1971–72 Football League First Division

Football League First Division
Season	1971–72
Champions	Derby County (1st English title)
Relegated	Huddersfield Town,; Nottingham Forest
1972–73 European Cup	Derby County
FA Cup winners; 1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup	Leeds United (1st and as of 2020 only FA Cup title)
1972–73 UEFA Cup	Liverpool, ; Manchester City,; Stoke City ; Tottenham Hotspur
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,160 (2.51 per match)
Top goalscorer	Francis Lee (Manchester City), 33
Biggest home win	Everton – Southampton 8–0 (20 Nov 1971)
Biggest away win	Sheffield United – Arsenal 0–5 (29 Jan 1972)
Highest scoring	Everton – Southampton 8–0 (20 Nov 1971)
	← 1970–71 1972–73 →

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

Overview[]

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[]

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Derby County (C)	42	16	4	1	43	10	8	6	7	26	23	2.091	58	Qualified for European Cup
2	Leeds United	42	17	4	0	54	10	7	5	9	19	21	2.355	57	FA Cup winners, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
3	Liverpool	42	17	3	1	48	16	7	6	8	16	14	2.133	57	Qualified for UEFA Cup
4	Manchester City	42	16	3	2	48	15	7	8	6	29	30	1.711	57	Qualified for UEFA Cup
5	Arsenal	42	15	2	4	36	13	7	6	8	22	27	1.450	52
6	Tottenham Hotspur	42	16	3	2	45	13	3	10	8	18	29	1.500	51	Qualified for UEFA Cup
7	Chelsea	42	12	7	2	41	20	6	5	10	17	29	1.184	48
8	Manchester United	42	13	2	6	39	26	6	8	7	30	35	1.131	48
9	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	10	7	4	35	23	8	4	9	30	34	1.140	47
10	Sheffield United	42	10	8	3	39	26	7	4	10	22	34	1.017	46
11	Newcastle United	42	10	6	5	30	18	5	5	11	19	34	0.942	41
12	Leicester City	42	9	6	6	18	11	4	7	10	23	35	0.891	39
13	Ipswich Town	42	7	8	6	19	19	4	8	9	20	34	0.736	38
14	West Ham United	42	10	6	5	31	19	2	6	13	16	32	0.922	36
15	Everton	42	8	9	4	28	17	1	9	11	9	31	0.771	36
16	West Bromwich Albion	42	6	7	8	22	23	6	4	11	20	31	0.778	35
17	Stoke City	42	6	10	5	26	25	4	5	12	13	31	0.696	35	League cup Winners, qualified for UEFA Cup
18	Coventry City	42	7	10	4	27	23	2	5	14	17	44	0.657	33
19	Southampton	42	8	5	8	31	28	4	2	15	21	52	0.650	31
20	Crystal Palace	42	4	8	9	26	31	4	5	12	13	34	0.600	29
21	Nottingham Forest	42	6	4	11	25	29	2	5	14	22	52	0.580	25	Relegated
22	Huddersfield Town	42	4	7	10	12	22	2	6	13	15	37	0.458	25	Relegated

Source:^{[citation needed]}
(C) League Champions

Results[]

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		0–2	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		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		7–0		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		0–0
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		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		2–2	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[]

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[]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Locations of the Football League First Division 1971–1972 teams

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

Top scorers[]

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[]

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

RSSSF

[topscorers-1] "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.

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