Not only Hearts had troubles – other well known clubs were in the dark too.
George Best makes a pretty picture, but only a picture… he was not real help for struggling Hibernian.
Perhaps this is the only interesting fact about the team at the time: a rather early and still unusual for Scottish team shirt-adds. And nostalgic reminder of once upon a time famous football gear maker. Rather symbolic… Best and Bukta going down together. And Hibernian too – they finished not only last, but were hopeless this season: 18 points in 36 games, only 6 wins. The club above them had 8 more points!
Which was also nothing. Dundee was only stronger than Hibernian – they had no chance of survival, finishing 7 points less than 8th placed Kilmarnock.
Kilmarnock – 8th at the end, well behind the teams above, but never in danger of relegation.
Dundee had difficulties even before Hearts and the reduced premier league was too small to accommodate a struggling club – Dundee were relegated in 1975-76. Managed to come back after winning the second division in 1978-79, but was too weak a team to secure a place among the best – down they were going one more time.
Another club was in trouble too – Glasgow Rangers. They finished 5th! The last time they were so low in the table was in 1964-65. To a point it a telling comment on the state of Scottish football at the time – seemingly, declining. Which, of course, does not diminish the success of some clubs.
St. Mirren finished with bronze medals. Excellent season for a club without big names and one playing second division football in 1976-77. Their picture is also a telling document of the lax spirit of those years: everybody is dressed in Umbro, except the goalkeeper, sporting not only Adidas, but a jersey originally belonging to the Norwegian national team. The kit makers did not have yet the iron grip in clubs and players. However, as good as St. Mirren were this season, they were not contenders – Celtic finished 5 points ahead of them.
The race for the title was between two club and single point decided it – Celtic was 2nd with 47, but even if they managed 48, they would have stay second because of worse goal-difference. The champions scored more goals and received less than Celtic. It was dramatic victory for a club, which was well known, but… hardly successful. To a point, Scotland had almost a brand new champion – Aberdeen.
Here they are – the exciting new Scottish champions! Their victory was dramatic, but significant, especially from the distance of time. First, it was the 2nd title won by Aberdeen so far – and the first was won in the long gone 1954-55. This was great for club and fans, but there far more important aspects to it. First, Aberdeen had a group of bright emerging stars, who defined Scottish football in the 1980s – Steve Archibald, Gordon Strachan, Willie Miller, Alex McLeish. With such a backbone, Aberdeen started their greatest period of all time. This is the second important point, but it was naturally unknown in 1980. Third, this season could be considered the true beginning of fantastic career of a man who became a legend long time before his retirement – Alex Ferguson was the young and only promising coach and mastermind of the champions. Of course, he was noticed already, so Aberdeen hired him, but Aberdeen – not Celtic or Rangers! And he made them champions instantly. And with him Aberdeen achieved a lot more, and on and on he went to his present godly reputation. This was the true significance of the 1979-80 season – and perhaps the only optimistic sign in Scottish football.
Aberdeen won the title, but were they to stay on top? Were they really strong or just one-time wonder? So far, they were not overwhelming – won the title with difficulty, and… lost the League Cup final.
Aberdeen reached the final like they did in 1976-77 and faced Dundee United, having so-so season so far. Both finalists had curiously weak opponents in the semi-finals – Dundee United destroyed second division Hamilton Academical 6-2, but Aberdeen struggled against a team which was not a member of the professional leagues – Greenock Morton. The future champions eventually prevailed 2-1. At the final, on December 8, 1979, Aberdeen was met by equally ambitious foe and after overtime the result was 0-0. A replay was scheduled for December 12 and this time Aberdeen was thrashed 0-3.
Dundee United were not bad, but hardly strong – they were merely better and more stable than most league members, which is not much to say about a league of 10 members. But a cup final, especially on British Isles, was entirely different matter and Dundee United naturally had no fear. ‘The Arabs’ had quite a lot at stake – they never won a trophy before and now felt they had a good chance. This was a time later named the ‘Jim McLean era’ – under his coaching, the club was quietly improving and finally the efforts brought real results and more joyous events were yet to come, but 1979-80 season was rightly a historic one: at last, the club won a trophy.
The FA Cup final opposed the big eternal enemies. Aberdeen lost the semifinal 0-1 to Glasgow Rangers, proving that no matter how good, they were not really superior – or at least not yet. Celtic had it easy – they hosted Hibernian, and the outcome was no brainer: 5-0. A final between the arch-rivals needed no speculations, introductions, and predictions. Rangers, having a weak season, were perhaps hungrier, but this would have been a factor against other opponent, not Celtic. Naturally, the atmosphere was great – if about 55 000 (combined) attended the League Cup finals, over 70 000 came to support their clubs at Hampden Park. Regular time ended scoreless and only in overtime a single goal was scored – McCluskey drove the nail in the coffin of Rangers.
Rangers really had an awful season – the previous two years they won the five trophies shown on their picture – 1 title and 4 cup. This year – nothing!
As for Celtic, joy at last.
Of course, club and fans expected trophies, but to a point they just saved face. Celtic lost the title, was not a factor in the League Cup – by the usual standards, disappointing season. So the FA Cup was a must. To overcome the arch-enemy was another motivating point, so it was not so bad at the end. Both Scottish giants were not in great shape, and compared to raising Aberdeen and Dundee United looked dangerously stagnated, but the Scottish predicament was such that no matter how good smaller clubs were, they would be at par with the big two at best. Celtic was in better shape than Rangers – perhaps this was more important.