1971–72 Football League First Division

Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1971–72 season.

Football League First Division
Season1971–72
ChampionsDerby County
1st English title
RelegatedNottingham Forest
Huddersfield Town
European CupDerby County
European Cup Winners' CupLeeds United
UEFA CupLiverpool
Manchester City
Tottenham Hotspur
Stoke City
Watney CupWolverhampton Wanderers
Sheffield United
Matches played462
Goals scored1,160 (2.51 per match)
Top goalscorerFrancis Lee
(33 goals)[1]
Biggest home winEverton 8–0 Southampton
(20 November 1971)
Biggest away winSheffield United 0–5 Arsenal
(29 January 1972)
Highest scoringEverton 8–0 Southampton
(20 November 1971)

Overview

edit

Derby County won the First Division title for the first time in the club's history that season. Derby's first ever First Division title was confirmed on May 8, after title challengers Liverpool and Leeds United failed to win their final games at Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively. On April 26, Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest were relegated after Crystal Palace beat Stoke City 2-0 at Selhurst Park to ensure their survival.

League standings

edit
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Derby County (C) 42 24 10 8 69 33 2.091 58 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Leeds United 42 24 9 9 73 31 2.355 57 Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round[a]
3 Liverpool 42 24 9 9 64 30 2.133 57 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
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 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round[b]
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 Qualification for the Watney Cup[c]
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 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
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 (R) 42 8 9 25 47 81 0.580 25 Relegation to the Second Division
22 Huddersfield Town (R) 42 6 13 23 27 59 0.458 25
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Leeds United qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1971-72 FA Cup winners.
  2. ^ Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the UEFA Cup as the 1971-72 UEFA Cup winners.
  3. ^ Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

Results

edit
Home \ Away ARS CHE COV CRY DER EVE HUD IPS LEE LEI LIV MCI MUN NEW NOT SHU SOU STK TOT WBA WHU WOL
Arsenal 3–0 2–0 2–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–0 3–0 0–0 1–2 3–0 4–2 3–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–2 2–0 2–1 2–1
Chelsea 1–2 3–3 2–1 1–1 4–0 2–2 2–0 0–0 2–1 0–0 2–2 2–3 3–3 2–0 2–0 3–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 3–1 3–1
Coventry City 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 4–1 2–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–3 1–0 1–1 3–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–1 0–0
Crystal Palace 2–2 2–3 2–2 0–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–3 2–0 1–1 5–1 2–3 2–0 1–1 0–2 0–3 0–2
Derby County 2–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 3–1 2–2 0–1 4–0 3–0 2–2 4–0 2–2 0–0 2–0 2–1
Everton 2–1 2–0 1–2 0–0 0–2 2–2 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 8–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–2
Huddersfield Town 0–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 2–1 0–0 1–3 2–1 2–2 0–1 1–1 0–3 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–2 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1
Ipswich Town 0–1 1–2 3–1 0–2 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–2 1–2 0–0 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–3 1–0 2–1
Leeds United 3–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 3–2 3–1 2–2 2–1 1–0 3–0 5–1 5–1 6–1 1–0 7–0 1–0 1–1 3–0 0–0 0–0
Leicester City 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 0–2 0–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 3–0 2–1 0–1 0–1 2–1 0–1 0–1 2–0 1–2
Liverpool 3–2 0–0 3–1 4–1 3–2 4–0 2–0 2–0 0–2 3–2 3–0 2–2 5–0 3–1 2–0 1–0 2–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 3–2
Manchester City 2–0 1–0 4–0 4–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 4–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 3–3 2–1 2–2 2–1 3–0 1–2 4–0 2–1 3–1 5–2
Manchester United 3–1 0–1 2–2 4–0 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 3–2 0–3 1–3 0–2 3–2 2–0 3–2 3–0 3–1 3–1 4–2 1–3
Newcastle United 2–0 0–0 4–2 1–2 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 3–2 0–0 0–1 2–1 1–2 3–1 0–0 3–1 4–2 2–2 2–0
Nottingham Forest 1–1 2–1 4–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 1–2 0–2 0–2 1–2 2–3 2–2 0–0 1–0 2–3 2–3 0–0 0–1 4–1 1–0 1–3
Sheffield United 0–5 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–4 1–1 3–1 7–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 3–3 1–1 1–0 2–1 3–1 2–3 2–2 0–0 3–0 2–2
Southampton 0–1 2–2 3–1 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–2 0–0 2–1 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–5 1–2 4–1 3–2 3–1 0–0 1–1 3–3 1–2
Stoke City 0–0 0–1 1–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 3–3 0–3 3–1 0–0 1–3 1–1 3–3 0–2 2–2 3–1 2–0 1–1 0–0 0–1
Tottenham Hotspur 1–1 3–0 1–0 3–0 0–1 3–0 4–1 2–1 1–0 4–3 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 6–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–2 0–1 4–1
West Bromwich Albion 0–1 4–0 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–2 2–1 0–3 1–0 2–2 3–2 0–1 1–1 0–0 2–3
West Ham United 0–0 2–1 4–0 1–1 3–3 1–0 3–0 0–0 2–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 3–0 0–1 4–2 1–2 1–0 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–0
Wolverhampton Wanderers 5–1 0–2 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–2 2–2 2–1 0–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 4–2 1–2 4–2 2–0 2–2 0–1 1–0
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Managerial changes

edit
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Manchester United   Matt Busby End of caretaker spell 6 June 1971 Pre-season   Frank O'Farrell 6 June 1971
Leicester City   Frank O'Farrell Signed by Manchester United 6 June 1971   Jimmy Bloomfield 23 June 1971
West Bromwich Albion   Alan Ashman Sacked 1 July 1971   Don Howe 8 July 1971
Manchester City   Joe Mercer Resigned 7 October 1971 4th   Malcolm Allison 7 October 1971
Coventry City   Noel Cantwell Sacked 12 March 1972 18th   Bob Dennison (caretaker) 12 March 1972


Team locations

edit
Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1971–1972

Top scorers

edit
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Francis Lee Manchester City 33
2   Martin Chivers Tottenham Hotspur 25
3   Peter Lorimer Leeds United 23
=   Malcolm Macdonald Newcastle United 23
4   George Best Manchester United 18
=   Ian Storey-Moore Nottingham Forest / Manchester United 18
=   Peter Osgood Chelsea 18
5   Tony Brown West Bromwich Albion 17
=   Clyde Best West Ham United 17

References

edit
  1. ^ "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.