18 August 1979: Arsenal move straight to the top of the First Division table with a 4–0 away win against newly promoted Brighton & Hove Albion on the first day of the League season.
[2] 31 August 1979: The first month of the season ends with Norwich City, who have never even finished in the top five of the First Division, leading the League alongside 1978 champions Nottingham Forest, after both teams win their first three matches.
[3] In the League Cup second round, braces for Ian Bowyer and John Robertson contribute to Nottingham Forest firing six past Blackburn Rovers.
[4] 8 September 1979: The national transfer record fee is broken for the second time in four days when Wolverhampton Wanderers pay almost £1,500,000 for Aston Villa and Scotland striker Andy Gray.
[9] 31 December 1979: The decade ends with Liverpool narrowly ahead of Manchester United at the top of the First Division, having won the clash between the two on Boxing Day.
[10] 8 January 1980: Non-League Harlow Town beat Second Division promotion candidates Leicester City 1–0 in an FA Cup third round replay.
[1] 29 February 1980: With the season approaching its final quarter, Manchester United have moved level on points at the top of the First Division with Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
[1] 1 March 1980: Everton lose 2–1 at home to Liverpool in the First Division Merseyside derby, and during the game their legendary former striker Dixie Dean dies from a heart attack in the stands, aged 72.
[10] 15 March 1980: Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Nottingham Forest, who have won the trophy in the last two seasons, 1–0 in the League Cup final thanks to a second-half goal from Andy Gray.
Elsewhere in the top-flight, Derby and Bristol City share six, Liverpool beat Brighton and Nottingham Forest win at home to UEFA Cup hopefuls Southampton.
[10] 23 April 1980: Nottingham Forest lose the second leg of their European Cup 1–0 to Ajax, but reach the final for the second year in succession with a 2–1 aggregate victory.
In the Third Division, Kevin Drinkell fires three of Grimsby Town's four without reply at home to Sheffield United; a result that sees the Mariners crowned third-tier champions.
[16] 10 May 1980: Trevor Brooking scores the winning goal as Second Division West Ham United triumph 1–0 over holders Arsenal in the FA Cup final.
[18] 17 October 1979: England virtually guarantee their place in the summer's European Championship Finals by beating Northern Ireland 5–1 at Windsor Park.
Second Division West Ham United, managed by John Lyall, won the FA Cup, beating Arsenal 1–0 with a Trevor Brooking goal.
Bob Paisley's Liverpool retained their league championship trophy after fighting off a determined challenge by Dave Sexton's Manchester United.
Kevin Keegan, the current European Footballer of the Year, ended his three-year spell with Hamburg in Germany and returned to England in a shock £400,000 move to Southampton.
Much of the attention in the early part of the season focused on Manchester City where Malcolm Allison had dismantled the side selling international talents such as Asa Hartford and Peter Barnes and replacing them with unknowns and the uncapped Steve Daley for £1.5 million.
18 August 1979: Tommy Caton, 16-year-old defender, makes his debut for First Division side Manchester City on the opening day of the season in a goalless home draw with newly promoted Crystal Palace, just weeks after leaving school.
22 March 1980: Paul Bracewell, 17-year-old midfielder, makes his First Division debut as a substitute for Stoke City in a 0-3 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
7 April 1980: Paul Davis, 18-year-old midfielder, makes his First Division debut for Arsenal in a 2–1 win over local rivals Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.