1979–80 in Scottish football

1979–80 in Scottish football
1979–80 in Scottish football
Premier Division champions
	Aberdeen
First Division champions
	Heart of Midlothian
Second Division champions
	Falkirk
Scottish Cup winners
	Celtic
League Cup winners
	Dundee United
Junior Cup winners
	Baillieston Juniors
Teams in Europe
	Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, St Mirren
Scotland national team
	1980 BHC, UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying
	← 1978–79 1980–81 →

Last updated May 19, 2025

The 1979–80 season was the 107th season of competitive football in Scotland and the 83rd season of Scottish league football. ^[1]

Scottish Premier Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Aberdeen (C)	36	19	10	7	68	36	+32	48	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Celtic	36	18	11	7	61	38	+23	47	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
3	St Mirren	36	15	12	9	56	49	+7	42	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Dundee United	36	12	13	11	43	30	+13	37	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
5	Rangers	36	15	7	14	50	46	+4	37
6	Morton	36	14	8	14	51	46	+5	36
7	Partick Thistle	36	11	14	11	43	47	−4	36
8	Kilmarnock	36	11	11	14	36	52	−16	33
9	Dundee (R)	36	10	6	20	47	73	−26	26	Relegation to the 1980–81 Scottish First Division
10	Hibernian (R)	36	6	6	24	29	67	−38	18	Relegation to the 1980–81 Scottish First Division

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

Champions: Aberdeen
Relegated: Dundee, Hibernian

Scottish League First Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Heart of Midlothian (C, P)	39	20	13	6	58	39	+19	53	Promotion to the Premier Division
2	Airdrieonians (P)	39	21	9	9	78	47	+31	51	Promotion to the Premier Division
3	Ayr United	39	16	12	11	64	51	+13	44
4	Dumbarton	39	19	6	14	59	51	+8	44
5	Raith Rovers	39	14	15	10	54	46	+8	43
6	Motherwell	39	16	11	12	59	48	+11	43
7	Hamilton Academical	39	15	10	14	60	59	+1	40
8	Stirling Albion	39	13	13	13	40	40	0	39
9	Clydebank	39	14	8	17	58	57	+1	36
10	Dunfermline Athletic	39	11	13	15	39	57	−18	35
11	St Johnstone	39	12	10	17	57	74	−17	34
12	Berwick Rangers	39	8	15	16	57	64	−7	31
13	Arbroath (R)	39	9	10	20	50	79	−29	28	Relegation to the Second Division
14	Clyde (R)	39	6	13	20	43	69	−26	25	Relegation to the Second Division

Source: RSSSF and statto^[2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Promoted: Hearts, Airdrieonians
Relegated: Arbroath, Clyde

Scottish League Second Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Falkirk (C, P)	39	19	12	8	65	35	+30	50	Promotion to the First Division
2	East Stirlingshire (P)	39	21	7	11	55	40	+15	49	Promotion to the First Division
3	Forfar Athletic	39	19	8	12	63	51	+12	46
4	Albion Rovers	39	16	12	11	73	56	+17	44
5	Queen's Park	39	16	9	14	59	47	+12	41
6	Stenhousemuir	39	16	9	14	56	51	+5	41
7	Brechin City	39	15	10	14	61	59	+2	40
8	Cowdenbeath	39	14	12	13	54	52	+2	40
9	Montrose	39	14	10	15	60	63	−3	38
10	East Fife	39	12	9	18	45	57	−12	33
11	Stranraer	39	12	8	19	51	65	−14	32
12	Meadowbank Thistle	39	12	8	19	42	70	−28	32
13	Queen of the South	39	11	9	19	51	69	−18	31
14	Alloa Athletic	39	11	7	21	44	64	−20	29

Source: "1979-1980 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Promoted: Falkirk, East Stirlingshire

Cup honours

Competition	Winner	Score	Runner-up
Scottish Cup 1979–80	Celtic	1 – 0 ( a.e.t. )	Rangers
League Cup 1979–80	Dundee United	3 – 0 (rep.)	Aberdeen
Junior Cup	Baillieston	2 – 0 (rep.)	Benburb

Other honours

National

Competition	Winner	Score	Runner-up
Scottish Qualifying Cup – North	Inverness Thistle	5 – 0	Buckie Thistle
Scottish Qualifying Cup – South	Whitehill Welfare	8 – 1 *	Hawick Royal Albert

County

Competition	Winner	Score	Runner-up
Aberdeenshire Cup	Keith
Ayrshire Cup	Ayr United	10 – 2 *	Girvan
East of Scotland Shield	Hibernian	2 – 2 ‡	Hearts
Fife Cup	Dunfermline Athletic	4 – 1 *	East Fife
Forfarshire Cup	Dundee United	2 – 1	Dundee
Lanarkshire Cup	Airdrie	3 – 2	Hamilton
Renfrewshire Cup	St Mirren	6 – 2 *	Morton
Stirlingshire Cup	Clydebank	4 – 1	Stenhousemuir

^* – aggregate over two legs
‡ – won on penalties

Highland League

Top Three
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Keith	30	24	4	2	82	20	+62	52
2	Brora Rangers	30	15	10	5	60	27	+33	40
3	Inverness Thistle	30	17	4	9	74	43	+31	38

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Individual honours

Award	Winner	Club
Footballer of the Year	Gordon Strachan	Aberdeen
Players' Player of the Year	Davie Provan	Celtic
Young Player of the Year	John MacDonald	Rangers

Scottish national team

Scotland finished fourth in the 1980 British Home Championship. Scotland won just one game, against Wales; Willie Miller scored Scotland's only goal of the tournament.

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score^[3]	Competition	Scotland scorer(s)
12 September 1979	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	Peru	1–1	Friendly	Jorge Olaechea (o.g.)
17 October 1979	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	Austria	1–1	ECQG2	Archie Gemmill
21 November 1979	Heysel Stadion, Brussels (A)	Belgium	0–2	ECQG2
19 December 1979	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	Belgium	1–3	ECQG2	John Robertson
26 March 1980	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	Portugal	4–1	ECQG2	Kenny Dalglish, Andy Gray, Steve Archibald, Archie Gemmill
16 May 1980	Windsor Park, Belfast (A)	Northern Ireland	0–1	BHC
21 May 1980	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	Wales	1–0	BHC	Willie Miller
24 May 1980	Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)	England	0–2	BHC
28 May 1980	Warta Stadion, Poznań (A)	Poland	0–1	Friendly
31 May 1980	Nepstadion, Budapest (A)	Hungary	1–3	Friendly	Steve Archibald

Key:

(H) = Home match
(A) = Away match
ECQG2 = European Championship qualifying – Group 2
BHC = British Home Championship

References

↑ "1979/80 - the Scottish Football League". Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
↑ "Scottish Division One 1979-1980 Season Summary". statto.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
↑ Scotland's score is shown first.

External links

Scottish Football Historical Archive

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[1] "1979/80 - the Scottish Football League". Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2011.

[2] "Scottish Division One 1979-1980 Season Summary". statto.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2012.

[Scotland_score-3] Scotland's score is shown first.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e 1979–80 in Scottish football
« 1978–79 1980–81 »
Domestic leagues	Football League Premier Division First Division Second Division Highland League
Domestic cups	Scottish Cup Final League Cup Final Drybrough Cup Junior Cup
European competitions	European Cup European Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup Anglo-Scottish Cup
Related to national team	Results UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying Group 2 British Home Championship
Club seasons
Premier Division	Aberdeen Celtic Dundee Dundee United Hibernian Kilmarnock Morton Partick Thistle Rangers St. Mirren
First Division	Airdrieonians Arbroath Ayr United Berwick Rangers Clyde Clydebank Dunfermline Athletic Dumbarton Hamilton Academical Heart of Midlothian Motherwell Raith Rovers St. Johnstone Stirling Albion
Second Division	Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Brechin City Cowdenbeath East Fife East Stirlingshire Falkirk Forfar Athletic Meadowbank Thistle Montrose Queen of the South Queen's Park Stenhousemuir Stranraer