1975–76 in English football

The 1975–76 season was the 96th season of competitive football in England.

Overview

First Division

Liverpool won their first major trophy under Bob Paisley by narrowly winning the league title after a strong challenge from Dave Sexton's Queens Park Rangers, who finished in their highest ever position of runners-up and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Following QPR into Europe were Tommy Docherty's promising young Manchester United side, Dave Mackay's defending champions Derby County and Jimmy Armfield's Leeds United.

Going down were Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley and Sheffield United.

Bertie Mee, 57, retired after ten years as manager of Arsenal. The highlights of his career had been the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup triumph of 1970 and the Double win of 1971, but Arsenal had fallen behind the best in recent seasons and Mee handed over the reins to Terry Neill.

Second Division

Three years after winning the FA Cup, Bob Stokoe's Sunderland finally won promotion to the top flight as Second Division champions. Bristol City and West Bromwich Albion occupied the two other promotion places. Oxford United, York City and Portsmouth went down to the Third Division.

The division's biggest headline hitters were Southampton, who finished sixth in the league but surprised the footballing world by overcoming Manchester United to win the FA Cup.

Third Division

Hereford United won the Third Division title to reach the Second Division just four years after joining the league. Also going up to the Second Division were Cardiff City and Millwall. Aldershot, Colchester United, Southend United and Halifax Town were relegated to the Fourth Division. Narrowly avoiding the drop were Sheffield Wednesday, who during the interwar years had won the League championship and the FA Cup.

Fourth Division

32-year-old Graham Taylor achieved the first success of his managerial career by winning the Fourth Division title for Lincoln City. He was linked with several job vacancies in the First and Second Divisions but surprised everyone by taking over at Elton John's Watford, who were still in the Fourth Division. Joining Lincoln in the Third Division were Northampton Town, Reading and Tranmere Rovers.

The Football League voted in favour of the bottom four clubs remaining in the Fourth Division, and so there were no departures or arrivals in the league for 1976–77.

FA Cup

Southampton pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the history of FA Cup finals when a Bobby Stokes goal gave them victory over Manchester United at Wembley. It was the first major trophy in the club's history.

League Cup

Manchester City beat Newcastle to claim the League Cup, their first major trophy for six years. It would be 35 years before they would win another major trophy.

European football

Liverpool won the UEFA Cup for the second time after a 4–3 aggregate victory over Club Bruges in the final. The 1975 FA Cup winners West Ham United reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, where they lost 4–2 to another Belgian side, Anderlecht. League champions Derby County lost 6–5 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the second round of the European Cup.^[1]

Star players

• Tottenham Hotpsur goalkeeper Pat Jennings was credited with the PFA Players' Player of the Year award.
• Liverpool striker Kevin Keegan was voted FWA Footballer of the Year by the FWA.
• Manchester City winger Peter Barnes added the PFA Young Player of the Year award to his League Cup winners medal.
• Southampton striker Bobby Stokes inspired his side to their first ever major trophy by scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final against Manchester United.
• Manchester United's young winger Steve Coppell showed immense promise after helping his newly promoted employers reach third place in the league and reach the FA Cup final.
• Arsenal gave a debut to 17-year-old defender David O'Leary who went on to make 30 appearances that season on the way to a club record of 722 in a 17-year career with the club.

Star managers

• Bob Paisley won his first two trophies as Liverpool manager – the League championship and UEFA Cup – and he would pile up many more prizes over the next seven seasons.
• Lawrie McMenemy guided Southampton to their first major trophy, beating favourites Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
• Dave Sexton guided Queens Park Rangers to the club's best finish of second in the league.
• Tommy Docherty built an exciting young side at Manchester United and a year after promotion back to the First Division they finished third in the league and reached the FA Cup final.
• Bob Stokoe led Sunderland into the First Division, three years after they won the FA Cup.

Top goalscorers

First Division

• Ted MacDougall (Norwich City) – 23 goals^[2]

Second Division

• Derek Hales (Charlton Athletic) – 28 goals

Third Division

• Dixie McNeil (Hereford United) – 35 goals

Fourth Division

• Ronnie Moore (Tranmere Rovers) – 34 goals

Diary of the season

16 August 1975: The First Division season begins with reigning champions Derby County held to a 1–1 draw by Sheffield United. Last season's Second Division champions Manchester United win 2–0 away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Queens Park Rangers beat Liverpool 2–0.^[2]

23 August 1975: Derby County are beaten 5–1 by Queens Park Rangers at the Baseball Ground in their first home League match of the season.^[2]

31 August 1975: Manchester United lead the First Division by one point from West Ham United at the end of August.^[2]

30 September 1975: Two London clubs, Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United, lead the First Division table at the end of September, a point ahead of Manchester United. Sheffield United are bottom with just three points from ten matches.^[2]

30 October 1975: England lose 2–1 to Czechoslovakia in Bratislava in a European Championship qualifier.^[3]

31 October 1975: Seven clubs all lie within two points at the top of the First Division, with the table led by Queens Park Rangers, Manchester United and West Ham United. Sheffield United are already five points adrift of Wolverhampton Wanderers at the bottom, while Leicester City are still looking for their first win, having drawn nine of their fourteen games so far.^[2]

8 November 1975: Manchester United fall from first place to third after the Red Devils were beaten by Liverpool. The new league leaders are West Ham United, with second-placed Derby level on points with the London club. Elsewhere, braces from Leeds United's Duncan McKenzie and Colin Bell of Manchester City help their clubs beat Newcastle United and Birmingham City respectively.^[4]

12 November 1975: Manchester City thrash neighbours United 4–0 in the fourth round of the Football League Cup.^[5]

19 November 1975: England draw 1–1 away to Portugal in their last European Championship qualifier, and must now hope that Czechoslovakia fail to beat Cyprus in order to qualify for the quarter-finals.^[3]

23 November 1975: Czechoslovakia beat Cyprus 3–0 to confirm England's elimination from the European Championships.^[6]

30 November 1975: The month ends with Derby County having recovered from their poor start to top the First Division table. They lead Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United by one point. Sheffield United have been joined by Birmingham City and Burnley in the relegation zone.^[2]

20 December 1975: Liverpool avenge their opening day defeat to Queens Park Rangers by beating them 2–0 at Anfield in a top-of-the-table clash.^[2]

31 December 1975: The year ends with Liverpool and Manchester United level on points at the top of the table, one point ahead of Leeds United and Derby County. Sheffield United are now eleven points from safety, and Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley complete the bottom three. Arsenal are struggling in seventeenth place.^[2]

3 January 1976: FA Cup third round day throws up a set of interesting results: table toppers Liverpool eliminate reigning FA Cup winners West Ham, Manchester City hit Hartlepool United for six and two late goals for non-League Tooting & Mitcham United help them force a replay against Swindon Town.^[7]

17 January 1976: Stoke City play a league game at Port Vale's Vale Park ground during repair work to the roof of the Butler Street Stand at the Victoria Ground, after it had been blown off during severe winds a fortnight earlier.

31 January 1976: Liverpool thrash West Ham United 4–0 at Upton Park but trail Manchester United by a point at the top of the table. Derby County, Leeds United and Queens Park Rangers also remain in contention.^[2]

28 February 1976: Manchester City beat Newcastle United 2-1 in the League Cup final in what proved to be their last major trophy for 35 years.^[5]

29 February 1976: The race for the title remains extremely close, with Liverpool, Queens Park Rangers and Manchester United tied on points at the top, and Derby County just one point behind. Leeds United trail by five points, but have at least two games in hand on each of their rivals. At the bottom, Sheffield United are ten points from safety, and Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley and Birmingham City appear to be fighting to avoid the other two relegation places.^[2]

6 March 1976: Third Division Crystal Palace reach the FA Cup semi-finals by beating Sunderland 1–0 at Roker Park. Fourth Division giant-killers Bradford City lose 1–0 at home to Southampton, and Derby County beat Newcastle United 4–2.^[8]

27 March 1976: Sheffield United are beaten 5–0 by Tottenham Hotspur and are relegated to the Second Division.^[2]

31 March 1976: Unbeaten in the League since January, Queens Park Rangers lead the First Division by a point from Manchester United and Derby County with five games remaining. Liverpool are two points behind the leaders, but they and United have a game in hand.^[2]

3 April 1976: Manchester United and Southampton reach the FA Cup final after 2–0 victories over Derby County and Crystal Palace respectively.^[8]

8 April 1976: Malcolm Macdonald's brace helps Newcastle United beat beleaguered Birmingham City 4–0.^[9]

10 April 1976: Derby County's bid to retain their League title is effectively ended when they lose 4–3 to Manchester City. Queens Park Rangers beat Middlesbrough 4–2 and have now taken 23 points from the last 24 available. They are now in control of the championship race, as Manchester United lose 3–0 at Ipswich Town and Liverpool draw 0–0 against Aston Villa.^[2]

17 April 1976: Liverpool move back to the top of the First Division after they beat Stoke City 5–3 and Queens Park Rangers suffer a 3–2 defeat to Norwich City.^[2]

19 April 1976: Burnley are relegated to the Second Division with one match of the season remaining.^[2]

21 April 1976: Manchester United's bid for the double is virtually ended by a 1–0 loss to Stoke City, their first home League defeat of the season.^[2]

24 April 1976: Queens Park Rangers end the best League season in the club's history by beating Leeds United 2–0. They are a point ahead of Liverpool, and need the Reds to lose their last match of the season to win the championship.^[2]

28 April 1976: Liverpool recover from 2–0 down to beat Club Bruges 3–2 in the first leg of the UEFA Cup final at Anfield.^[1]

1 May 1976: Southampton cause a major shock by beating Manchester United 1–0 in the FA Cup final thanks to a second-half goal from Bobby Stokes.^[10] They emulate Sunderland's 1973 feat of winning the Cup from the Second Division.^[8]

4 May 1976: Liverpool come from a goal down to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–1 and win the League title.^[11] They finish a point ahead of Queens Park Rangers and four ahead of Manchester United. The defeat condemns Wolves to relegation alongside Sheffield United and Burnley.^[2]

5 May 1976: West Ham United lose 4–2 to Anderlecht in the European Cup Winners' Cup final at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.^[1]

15 May 1976: England lose 2–1 to Scotland at Hampden Park in their last Home Championship match. Kenny Dalglish scores the winning goal when his shot goes between the legs of England goalkeeper Ray Clemence.^[3]

19 May 1976: Liverpool claim their second European trophy by drawing 1–1 with Club Bruges to complete a 4–3 aggregate victory in the UEFA Cup final.^[1]

28 May 1976: England come from two goals down at half-time to beat Italy 3–2 in New York City in a tournament organised to commemorate the bicentenary of the independence of the USA.^[3]

13 June 1976: England beat Finland 4–1 in their first qualifying match for the 1978 World Cup.^[3]

Honours

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
First Division	Liverpool (9*)	Queens Park Rangers
Second Division	Sunderland	Bristol City
Third Division	Hereford United	Cardiff City
Fourth Division	Lincoln City	Northampton Town
FA Cup	Southampton (1)	Manchester United
League Cup	Manchester City (2*)	Newcastle United
Charity Shield	Derby County	West Ham United
Home Championship	Scotland	England

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

League table

First Division

Liverpool won the First Division title and the UEFA Cup in their second season under the management of Bob Paisley. They finished just one point ahead of QPR, who had emerged as serious title contenders under the management Dave Sexton, who had won silverware with Chelsea a few seasons earlier. Manchester United enjoyed a strong First Division comeback by finishing third, but then suffered a shock defeat to Southampton in the final of the FA Cup. Derby County's defence of the league title finished with a fourth-place finish. Leeds United continued to recover from the departure of Don Revie by moving up to fifth place a year after finishing ninth. Manchester City compensated for a failure to mount a title challenge by winning the League Cup.

FA Cup holders West Ham United could only manage an 18th-place finish in the league, and were runners-up in the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Sheffield United's terrible season saw them relegated in bottom place after five years back in the First Division. They went down with Burnley and Wolves.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	42	23	14	5	66	31	35	60
2	Queens Park Rangers	42	24	11	7	67	33	34	59
3	Manchester United	42	23	10	9	68	42	26	56
4	Derby County	42	21	11	10	75	58	17	53
5	Leeds United	42	21	9	12	65	46	19	51
6	Ipswich Town	42	16	14	12	54	48	6	46
7	Leicester City	42	13	19	10	48	51	−3	45
8	Manchester City	42	16	11	15	64	46	18	43
9	Tottenham Hotspur	42	14	15	13	63	63	0	43
10	Norwich City	42	16	10	16	58	58	0	42
11	Everton	42	15	12	15	60	66	−6	42
12	Stoke City	42	15	11	16	48	50	−2	41
13	Middlesbrough	42	15	10	17	46	45	1	40
14	Coventry City	42	13	14	15	47	57	−10	40
15	Newcastle United	42	15	9	18	71	62	9	39
16	Aston Villa	42	11	17	14	51	59	−6	39
17	Arsenal	42	13	10	19	47	53	−6	36
18	West Ham United	42	13	10	19	48	71	−23	36
19	Birmingham City	42	13	7	22	57	75	−18	33
20	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	10	10	22	51	68	−17	30
21	Burnley	42	9	10	23	43	66	−23	28
22	Sheffield United	42	6	10	26	33	82	−49	22

Second Division

Three years after their famous FA Cup win, Sunderland finally made it out of the Second Division as champions. Bristol City finished runners-up to end their 65-year exile from the First Division. Johnny Giles enjoyed a dream start to his managerial career by ending West Bromwich Albion's three-year stay in the Second Division. Bolton Wanderers missed out on promotion by a single point under Ian Greaves. Sixth placed Southampton won the first silverware of their history by winning the FA Cup at the expense of Manchester United.

Nottingham Forest finished eighth in Brian Clough's first full season as manager. Chelsea finished a disappointing 11th in their first season outside the top flight for over a decade.

Portsmouth, York City and Oxford United finished the season relegated to the Third Division.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Sunderland	42	24	8	10	67	36	1.861	56
2	Bristol City	42	19	15	8	59	35	1.686	53
3	West Bromwich Albion	42	20	13	9	50	33	1.515	53
4	Bolton Wanderers	42	20	12	10	64	38	1.684	52
5	Notts County	42	19	11	12	60	41	1.463	49
6	Southampton	42	21	7	14	66	50	1.320	49
7	Luton Town	42	19	10	13	61	51	1.196	48
8	Nottingham Forest	42	17	12	13	55	40	1.375	46
9	Charlton Athletic	42	15	12	15	61	72	0.847	42
10	Blackpool	42	14	14	14	40	49	0.816	42
11	Chelsea	42	12	16	14	53	54	0.981	40
12	Fulham	42	13	14	15	45	47	0.957	40
13	Orient	42	13	14	15	37	39	0.949	40
14	Hull City	42	14	11	17	45	49	0.918	39
15	Blackburn Rovers	42	12	14	16	45	50	0.900	38
16	Plymouth Argyle	42	13	12	17	48	54	0.889	38
17	Oldham Athletic	42	13	12	17	57	68	0.838	38
18	Bristol Rovers	42	11	16	15	38	50	0.760	38
19	Carlisle United	42	12	13	17	45	59	0.763	37
20	Oxford United	42	11	11	20	39	59	0.661	33
21	York City	42	10	8	24	39	71	0.549	28
22	Portsmouth	42	9	7	26	32	61	0.525	25

Third Division

Hereford United won the Third Division title and with it promotion to the Second Division in only their fourth season in the Football League. Cardiff City and Millwall went up with them to seal an instant return to the Second Division. Brighton, manager by Brian Clough's former assistant Peter Taylor, missed out on promotion by one place. Crystal Palace, quarter-finalists in the FA Cup, missed out on promotion after a late season collapse in form, which was followed by the replacement of Malcolm Allison as manager with Terry Venables.

Halifax, Southend, Colchester and Aldershot were relegated. Sheffield Wednesday stayed up by a single point.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Hereford United	46	26	11	9	86	55	1.564	63
2	Cardiff City	46	22	13	11	69	48	1.438	57
3	Millwall	46	20	16	10	54	43	1.256	56
4	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	22	9	15	78	53	1.472	53
5	Crystal Palace	46	18	17	11	61	46	1.326	53
6	Wrexham	46	20	12	14	66	55	1.200	52
7	Walsall	46	18	14	14	74	61	1.213	50
8	Preston North End	46	19	10	17	62	57	1.088	48
9	Shrewsbury Town	46	19	10	17	61	59	1.034	48
10	Peterborough United	46	15	18	13	63	63	1.000	48
11	Mansfield Town	46	16	15	15	58	52	1.115	47
12	Port Vale	46	15	16	15	55	54	1.019	46
13	Bury	46	14	16	16	51	46	1.109	44
14	Chesterfield	46	17	9	20	69	69	1.000	43
15	Gillingham	46	12	19	15	58	68	0.853	43
16	Rotherham United	46	15	12	19	54	65	0.831	42
17	Chester	46	15	12	19	43	62	0.694	42
18	Grimsby Town	46	15	10	21	62	74	0.838	40
19	Swindon Town	46	16	8	22	62	75	0.827	40
20	Sheffield Wednesday	46	12	16	18	48	59	0.814	40
21	Aldershot	46	13	13	20	59	75	0.787	39
22	Colchester United	46	12	14	20	41	65	0.631	38
23	Southend United	46	12	13	21	65	75	0.867	37
24	Halifax Town	46	11	13	22	41	61	0.672	35

Fourth Division

Graham Taylor took Lincoln City to the Fourth Division title and promotion to the Third Division at the fourth attempt. Northampton Town were promoted as runners-up. Reading and Tranmere also went up. Fallen giants Huddersfield Town just missed out on promotion. Workington, Southport, Newport and Stockport retained their league status.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Lincoln City	46	32	10	4	111	39	2.846	74
2	Northampton Town	46	29	10	7	87	40	2.175	68
3	Reading	46	24	12	10	70	51	1.373	60
4	Tranmere Rovers	46	24	10	12	89	55	1.618	58
5	Huddersfield Town	46	21	14	11	56	41	1.366	56
6	A.F.C. Bournemouth	46	20	12	14	57	48	1.188	52
7	Exeter City	46	18	14	14	56	47	1.191	50
8	Watford	46	22	6	18	62	62	1.000	50
9	Torquay United	46	18	14	14	55	63	0.873	50
10	Doncaster Rovers	46	19	11	16	75	69	1.087	49
11	Swansea City	46	16	15	15	66	57	1.158	47
12	Barnsley	46	14	16	16	52	48	1.083	44
13	Cambridge United	46	14	15	17	58	62	0.935	43
14	Hartlepool	46	16	10	20	62	78	0.795	42
15	Rochdale	46	12	18	16	40	54	0.741	42
16	Crewe Alexandra	46	13	15	18	58	57	1.018	41
17	Bradford City	46	12	17	17	63	65	0.969	41
18	Brentford	46	14	13	19	56	60	0.933	41
19	Scunthorpe United	46	14	10	22	50	59	0.847	38
20	Darlington	46	14	10	22	48	57	0.842	38
21	Stockport County	46	13	12	21	43	76	0.566	38
22	Newport County	46	13	9	24	57	90	0.633	35
23	Southport	46	8	10	28	41	77	0.532	26
24	Workington	46	7	7	32	30	87	0.345	21

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

References