1978–79 Heart of Midlothian F.C. season

Heart of Midlothian
1978–79 season
Manager	Willie Ormond
Stadium	Tynecastle Stadium
Scottish Premier Division	10th
Scottish Cup	Third Round
League Cup	Second Round
East of Scotland Shield	Winner
Top goalscorer	League: Willie Pettigrew (16); All: Willie Pettigrew (20)
	← 1977–78 1979–80 →

Last updated August 19, 2025

During the 1978–79 season, Heart of Midlothian F.C. competed in the Scottish Premier Division, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the Anglo-Scottish Cup and the East of Scotland Shield.

Fixtures

Friendlies

9 August 1978 Friendly	Hearts	3–0	Middlesbrough	Tynecastle Park
			Gary Liddell Paul O'Brien Gerry McCoy

19 November 1978 Testimonial	East Fife	0–0	Hearts	Bayview Park
			Gary Liddell Paul O'Brien Gerry McCoy

Tennents Caledonian Cup

5 August 1978Tennents Caledonian Cup Semi-final	Rangers	3–1	Hearts	Ibrox Park
			Gerry McCoy Gary Liddell Peter Shields Gerry McCoy

6 August 1978Tennents Caledonian Cup 3rd place match	Hearts	2–0	West Bromwich Albion	Tynecastle Park
			Chris Robertson

Anglo-Scottish Cup

16 August 1978 Anglo-Scottish Cup	Partick Thistle	2–1	Hearts	Firhill Park

23 August 1978 Anglo-Scottish Cup	Hearts	1–1	Partick Thistle	Tynecastle Park

League Cup

30 August 1978League Cup R2 1st leg	Hearts	1–3	Morton	Tynecastle Park
			Chris Robertson	Attendance: 6,729

2 September 1978League Cup R2 2nd leg	Morton	4–1	Hearts	Cappielow Park
	Chris Robertson			Attendance: 5,249

Scottish Cup

27 January 1979 Scottish Cup R3	Raith Rovers	0–2	Hearts	Stark's Park
	Billy Howitt		Roddie MacDonald Chris Robertson Peter Marinello Pat Byrne	Attendance: 10,000

3 March 1979 Scottish Cup R4	Hearts	1–1	Morton	Tynecastle Park
			Stephen Hancock	Attendance: 9,000

5 March 1979 Scottish Cup R4 replay	Morton	0–1	Hearts	Cappielow Park
	Billy Howitt		Roddie MacDonald Chris Robertson Peter Marinello Pat Byrne	Attendance: 8,000

10 March 1979 Scottish Cup R5	Hibernian	2–1	Hearts	Easter Road
	Billy Howitt		Roddie MacDonald Chris Robertson Peter Marinello Pat Byrne	Attendance: 22,618

East of Scotland Shield

10 October 1978 Final	Hearts	1–3	Meadowbank Thistle	Tynecastle Park
			Willie Pettigrew Pat Byrne Willie Pettigrew Willie Pettigrew Willie Pettigrew

Scottish Premier Division

12 August 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	1–4	Aberdeen	Tynecastle Park
			Jimmy Bone	Attendance: 11,091

19 August 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Celtic	4–0	Hearts	Celtic Park
	John Robertson 57' John Robertson 70' Jimmy Bone 77'		Ralph Callachan 11' William Irvine 65'	Attendance: 22,907

26 August 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	1–1	Hibernian	Tynecastle Park
	Alex MacDonald 9' John Robertson 29' Jimmy Bone 47'		David Mitchell 62'	Attendance: 19,663

9 September 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Partick Thistle	3–2	Hearts	Firhill Park
	Iain Ferguson 36' (pen.)		Jimmy Bone 70' John Robertson 90'	Attendance: 5,117

16 September 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	1–1	Morton	Tynecastle Park
			Roddie MacDonald 8'	Attendance: 6,945

23 September 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Motherwell	0–1	Hearts	Fir Park
			Peter Weir 28' Peter Weir	Attendance: 5,219

30 September 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Dundee United	3–1	Hearts	Tannadice Park
				Attendance: 6,312

7 October 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	1–1	St Mirren	Tynecastle Park
	Frank McGarvey 44'		Jimmy Bone 48'	Attendance: 9,192

14 October 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	0–0	Rangers	Tynecastle Park
	David Dodds 36'			Attendance: 17,910

21 October 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Aberdeen	1–2	Hearts	Pittodrie Stadium
	John Robertson 13', 27' (pen.)			Attendance: 13,707

28 October 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	2–0	Celtic	Tynecastle Park
	Bobby Thomson 66'		John Robertson	Attendance: 19,269

4 November 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Hibernian	1–2	Hearts	Easter Road
	Gary Mackay 66' (pen.)		Tosh McKinlay 18' McCall 57', 73'	Attendance: 20,120

11 November 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	0–1	Partick Thistle	Tynecastle Park
	Doug Rougvie 33' Neil Simpson 89'			Attendance: 11,967

18 November 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Morton	3–2	Hearts	Cappielow Park
	Gary Mackay 21' (pen.), 67'		Frank McAvennie 12' Frank McDougall	Attendance: 7,765

25 November 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	3–2	Motherwell	Tynecastle Park
	Sandy Clark 34', 70' John MacDonald 78'			Attendance: 8,984

9 December 1978 Scottish Premier Division	St Mirren	4–0	Hearts	St Mirren Park, Love Street
				Attendance: 5,183

16 December 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Rangers	5–3	Hearts	Ibrox Park
	John Robertson		Brian McClair 26', 81' James Dobbin	Attendance: 19,754

23 December 1978 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	0–0	Aberdeen	Tynecastle Park
	Johannes Edvaldsson		Jimmy Bone	Attendance: 9,199

20 January 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Motherwell	3–2	Hearts	Tannadice Park
	Ian Gibson 19'		Donald Park 31' George Cowie	Attendance: 3,881

10 February 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	1–2	St Mirren	Tynecastle Park
	Donald Park		William Irvine	Attendance: 7,803

24 February 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	3–2	Rangers	Tynecastle Park
	Robert Glennie McCall Iain Ferguson Fraser		John Robertson	Attendance: 16,050

17 March 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Hibernian	1–1	Hearts	Easter Road
	Derek O'Connor 88' John Robertson 91'		Ally McCoist 31' Bobby Williamson 47'	Attendance: 13,297

28 March 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	1–2	Hibernian	Tynecastle Park
	John Robertson 36', 71'		John Gahagan 28'	Attendance: 16,042

31 March 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Morton	2–2	Hearts	Cappielow Park
	Brian McClair 22', 37', 79' John Colquhoun 75'		Donald Park 87'	Attendance: 5,767

4 April 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	2–0	Dundee United	Tynecastle Park
	Eamonn Bannon 20' Tommy Coyne 24', 82'		Walter Kidd 7'	Attendance: 6,480

7 April 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	3–0	Motherwell	Tynecastle Park
	Steve Clarke 65'		Willie Johnston 87'	Attendance: 6,651

11 April 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	0–3	Partick Thistle	Tynecastle Park
	John Robertson 18' Jimmy Bone 45'		Rowan Alexander 66'	Attendance: 8,265

14 April 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	0–3	Dundee United	Tynecastle Park
			John Robertson 8' (pen.)	Attendance: 7,564

18 April 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	0–3	Celtic	Tynecastle Park
				Attendance: 10,633

21 April 1979 Scottish Premier Division	St Mirren	2–1	Hearts	St Mirren Park, Love Street
	Ian Porteous 46'		John Robertson 62'	Attendance: 6,049

25 April 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Dundee United	2–1	Hearts	Tannadice Park
				Attendance: 6,005

28 April 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Rangers	4–0	Hearts	Ibrox Park
				Attendance: 20,464

2 May 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Aberdeen	5–0	Hearts	Pittodrie Stadium
	Roddie MacDonald Donald Park 82'		John Brogan 54' Raymond Blair 83'	Attendance: 6,602

5 May 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Partick Thistle	2–0	Hearts	Firhill Park
			Stewart McKimmie 62'	Attendance: 4,605

7 May 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Hearts	0–1	Morton	Tynecastle Stadium
	Willie Johnston		Tommy Burns 45'	Attendance: 2,253

14 May 1979 Scottish Premier Division	Celtic	1–0	Hearts	Celtic Park
	Gary Mackay 10'		Jim McInally 50'	Attendance: 16,507

Scottish Premier Division table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
6	St Mirren	36	15	6	15	45	41	+4	36
7	Morton	36	12	12	12	52	53	−1	36
8	Partick Thistle	36	13	8	15	42	39	+3	34
9	Heart of Midlothian (R)	36	8	7	21	39	71	−32	23	Relegation to the 1979–80 Scottish First Division
10	Motherwell (R)	36	5	7	24	33	86	−53	17	Relegation to the 1979–80 Scottish First Division

Source: Statto and RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

Squad information

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Scottish Premier Division		Scottish Cup		Scottish League Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	SCO	John Brough	6	0	2	0	2	0	2	0
	GK	SCO	Thomson Allan	16	0	16	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Willie Gibson	39	0	34	0	4	0	1	0
	MF	SCO	Cammy Fraser	39	0	36	0	3	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Jim Brown	32	0	26	0	4	0	2	0
	FW	SCO	Drew Busby	31	0	26	0	3	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Walter Kidd	34	0	30	0	4	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Bobby Prentice	13	0	12	0	0	0	1	0
	DF	SCO	Jim Jeffries	34	0	28	0	4	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	Malcolm Robertson	35	0	29	0	4	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	Graham Shaw	12	0	8	0	2	0	2	0
	DF	SCO	Ian Black	17	0	14	0	3	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Frank Liddell	36	0	31	0	3	0	2	0
	FW	SCO	Derek O'Connor	22	0	18	0	4	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Colin More	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	John Craig	22	0	19	0	3	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Dave McNicoll	20	0	17	0	1	0	2	0
	MF	SCO	Lawrie Tierney	15	0	14	0	0	0	1	0
	MF	SCO	Eamonn Bannon	21	0	19	0	0	0	2	0
	GK	SCO	Ray Dunlop	20	0	18	0	2	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Denis McQuade	24	0	23	0	1	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Rab Stewart	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	David Scott	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Des O'Sullivan	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Donald Park	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	0
	DF	SCO	Paul Rodger	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	0
	FW	SCO	Kenny McLeod	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Gordon James Smith	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
	FW	SCO	Ian Paterson	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Peter Johnstone	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

References

Statistical Record 78-79

External links

Official Club website

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