1978–79 Eerste Divisie
# 1978–79 Eerste Divisie

The Dutch Eerste Divisie in the 1978–79 season was contested by 19 teams. Excelsior won the championship.

## New entrants

Relegated from the 1977–78 Eredivisie

* FC Amsterdam
* Telstar

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | SBV Excelsior | 36 | 22 | 7 | 7 | 76 | 32 | +44 | 51 | Promoted to Eredivisie. |
| 2 | FC Groningen | 36 | 20 | 10 | 6 | 60 | 31 | +29 | 50 | Qualified for Promotion play-off as Period champions. |
| 3 | Willem II | 36 | 17 | 14 | 5 | 60 | 32 | +28 | 48 | Qualified for Promotion play-off as Period champions. |
| 4 | Fortuna SC | 36 | 17 | 13 | 6 | 64 | 35 | +29 | 47 | Qualified for Promotion play-off as Period champions. |
| 5 | FC Eindhoven | 36 | 14 | 16 | 6 | 53 | 32 | +21 | 44 | |
| 6 | FC Wageningen | 36 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 59 | 44 | +15 | 44 | |
| 7 | FC Den Bosch | 36 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 58 | 43 | +15 | 42 | |
| 8 | De Graafschap | 36 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 60 | 47 | +13 | 41 | |
| 9 | FC Amsterdam | 36 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 52 | 40 | +12 | 37 | |
| 10 | Telstar | 36 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 45 | 45 | 0 | 34 | Qualified for Promotion play-off as Period champions. |
| 11 | sc Heerenveen | 36 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 34 | 47 | −13 | 33 | |
| 12 | SC Veendam | 36 | 13 | 6 | 17 | 51 | 67 | −16 | 32 | |
| 13 | SC Heracles | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 46 | 49 | −3 | 31 | |
| 14 | SVV | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 42 | 48 | −6 | 31 | |
| 15 | SC Cambuur | 36 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 33 | 54 | −21 | 28 | |
| 16 | FC Vlaardingen | 36 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 35 | 54 | −19 | 26 | |
| 17 | Helmond Sport | 36 | 9 | 8 | 19 | 42 | 71 | −29 | 26 | |
| 18 | SC Amersfoort | 36 | 8 | 7 | 21 | 34 | 78 | −44 | 23 | |
| 19 | FC Dordrecht | 36 | 5 | 6 | 25 | 33 | 88 | −55 | 16 | Changed name to DS '79 for next season. |

## Promotion competition

In the promotion competition, four period winners (the best teams during each of the four quarters of the regular competition) played for promotion to the Eredivisie.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Willem II | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 8 | Promoted to Eredivisie. |
| 2 | Fortuna SC | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 8 | Changed name to Fortuna Sittard for next season. |
| 3 | FC Groningen | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | |
| 4 | Telstar | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 | −7 | 2 | |
