1977–78 in English football

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The 1977-1978 season was the 98th season of competitive football (soccer) in England, from August 1977 to July 1978:

Contents 1 Overview 1.1 First Division 1.2 Second Division 1.3 Third Division 1.4 Fourth Division 1.5 Non-league 1.6 FA Cup 1.7 European football 2 Honours 3 Non-League honours 4 Awards 5 National team 6 League table 6.1 First Division 6.2 Second Division 6.3 Third Division 6.4 Fourth Division 7 European competitions 7.1 European Super Cup 7.2 European Cup 7.3 Cup Winners' Cup 7.4 UEFA Cup 8 Transfer deals 9 Diary of the season 10 Deaths 11 References

Overview

First Division

Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest side took on the First Division by storm, by winning the League Cup on 22 March and confirming themselves as league champions the following month. They joined a small and exclusive company of clubs to have won the league championship one season after promotion.

Manchester United broke the British transfer fee record on 9 February by paying Leeds United £495,000 for Scottish defender Gordon McQueen.

West Ham United, Newcastle United and Leicester City were all relegated.

Second Division

Bolton Wanderers, Southampton F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur were all promoted, while Blackpool F.C., Mansfield Town and Hull City were all relegated

Third Division

Wrexham, Cambridge United and Preston North End were all promoted, while Portsmouth F.C., Port Vale, Bradford City and Hereford United were all relegated. Portsmouth became the second English champion to fall through the Third Division trap door into the basement tier after [Huddersfield Town.

Fourth Division

Wimbledon play their first season in the Football League, replacing Workington. Watford F.C., Southend United, Swansea City and Brentford F.C. were all promoted, while Southport F.C. were relegated.

Non-league

Wigan Athletic were elected to the Football League in place of Southport. The club had applied for Football League membership 28 times since it was formed in 1932 in place of a previous club, Wigan Borough, who had briefly been league members during the 1920s.

FA Cup

Despite a poor League finishing position, Manager Bobby Robson led Ipswich Town to victory in the FA Cup. The final result: Arsenal 0 - 1 Ipswich.

Northern League side Blyth Spartans beat Second Division Stoke City 3-2 away to become the first non-League team to reach the Fifth Round of the FA Cup since 1949. They were seconds away from reaching the quarter-finals, but Wrexham equalised from a retaken corner kick before winning a replay. Blyth gained some revenge by being the final winners of the Debenhams Cup against Wrexham later in the season.

European football

Liverpool thrashed Hamburg 6-0 to win the European Super Cup 7-1 on aggregate. In the Hamburg side was former Liverpool striker Kevin Keegan. They went on to beat Club Brugge 1-0 on 10 May thanks to a Kenny Dalglish goal and thus retained the European Cup.

Manchester United were thrown out of the Cup Winners' Cup on 19 September due to the behaviour of their fans in the away leg of their tie against St. Etienne four days earlier. They were reinstated a week later, but had to play the second leg at least 300 km from Manchester and the venue was Plymouth Argyle's Home Park ground.

Honours

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
First Division	Nottingham Forest	Liverpool
Second Division	Bolton Wanderers	Southampton
Third Division	Wrexham	Cambridge United
Fourth Division	Watford	Southend United
FA Cup	Ipswich Town	Arsenal
League Cup	Nottingham Forest	Liverpool
Charity Shield	Liverpool and Manchester United (shared)
Anglo-Scottish Cup	Bristol City
Debenhams Cup	Blyth Spartans	Wrexham
Home Championship	England	Wales

Non-League honours

Competition	Winners
FA Trophy	Altrincham
FA Vase	Newcastle Blue Star
Isthmian League	Enfield
Southern League	Bath City
Northern Premier League	Boston United

Awards

Football Writers' Association

• Footballer of the Year - Kenny Burns, Nottingham Forest

Professional Footballers Association

• PFA Player of the Year - Peter Shilton, Nottingham Forest
• PFA Young Player of the Year - Tony Woodcock, Nottingham Forest
• PFA Merit Award - Bill Shankly

Football Managers Association

• Manager of the Year - Brian Clough, Nottingham Forest

National team

Don Revie outraged just about everyone who followed English football when he walked out on the England team to take charge of the United Arab Emirates in a four-year deal worth £340,000 which made him the highest-paid football manager in the world. West Ham United general manager Ron Greenwood was appointed as England caretaker manager and later given the job on a permanent basis, despite failing to achieve qualification for the 1978 World Cup.

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score	Comp	England scorers	Att	Notes
September 7, 1977	Wembley Stadium, London	Switzerland	0-0	F		42,000
October 12, 1977	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	2-0	WCQ	Ray Kennedy, Paul Mariner	10,600
November 16, 1977	Wembley Stadium, London	Italy	2-0	WCQ	Kevin Keegan, Trevor Brooking	90,000
February 22, 1978	Munich	Germany	1-2	F	Stuart Pearson	78,000
April 19, 1978	Wembley Stadium, London	Brazil	1-1	F	Kevin Keegan	92,000
May 13, 1978	Ninian Park, Cardiff	Wales	3-1	BHC	Bob Latchford, Tony Currie, Peter Barnes	17,698
May 16, 1978	Wembley Stadium, London	Northern Ireland	1-0	BHC	Phil Neal	50,000
May 20, 1978	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Scotland	1-0	BHC	Steve Coppell	88,319
May 24, 1978	Wembley Stadium, London	Hungary	4-1	F	Peter Barnes, Phil Neal (pen), Trevor Francis, Tony Currie	74,000

Key
WCQ	World Cup Qualifying
BHC	British Home Championship
F	Friendly
aet	after extra time

League table

First Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Nottingham Forest	42	25	14	3	69	24	+45	64
2	Liverpool	42	24	9	9	65	34	+31	57
3	Everton	42	22	11	9	76	45	+31	55
4	Manchester City	42	20	12	10	74	51	+23	52
5	Arsenal	42	21	10	11	60	37	+23	52
6	West Bromwich Albion	42	18	14	10	62	53	+9	50
7	Coventry City	42	18	12	12	75	62	+13	48
8	Aston Villa	42	18	10	14	57	42	+15	46
9	Leeds United	42	18	10	14	63	53	+10	46
10	Manchester United	42	16	10	16	67	63	+4	42
11	Birmingham City	42	16	9	17	55	60	-5	41
12	Derby County	42	14	13	15	54	59	-5	41
13	Norwich City	42	11	18	13	52	66	-14	40
14	Middlesbrough	42	12	15	15	42	54	-12	39
15	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	12	12	18	51	64	-13	36
16	Chelsea	42	11	14	17	46	69	-23	36
17	Bristol City	42	11	13	18	49	53	-4	35
18	Ipswich Town	42	11	13	18	47	61	-14	35
19	Queens Park Rangers	42	9	15	18	47	64	-17	33
20	West Ham United	42	12	8	22	52	69	-17	32
21	Newcastle United	42	6	10	26	42	78	-36	22
22	Leicester City	42	5	12	25	26	70	-44	22

Second Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Bolton Wanderers	42	24	10	8	63	33	+30	58
2	Southampton	42	22	13	7	70	39	+31	57
3	Tottenham Hotspur	42	20	16	6	83	49	+34	56
4	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	22	12	8	63	38	+25	56
5	Blackburn Rovers	42	16	13	13	56	60	-4	45
6	Sunderland	42	14	16	12	67	59	+8	44
7	Stoke City	42	16	10	16	53	49	+4	42
8	Oldham Athletic	42	13	16	13	54	58	-4	42
9	Crystal Palace	42	13	15	14	50	47	+3	41
10	Fulham	42	14	13	15	49	49	+0	41
11	Burnley	42	15	10	17	56	64	-8	40
12	Sheffield United	42	16	8	18	62	73	-11	40
13	Luton Town	42	14	10	18	54	52	+2	38
14	Orient	42	10	18	14	43	49	-6	38
15	Notts County	42	11	16	15	54	62	-8	38
16	Millwall	42	12	14	16	49	57	-8	38
17	Charlton Athletic	42	13	12	17	55	68	-13	38
18	Bristol Rovers	42	13	12	17	61	77	-16	38
19	Cardiff City	42	13	12	17	51	71	-20	38
20	Blackpool	42	12	13	17	59	60	-1	37
21	Mansfield Town	42	10	11	21	49	69	-20	31
22	Hull City	42	8	12	22	34	52	-18	28

Third Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Wrexham	46	23	15	8	78	45	+33	61
2	Cambridge United	46	23	12	11	72	51	+21	58
3	Preston North End	46	20	16	10	63	38	+25	56
4	Peterborough United	46	20	16	10	47	33	+14	56
5	Chester City	46	16	22	8	59	56	+3	54
6	Walsall	46	18	17	11	61	50	+11	53
7	Gillingham	46	15	20	11	67	60	+7	50
8	Colchester United	46	15	18	13	55	44	+11	48
9	Chesterfield	46	17	14	15	58	49	+9	48
10	Swindon Town	46	16	16	14	67	60	+7	48
11	Shrewsbury Town	46	16	15	15	63	57	+6	47
12	Tranmere Rovers	46	16	15	15	57	52	+5	47
13	Carlisle United	46	14	19	13	59	59	+0	47
14	Sheffield Wednesday	46	15	16	15	50	52	-2	46
15	Bury	46	13	19	14	62	56	+6	45
16	Lincoln City	46	15	15	16	53	61	-8	45
17	Exeter City	46	15	14	17	49	59	-10	44
18	Oxford United	46	13	14	19	64	67	-3	40
19	Plymouth Argyle	46	11	17	18	61	68	-7	39
20	Rotherham United	46	13	13	20	51	68	-17	39
21	Port Vale	46	8	20	18	46	67	-21	36
22	Bradford City	46	12	10	24	56	86	-30	34
23	Hereford United	46	9	14	23	34	60	-26	32
24	Portsmouth	46	7	17	22	41	75	-34	31

Fourth Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Watford	46	30	11	5	85	38	+47	71
2	Southend United	46	25	10	11	66	39	+27	60
3	Swansea City	46	23	10	13	87	47	+40	56
4	Brentford	46	21	14	11	86	54	+32	56
5	Aldershot	46	19	16	11	67	47	+20	54
6	Grimsby Town	46	21	11	14	57	51	+6	53
7	Barnsley	46	18	14	14	61	49	+12	50
8	Reading	46	18	14	14	55	52	+3	50
9	Torquay United	46	16	15	15	57	56	+1	47
10	Northampton Town	46	17	13	16	63	68	-5	47
11	Huddersfield Town	46	15	15	16	63	55	+8	45
12	Doncaster Rovers	46	14	17	15	52	65	-13	45
13	Wimbledon	46	14	16	16	66	67	-1	44
14	Scunthorpe United	46	14	16	16	50	55	-5	44
15	Crewe Alexandra	46	15	14	17	50	69	-19	44
16	Newport County	46	16	11	19	65	73	-8	43
17	Bournemouth	46	14	15	17	41	51	-10	43
18	Stockport County	46	16	10	20	56	56	+0	42
19	Darlington	46	14	13	19	52	59	-7	41
20	Halifax Town	46	10	21	15	52	62	-10	41
21	Hartlepool United	46	15	7	24	51	84	-33	37
22	York City	46	12	12	22	50	69	-19	36
23	Southport	46	6	19	21	52	76	-24	31
24	Rochdale	46	8	8	30	43	85	-42	24

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

European competitions

European Super Cup

Leg	Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Agg	Att	Notes
First Leg	November 22, 1977	Hamburg	1-1	Liverpool		20,000
Second Leg	December 6, 1977	Liverpool	6-0	Hamburg	7-1	34,931

European Cup

Cup Winners' Cup

UEFA Cup

Transfer deals

Diary of the season

Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (May 2009)

9 July 1977: Dave Sexton steps down at Queen's Park Rangers to take over as manager of Manchester United, where Tommy Docherty was sacked six days ago.

11 July 1977: Don Revie resigns as manager of the England national football team after three years in charge.

12 July 1977: Barely 24 hours after quitting as England manager, Don Revie accepts a four-year contract worth £340,000 (tax free) to take charge of the United Arab Emirates national football team, making him the highest-paid football manager in the world and causing him to become subject of intense media criticism for walking out on the England team all for the sake of money. It is also alleged that he was discussing terms with the UAE football officials while still in charge of the England team.

17 July 1977: Fulham are banned from the transfer market due to a reported £700,000 debt.

25 July 1977: Manchester City pay £300,000 for Southampton striker Mick Channon, who signs a six-year contract at Maine Road.

3 August 1977: Derby County sign a sponsorship deal with Swedish carmaker Saab, who supply all of the club's players with a Saab car.

5 August 1977: The Football League backs the Football Association's ban on sponsors advertising themselves on player's strips. However, non-league clubs are permitted to show sponsor's names on their player's shirts.

10 August 1977: Kenny Dalglish becomes the most expense player to be signed by a British club when he joins Liverpool in a £440,000 move from Celtic. He takes over from Kevin Keegan (who joined HSV Hamburg to become the most expensive player in Europe) as Liverpool's main striker.

11 August 1977: Patrick Jennings ends 13 years at Tottenham Hotspur and signs for Arsenal in a £45,000 deal.

15 August 1977: Ron Greenwood, general manager of West Ham United and team manager until 1974, accepts an offer to become temporary manager of the England national football team. He will remain in charge of the national team until December, when a permanent contract may be offered.

16 November 1977: England beat Italy 2-0 at Wembley Stadium in their final World Cup qualifying game, but will still fail to qualify for next summer's tournament unless Luxembourg draw or win against Italy on 3 December.

3 December 1977: Italy's win against Luxembourg means that England will definitely not qualify for the World Cup.

6 December 1977: Liverpool win the European Super Cup by completing a 7-1 aggregate win over HSV Hamburg; they win the second leg 6-0 after drawing 1-1 in the first leg.

12 December 1977: Ron Greenwood is appointed England manager on a four-and-a-half year contract despite their failure to qualify for the 1978 World Cup.

6 February 1978: Blyth Spartans, of the Northern Premier League, defeat Stoke City of the Football League Second Division 3-2 at the Victoria Ground to become the first non-league club to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup in 29 years.

9 February 1978: Manchester United pay a national record fee of £495,000 for Middlesbrough defender Gordon McQueen.

18 March 1978: The Football League Cup final ends in a goalless draw between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

22 March 1978: Nottingham Forest end their 19-year wait for a major trophy by defeating Liverpool 1-0 in the Football League Cup final replay at Old Trafford, thanks to a penalty by John Robertson.

23 March 1978: Hartlepool United defender Dave Wiggett, 20, is killed in a car crash.

25 April 1978: Nottingham Forest seal the Football League First Division title, only the third club in history to do so a year after winning promotion. Their triumph was confirmed with a 2-0 win at Ipswich Town. ^[1]

6 May 1978: Ipswich Town win the FA Cup for the first time in their history when an roger Osborne goal gives them a 1-0 win over Arsenal at Wembley Stadium.

10 May 1978: Liverpool retain the European Cup thanks to a Kenny Dalglish goal against Club Brugge of Belgium at Wembley Stadium.

2 June 1978: Wigan Athletic, runners-up of the Northern Premier League, are elected to the Football League Fourth Division at the expense of Southport. Boston United, champions of the Northern Premier League, had been unable to apply for election to the Football League

15 June 1978: Less than three months after Hartlepool United defender Dave Wiggett was killed in a car crash, another Football League club is plunged into mourning with the death of a player when Blackpool midfielder Alan Groves died of a heart attack aged 29.

Deaths

• 23 March 1978 – Dave Wiggett, 20, Hartlepool United defender who was killed in a car crash.
• 4 April 1978 – Tony Leighton, 38, former Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley, Huddersfield Town and Bradford City striker, who died from motor neurone disease.
• 15 June 1978 – Alan Groves, 29, Blackpool midfielder who died as a result of a heart attack. He had previously played for five other clubs, most notably Oldham Athletic.

References

• Rothmans Football Yearbook 1978-79

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