1976–77 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

Nottingham Forest F.C.
1976–77 season
Chairman	BJ Appleby, QC
Manager	Brian Clough
Stadium	The City Ground
Second Division	3rd (in First Division)
FA Cup	4th round
League Cup	3rd round
Top goalscorer	League: Peter Withe (16); All: Withe (19)
Highest home attendance	31,004 (League); 38,284 (Cup)
Lowest home attendance	12,393 (League); 12,717 (Cup)
Average home league attendance	20,540 (League)
Home colours	Away colours
	← 1975–76 1977–78 →

The 1976–77 season was Nottingham Forest's 112th year in existence and fifth campaign consecutive in the Second Division since their relegation in 1972.

Summary[]

During summer chairman BJ Appleby appointed Brighton & Hove Albion manager Peter Taylor as new assistant for Clough, now in his third season with the club. The 1972 First Division Champion Duo was reunited again after two campaigns now in Second Division.^[1] The club reinforced the squad with several players, for the offensive line arriving striker Garry Birtles from Long Eaton United,^[2] forward Peter Withe was bought from Birmingham City.^[3] and Taylor asked for the return of Tony Woodcock^[4] after a loan spell from Lincoln City F.C. The defensive line had a poor performance through September, Middleton replaced Wells as Goalkeeper starter and Taylor asked for the transfer in of central-back defender Larry Lloyd arriving from Coventry City during October allowing McGovern came back as midfielder.^[5] The squad clinched the promotion to First Division with a victory on the ultimate round finishing in a decent 3rd place. Also, the team won the Anglo-Scottish Cup during December after defeated Leyton Orient in the Finals with a massive 5–1 aggregate score.

Meanwhile, in League Cup the club advanced to the third round being defeated by Coventry City. In FA Cup the squad was eliminated in Fourth round after a replay against Southampton F.C.

Squad[]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Peter Wells
—	GK	ENG	John Middleton
—	DF	ENG	Viv Anderson
—	DF	ENG	Frank Clark
—	DF	SCO	John McGovern
—	DF	ENG	Sammy Chapman
—	DF	ENG	Larry Lloyd
—	DF	ENG	Colin Barrett
—	DF	ENG	Bryn Gunn
—	DF	ENG	Glyn Saunders
—	MF	ENG	Terry Curran
—	MF	ENG	Ian Bowyer


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Bert Bowery
—	MF	ENG	Steve Burke
—	MF	NIR	Martin O'Neill
—	MF	SCO	John Robertson
—	MF	SCO	George Lyall
—	MF	ENG	Sean Haslegrave
—	FW	SCO	John O'Hare
—	FW	ENG	Barry Butlin
—	FW	ENG	Tony Woodcock
—	FW	ENG	Garry Birtles
—	FW	ENG	Peter Withe

Transfers[]

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
MF	Sean Haslegrave		£50,000
FW	Garry Birtles	Long Eaton United	£2,000
FW	Peter Withe	Birmingham City
DF	Larry Lloyd	Coventry City	£49,000
FW	Tony Woodcock	Lincoln City	loan ended
MF	Steve Burke	Youth team

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type
MF	Bert Bowery	Hull City F.C.
DF	Glynn Saunders
GK	Peter Wells	Southampton F.C.
MF	Paul Richardson	Chester City F.C.
DF	John Cottam	Chesterfield F.C.
DF	Liam O'Kane		retired
DF	David Sunley	Hull City F.C.

Statistics[]

Players statistics[]

The statistics for the following players are for their time during 1976–77 season playing for Nottingham Forest. Any stats from a different club during 1976–77 are not included. Includes all competitive matches.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Second Division		League Cup		FA Cup		Anglo-Scottish Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ENG	Middleton	49	-47	38	-34	1	-2	5	-7	5	-4
	DF	ENG	Anderson	49	2	32+3	1	3	0	5	1	6	0
	DF	ENG	Lloyd	34	4	26	3	0	0	5	0	3	1
	DF	ENG	Chapman	41	4	29+2	2	2	0	2	0	6	2
	DF	ENG	Clark	56	0	42	0	2	0	5	0	7	0
	MF	NIR	O'Neill	51	11	36+2	9	2	2	5	0	6	0
	MF	ENG	Bowyer	57	14	41	12	2	0	5	1	9	1
	MF	SCO	McGovern	51	0	39	0	2	0	3	0	7	0
	MF	SCO	Robertson	57	11	41	6	2	0	5	3	9	2
	FW	ENG	Withe	42	19	32+1	16	0	0	5	1	4	2
	FW	ENG	Woodcock	37	17	30	11	0	0	5	5	2	1
	GK	ENG	Wells	9	-17	4	-9	1	-3	0	0	4	-5
	FW	SCO	O'Hare	32	6	16+3	3	2	1	5	0	6	2
	MF	ENG	Curran	20	12	11+2	7	2	1	0	0	5	4
	DF	ENG	Barrett	17	5	10	2	2	1	0	0	5	2
	FW	ENG	Butlin	17	6	8+2	3	2	0	0	0	5	3
	MF	ENG	Haslegrave	11	1	3+2	1	0	0	0	0	6	0
	DF	ENG	Saunders	7	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	FW	ENG	Birtles	1	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Bowery	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	MF	ENG	Burke	1	0	0+1	0
	MF	ENG	Richardson	1	0	0+1	0
	DF	ENG	Gunn

Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/nottingham-forest/tab/players/season/1977/

Table[]

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	22	13	7	84	45	+39	57	Division Champions, promoted
2	Chelsea	42	21	13	8	73	53	+20	55	Promoted
3	Nottingham Forest	42	21	10	11	77	43	+34	52	Promoted
4	Bolton Wanderers	42	20	11	11	75	54	+21	51
5	Blackpool	42	17	17	8	58	42	+16	51

Source:^{[citation needed]}

Results by round[]

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Ground	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H
Result	D	D	L	D	W	D	W	L	W	L	W	L	W	W	D	W	W	W	D	D	W	L	W	L	L	W	D	L	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	D	L	L	W	D	W	W
Position	10	13	17	15	13	12	7	11	4	8	5	8	6	5	5	5	5	2	3	4	4	4	3	4	5	6	7	7	7	7	7	5	4	3	3	3	4	4	3	3	3	3

Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; = Leader, 1977–78 First Division; = 1977–78 First Division; = 1977–78 Third Division

Competitions[]

A list of Nottingham Forest's matches in the 1976–77 season.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Second Division[]

Matches[]

21 August 1976 1	Fulham F.C.	2-2	Nottingham Forest	Fulham
			Curran O'Hare	Stadium: Craven Cottage

25 August 1976 2	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Charlton Athletic	Nottingham
	Curran			Stadium: City Ground

28 August 1976 3	Nottingham Forest	1–3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Nottingham
	Daley (o.g.)			Stadium: City Ground

4 September 1976 4	Luton Town F.C	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Luton
			Curran	Stadium: Kenilworth Road

11 September 1976 5	Nottingham Forest	4–3	Hereford United	Nottingham
	Bowyer Bowyer Butlin Robertson			Stadium: City Ground

18 September 1976 6	Southampton F.C.	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Southampton
			Bowyer	Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 15,969

25 September 1976 7	Nottingham Forest	5–1	Carlisle United	Nottingham
	Anderson Bowyer Bowyer Curran Robertson			Stadium: City Ground

2 October 1976 8	Hull City F.C.	1–0	Nottingham Forest	Kingston upon Hull
				Stadium: Boothferry Park

9 October 1976 9	Nottingham Forest	6–1	Sheffield United	Nottingham
	Anderson Bowyer Bowyer Curran Withe Butlin			Stadium: City Ground

16 October 1976 10	Blackpool F.C.	1–0	Nottingham Forest	Blackpool
				Stadium: Bloomfield Road

23 October 1976 11	Nottingham Forest	5–2	Burnley F.C.	Nottingham
	Curran O'Neill O'Neill Butlin Robertson			Stadium: City Ground

30 October 1976 12	Oldham Athletic	1–0	Nottingham Forest	Oldham
				Stadium: Boundary Park

6 November 1976 13	Nottingham Forest	3–0	Blackburn Rovers	Nottingham
	Bowyer Haslegrave Withe			Stadium: City Ground

13 November 1976 14	Leyton Orient F.C.	0–1	Nottingham Forest	Leyton
	Woodcock			Stadium: Brisbane Road Attendance: 27,089

20 November 1976 15	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Chelsea F.C.	Nottingham
	O'Neill			Stadium: City Ground

27 November 1976 16	Cardiff City F.C.	0–3	Nottingham Forest	Cardiff
			Chapman Withe Woodcock	Stadium: Ninian Park

4 December 1976 17	Nottingham Forest	4–2	Bristol Rovers	Nottingham
	Withe Woodcock Robertson Robertson			Stadium: City Ground

11 December 1976 18	Millwall F.C.	0–2	Nottingham Forest	Bermondsey
			O'Hare O'Neill	Stadium: The Den

18 December 1976 19	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Plymouth Argyle	Nottingham
	Barrett			Stadium: City Ground

27 December 1976 20	Bolton Wanderers	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Bolton
			Withe	Stadium: Burnden Park

1 January 1977 21	Blackburn Rovers	1–3	Nottingham Forest	Blackburn
			Bowyer Withe Woodcock	Stadium: Ewood Park

14 January 1977 22	Charlton Athletic	2–1	Nottingham Forest	Charlton
			Bowyer	Stadium: The Valley

22 January 1977 23	Nottingham Forest	3–0	Fulham F.C.	Nottingham
	Lloyd O'Neill Woodcock			Stadium: City Ground

5 February 1977 24	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Nottingham Forest	Wolverhampton
			(pen) Robertson	Stadium: Molineux Stadium

12 February 1977 25	Nottingham Forest	1–2	Luton Town F.C.	Nottingham
	Lloyd			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 18,225

16 February 1977 26	Nottingham Forest	abd.	Southampton F.C	Nottingham
				Stadium: City Ground

2 March 1977 27	Hereford United	0–1	Nottingham Forest	Hereford
			Curran	Stadium: Edgar Street

5 March 1977 28	Carlisle United	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Carlisle
			Robertson	Stadium: Brunton Park

8 March 1977 29	Nottingham Forest	1–2	Notts County	Nottingham
	Withe			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 31,004

12 March 1977 30	Nottingham Forest	2–0	Hull City F.C.	Nottingham
	Withe Woodcock			Stadium: City Ground

19 March 1977 31	Sheffield United	2–0	Nottingham Forest	Sheffield
				Stadium: Bramall Lane

22 March 1977 26 ^[9]	Nottingham Forest	2–1	Southampton F.C.	Nottingham
	O'Neill Woodcock			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 12,393

26 March 1977 32	Nottingham Forest	3–0	Blackpool F.C.	Nottingham
	Withe Withe Woodcock			Stadium: City Ground

29 March 1977 33	Nottingham Forest	3–0	Leyton Orient	Nottingham
	Lloyd Withe Withe			Stadium: City Ground

2 April 1977 34	Burnley F.C.	0–1	Nottingham Forest	Burnley
			Woodcock	Stadium: Turf Moor

6 April 1977 35	Nottingham Forest	3–1	Bolton Wanderers	Nottingham
	Bowyer O'Neill Withe			Stadium: City Ground

9 April 1977 36	Notts County	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Nottingham
			Withe	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 32,518

16 April 1977 37	Chelsea F.C.	2–1	Nottingham Forest	Fulham
			O'Neill	Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 36,499

23 April 1977 38	Nottingham Forest	0–1	Cardiff City F.C.	Nottingham
				Stadium: City Ground

27 April 1977 39	Nottingham Forest	3–0	Oldham Athletic	Nottingham
	Bowyer O'Neill Woodcock			Stadium: City Ground

30 April 1977 40	Bristol Rovers	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Bristol
			Robertson	Stadium: Eastville

2 May 1977 41	Plymouth Argyle	1–2	Nottingham Forest	Plymouth
			Withe Woodcock	Stadium: Home Park

7 May 1977 42	Nottingham Forest	1–0	Millwall F.C.	Nottingham
	Moore (o.g.)			Stadium: City Ground

League Cup[]

Second round[]

31 August 1976	Walsall F.C.	2–4	Nottingham Forest	Walsall
			Barrett Curran O'Neill O'Neill

Third round[]

21 September 1976	Nottingham Forest	0–3	Coventry City	Nottingham
				Stadium: City Ground

FA Cup[]

Third round[]

8 January 1977	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Bristol Rovers	Nottingham
				Stadium: City Ground

Replay[]

8 January 1977

Bristol Rovers

1–1

Nottingham Forest

Bristol

Second Replay[]

18 January 1977	Nottingham Forest	6–0	Bristol Rovers
	Anderson Bowyer O'Hare Withe Woodcock Woodcock

Fourth round[]

29 January 1977	Nottingham Forest	3–3	Southampton F.C.	Nottingham
	Woodcock Robertson Robertson			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 38,284

Replay[]

1 February 1977	Southampton F.C.	2–1	Nottingham Forest	Southampton
	Woodcock

Anglo-Scottish Cup[]

First round[]

7 August 1976 1	Notts County	0–0	Nottingham Forest	Nottingham
				Stadium: City Ground

11 August 1976 2	Nottingham Forest	3–2	West Bromwich Albion	Nottingham
	Curran Curran Butlin			Stadium: City Ground

14 August 1976 3	Nottingham Forest	4–2	Bristol City	Nottingham
	Butlin Butlin			Stadium: City Ground

Quarterfinals[]

14 September 1976 3	Nottingham Forest	2–1	Kilmarnock F.C.	Nottingham
	Sammy Chapman Robertson			Stadium: City Ground

28 September 1976 3	Kilmarnock F.C.	2–2	Nottingham Forest	Kilmarnock
			Curran Curran

Semifinals[]

20 October 1976	Nottingham Forest	2–2	Ayr United	Nottingham
	Lloyd Withe			Stadium: City Ground

3 November 1976	Ayr United	0–2	Nottingham Forest
			Withe Woodcock

Finals[]

13 December 1976	Leyton Orient	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Leyton
			Robertson	Attendance: 5,058

15 December 1976	Nottingham Forest	4–0 (5–1 agg.)	Leyton Orient	Nottingham
	Chapman Barrett Barrett Bowyer			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 12,717

References[]

^ "Brian Clough and the miracle of Nottingham Forest" theguardian.com 10 October 2015
^ Mullan, Sean (27 June 2015). "Manchester United's transfer 'firsts'". Manchester United. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
^ "Peter Withe" The Observer, 6 February 2005
^ "The story of Tony Woodcock: An Englishman in Cologne". 1. FC Köln. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
^ "Honours". Nottinghamforest.co.uk. 23 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Smales, Ken (1991). Forest – The First 125 Years. Nottingham: Temple Printing. ISBN 978-1870010092.
^ Attaway, Pete (2010). Nottingham Forest: Brian Clough and His Legacy - A Complete Record 1975 - 2010. Southend-on-Sea: Desert Island Book. ISBN 978-1905328833.
^ Delayed from 16 February 1977

[1] "Brian Clough and the miracle of Nottingham Forest" theguardian.com 10 October 2015

[2] Mullan, Sean (27 June 2015). "Manchester United's transfer 'firsts'". Manchester United. Retrieved 27 March 2018.

[3] "Peter Withe" The Observer, 6 February 2005

[4] "The story of Tony Woodcock: An Englishman in Cologne". 1. FC Köln. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2018.

[5] "Honours". Nottinghamforest.co.uk. 23 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2016.

[6] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[7] Smales, Ken (1991). Forest – The First 125 Years. Nottingham: Temple Printing. ISBN 978-1870010092.

[8] Attaway, Pete (2010). Nottingham Forest: Brian Clough and His Legacy - A Complete Record 1975 - 2010. Southend-on-Sea: Desert Island Book. ISBN 978-1905328833.

[9] Delayed from 16 February 1977

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]