The 1979–80 season was Liverpool Football Club's 88th season in existence and their 18th consecutive season in the First Division. Liverpool won its 12th league title, and its second in successive seasons. David Johnson was the top scorer while Kenny Dalglish, Phil Neal and Phil Thompson were regularly starting in the side. In the European Cup, there was an early disappointment with a 2-4 loss on aggregate to Dinamo Tbilisi in the first round. Liverpool went on to lose in the semi-finals of the FA Cup to the eventual runners-up, Arsenal, after a four-game marathon. They also lost in the semi-finals of the Football League Cup to the eventual runners-up, Nottingham Forest, who lost in the final to Wolverhampton Wanderers, a side captained by former Liverpool captain Emlyn Hughes, who left Liverpool before the start of the league season.

Squad Goalkeepers Ray Clemence Steve Ogrizovic

Defenders Avi Cohen Brian Kettle Colin Irwin Phil Neal Alan Hansen Phil Thompson Alan Kennedy Richard Money

Midfielders Jimmy Case Steve Heighway Sammy Lee Ray Kennedy Terry McDermott Kevin Sheedy Graeme Souness

Attackers David Fairclough Kenny Dalglish Howard Gayle David Johnson Frank McGarvey Squad statistics Appearances and goals

League table

Results First Division

DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 21-Aug-79 Bolton Wanderers H 0–0 45,900 Report Report 25-Aug-79 West Bromwich Albion H 3–1 Johnson McDermott 48,021 Report Report 01-Sep-79 Southampton A 2–3 Johnson Irwin 21,402 Report Report 08-Sep-79 Coventry City H 4–0 Johnson Case Dalglish 39,926 Report Report 15-Sep-79 Leeds United A 1–1 McDermott 39,779 Report Report 22-Sep-79 Norwich City H 0–0 44,120 Report Report 29-Sep-79 Nottingham Forest A 0–1 28,262 Report Report 06-Oct-79 Bristol City H 4–0 Johnson Dalglish R Kennedy McDermott 38,213 Report Report 09-Oct-79 Bolton Wanderers A 1–1 Dalglish 25,571 Report Report 13-Oct-79 Ipswich Town A 2–1 Hunter o.g. Johnson 25,310 Report Report 20-Oct-79 Everton H 2–2 Lyons o.g. R Kennedy 52,201 Report Report 27-Oct-79 Manchester City A 4–0 Johnson Dalglish R Kennedy 48,128 Report Report 03-Nov-79 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 3–0 Dalglish R Kennedy 49,541 Report Report 10-Nov-79 Brighton & Hove Albion A 4–1 R Kennedy Dalglish Johnson 29,682 Report Report 17-Nov-79 Tottenham Hotspur H 2–1 McDermott 51,092 Report Report 24-Nov-79 Arsenal A 0–0 55,561 Report Report 01-Dec-79 Middlesbrough H 4–0 McDermott Hansen Johnson R Kennedy 39,885 Report Report 08-Dec-79 Aston Villa A 3–1 R Kennedy Hansen McDermott 41,160 Report Report 15-Dec-79 Crystal Palace H 3–0 Case Dalglish McDermott 42,898 Report Report 22-Dec-79 Derby County A 3–1 Davies o.g. McDermott Johnson 24,945 Report Report 26-Dec-79 Manchester United H 2–0 Hansen Johnson 51,073 Report Report 29-Dec-79 West Bromwich Albion A 2–0 Johnson 34,915 Report Report 12-Jan-80 Southampton H 1–1 McDermott 44,655 Report Report 19-Jan-80 Coventry City A 0–1 31,578 Report Report 09-Feb-80 Norwich City A 5–3 Fairclough Dalglish Case 25,624 Report Report 19-Feb-80 Nottingham Forest H 2–0 McDermott R Kennedy 45,093 Report Report 23-Feb-80 Ipswich Town H 1–1 Fairclough 47,566 Report Report 26-Feb-80 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0–1 36,693 Report Report 01-Mar-80 Everton A 2–1 Johnson Neal 53,013 Report Report 11-Mar-80 Manchester City H 2–0 Caton o.g. Souness 40,443 Report Report 15-Mar-80 Bristol City A 3–1 R Kennedy Dalglish 27,187 Report Report 19-Mar-80 Leeds United H 3–0 Johnson A Kennedy 37,008 Report Report 22-Mar-80 Brighton & Hove Albion H 1–0 Hansen 42,747 Report Report 29-Mar-80 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–2 32,114 Report Report 01-Apr-80 Stoke City H 1–0 Dalglish 36,415 Report Report 05-Apr-80 Manchester United A 1–2 Dalglish 57,342 Report Report 08-Apr-80 Derby County H 3–0 Irwin Johnson Osgood o.g. 40,932 Report Report 19-Apr-80 Arsenal H 1–1 Dalglish 46,878 Report Report 23-Apr-80 Stoke City A 2–0 Johnson Fairclough 32,000 Report Report 26-Apr-80 Crystal Palace A 0–0 45,583 Report Report 03-May-80 Aston Villa H 4–1 Johnson Cohen Blake o.g. 51,541 Report Report 06-May-80 Middlesbrough A 0–1 24,458 Report Report

FA Charity Shield

Liverpool: GK 1 Ray ClemenceDF 2 Phil NealDF 3 Alan KennedyDF 4 Phil ThompsonMF 5 Ray KennedyDF 6 Alan HansenFW 7 Kenny DalglishMF 8 Jimmy CaseFW 9 David JohnsonMF 10 Terry McDermott MF 11 Graeme SounessSubstitutes:MF 12 Steve HeighwayMF 13 Sammy LeeDF 14 Avi CohenFW 15 David FaircloughGK 16 Steve OgrizovicManager: Bob PaisleyArsenal GK 1 Pat JenningsDF 2 Pat RiceDF 3 Sammy Nelson MF 4 Brian TalbotDF 5 David O'LearyDF 6 Steve WalfordMF 7 Liam BradyFW 8 Alan SunderlandFW 9 Frank StapletonMF 10 David Price MF 11 Graham RixSubstitutes:DF Willie Young MF John Hollins Manager: Terry Neill Match rules 90 minutes, no extra time Five named substitutes Maximum of three substitutions

FA Cup

DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 05-Jan-80 Grimsby Town H 5–0 Souness Johnson Case 49,706 Report Report 26-Jan-80 Nottingham Forest A 2–0 Dalglish McDermott 33,277 Report Report 16-Feb-80 Bury H 2–0 Fairclough 43,769 Report Report 08-Mar-80 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–0 McDermott 48,033 Report Report 12-Apr-80 Arsenal N 0–0 50,174 Report Report 16-Apr-80 Arsenal N 1–1 Fairclough 40,679 Report Report 28-Apr-80 Arsenal N 1–1 Dalglish 42,975 Report Report 01-May-80 Arsenal N 0–1 35,335 Report Report

League Cup

DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 29-Aug-79 Tranmere Rovers A 0–0 16,759 Report Report 04-Sep-79 Tranmere Rovers H 4–0 Thompson Dalglish Fairclough 24,785 Report Report 25-Sep-79 Chesterfield H 3–1 Fairclough Dalglish McDermott 20,960 Report Report 30-Oct-79 Exeter City H 2–0 Fairclough 21,019 Report Report 05-Dec-79 Norwich City A 3–1 Johnson Dalglish 23,000 Report Report 22-Jan-80 Nottingham Forest A 0–1 32,234 Report Report 12-Feb-80 Nottingham Forest H 1–1 Fairclough (semi-final, second leg) 50,880 Report Report

European Cup

DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 19-Sep-79 Dinamo Tbilisi H 2–1 Johnson Case 35,720 Report Report 03-Oct-79 Dinamo Tbilisi A 0–3 80,000 Report Report

References

External links LFC History.net – Games for the 1979–80 season Liverweb - Games for the 1979-80 season