During the 1978–79 English football season,

West Bromwich Albion F.C. West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

competed in the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

. The club enjoyed their highest league finish since 1953–54 when they were runners-up.

Season summary

West Bromwich Albion enjoyed one of their finest seasons to date during Ron Atkinson's first season in charge of the Midlanders, finishing in third place – nine points behind champions Liverpool – to qualify for the UEFA Cup. Integral to Albion's success were the ''"Three Degrees"'',

Brendan Batson Brendon Martin Batson, OBE (born 6 February 1953) is an English former footballer who played as a defender for Arsenal, Cambridge United and West Bromwich Albion. Club career Born in St. George's, Grenada, Batson moved with his family to Trini ...

, Laurie Cunningham and Cyrille Regis, but Cunningham left at the end of the season to join Spanish side

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. The season was also memorable for club legend Tony "The Bomber" Brown as the goal he scored in a 2–1 defeat against Leeds United in February was his 209th

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

goal for the club, overtaking Ronnie Allen's club record in the process.Matthews, ''West Bromwich Albion'', p. 334 Albion made two big money signings during the course of the season, bringing in David Mills from Middlesbrough in January 1979 for a club record £516,000. Mills however struggled to get into the team and when he left the club for Sheffield Wednesday in 1983 it was for half a million pounds less than Albion had paid for him.

Willie Johnston William McClure Johnston (born 19 December 1946) is a Scottish former professional footballer, best remembered for his time at Rangers and West Bromwich Albion. He made 22 international appearances for Scotland and was selected for their 197 ...

, who had been sent home from the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

after failing a drug test, left the club for Vancouver Whitecaps on a £100,000 deal. Albion's form the previous season had meant that they had qualified for the UEFA Cup and it proved a comparatively successful campaign in Europe for the club. Albion reached the quarter-finals, having defeated Galatasaray, Braga and Valencia before losing to Red Star Belgrade. Albion had reached the quarter-finals of the

1968–69 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1968–69 European Cup Winners' Cup was the ninth season of the European Cup Winners' Cup, a club football competition organised by UEFA for the cup winners from each of its member associations. The tournament was won by Czechoslovakian side ...

but this season represented the first occasion on which they had successfully negotiated three rounds of a European competition in one season. Cunningham, Regis and

Derek Statham Derek James Statham (born 24 March 1959) is an English former association football, footballer who played at defensive left-back. He played for West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion, Southampton F.C., Southampton, Walsall F.C., Walsal ...

were named in the First Division

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

Kit

West Bromwich Albion's kit was manufactured by English company Umbro.

Squad

Sources:Matthews, ''West Bromwich Albion'', p. 335
Key: *Pos = position in which player generally featured *GK = goalkeeper *DF = defender *MF = midfielder *FW =

Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

*FL =

*FAC = FA Cup *FLC =

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

*UEFA = UEFA Cup *apps = appearances in competition *goals = goals scored in competition

Results

First Division

source:

FA Cup

(25,755) Source:

League Cup

NB: The second replay was held at the neutral venue of Maine Road.

UEFA Cup

Source:Jack Rollin, ''The Guinness Football Fact Book'', Guinness Publishing, 1993, p. 197

Friendlies

* 21 February: West Bromwich Albion 0–0 Nottingham Forest

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1978-79 West Bromwich Albion F.C. season West Bromwich Albion F.C. seasons West Bromwich