1971–72 Football League First Division

1971–72 season of Football League First Division September 2025 Football League First Division 1971–72 Derby County1st English title Nottingham ForestHuddersfield Town European Cup Derby County European Cup Winners' Cup Leeds United UEFA Cup LiverpoolManchester CityTottenham HotspurStoke City Watney Cup Wolverhampton WanderersSheffield United Francis Lee(33 goals)https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engtops.html English League Leading Goalscorers RSSSF 31 October 2010 Everton 8–0 Southampton(20 November 1971) Sheffield United 0–5 Arsenal(29 January 1972) Everton 8–0 Southampton(20 November 1971) 462 1160 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 8 May, after title challengers Liverpool and Leeds United failed to win their final games at Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively. On 26 April, Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest were relegated after Crystal Palace beat Stoke City 2-0 at Selhurst Park to ensure their survival. Huddersfield did not return to the top flight until the 2017-18 Premier League season. League standings main WDL World Football DER, LEE, LIV, MCI, ARS, TOT, CHE, MUN, WOL, SHU, NEW, LEI, IPS, WHU, EVE, WBA, STK, COV, SOU, CRY, NFO, HUD EC1R CWC1R UC1R UC1R TOT WAC WAC UC1R REL REL complete 22 8 12 58 40 18 12 12 58 49 9 15 18 44 67 8 13 21 39 65 24 10 8 69 33 9 18 15 37 48 6 13 23 27 59 11 16 15 39 53 24 9 9 73 31 13 13 16 41 46 24 9 9 64 30 23 11 8 77 45 19 10 13 69 61 15 11 16 49 52 8 9 25 47 81 17 12 13 61 60 12 7 23 52 80 10 15 17 39 56 19 13 10 63 42 12 11 19 42 54 12 12 18 47 51 18 11 13 65 57 C R R Arsenal Chelsea Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Sheffield United Southampton Stoke City Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers 5 2 y 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored QR green1 Qualification for the European Cup first round yellow1 Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round Leeds United qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1971-72 FA Cup winners. blue1 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round blue1 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the UEFA Cup as the 1971-72 UEFA Cup winners. #CCCCFF Qualification for the Watney Cup Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that hadn't already qualified for a European competition. red1 Relegation to the Second Division Results main FBR grey 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 0–0 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 1–0 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 3–1 7–0 3–0 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 1–1 0–0 0–1 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 0–1 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 2–0 2–2 0–1 1–0 Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980. Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Manchester United SCO Matt Busby End of caretaker spell 6 June 1971 Pre-season IRE Frank O'Farrell 6 June 1971 Leicester City IRE Frank O'Farrell Signed by Manchester United 6 June 1971 ENG Jimmy Bloomfield 23 June 1971 West Bromwich Albion ENG Alan Ashman Sacked 1 July 1971 ENG Don Howe 8 July 1971 Manchester City ENG Joe Mercer Resigned 7 October 1971 4th ENG Malcolm Allison 7 October 1971 Coventry City IRE Noel Cantwell Sacked 12 March 1972 18th ENG Bob Dennison (caretaker) 12 March 1972 Team locations England left 400 Locations of the Football League First Division 1971–1972 teams England 51.56 -0.10 left England 51.50 -0.19 left England 52.41 -1.51 left England 51.40 -0.085 left England 52.92 -1.476 left England 53.47 -2.97 left England 53.64 -1.78 left England 52.06 1.14 left England 53.78 -1.57 left England 52.62 -1.14 left England 53.53 -2.99 left England 53.47 -2.18 left England 53.47 -2.30 left England 54.98 -1.62 left England 53.01 -1.137 left England 53.37 -1.47 left England 50.91 -1.39 left England 53.00 -2.18 left England 51.63 -0.063 left England 52.52 -1.97 left England 51.54 0.040 left England 52.59 -2.13 left Arsenal Chelsea Coventry Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Huddersfield Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle Nottingham Forest Sheffield United Southampton Stoke Tottenham West Bromwich Albion West Ham Wolverhampton Wanderers Greater London right 369 Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1971–1972 Greater London 51.558 -0.103 right Greater London 51.482 -0.191 right Greater London 51.398 -0.085 right Greater London 51.603 -0.066 right Greater London 51.532 0.039 right Arsenal Chelsea Crystal Palace Tottenham West Ham Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1ENG Francis Lee Manchester City 33 2ENG Martin Chivers Tottenham Hotspur 25 3SCO Peter Lorimer Leeds United 23 =ENG Malcolm Macdonald Newcastle United 23 4NIR George Best Manchester United 18 =ENG Ian Storey-Moore Nottingham Forest / Manchester United 18 =ENG Peter Osgood Chelsea 18 5ENG Tony Brown West Bromwich Albion 17 =BER Clyde Best West Ham United 17 References RSSSF Category:Football League First Division seasons Eng Category:1971–72 Football League Category:1971–72 in English football leagues lt:Anglijos futbolo varžybos 1971–1972 m. hu:1971–1972-es angol labdarúgó-bajnokság (első osztály) ru:Футбольная лига Англии 1971-1972