1977–78 Birmingham City F.C. season

December 2014 May 2026 Birmingham City F.C. 1977–78 Willie Bell (until September 1977) Sir Alf Ramsey (until March 1978) Jim Smith Keith Coombs Ground St Andrew's Football League First Division 11th FA Cup Fourth round(eliminated by Derby County) League Cup Second round(eliminated by Notts County) Anglo-Scottish Cup Group stage Trevor Francis (25) Trevor Francis (29) 33,679 vs Aston Villa, 25 February 1978 9,512 vs Bristol City, Anglo-Scottish Cup, 12 August 1977 23,910 _whitelines _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes _whitelines _blue_stripes_adidas _color_3_stripes_blue 0000ff 0000ff 0000ff 1976–77 1978–79 The 1977–78 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 75th in the Football League and their 44th in the First Division. They finished in 11th position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1977–78 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost to Derby County in the fourth, and lost to Notts County in their opening second-round match in the League Cup. They entered the Anglo-Scottish Cup but failed to progress past the group stage. Twenty-two players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were ten different goalscorers. Forward pairing Keith Bertschin and Trevor Francis played in all 48 first-team matches of the season – midfielder Terry Hibbitt missed only one – and Francis was the club's top scorer with 29 goals, of which 25 were scored in the league. Both Francis and Hibbitt had been ever-present in the previous season. After defeats in the first four league matches of the season, Willie Bell was sacked in September and succeeded by former England national manager Sir Alf Ramsey, a member of the club's board of directors. Ramsey lasted only six months, leaving the club ostensibly for health reasons,http://www.bcfc.com/page/PastManagers/0,,10412,00.html Birmingham City Managers Birmingham City F.C 17 February 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120212121645/http://www.bcfc.com/page/PastManagers/0%2C%2C10412%2C00.html 12 February 2012 but his biography suggests he was "locked in an increasingly bitter three-way dispute with his star player, Trevor Francis, and the board". After initially accepting a transfer request from Francis, the board changed their minds, reluctant to "incur the wrath of already disgruntled fans", so Ramsey handed in his notice.McKinstry Leo Sir Alf Harper Sport London 2006 978-0-00-719378-3 485–87 registration https://archive.org/details/siralf00leom The Times reported that "Sir Alf said he told the board [in February] that he intended to quit and sever his links with the club. ... He said at a board meeting on February 20 he recommended both Francis and the defender, Joe Gallagher, should be transfer listed. The board agreed but three days later changed their minds about Francis. Sir Alf said he then decided to opt out because of the board's policy."Francis issue caused Sir Alf to quit The Times 9 March 1978 14 Blackburn Rovers manager Jim Smith took over, having decided, according to the Rovers' website, that "Birmingham City offered better career prospects".http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/ThroughTheYears/0,,10303~78858,00.html 1975–1984: The bald eagle has landed Blackburn Rovers F.C 2 July 2007 17 February 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120217085216/http://www.rovers.co.uk/page/ThroughTheYears/0%2C%2C10303~78858%2C00.html 17 February 2012 dmy Football League First Division 1977–78 Football League DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance20 August 197721stManchester UnitedHL1–4Hibbitt28,00524 August 197722ndChelseaAL0–218,10827 August 197722ndLeeds UnitedAL0–124,5513 September 197722ndLiverpoolHL0–128,23910 September 197720thMiddlesbroughAW2–1Francis 219,24017 September 197718thNewcastle UnitedHW3–0Connolly, Bertschin 219,25924 September 197719thWest Bromwich AlbionAL1–3Connolly29,1151 October 197716thAston VillaAW1–0Bertschin45,4364 October 197713thQueens Park RangersHW2–1Francis 221,3048 October 197716thCoventry CityHD1–1Francis pen27,41215 October 197716thIpswich TownAL2–5Francis 221,31322 October 197715thDerby CountyHW3–1Hibbitt 2, Towers23,10829 October 197714thArsenalAD1–1Bertschin31,3555 November 197711thWolverhampton WanderersHW2–1Francis, Hibbitt28,10312 November 197714thEvertonAL1–2Bertschin37,74319 November 197714thLeicester CityHD1–1Francis21,20826 November 197716thNorwich CityAL0–116,8003 December 197716thNottingham ForestHL0–229,92510 December 197718thManchester CityAL0–336,67117 December 197718thEvertonHD0–022,17726 December 197718thWest Ham UnitedAL0–125,57227 December 197718thBristol CityHW3–0Gallagher, Towers, Francis24,11031 December 197718thChelseaHL4–5Bertschin, Francis 2, Hibbitt19,8762 January 197816thManchester UnitedAW2–1Dillon, Francis53,50114 January 197818thLeeds UnitedHL2–3Bertschin, Connolly23,70321 January 197817thLiverpoolAW3–2Emmanuel, Bertschin, Francis48,4014 February 197818thMiddlesbroughHL1–2Gallagher14,30225 February 197817thAston VillaHW1–0Francis33,67928 February 197817thWest Bromwich AlbionHL1–2Francis26,6334 March 197818thCoventry CityAL0–422,92515 March 197818thNewcastle UnitedAD1–1Francis19,48618 March 197818thDerby CountyAW3–1Connolly, Francis, Bertschin19,84321 March 197818thArsenalHD1–1Francis22,08725 March 197815thBristol CityAW1–0Francis21,43428 March 197813thWest Ham UnitedHW3–0Francis 2 (1 pen), Bertschin23,5541 April 197812thWolverhampton WanderersAW1–0Francis19,9268 April 197812thNorwich CityHW2–1Gallagher, Francis20,85811 April 197810thIpswich TownHD0–019,28915 April 19789thLeicester CityAW4–1Hibbitt, Pendrey, Bertschin, Francis15,43122 April 197811thManchester CityHL1–4Sbragia25,29425 April 197811thQueens Park RangersAD0–016,04929 April 197811thNottingham ForestAD0–037,625 League table (part) +Final First Division table (part)http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1977-1978/table Birmingham City 1977–1978 : English Division One (old) Table Statto Organisation 17 February 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20151005080925/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1977-1978/table 5 October 2015 Pos League positionTeamPld PlayedW WonD DrawnL LostGF Goals forGA Goals againstGD Goal differencePts Points9thLeeds United421810146353+104610thManchester United421610166763+44211thBirmingham City42169175560−54112thDerby County421413155459−54113thNorwich City421118135266−1440 FA Cup 1977–78 FA Cup RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceThird round7 January 1978Wigan AthleticHW4–0Francis 2, Bertschin 229,202Fourth round1 February 1978Derby CountyAL1–2Bertschin31,955 League Cup 1977–78 Football League Cup RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceSecond round30 August 1977Notts CountyHL0–214,993 Anglo-Scottish Cup 1977–78 Anglo-Scottish Cup RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceGroup stage5 August 1977Plymouth ArgyleAD1–1Craven og5,176Group stage9 August 1977Bristol RoversAD1–1Francis2,317Group stage12 August 1977Bristol CityHW1–0Francis9,512 Appearances and goals Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute. Players marked left the club during the playing season. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward + Players' appearances and goals by competitionPos. Playing positionNat. NationalityNameLeagueFA CupLeague CupAnglo-Scottish CupTotalApps AppearancesGoalsApps AppearancesGoalsApps AppearancesGoalsApps AppearancesGoalsApps AppearancesGoalsGKENG Dave Latchford1000000010GKENG Jimmy Montgomery410101030460GKENG Steve Smith 0010000010DFSCO Jimmy Calderwood36020100 (1)039 (1)0DFENG Joe Gallagher213200000233DFENG Pat Howard350201000380DFENG Garry Pendrey371101030421DFENG Mick Rathbone2000002040DFSCO Ricky Sbragia5100002071DFENG Archie Styles5 (1)01000006 (1)0DFENG Tony Want 180001030220MFENG Kevan Broadhurst9 (1)00000009 (1)0MFSCO John Connolly12 (8)410003016 (8)4MFENG Kevin Dillon16 (1)120000018 (1)2MFWAL Gary Emmanuel20 (2)110000021 (2)1MFENG Steve Fox10 (1)000000010 (1)0MFENG Terry Hibbitt416201030476MFENG Gary Jones 3 (2)00000306 (2)0MFWAL Malcolm Page29 (1)000103033 (1)0MFENG Tony Towers37 (1)220102042 (1)2FWENG Keith Bertschin42112310304814FWENG Trevor Francis42252210324829 See also Birmingham City F.C. seasons Sources Matthews Tony Birmingham City: A Complete Record 1995 Breedon Books Derby 978-1-85983-010-9 Matthews Tony Birmingham City: The Complete Record 2010 DB Publishing Derby 978-1-85983-853-2 For match dates and results: http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1977-1978/results Birmingham City 1977–1978 : Results Statto Organisation 17 February 2012 live https://web.archive.org/web/20151212121900/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/birmingham-city/1977-1978/results 12 December 2015 For lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 390–91, 478. References Category:Birmingham City F.C. seasons Birmingham City