1977–78 Arsenal F.C. season

English football club season October 2020 September 2026 Arsenal F.C. 1977–78 Denis Hill-Wood Terry Neill First Division 5th Malcolm Macdonald (15) Malcolm Macdonald (26) FA Cup Finalists League Cup Semi-Finalists 1976–77 1978–79 _whitecollar _band_white FFFFFF FF0000 FFFFFF FFFFFF FF0000 _blueborder _bluecollarsimple _blueborder FFFF00 FFFF00 FFFF00 0000FF FFFF00 The 1977–78 season was Arsenal Football Club's 52nd consecutive season in the Football League First Division. It was Terry Neill's second season as manager. Arsenal finished fifth in the league. In cup play, Arsenal reached the semi-finals in the League Cup, losing to the previous season's league and European champions Liverpool. Arsenal were also in the finals of the FA Cup, the first of three consecutive FA Cup finals that Arsenal would reach under Neill. They lost 1-0 to Ipswich. In the transfer business, Pat Jennings joined the club from Tottenham Hotspur. He would go on to make over two-hundred appearances for Arsenal. Alan Sunderland joined Arsenal at centre forward where he would remain an important player for several seasons. Neill also brought in Don Howe as an assistant. Malcom Macdonald was again Arsenal's top scorer. Season summary Beginning with a difficult pre-season tour in Singapore and Australia, Terry Neill struggled with Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Hudson and disciplined them due to poor behaviour. Arsenal had relied heavily especially on Macdonald in previous seasons and the management was hoping to strengthen team play, which Macdonald found difficult at times.Soar Phil Arsenal: Official History Tyler Martin Hamlyn 1995 0600588262 London 190–194 en After an eighth place finish in Neill's first season, the manager was looking to improve the squad. First, he brought in former Arsenal player and coach Don Howe for £40,000 as his assistant.23 December 2015 Don Howe, 1935-2015 https://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20151223/don-howe-1935-2015- https://web.archive.org/web/20230818144339/https://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20151223/don-howe-1935-2015- 18 August 2023 4 November 2023 Arsenal Neill then looked to improve Arsenal's goalkeeping in the transfer market. Jimmy Rimmer, a solid performer in the 1975-76 season as Arsenal fought relegation, moved to Aston Villa. In came Pat Jennings at age 32 after spending thirteen years at Tottenham.Hocking Tom 5 September 2022 Focus On Pat Jennings: Spurs' goalkeeper legend who took his safe hands to Arsenal https://www.wsc.co.uk/stories/focus-on-pat-jennings-spurs-goalkeeper-legend-who-took-his-safe-hands-to-arsenal/ https://web.archive.org/web/20221024174849/https://www.wsc.co.uk/stories/focus-on-pat-jennings-spurs-goalkeeper-legend-who-took-his-safe-hands-to-arsenal/ 24 October 2022 4 November 2023 When Saturday Comes Arsenal also brought in striker Alan Sunderland from Wolves for £70,000. Outgoing players included left-back Wilf Rostron,Wilf Rostron https://www.arsenal.com/historic/players/wilf-rostron https://web.archive.org/web/20230130073859/https://www.arsenal.com/historic/players/wilf-rostron 30 January 2023 4 November 2023 ARsenal and midfielder (and former academy player) Trevor Ross.Trevor Ross https://www.arsenal.com/historic/players/trevor-ross https://web.archive.org/web/20230116082812/https://www.arsenal.com/historic/players/trevor-ross 16 January 2023 4 November 2023 Arseal Arsenal began the season with a 1-0 loss to Ipswich while playing in a hailstorm in what would be an echo of the FA Cup final later in the season. Arsenal, though performing better than the previous season, struggled with the squad depth to challenge for the league championship. They ended up fifth in league play. In the League Cup, Arsenal beat Hull and Southampton at Highbury before going to a second game against Manchester City in the quarterfinals. Macdonald won a penalty which was put in by Liam Brady, who at that point had scored a goal every round. Arsenal then faced Liverpool, English and European Champions, in the semifinals. Arsenal lost 2-1 at Anfield, followed by a goalless draw at Highbury. In the FA Cup, Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-2 in the second-round tie at Highbury. They then faced Walsall who had knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup 45 years previous, beating them 4-1 soon after their semifinal loss to Liverpool in the League Cup. Arsenal beat Wrexham 3-2 in the next round before clearing Orient 3-0 in the semifinal. Arsenal was to face Bobby Robson's Ipswich in the final. Arsenal struggled with injury problems,Kelly Andy 27 May 2015 Arsenal's Complete FA Cup Final Record – updated with all 14 Wins http://www.thearsenalhistory.com/?p=10493 https://web.archive.org/web/20230509141503/http://www.thearsenalhistory.com/?p=10493 9 May 2023 4 November 2023 The Arsenal History with Sunderland recovering from a broken foot, Macdonald requiring a knee operation, and Brady being carried off with an injured ankle versus Liverpool. All of them featured in the game. Roger Osborne scored the only goal for Ipswich. Macdonald went into surgery three days later, the beginning of the end of his career. Squad yes yes NIR GK Pat Jennings yes NIR DF Pat Rice yes NIR DF Sammy Nelson yes ENG MF David Price yes IRL DF David O'Leary yes SCO DF Willie Young yes IRL MF Liam Brady yes ENG FW Alan Sunderland yes ENG FW Malcolm Macdonald yes IRL FW Frank Stapleton yes ENG MF Graham Rix yes yes ENG MF Alan Hudson yes ENG MF Trevor Ross yes ENG DF Peter Simpson yes ENG MF John Matthews yes ENG DF Richie Powling yes IRL DF John Devine yes ENG MF Mark Heeley yes ENG DF Steve Walford yes NIR MF Jim Harvey All Arsenal players: 1978 http://www.11v11.com/teams/arsenal/tab/players/season/1978 https://web.archive.org/web/20231005181545/https://www.11v11.com/teams/arsenal/tab/players/season/1978/ 5 October 2023 11 v 11 Results First Division 1977–78 Football League#First Division First Division y ARS 1 20 August 1977 Ipswich Town 1–0 Arsenal Ipswich Portman Road L 2 23 August 1977 Arsenal 1–0 Everton London Highbury W 3 27 August 1977 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–1 Arsenal Wolverhampton Highbury D 4 3 September 1977 Arsenal 3–0 Nottingham Forest London Highbury W 5 10 September 1977 Aston Villa 1–0 Arsenal Birmingham Villa Park L 6 17 September 1977 Arsenal 2–1 Leicester City London Highbury W 7 24 September 1977 Norwich City 1–0 Arsenal Norwich Carrow Road L 8 1 October 1977 Arsenal 3–0 West Ham United London Highbury W 9 4 October 1977 Arsenal 0–0 Liverpool London Highbury D 10 8 October 1977 Manchester City 2–1 Arsenal Manchester Maine Road L 11 15 October 1977 Arsenal 1–0 Queen's Park Rangers London Highbury W 12 22 October 1977 Bristol City 0–2 Arsenal Bristol Ashton Gate W 13 29 October 1977 Arsenal 1–1 Birmingham City London Highbury D 14 5 November 1977 Manchester United 1–2 Arsenal Manchester Old Trafford W 15 12 November 1977 Arsenal 1–1 Coventry City London Highbury D 16 19 November 1977 Newcastle United 1–2 Arsenal Newcastle Upon Tyne St James' Park W 17 26 November 1977 Arsenal 1–3 Derby County London Highbury L 18 3 December 1977 Middlesbrough 0–1 Arsenal Middlesbrough Ayresome Park W 19 10 December 1977 Arsenal 1–1 Leeds United London Highbury D 20 17 December 1977 Coventry City 1–2 Arsenal Coventry Highfield Road W 21 26 December 1977 Arsenal 3–0 Chelsea London Highbury W 22 27 December 1977 West Bromwich Albion 1–3 Arsenal West Bromwich The Hawthorns W 23 31 December 1977 Everton 2–0 Arsenal Liverpool Goodison Park L 24 2 January 1978 Arsenal 1–0 Ipswich Town London Highbury W 25 14 January 1978 Arsenal 3–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers London Highbury W 26 21 January 1978 Nottingham Forest 2–0 Arsenal Nottingham City Ground L 27 4 February 1978 Arsenal 0–1 Aston Villa London Highbury L 28 11 February 1978 Leicester City 1–1 Arsenal Leicester Filbert Street D 29 25 February 1978 West Ham United 2–2 Arsenal London Upton Park D 30 28 February 1978 Arsenal 0–0 Norwich City London Highbury D 31 4 March 1978 Arsenal 3–0 Manchester City London Highbury W 32 18 March 1978 Arsenal 4–1 Bristol City London Highbury W 33 21 March 1978 Birmingham City 1–1 Arsenal Birmingham St Andrew's D 34 25 March 1978 Arsenal 4–0 West Bromwich Albion London Highbury W 35 27 March 1978 Chelsea 0–0 Arsenal London Stamford Bridge D 36 1 April 1978 Arsenal 3–1 Manchester United London Highbury W 37 11 April 1978 Queen's Park Rangers 2–1 Arsenal London Loftus Road L 38 15 April 1978 Arsenal 2–1 Newcastle United London Highbury W 39 22 April 1978 Leeds United 1–3 Arsenal Leeds Elland Road W 40 25 April 1978 Liverpool 1–0 Arsenal Liverpool Anfield L 41 29 April 1978 Arsenal 1–0 Middlesbrough London Highbury W 42 9 May 1978 Derby County 3–0 Arsenal Derby Baseball Ground L Football League Cup 1977–78 Football League Cup Second round 30 August 1977 Arsenal 3–2 Manchester United London Highbury W Third round 25 October 1977 Arsenal 2–0 Southampton London Highbury W Fourth round 29 November 1977 Arsenal 5–1 Hull City London Highbury W Quarter-final 18 January 1978 Manchester City 0–0 Arsenal Manchester Maine Road D Quarter-final replay 24 January 1978 Arsenal 1–0 Manchester City London Highbury W Semi-final 1st leg 7 February 1978 Liverpool 2–1 Arsenal Liverpool Anfield L Semi-final 2nd leg 14 February 1978 Arsenal 0–0 Liverpool London Highbury D FA Cup 1977–78 FA Cup Arsenal entered the FA Cup in the third round proper, in which they were drawn to face Sheffield United. Third round 7 January 1978 Sheffield United 0–5 Arsenal Sheffield Bramall Lane W Fourth round 28 January 1978 Arsenal 2–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers London Highbury W Fifth round 18 February 1978 Arsenal 4–1 Walsall London Highbury W Sixth round 11 March 1978 Wrexham 2–3 Arsenal Wrexham Racecourse Ground W Semi-Final 8 April 1978 Arsenal 3–0 Orient London Stamford Bridge W Final 6 May 1978 Arsenal 0–1 Ipswich Town London Wembley Stadium 100,000 L References External links Arsenal 1977–78 on statto.com Arsenal Category:Arsenal F.C. seasons