |
| 2 September 1978 | 17th | Bolton Wanderers | A | D | 2–2 | Francis 2 | 20,284 |
| 9 September 1978 | 21st | Liverpool | H | L | 0–3 | | 31,740 |
| 16 September 1978 | 22nd | Norwich City | A | L | 0–4 | | 15,701 |
| 23 September 1978 | 21st | Chelsea | H | D | 1–1 | Givens | 18,458 |
| 30 September 1978 | 22nd | Leeds United | A | L | 0–3 | | 23,331 |
| 7 October 1978 | 22nd | Manchester City | H | L | 1–2 | Ainscow | 18,378 |
| 14 October 1978 | 22nd | Tottenham Hotspur | A | L | 0–1 | | 41,230 |
| 21 October 1978 | 22nd | Aston Villa | H | L | 0–1 | | 36,145 |
| 28 October 1978 | 22nd | Coventry City | A | L | 1–2 | Givens | 25,429 |
| 4 November 1978 | 22nd | West Bromwich Albion | A | L | 0–1 | | 32,130 |
| 11 November 1978 | 22nd | Manchester United | H | W | 5–1 | Dillon, Buckley 2, Givens, Calderwood | 23,550 |
| 18 November 1978 | 22nd | Derby County | A | L | 1–2 | Givens | 24,720 |
| 21 November 1978 | 22nd | Bolton Wanderers | H | W | 3–0 | Dillon, Buckley, Jones og | 21,643 |
| 25 November 1978 | 21st | Bristol City | H | D | 1–1 | Tarantini | 21,152 |
| 2 December 1978 | 21st | Southampton | A | L | 0–1 | | 18,957 |
| 9 December 1978 | 21st | Everton | H | L | 1–3 | Buckley | 23,391 |
| 16 December 1978 | 21st | Nottingham Forest | A | L | 0–1 | | 25,224 |
| 26 December 1978 | 22nd | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | L | 1–2 | Buckley | 26,872 |
| 30 December 1978 | 22nd | Arsenal | A | L | 1–3 | Francis pen | 27,877 |
| 3 February 1979 | 22nd | Chelsea | A | L | 1–2 | Bertschin | 22,511 |
| 10 February 1979 | 22nd | Leeds United | H | L | 0–1 | | 17,388 |
| 13 February 1979 | 22nd | Liverpool | A | L | 0–1 | | 35,207 |
| 24 February 1979 | 22nd | Tottenham Hotspur | H | W | 1–0 | Towers | 20,980 |
| 3 March 1979 | 22nd | Aston Villa | A | L | 0–1 | | 42,419 |
| 6 March 1979 | 22nd | Queens Park Rangers | H | W | 3–1 | Buckley, Towers pen, Broadhurst | 12,605 |
| 10 March 1979 | 22nd | Coventry City | H | D | 0–0 | | 17,528 |
| 24 March 1979 | 22nd | Middlesbrough | A | L | 1–2 | Givens | 15,013 |
| 27 March 1979 | 21st | Norwich City | H | W | 1–0 | Givens | 12,168 |
| 31 March 1979 | 21st | Bristol City | A | L | 1–2 | Gallagher | 16,453 |
| 3 April 1979 | 21st | Ipswich Town | H | D | 1–1 | Gallagher | 12,449 |
| 7 April 1979 | 21st | Southampton | H | D | 2–2 | Barrowclough 2 (1 pen) | 12,825 |
| 14 April 1979 | 21st | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | D | 1–1 | Ainscow | 20,556 |
| 17 April 1979 | 21st | Ipswich Town | A | L | 0–3 | | 17,677 |
| 21 April 1979 | 21st | Nottingham Forest | H | L | 0–2 | | 22,189 |
| 24 April 1979 | 21st | West Bromwich Albion | H | D | 1–1 | Gallagher | 19,897 |
| 28 April 1979 | 21st | Everton | A | L | 0–1 | | 23,048 |
| 1 May 1979 | 21st | Manchester City | A | L | 1–3 | Lynex | 27,366 |
| 5 May 1979 | 21st | Arsenal | H | D | 0–0 | | 14,015 |
| 7 May 1979 | 21st | Queens Park Rangers | A | W | 3–1 | Buckley 2, Dark | 9,600 |

### League table (part)

Final First Division table (part) :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 18th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 44 | 68 | −24 | 34 |
| 19th | Derby County | 42 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 44 | 71 | −27 | 31 |
| 20th | Queens Park Rangers | 42 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 45 | 73 | −28 | 25 |
| 21st | Birmingham City | 42 | 6 | 10 | 26 | 37 | 64 | −27 | 22 |
| 22nd | Chelsea | 42 | 5 | 10 | 27 | 45 | 92 | −47 | 20 |

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Third round | 6 January 1979 | Burnley | H | L | 0–2 | | 19,034 |

## League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Second round | 29 August 1978 | Southampton | H | L | 2–5 | Gallagher, Francis | 18,464 |

## Appearances and goals

    Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.
    Players with name in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.
    Players marked † left the club during the playing season.
    Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
Players' appearances and goals by competition :
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | ENG | Neil Freeman | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| GK | ENG | Jimmy Montgomery | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Kevan Broadhurst | 13 (3) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 (3) | 1 |
| DF | SCO | Jimmy Calderwood | 24 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 (1) | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Mark Dennis | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Joe Gallagher | 41 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 43 | 4 |
| DF | ENG | Pat Howard | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| DF | WAL | Malcolm Page | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Garry Pendrey | 9 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 (1) | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Mick Rathbone † | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | ARG | Alberto Tarantini | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| DF | WAL | Pat Van Den Hauwe | 7 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 (1) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Alan Ainscow | 27 (4) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 (4) | 2 |
| MF | ENG | Stewart Barrowclough | 26 (3) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27 (3) | 2 |
| MF | ENG | Trevor Dark | 2 (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (3) | 1 |
| MF | ENG | Kevin Dillon | 36 (1) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 (1) | 2 |
| MF | WAL | Gary Emmanuel † | 12 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 (1) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Steve Fox † | 13 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 (1) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Steve Lynex | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| MF | SCO | Bruce Rioch * | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Tony Towers | 31 (1) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 32 (2) | 2 |
| FW | ENG | Keith Bertschin | 9 | 2 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 (1) | 2 |
| FW | ENG | Malcolm Briggs | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Alan Buckley | 24 (4) | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 (4) | 8 |
| FW | ENG | Trevor Francis † | 8 (1) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 (1) | 4 |
| FW | IRL | Don Givens | 38 (1) | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 (1) | 7 |
| FW | ENG | Paul Ivey | 3 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (2) | 0 |