Middlesbrough 1–1 Liverpool: Dalglish scores on his league debut
Kenny Dalglish scored seven minutes into his first league appearance for Liverpool, but David Armstrong earned Middlesbrough a draw.
Liverpool · Season reference
1977–78
A historical reference entry. Original long-form writing appears in Articles.
- Manager
- Bob Paisley
- League / division
- First Division
- League finish
- 2nd
- Top scorer
- Kenny Dalglish · 31 goalsAll competitive first-team matches
- Trophies won
- European CupEuropean Super CupCharity Shield (shared)
Season overview
Liverpool retained the European Cup, beating Club Brugge 1–0 at Wembley on 10 May. Kenny Dalglish scored the winner after a pass from Graeme Souness, completing a first Liverpool season in which he led the scoring with 31 goals in all competitions.
Dalglish had arrived from Celtic after Kevin Keegan’s departure for Hamburg, while Souness joined from Middlesbrough in January. Liverpool also won the European Super Cup, beating Hamburg 7–1 on aggregate. Terry McDermott scored a hat-trick in the 6–0 second-leg win at Anfield.
At home, Liverpool finished runners-up in the First Division, seven points behind Nottingham Forest. Forest also beat them 1–0 in the League Cup final replay after a goalless first match. Chelsea ended Liverpool’s FA Cup run in the third round, while the Charity Shield was shared with Manchester United.
Match reports
Explore 12 published reports from 1977–78, in match order.
Liverpool 3–0 West Bromwich Albion: Dalglish makes it three in three
Kenny Dalglish scored for the third successive league game before late goals from Steve Heighway and Jimmy Case completed Liverpool's victory.
Liverpool 5–1 Dynamo Dresden: a five-goal start to the defence
Alan Hansen scored his first Liverpool goal and Jimmy Case struck twice as the European champions opened their defence with a 5–1 victory.
Hamburg 1–1 Liverpool: Fairclough levels the Super Cup tie
David Fairclough's second-half equaliser cancelled out Ferdinand Keller's opener and left the Super Cup level before the return at Anfield.
Liverpool 6–0 Hamburg: McDermott's hat-trick wins the Super Cup
Terry McDermott scored three as Liverpool overwhelmed Hamburg at Anfield to win their first European Super Cup 7–1 on aggregate.
Liverpool 2–1 Arsenal: Kennedy secures the first-leg advantage
Ray Kennedy's late winner against his former club gave Liverpool the lead they would carry through to their first League Cup final.
Benfica 1–2 Liverpool: Hughes completes the recovery in Lisbon
Jimmy Case's free-kick and Emlyn Hughes's second-half winner overturned Benfica's lead on a rain-soaked night in Lisbon.
Liverpool 4–1 Benfica: early goals secure the semi-final place
Ian Callaghan and Kenny Dalglish scored early as Liverpool completed a 6–2 aggregate win over Benfica before the League Cup final.
Liverpool 0–0 Nottingham Forest: Woods takes the final to a replay
Liverpool's first League Cup final ended without a goal after extra time, with teenage goalkeeper Chris Woods helping Forest secure a replay.
Liverpool 0–1 Nottingham Forest: disputed decisions settle the replay
John Robertson's penalty decided Liverpool's first League Cup final, with Terry McDermott denied an equaliser by a disputed handball decision.
Liverpool 3–0 Borussia Mönchengladbach: Kennedy leads the way back to the final
Ray Kennedy scored one and helped make the other two as Liverpool overturned their first-leg deficit to reach another European Cup final.
Liverpool 1–0 Club Brugge: Dalglish keeps the European Cup at Anfield
Kenny Dalglish finished Graeme Souness's pass at Wembley as Liverpool became the first British club to retain the European Cup.
Domestic cups
- FA Cup
- Third round — lost 4–2 away to Chelsea.
- League Cup
- Runners-up — lost 1–0 to Nottingham Forest in the Old Trafford replay after a 0–0 Wembley draw.
Europe
- European Cup
- Winners — beat Club Brugge 1–0 at Wembley through Kenny Dalglish.
- European Super Cup
- Winners — beat Hamburg 7–1 on aggregate, drawing 1–1 away and winning 6–0 at Anfield.
Other major competitions
- Charity Shield
- Shared — drew 0–0 with Manchester United at Wembley.
Key players
- Kenny Dalglish
- Phil Neal
- Ray Kennedy
- Ray Clemence
- Emlyn Hughes
- Terry McDermott
- Jimmy Case
- Steve Heighway
- Phil Thompson
- David Fairclough
- Ian Callaghan
- Alan Hansen
- Graeme Souness
Transfers
Significant senior moves. Fees are included only where established reliably; summer arrivals are grouped with the campaign they joined.
Transfers in
- Kenny DalglishFrom CelticPermanent transfer
Joined in August 1977.
- Steve OgrizovicFrom ChesterfieldPermanent transfer
Joined in November 1977.
- Graeme SounessFrom MiddlesbroughPermanent transfer
Joined in January 1978.
Transfers out
- Kevin KeeganTo HamburgPermanent transfer
June 1977 departure, allocated to the incoming campaign.
- Alec LindsayTo Stoke CityPermanent transfer
Left in September 1977.
- Alan WaddleTo Leicester CityPermanent transfer
Left in September 1977.
- John ToshackTo Swansea CityFree transfer
Left in February 1978.
Important connections
The first European Super Cup
Liverpool beat Hamburg 6–0 at Anfield to complete a 7–1 aggregate victory.
The European Cup retained
Dalglish scored the only goal against Club Brugge at Wembley.
In the History Explorer
Bob Paisley · 1974–1983Related seasons
1976–77Sources & historical notes
Researched and checked 13 September 2026. These sources support this season’s statistics, transfers and historical account. Key players are an editorial selection.
- Liverpool FC: Bob Paisley, manager Manager from 1974 to 1983; first-season runners-up finish, the 1976 double, 1977 European Cup and 1979 league record.
- RSSSF: Football League 1977-78 Final First Division standings, points, wins, draws, defeats and goals for and against.
- LFChistory: 1977-78 results Competitive fixture dates, scores, venues and cup rounds; supports the competition results and dated match events.
- LFChistory: 1977-78 goalscorers Leading competitive scorer and goals by competition, excluding friendlies.
- LFChistory: 1977-78 transfers Listed incoming and outgoing transfers, clubs and chronology. Summer moves follow the incoming-campaign convention.
- LFChistory: 1977-78 appearances First-team involvement supporting the editorial key-player selection.
- Liverpool FC: European Cup First win on 25 May 1977, 3–1 against Borussia Mönchengladbach with McDermott, Smith and Neal scoring; retained on 10 May 1978 through Dalglish against Club Brugge.
- Liverpool FC: Charity and Community Shield Outright winners in 1974 and 1976; shared with Manchester United in 1977. The club attributes the 1974 match to Paisley.
- Liverpool FC: Kenny Dalglish Joined from Celtic in August 1977 for £440,000 after Keegan left for Hamburg; led scoring with 31 goals in his first season including the 1978 European Cup winner; Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year in 1979.
- Liverpool FC: UEFA Super Cup First won on 6 December 1977, following 1–1 away and 6–0 home results against Hamburg; McDermott hat-trick. Anderlecht won the following edition 4–3 on aggregate.
- Liverpool FC: Graeme Souness Joined from Middlesbrough and supplied the pass for Dalglish’s goal in the 1978 European Cup final.
- LFChistory: Keegan’s June 1977 transfer Keegan moved to Hamburg on 3 June 1977; allocated here under the summer transfer convention.
Notes on the record
The 1977 European Super Cup belongs to 1977–78 because both legs were played during this campaign. The Charity Shield was shared, not won outright. Hansen’s signing is already recorded in 1976–77 and is not duplicated.
Overview evidence: paragraph 1 — lfc-europe, lfc-dalglish, lfc-souness and lfch-scorers; paragraph 2 — lfch-transfers, lfch-keegan-move, lfc-dalglish, lfc-souness, lfc-super and lfch-games; paragraph 3 — rsssf-league, lfch-games and lfc-shield.