1978–79 Manchester United F.C. season

Manchester United
1978–79 season
	Steve Coppell taking a corner against Norwich City, 7 April 1979
Chairman	Louis Edwards
Manager	Dave Sexton
First Division	9th
FA Cup	Runners-up
League Cup	Third Round
Top goalscorer	League: ; Steve Coppell (11); Jimmy Greenhoff (11); All: ; Jimmy Greenhoff (17)
Highest home attendance	56,139 vs Birmingham City (19 August 1978)
Lowest home attendance	33,678 vs Norwich City (25 April 1979)
Average home league attendance	46,164
	← 1977–78 1979–80 →

The 1978–79 season was Manchester United's 77th season in the Football League, and their fourth consecutive season in the top division of English football.^[1] They finished the season ninth in the league, but were more successful in the FA Cup, reaching the final where they lost 3-2 to Arsenal at Wembley, conceding a late goal from Alan Sunderland in the final minute of the game after coming from 2-0 down make it 2-2 in the closing minutes of the game.

First Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
19 August 1978	Birmingham City	H	1–0	Jordan	56,139
23 August 1978	Leeds United	A	3–2	Macari, McIlroy, McQueen	36,845
26 August 1978	Ipswich Town	A	0–3		21,802
2 September 1978	Everton	H	1–1	Buchan	53,982
9 September 1978	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–1	J. Greenhoff	23,477
16 September 1978	Nottingham Forest	H	1–1	J. Greenhoff	53,039
23 September 1978	Arsenal	A	1–1	Coppell	45,393
30 September 1978	Manchester City	H	1–0	Jordan	55,301
7 October 1978	Middlesbrough	H	3–2	Macari (2), Jordan	45,402
14 October 1978	Aston Villa	A	2–2	Macari, McIlroy	36,204
21 October 1978	Bristol City	H	1–3	J. Greenhoff	47,211
28 October 1978	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	4–2	J. Greenhoff (2), B. Greenhoff, Jordan	23,141
4 November 1978	Southampton	H	1–1	J. Greenhoff	46,259
11 November 1978	Birmingham City	A	1–5	Jordan	23,550
18 November 1978	Ipswich Town	H	2–0	Coppell, J. Greenhoff	42,109
21 November 1978	Everton	A	0–3		42,126
25 November 1978	Chelsea	A	1–0	J. Greenhoff	28,162
9 December 1978	Derby County	A	3–1	Ritchie (2), J. Greenhoff	23,180
16 December 1978	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–0	McIlroy, Ritchie	52,026
22 December 1978	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–3		32,390
26 December 1978	Liverpool	H	0–3		54,910
30 December 1978	West Bromwich Albion	H	3–5	B. Greenhoff, McIlroy, McQueen	45,091
3 February 1979	Arsenal	H	0–2		45,460
10 February 1979	Manchester City	A	3–0	Coppell (2), Ritchie	46,151
24 February 1979	Aston Villa	H	1–1	J. Greenhoff	44,437
28 February 1979	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–0	Coppell, J. Greenhoff	36,085
3 March 1979	Bristol City	A	2–1	McQueen, Ritchie	24,583
20 March 1979	Coventry City	A	3–4	Coppell (2), McIlroy	25,382
24 March 1979	Leeds United	H	4–1	Ritchie (3), Thomas	51,191
27 March 1979	Middlesbrough	A	2–2	Coppell, McQueen	20,138
7 April 1979	Norwich City	A	2–2	Macari, McQueen	19,382
11 April 1979	Bolton Wanderers	H	1–2	Buchan	49,617
14 April 1979	Liverpool	A	0–2		46,608
16 April 1979	Coventry City	H	0–0		43,035
18 April 1979	Nottingham Forest	A	1–1	Jordan	33,074
21 April 1979	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–1	McQueen	36,665
25 April 1979	Norwich City	H	1–0	Macari	33,678
28 April 1979	Derby County	H	0–0		42,546
30 April 1979	Southampton	A	1–1	Ritchie	21,616
5 May 1979	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–1		27,960
7 May 1979	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	3–2	Coppell (2), Ritchie	39,402
16 May 1979	Chelsea	H	1–1	Coppell	38,109

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
7	Arsenal	42	17	14	11	61	48	+13	48	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round^[a]
8	Aston Villa	42	15	16	11	59	49	+10	46
9	Manchester United	42	15	15	12	60	63	−3	45
10	Coventry City	42	14	16	12	58	68	−10	44
11	Tottenham Hotspur	42	13	15	14	48	61	−13	41

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:

^ Arsenal qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1978–79 FA Cup winners.

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
15 January 1979	Round 3	Chelsea	H	3–0	Coppell, J. Greenhoff, Grimes	38,743
31 January 1979	Round 4	Fulham	A	1–1	J. Greenhoff	25,229
12 February 1979	Round 4 Replay	Fulham	H	1–0	J. Greenhoff	41,200
20 February 1979	Round 5	Colchester United	A	1–0	J. Greenhoff	13,171
10 March 1979	Round 6	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–1	Thomas	51,800
14 March 1979	Round 6 Replay	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–0	McIlroy, Jordan	55,584
31 March 1979	Semi-Final	Liverpool	N	2–2	Jordan, B. Greenhoff	52,524
4 April 1979	Semi-Final Replay	Liverpool	N	1–0	J. Greenhoff	53,069
12 May 1979	Final	Arsenal	N	2–3	McQueen, McIlroy	100,000

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
30 August 1978	Round 2	Stockport County	H	3–2	McIlroy, J. Greenhoff, Jordan	41,761
4 October 1978	Round 3	Watford	H	1–2	Jordan	40,534

Squad statistics

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Gary Bailey	28	0	9	0	0	0	37	0
GK	Paddy Roche	14	0	0	0	2	0	16	0
DF	Arthur Albiston	32(1)	0	7	0	2	0	41(1)	0
DF	Martin Buchan	37	2	9	0	2	0	48	2
DF	Tom Connell	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
DF	Stewart Houston	21(1)	0	2	0	1	0	24(1)	0
DF	Gordon McQueen	36	6	9	1	2	0	47	7
DF	Kevin Moran	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Jimmy Nicholl	19(2)	0	6(2)	0	0	0	25(4)	0
DF	Steve Paterson	1(2)	0	0	0	0	0	1(2)	0
MF	Steve Coppell	42	11	9	1	2	0	53	12
MF	Brian Greenhoff	32(1)	2	5	1	2	0	39(1)	3
MF	Ashley Grimes	5(11)	0	3	1	2	0	10(11)	1
MF	Lou Macari	31(1)	6	5	0	1	0	37(1)	6
MF	David McCreery	14(1)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	14(2)	0
MF	Chris McGrath	0(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0
MF	Sammy McIlroy	40	5	9	2	2	1	51	8
MF	Tom Sloan	3(1)	0	0	0	0	0	3(1)	0
MF	Mickey Thomas	25	1	8	1	0	0	33	2
FW	Jimmy Greenhoff	33	11	9	5	2	1	44	17
FW	Joe Jordan	30	6	4(1)	2	2	2	36(1)	10
FW	Stuart Pearson	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
FW	Andy Ritchie	16(1)	10	3(1)	0	0	0	19(2)	10

References

^ "Manchester United Season 1978/79". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.

[table_note_res_CWC1R0.47192472939935-2] Arsenal qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1978–79 FA Cup winners.

[1] "Manchester United Season 1978/79". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.

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