The 1977–78 season was Liverpool Football Club's 86th season in existence and their 16th consecutive season in the First Division. It was a season of contrasts for Liverpool as they retained the European Cup, following a 1–0 victory against Club Brugge in the final at Wembley in London, and won the European Super Cup by beating Hamburg, who included former Liverpool forward Kevin Keegan in their side, 7–1 on aggregate with a 6–0 Second Leg win at Anfield. However, in both the Football League and the Football League Cup they would end as runners-up to newly promoted Nottingham Forest managed by Brian Clough. The replay of the Football League Cup final would prove to be very controversial with a penalty that decided the match, followed by a disallowed goal when it was adjudged that Terry McDermott handled the ball.

Liverpool manager Bob Paisley bought Kenny Dalglish from Celtic for £440,000, a record transfer fee between British clubs. Dalglish went on to score 20 goals in the league and 31 in all competitions, including the winner in the European Cup Final. Realising that Ian Callaghan was nearing the end of his career at Liverpool, the club also spent £352,000 on Graeme Souness from Middlesbrough.

However, Callaghan's final season started with a call up to the England squad, and would play in the match against Switzerland on 7 September 1977 under new manager Ron Greenwood. It was to be his first cap since playing in the 1966 FIFA World Cup finals against France.

Terry McDermott's emergence would also see him make his debut in the same match with Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Emlyn Hughes and Ray Kennedy also playing as well. Kevin Keegan also played in the match, making it seven current and former Liverpool players in that game.

Squad

Goalkeepers Ray Clemence Peter McDonnell Steve Ogrizovic

Defenders Emlyn Hughes Joey Jones Brian Kettle Alec Lindsay Phil Neal Tommy Smith Phil Thompson Alan Hansen Colin Irwin

Midfielders Ian Callaghan Jimmy Case Steve Heighway Sammy Lee Ray Kennedy Terry McDermott Graeme Souness

Forwards David Fairclough Kenny Dalglish Kevin Kewley John Toshack David Johnson Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

League table

Results

First Division

DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 20-Aug-77 Middlesbrough A 1–1 Dalglish 31,000 Report Report 23-Aug-77 Newcastle United H 2–0 Dalglish McDermott 48,267 Report Report 27-Aug-77 West Bromwich Albion H 3–0 Dalglish Heighway Case 48,525 Report Report 03-Sep-77 Birmingham City A 1–0 R. Kennedy 28,239 Report Report 10-Sep-77 Coventry City H 2–0 Fairclough Dalglish 45,574 Report Report 17-Sep-77 Ipswich Town A 1–1 Dalglish 29,658 Report Report 24-Sep-77 Derby County H 1–0 McDermott 48,309 Report Report 01-Oct-77 Manchester United A 0–2 55,109 Report Report 04-Oct-77 Arsenal A 0–0 47,110 Report Report 08-Oct-77 Chelsea H 2–0 Dalglish Fairclough 40,499 Report Report 15-Oct-77 Leeds United A 2–1 Case 45,500 Report Report 22-Oct-77 Everton H 0–0 51,668 Report Report 29-Oct-77 Manchester City A 1–3 Fairclough 49,207 Report Report 05-Nov-77 Aston Villa H 1–2 Own goal 50,436 Report Report 12-Nov-77 Queens Park Rangers A 0–2 25,625 Report Report 19-Nov-77 Bristol City H 1–1 Dalglish 41,053 Report Report 26-Nov-77 Leicester City A 4–0 Fairclough Heighway Dalglish McDermott 26,051 Report Report 03-Dec-77 West Ham United H 2–0 Dalglish Fairclough 39,659 Report Report 10-Dec-77 Norwich City A 1–2 Thompson 24,983 Report Report 17-Dec-77 Queens Park Rangers H 1–0 Neal 38,249 Report Report 26-Dec-77 Nottingham Forest A 1–1 Heighway 47,218 Report Report 27-Dec-77 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1–0 Neal 50,294 Report Report 31-Dec-77 Newcastle United A 2–0 Thompson Dalglish 36,456 Report Report 02-Jan-78 Middlesbrough H 2–0 Johnson Heighway 49,305 Report Report 14-Jan-78 West Bromwich Albion A 1–0 Johnson 35,809 Report Report 21-Jan-78 Birmingham City H 2–3 Thompson R. Kennedy 48,401 Report Report 04-Feb-78 Coventry City A 0–1 28,965 Report Report 25-Feb-78 Manchester United H 3–1 Souness R. Kennedy Case 49,590 Report Report 04-Mar-78 Chelsea A 1–3 Neal 35,550 Report Report 08-Mar-78 Derby County A 2–4 Fairclough Dalglish 23,413 Report Report 11-Mar-78 Leeds United H 1–0 Dalglish 48,233 Report Report 25-Mar-78 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 3–1 Case Dalglish 27,531 Report Report 01-Apr-78 Aston Villa A 3–0 Dalglish R. Kennedy 40,190 Report Report 05-Apr-78 Everton A 1–0 Johnson 52,759 Report Report 08-Apr-78 Leicester City H 3–2 Smith Lee 42,979 Report Report 15-Apr-78 Bristol City A 1–1 Heighway 31,471 Report Report 18-Apr-78 Ipswich Town H 2–2 Dalglish Souness 40,044 Report Report 22-Apr-78 Norwich City H 3–0 Own goal Fairclough 44,857 Report Report 25-Apr-78 Arsenal H 1–0 Fairclough 38,318 Report Report 29-Apr-78 West Ham United A 2–0 McDermott Fairclough 37,448 Report Report 01-May-78 Manchester City H 4–0 Dalglish Neal 44,528 Report Report 04-May-78 Nottingham Forest H 0–0 50,021 Report Report

FA Charity Shield

GK 1 Ray ClemenceRB 2 Phil NealLB 3 Joey JonesCB 4 Phil ThompsonLM 5 Ray KennedyCB 6 Emlyn HughesCF 7 Kenny DalglishCM 8 Jimmy CaseCF 9 David FaircloughCM 10 Terry McDermottRM 11 Ian CallaghanSubstitutes:DF 12 Tommy SmithFW 13 David JohnsonDF 14 Alan HansenMF 15 Steve HeighwayGK 16 Peter McDonnellManager: Bob Paisley GK 1 Alex StepneyDF 2 Jimmy NichollDF 3 Arthur AlbistonMF 4 Sammy McIlroyDF 5 Brian GreenhoffDF 6 Martin Buchan (c)MF 7 Steve CoppellMF 8 Jimmy Greenhoff FW 9 Stuart PearsonFW 10 Lou MacariMF 11 Gordon HillSubstitutes:MF 12 David McCreery Manager: Dave Sexton Match rules 90 minutes, no extra time Five named substitutes Maximum of three substitutions

FA Cup

Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance Report 1 Report 2 07-Jan-78 Chelsea A 2–4 Johnson Dalglish 45,449 Report Report

Football League Cup

Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance Report 1 Report 2 30-Aug-77 Chelsea H 2–0 Dalglish Case 33,170 Report Report 26-Oct-77 Derby County H 2–0 Fairclough 30,400 Report Report 29-Nov-77 Coventry City H 2–2 Fairclough Neal 33,817 Report Report 20-Dec-77 Coventry City A 2–0 Case Dalglish 36,105 Report Report 17-Jan-78 Wrexham A 3–1 Dalglish 25,641 Report Report 07-Feb-78 Arsenal H 2–1 Dalglish R. Kennedy 44,764 Report Report 14-Feb-78 Arsenal A 0–0 49,561 Report Report

Final

Nottingham ForestRed shirts/White shorts/Red socks0–0(final score after extra time)LiverpoolWhite shirts/Black shorts/White socksManager: Brian Clough

Team: 1 Chris Woods (GK) 2 Viv Anderson 3 Frank Clark 4 John McGovern (c) 5 Larry Lloyd 6 Kenny Burns 7 Martin O'Neill 8 Ian Bowyer 9 Peter Withe 10 Tony Woodcock 11 John Robertson Substitute: 12 John O'Hare

Scorers: NoneHalf-time:0–0

Competition:Football League Cup (Final)

Date:15.00 GMT Saturday 18 March 1978

Venue:Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: Pat Partridge

Match rules:90 minutes.30 minutes extra-time if necessary.Match replayed if scores still level.One named substitute.

Report Report ReportManager: Bob Paisley

Team: 1 Ray Clemence (GK) 2 Phil Neal 3 Tommy Smith 4 Phil Thompson 5 Ray Kennedy 6 Emlyn Hughes (c) 7 Kenny Dalglish 8 Jimmy Case 9 Steve Heighway 10 Terry McDermott 11 Ian Callaghan Substitute: 12 David Fairclough

Scorers: None

Final Replay

Nottingham ForestYellow/Yellow shorts/Yellow socks1–0(final score after 90 minutes)LiverpoolRed shirts/Red shorts/Red socksManager: Brian Clough

Team: 1 Chris Woods (GK) 2 Viv Anderson 3 Frank Clark 4 John O'Hare 5 Larry Lloyd 6 Kenny Burns (c) 7 Martin O'Neill 8 Ian Bowyer 9 Peter Withe 10 Tony Woodcock 11 John Robertson Substitute 12

Scorers: John Robertson Half-time:0–0

Competition:Football League Cup (Final)

Date:19.45 BST, Wednesday, 22 March 1978

Venue:Old Trafford, Manchester

Attendance: 54,375

Referee: Pat Partridge

Match rules:90 minutes.30 minutes extra-time if necessary.Match replayed if scores still level.One named substitute.

Report Report ReportManager: Bob Paisley

Team: 1 Ray Clemence (GK) 2 Phil Neal 3 Ray Kennedy 4 Tommy Smith 5 Phil Thompson 6 Emlyn Hughes (c) 7 Kenny Dalglish 8 Jimmy Case 9 Steve Heighway 10 Terry McDermott 11 Ian Callaghan Substitute 12 David Fairclough

Scorers: None

European Super Cup

First leg

GK 1 Jürgen StarsDF 2 Manfred KaltzDF 3 Hans-Jürgen Ripp DF 4 Ivan Buljan MF 5 Kurt EiglMF 6 Klaus ZaczykMF 7 Caspar MemeringMF 8 Felix Magath FW 9 Kevin KeeganFW 10 Ferdinand KellerMF 11 Arno SteffenhagenSubstitutes:DF Andreas Karow MF Horst Bertl Manager: Arkoç Özcan Man of the Match:

Assistant Referees: GK 1 Ray ClemenceRB 2 Phil Neal LB 3 Joey Jones CB 4 Phil ThompsonLM 5 Ray KennedyCB 6 Emlyn HughesCF 7 Kenny Dalglish CM 8 Jimmy Case RM 9 Steve HeighwayCF 10 David FaircloughCM 11 Ian CallaghanSubstitutes: DF 12 Tommy Smith FW 13 David Johnson MF 14 Terry McDermottFW 15 John ToshackGK 16 Peter McDonnellManager: Bob Paisley

Second leg

GK 1 Ray ClemenceRB 2 Phil Neal LB 3 Tommy SmithCB 4 Phil ThompsonLM 5 Ray KennedyCB 6 Emlyn HughesCF 7 Kenny Dalglish CM 8 Terry McDermottRM 9 Steve Heighway CF 10 David FaircloughCM 11 Jimmy CaseSubstitutes: FW 12 David Johnson FW 13 John ToshackDF 14 Alan HansenDF 15 Joey JonesGK 16 Peter McDonnellManager: Bob Paisley Man of the Match:

Assistant Referees: GK 1 Rudi KargusDF 2 Hans-Jürgen RippDF 3 Peter NoglyMF 4 Horst BertlDF 5 Peter HidienDF 6 Manfred KaltzFW 7 Kevin KeeganFW 8 Ferdinand Keller MF 9 Klaus Zaczyk MF 10 Felix Magath FW 11 Georg VolkertSubstitutes:MF Kurt Eigl MF Arno Steffenhagen Manager: Arkoç Özcan

European Cup

DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 19-Oct-77 Dynamo Dresden H 5–1 Hansen Case Neal Kennedy 39,835 Report Report 02-Nov-77 Dynamo Dresden A 1–2 Heighway 33,000 Report Report 01-Mar-78 Benfica A 2–1 Case Hughes 70,000 Report Report 15-Mar-78 Benfica H 4–1 Callaghan Dalglish McDermott Neal 48,364 Report Report 29-Mar-78 Borussia Mönchengladbach A 1–2 Johnson 67,000 Report Report 12-Apr-78 Borussia Mönchengladbach H 3–0 Kennedy Dalglish Case 51,500 Report Report

Final

GK 1 Birger JensenDF 2 Fons Bastijns (c)DF 3 Edi KriegerDF 4 Georges LeekensDF 5 Gino Maes MF 6 Julien CoolsMF 7 René Vandereycken MF 8 Dany De CubberMF 9 Jan SimoenFW 10 Lajos Kű FW 11 Jan Sørensen Substitutes: GK 12 Leen Barth MF 13 Dirk Sanders DF 14 Jos Volders FW 15 Raoul Lambert FW 16 Bernard Verheecke Manager: Ernst Happel GK 1 Ray ClemenceRB 2 Phil NealLB 3 Alan HansenCB 4 Phil Thompson LM 5 Ray KennedyCB 6 Emlyn Hughes (c)CF 7 Kenny Dalglish RM 8 Jimmy Case CF 9 David FaircloughCM 10 Terry McDermottCM 11 Graeme SounessSubstitutes:MF 12 Steve Heighway GK 13 Steve OgrizovicDF 14 Joey JonesDF 15 Colin IrwinMF 16 Ian CallaghanManager: Bob Paisley

References

External links LFC History.net – 1977–78 season Liverweb - 1977-78 Season