1971-72 in English football
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The 1971-72 season was the 92nd season of competitive football in England.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
[edit] First Division
Brian Clough, 37, won the first major trophy of his managerial career by guiding Derby County to their first ever league championship. They overcame Leeds United to win a four-horse race also contested with Liverpool and Manchester City. The Sun newspaper later claimed that Leeds manager Don Revie had attempted to bribe Wolverhampton Wanderers to let in goals on the last day of the season so he could cheat his way to the championship. The footballing authorities never investigated these allegations to decide whether they were true or not.
Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town lost their First Division status. By the end of the decade, Forest had made an explosive comeback to the top flight. 1971-72 was Huddersfield's last season in the top flight to date, and within a few seasons they would be in the Fourth Division - most of their existence since 1972 has been spent in the league's lower two divisions.
[edit] Second Division
Norwich City and Birmingham City were promoted. This marked the first time that Norwich City reached the top flight in their history, less than 70 years after the club was founded. Charlton Athletic and Watford were relegated.
[edit] Third Division
Aston Villa ended their two-year spell in the Third Division by gaining promotion as champions, and by the end of the decade would be firmly re-established as a First Division club. Brighton & Hove Albion followed Villa into the Second Division, but would not reach the heady heights that the midlanders would experience. Mansfield Town, Barnsley, Torquay United and Bradford City were relegated.
[edit] Fourth Division
Grimsby Town, Southend United, Brentford and Scunthorpe United were promoted. Barrow were voted out of the Football League and replaced by Hereford United, who a short time earlier had achieved a shock FA Cup victory over Newcastle United.
Ernie Tagg sacked himself as manager of Crewe Alexandra because he felt that a younger manager should take charge of the club.
[edit] FA Cup
Leeds United overcame holders Arsenal to win the FA Cup. Allan Clarke got the solitary goal.
Birmingham City beat Stoke City 5-4 on penalties after a 0-0 draw at The Hawthorns in a third-place playoff, held three months after the final.
[edit] League Cup
Stoke City won the League Cup to claim the only major trophy in their history so far.
[edit] Star players
- Stoke City goalkeeper Gordon Banks added the FWA Player of the Year Award to his League Cup winners medal.
- Norman Hunter and Billy Bremner helped Leeds win the FA Cup.
- Roy McFarland and Colin Todd helped Derby win the league championship.
[edit] Star managers
- Brian Clough guided Derby to their first-ever league championship triumph.
- Don Revie helped Leeds lift the FA Cup for the first time.
- Tony Waddington ended Stoke City's trophyless history by winning the League Cup.
[edit] National team
England were eliminated from Euro 72 in the quarter finals after losing 3-1 on aggregate over two legs (1-3 at Wembley and 0-0 in Berlin)to West Germany, who went on to win the tournament.
[edit] Honours
[edit] League table
[edit] First Division
P | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Derby County | 42 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 69 | 33 | 2.091 | 58 |
2 | Leeds United | 42 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 73 | 31 | 2.355 | 57 |
3 | Liverpool | 42 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 64 | 30 | 2.133 | 57 |
4 | Manchester City | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 77 | 45 | 1.711 | 57 |
5 | Arsenal | 42 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 58 | 40 | 1.450 | 52 |
6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 63 | 42 | 1.500 | 51 |
7 | Chelsea | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 58 | 49 | 1.184 | 48 |
8 | Manchester United | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 69 | 61 | 1.131 | 48 |
9 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 65 | 57 | 1.140 | 47 |
10 | Sheffield United | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 61 | 60 | 1.017 | 46 |
11 | Newcastle United | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 49 | 52 | 0.942 | 41 |
12 | Leicester City | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 41 | 46 | 0.891 | 39 |
13 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 39 | 53 | 0.736 | 38 |
14 | West Ham United | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 47 | 51 | 0.922 | 36 |
15 | Everton | 42 | 9 | 18 | 15 | 37 | 48 | 0.771 | 36 |
16 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 42 | 54 | 0.778 | 35 |
17 | Stoke City | 42 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 39 | 56 | 0.696 | 35 |
18 | Coventry City | 42 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 44 | 67 | 0.657 | 33 |
19 | Southampton | 42 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 52 | 80 | 0.650 | 31 |
20 | Crystal Palace | 42 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 39 | 65 | 0.600 | 29 |
21 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 47 | 81 | 0.580 | 25 |
22 | Huddersfield Town | 42 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 27 | 59 | 0.458 | 25 |
[edit] Second Division
P | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Norwich City | 42 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 60 | 36 | 1.667 | 57 |
2 | Birmingham City | 42 | 19 | 18 | 5 | 60 | 31 | 1.935 | 56 |
3 | Millwall | 42 | 19 | 17 | 6 | 64 | 46 | 1.391 | 55 |
4 | Queen's Park Rangers | 42 | 20 | 14 | 8 | 57 | 28 | 2.036 | 54 |
5 | Sunderland | 42 | 17 | 16 | 9 | 67 | 57 | 1.175 | 50 |
6 | Blackpool | 42 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 70 | 50 | 1.400 | 47 |
7 | Burnley | 42 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 70 | 55 | 1.273 | 46 |
8 | Bristol City | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 61 | 49 | 1.245 | 46 |
9 | Middlesbrough | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 50 | 48 | 1.042 | 46 |
10 | Carlisle United | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 61 | 57 | 1.070 | 43 |
11 | Swindon Town | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 47 | 47 | 1.000 | 42 |
12 | Hull City | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 49 | 53 | 0.925 | 38 |
13 | Luton Town | 42 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 43 | 48 | 0.896 | 38 |
14 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 51 | 58 | 0.879 | 38 |
15 | Oxford United | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 43 | 55 | 0.782 | 38 |
16 | Portsmouth | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 59 | 68 | 0.868 | 37 |
17 | Leyton Orient | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 50 | 61 | 0.820 | 37 |
18 | Preston North End | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 52 | 58 | 0.897 | 36 |
19 | Cardiff City | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 56 | 69 | 0.812 | 34 |
20 | Fulham | 42 | 12 | 10 | 20 | 45 | 68 | 0.662 | 34 |
21 | Charlton Athletic | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 55 | 77 | 0.714 | 33 |
22 | Watford | 42 | 5 | 9 | 28 | 24 | 75 | 0.320 | 19 |
[edit] Third Division
P | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Aston Villa | 46 | 32 | 6 | 8 | 85 | 32 | 2.656 | 70 |
2 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 46 | 27 | 11 | 8 | 82 | 47 | 1.745 | 65 |
3 | Bournemouth | 46 | 23 | 16 | 7 | 73 | 37 | 1.973 | 62 |
4 | Notts County | 46 | 25 | 12 | 9 | 74 | 44 | 1.682 | 62 |
5 | Rotherham United | 46 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 69 | 52 | 1.327 | 55 |
6 | Bristol Rovers | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 75 | 56 | 1.339 | 54 |
7 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 51 | 41 | 1.244 | 50 |
8 | Plymouth Argyle | 46 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 74 | 64 | 1.156 | 50 |
9 | Walsall | 46 | 15 | 18 | 13 | 62 | 57 | 1.088 | 48 |
10 | Blackburn Rovers | 46 | 19 | 9 | 18 | 54 | 57 | 0.947 | 47 |
11 | Oldham Athletic | 46 | 17 | 11 | 18 | 59 | 63 | 0.937 | 45 |
12 | Shrewsbury Town | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 73 | 65 | 1.123 | 44 |
13 | Chesterfield | 46 | 18 | 8 | 20 | 57 | 57 | 1.000 | 44 |
14 | Swansea City | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 46 | 59 | 0.780 | 44 |
15 | Port Vale | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 43 | 59 | 0.729 | 41 |
16 | Wrexham | 46 | 16 | 8 | 22 | 59 | 63 | 0.937 | 40 |
17 | Halifax Town | 46 | 13 | 12 | 21 | 48 | 61 | 0.787 | 38 |
18 | Rochdale | 46 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 57 | 83 | 0.687 | 37 |
19 | York City | 46 | 12 | 12 | 22 | 57 | 66 | 0.864 | 36 |
20 | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 50 | 71 | 0.704 | 36 |
21 | Mansfield Town | 46 | 8 | 20 | 18 | 41 | 63 | 0.651 | 36 |
22 | Barnsley | 46 | 9 | 18 | 19 | 32 | 64 | 0.500 | 36 |
23 | Torquay United | 46 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 41 | 69 | 0.594 | 32 |
24 | Bradford City | 46 | 11 | 10 | 25 | 45 | 77 | 0.584 | 32 |
[edit] Fourth Division
P | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Grimsby Town | 46 | 28 | 7 | 11 | 88 | 56 | 1.571 | 63 |
2 | Southend United | 46 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 81 | 55 | 1.473 | 60 |
3 | Brentford | 46 | 24 | 11 | 11 | 76 | 44 | 1.727 | 59 |
4 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 22 | 13 | 11 | 56 | 37 | 1.514 | 57 |
5 | Lincoln City | 46 | 21 | 14 | 11 | 77 | 59 | 1.305 | 56 |
6 | Workington | 46 | 16 | 19 | 11 | 50 | 34 | 1.471 | 51 |
7 | Southport | 46 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 66 | 46 | 1.435 | 50 |
8 | Peterborough United | 46 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 82 | 64 | 1.281 | 50 |
9 | Bury | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 73 | 59 | 1.237 | 50 |
10 | Cambridge United | 46 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 62 | 60 | 1.033 | 48 |
11 | Colchester United | 46 | 19 | 10 | 17 | 70 | 69 | 1.014 | 48 |
12 | Doncaster Rovers | 46 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 56 | 63 | 0.889 | 46 |
13 | Gillingham | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 61 | 67 | 0.910 | 45 |
14 | Newport County | 46 | 18 | 8 | 20 | 60 | 72 | 0.833 | 44 |
15 | Exeter City | 46 | 16 | 11 | 19 | 61 | 68 | 0.897 | 43 |
16 | Reading | 46 | 17 | 8 | 21 | 56 | 76 | 0.737 | 42 |
17 | Aldershot | 46 | 9 | 22 | 15 | 48 | 54 | 0.889 | 40 |
18 | Hartlepool United | 46 | 17 | 6 | 23 | 58 | 69 | 0.841 | 40 |
19 | Darlington | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 64 | 82 | 0.780 | 39 |
20 | Chester City | 46 | 10 | 18 | 18 | 47 | 56 | 0.839 | 38 |
21 | Northampton Town | 46 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 66 | 79 | 0.835 | 37 |
22 | Barrow | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 40 | 71 | 0.563 | 37 |
23 | Stockport County | 46 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 55 | 87 | 0.632 | 32 |
24 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 10 | 9 | 27 | 43 | 69 | 0.623 | 29 |
P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points
Seasons in English football |
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1967-68 | 1968-69 | 1969-70 | 1970-71 | 1971-72 | 1972-73 | 1973-74 | 1974-75 | 1975-76 |
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National teams: England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales | UK | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
UK-wide national team competitions: British Home Championship | Rous Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
UK-wide club competitions: Empire Exhibition Trophy | Coronation Cup | Texaco Cup | Anglo-Scottish Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Football in... England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland |