1977–78 Aberdeen F.C. season

Aberdeen F.C.

1977–1978 season
Chairman	Dick Donald
Manager	Billy McNeill
Scottish Premier Division	2nd
Scottish Cup	Runner-up
Scottish League Cup	Third Round
UEFA Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Joe Harper (17) All: Joe Harper (27)
Highest home attendance	26,000 vs. R.W.D. Molenbeek, 28 September 1977
Lowest home attendance	8,250 vs. Cowdenbeath, 31 August 1977
Average home league attendance	14,339
←  1976–77 1978–79  →

Results

Scottish Premier Division

Main article: 1977–78 Scottish Premier Division

Match Day	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Aberdeen Scorer(s)	Attendance
1.	13 August	Rangers	H	3–1	Jarvie (2), Harper	21,500
2.	19 August	Clydebank	A	3–1	Garner, Harper, Davidson	7,000
3.	27 August	Dundee United	H	0–0		16,100
4.	10 September	Ayr United	A	1–0	Harper	4,700
5.	17 September	Celtic	H	2–1	Garner	25,800
6.	24 September	Partick Thistle	H	2–1	Harper (2)	11,900
7.	1 October	Motherwell	A	1–1	McMaster	6,466
8.	8 October	St Mirren	A	4–0	Jarvie (3), Fleming	24,000
9.	15 October	Hibernian	H	1–2	Jarvie	11,900
10.	22 October	Rangers	A	1–3	Harper	37,000
11.	29 October	Clydebank	H	1–1	Harper	9,400
12.	5 November	Dundee United	A	1–0	Fleming	10,000
13.	12 November	Ayr United	H	0–0		9,350
14.	19 November	Celtic	A	2–3	Harper, Jarvie	27,000
15.	26 November	Partick Thistle	A	0–1		12,800
16.	3 December	Motherwell	H	4–1	Robb (3), Strachan	9,500
17.	10 December	St Mirren	H	3–1	Gibson (2), Robb	9,000
18.	17 December	Hibernian	A	0–2		6,601
19.	24 December	Rangers	H	4–0	Gibson, Robb, Harper, Jarvie	21,000
20.	31 December	Clydebank	A	1–0	McMaster	2,800
21.	2 January	Dundee United	H	1–0	Fleming	23,000
22.	7 January	Ayr United	A	1–1	McMaster	5,966
23.	14 January	Celtic	H	2–1	Sullivan (2)	24,600
24.	4 February	Motherwell	A	0–0		8,845
25.	25 February	Hibernian	H	3–0	Stewart , Davidson, Miller	11,200
26.	4 March	Rangers	A	3–0	Archibald, Harper	34,500
27.	18 March	Dundee United	A	0–0		9,671
28.	21 March	Clydebank	H	2–0	Davidson, Archibald	9,600
29.	25 March	Ayr United	H	4–1	Jarvie (2), Davidson, Archibald	11,000
30.	29 March	St Mirren	A	2–1	Davidson, Archibald	9,300
31.	1 April	Celtic	A	2–2	Davidson, Sullivan	24,000
32.	4 April	Partick Thistle	H	2–1	Harper (2)	16,000
33.	8 April	Partick Thistle	A	2–0	Harper, McMaster	9,000
34.	15 April	Motherwell	A	5–0	Jarvie (2), Davidson (2), Harper	16,280
35.	22 April	St Mirren	H	4–2	Harper (3), Miller	17,250
36.	29 April	Hibernian	A	1–1	Scanlon	11,250

Final standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rangers (C)	36	24	7	5	76	39	+37	55	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Aberdeen	36	22	9	5	68	29	+39	53	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
3	Dundee United	36	16	8	12	42	32	+10	40	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Hibernian	36	15	7	14	51	43	+8	37
5	Celtic	36	15	6	15	63	54	+9	36

Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 1977–78 Scottish League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Aberdeen Scorer(s)	Attendance
R1 L1	17 August	Airdrieonians	H	3–1	Fleming (2), Shirra	10,600
R1 L2	24 August	Airdrieonians	A	2–0	McMaster (2)	2,500
R2 L1	31 August	Cowdenbeath	H	5–0	Harper(3), Fleming (2)	8,250
R2 L2	3 September	Cowdenbeath	A	5–0	Harper(3), Davidson, McMaster	1,780
R3 L1	5 October	Rangers	A	1–6	Davidson	25,000
R3 L2	26 October	Rangers	H	3–1	Jarvie (2), Smith	15,600

Scottish Cup

Main article: Scottish Cup 1977-78

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Aberdeen Scorer(s)	Attendance
R3	6 February	Ayr United	H	2–0	Harper(2)	14,244
R4	27 February	St Johnstone	H	3–0	Davidson, Harper, Jarvie	15,597
QF	11 March	Morton	H	2–2	Davidson, Jarvie	17,394
QFR	15 March	Morton	A	2–1	Fleming, McMaster	10,500
SF	12 April	Partick Thistle	N	4–2	Fleming (3), Harper	12,282
Final	6 May	Rangers	N	1–2	Ritchie	61,563

UEFA Cup

Main article: 1977–78 UEFA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	H/A	Score	Aberdeen Scorer(s)	Attendance
R1 L1	14 September	R.W.D. Molenbeek	A	0–0		14,000
R1 L2	28 September	R.W.D. Molenbeek	H	1–2	Jarvie	26,000

Squad

Appearances & Goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier Division		Scottish Cup		League Cup		UEFA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	SCO	Bobby Clark	50	0	36	0	6	0	6	0	2	0
	GK	SCO	Ally McLean	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	GK	SCO	John Gardiner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	GK	SCO	Jim Leighton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Willie Miller (c)	50	2	36	2	6	0	6	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Willie Garner	49	1	35	1	6	0	6	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Stuart Kennedy	48	0	34	0	6	0	6	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Chic McLelland	38	0	25	0	5	0	6	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Steve Ritchie	11	1	9	0	2	1	0	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Bobby Glennie	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Doug Rougvie	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Neil Cooper	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Alex McLeish	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	David Scott	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	John McMaster	45	8	32	4	6	1	5	3	2	0
	MF	SCO	Dom Sullivan	39	3	29	3	6	0	3	0	1	0
	MF	SCO	Gordon Strachan	16	1	12	1	4	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Jim Shirra	15	1	8	0	0	0	5	1	2	0
	MF	SCO	Joe Smith	10	1	7	0	0	0	3	1	0	0
	MF	SCO	Ian Scanlon	2	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Alex Grant	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	George Campbell	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Andy Watson	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Drew Jarvie	49	17	35	12	6	2	6	2	2	1
	FW	SCO	Joe Harper	43	27	31	17	4	4	6	6	2	0
	FW	SCO	Ian Fleming	38	12	25	5	5	4	6	3	2	0
	FW	SCO	Duncan Davidson	38	12	24	8	6	2	6	2	2	0
	FW	SCO	Dave Robb	14	5	13	5	0	0	1	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Steve Archibald	10	5	10	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Ian Gibson	10	3	9	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Jocky Scott	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Doug Brown	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	John Clark	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

References

• Kevin Stirling. Aberdeen A Centenary History 1903-2003. Desert Island Books 2002. ISBN   1-874287-49-X.