1971–72 Football League - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from 1971–72 Football League Fourth Division) 73rd season of the Football League Football league season

The Football League
Season	1971–72
Champions	Derby County
Relegated	Barrow
← 1970–71 1972–73 →

The 1971–72 season was the 73rd completed season of The Football League.

Brian Clough, 37, won the first major trophy of his managerial career by guiding Derby County to their first ever league championship. They overcame Leeds United, Liverpool and Manchester City to win a four-horse race, with only a single point separating all four teams. There were later bribery allegations from The Sunday People newspaper regarding Leeds manager Don Revie and Leeds' final opponents Wolverhampton Wanderers. The footballing authorities never investigated these allegations to decide whether they were true or not.

Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town lost their First Division status. By the end of the decade, Forest had made an explosive comeback to the top flight. 1971-1972 was Huddersfield's last season in the top flight until their promotion in 2016-17, and within a few seasons they would be in the Fourth Division — most of their existence since 1972 has been spent in the league's lower two divisions.

In the Second Division Norwich City and Birmingham City were promoted. This was the first time that Norwich City had reached the top flight. Charlton Athletic and Watford were relegated.

Aston Villa ended their two-year spell in the Third Division by gaining promotion as champions, and by the end of the decade would be firmly re-established as a First Division club. Brighton & Hove Albion followed Villa into the Second Division, but would not reach the heady heights that the midlanders would experience. Mansfield Town, Barnsley, Torquay United and Bradford City were relegated.

Grimsby Town, Southend United, Brentford and Scunthorpe United were promoted from the Fourth Division. Barrow were voted out of the Football League and replaced by Hereford United, who a short time earlier had achieved a shock FA Cup victory over Newcastle United.

Ernie Tagg sacked himself as manager of Crewe Alexandra because he felt that a younger manager should take charge of the club.

Final league tables and results

The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888-89 to 1978-79, with home and away statistics separated.

Beginning with the season 1894–95, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), or more properly put, goal ratio. In case one or more teams had the same goal difference, this system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals. The goal average system was eventually scrapped beginning with the 1976-77 season.

Since the Fourth Division was established in the 1958–59 season, the bottom four teams of that division have been required to apply for re-election.

First Division

Football league season

First Division
Season	1971–72
Champions	Derby County 1st title
Relegated	Nottingham Forest Huddersfield Town
European Cup	Derby County
Cup Winners' Cup	Leeds United
UEFA Cup	Liverpool Manchester City Tottenham Hotspur Stoke City
Watney Cup	Wolverhampton Wanderers Sheffield United
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,160 (2.51 per match)
Top goalscorer	Francis Lee (33 goals)
Biggest home win	Everton 8–0 Southampton (20 November 1971)
Biggest away win	Sheffield United 0–5 Arsenal (29 January 1972)
Highest scoring	Everton 8–0 Southampton (20 November 1971)
← 1970–71 1972–73 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Derby County (C)	42	24	10	8	69	33	2.091	58	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Leeds United	42	24	9	9	73	31	2.355	57	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
3	Liverpool	42	24	9	9	64	30	2.133	57	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Manchester City	42	23	11	8	77	45	1.711	57	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
5	Arsenal	42	22	8	12	58	40	1.450	52
6	Tottenham Hotspur	42	19	13	10	63	42	1.500	51	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
7	Chelsea	42	18	12	12	58	49	1.184	48
8	Manchester United	42	19	10	13	69	61	1.131	48
9	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	18	11	13	65	57	1.140	47	Qualification for the Watney Cup
10	Sheffield United	42	17	12	13	61	60	1.017	46	Qualification for the Watney Cup
11	Newcastle United	42	15	11	16	49	52	0.942	41
12	Leicester City	42	13	13	16	41	46	0.891	39
13	Ipswich Town	42	11	16	15	39	53	0.736	38
14	West Ham United	42	12	12	18	47	51	0.922	36
15	Everton	42	9	18	15	37	48	0.771	36
16	West Bromwich Albion	42	12	11	19	42	54	0.778	35
17	Stoke City	42	10	15	17	39	56	0.696	35	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
18	Coventry City	42	9	15	18	44	67	0.657	33
19	Southampton	42	12	7	23	52	80	0.650	31
20	Crystal Palace	42	8	13	21	39	65	0.600	29
21	Nottingham Forest (R)	42	8	9	25	47	81	0.580	25	Relegation to the Second Division
22	Huddersfield Town (R)	42	6	13	23	27	59	0.458	25	Relegation to the Second Division

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Leeds United qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1971-72 FA Cup winners.
Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the UEFA Cup as the 1971-72 UEFA Cup winners.
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.

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	0–0	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

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.

Maps

Arsenal Chelsea Crystal Palace Tottenham West Ham class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1971–1972

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 class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League First Division 1971–1972 teams

Second Division

Football league season

Second Division
Season	1971–72
Champions	Norwich City
Promoted	Norwich City Birmingham City
Relegated	Charlton Athletic Watford
Watney Cup	Blackpool Burnley
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,194 (2.58 per match)
Top goalscorer	Bob Latchford (23 goals)
Biggest home win	Burnley 6–1 Orient (28 September 1971) Cardiff City 6–1 Charlton Athletic (23 October 1971) Blackpool 5–0 Watford (1 January 1972) Orient 5–0 Sunderland (8 January 1972) Sunderland 5–0 Watford (17 April 1972) Blackpool 5–0 Charlton Athletic (29 April 1972)
Biggest away win	Sheffield Wednesday 1–5 Bristol City (21 April 1972)
Highest scoring	Portsmouth 6–3 Fulham (23 October 1971) Birmingham City 6–3 Portsmouth (8 January 1972)
← 1970–71 1972–73 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Norwich City (C, P)	42	21	15	6	60	36	1.667	57	Promotion to the First Division
2	Birmingham City (P)	42	19	18	5	60	31	1.935	56	Promotion to the First Division
3	Millwall	42	19	17	6	64	46	1.391	55
4	Queens Park Rangers	42	20	14	8	57	28	2.036	54
5	Sunderland	42	17	16	9	67	57	1.175	50
6	Blackpool	42	20	7	15	70	50	1.400	47	Qualification for the Watney Cup
7	Burnley	42	20	6	16	70	55	1.273	46	Qualification for the Watney Cup
8	Bristol City	42	18	10	14	61	49	1.245	46
9	Middlesbrough	42	19	8	15	50	48	1.042	46
10	Carlisle United	42	17	9	16	61	57	1.070	43
11	Swindon Town	42	15	12	15	47	47	1.000	42
12	Hull City	42	14	10	18	49	53	0.925	38
13	Luton Town	42	10	18	14	43	48	0.896	38
14	Sheffield Wednesday	42	13	12	17	51	58	0.879	38
15	Oxford United	42	12	14	16	43	55	0.782	38
16	Portsmouth	42	12	13	17	59	68	0.868	37
17	Orient	42	14	9	19	50	61	0.820	37
18	Preston North End	42	12	12	18	52	58	0.897	36
19	Cardiff City	42	10	14	18	56	69	0.812	34
20	Fulham	42	12	10	20	45	68	0.662	34
21	Charlton Athletic (R)	42	12	9	21	55	77	0.714	33	Relegation to the Third Division
22	Watford (R)	42	5	9	28	24	75	0.320	19	Relegation to the Third Division

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	BIR	BLP	BRI	BUR	CAR	CRL	CHA	FUL	HUL	LUT	MID	MIL	NWC	ORI	OXF	POR	PNE	QPR	SHW	SUN	SWI	WAT
Birmingham City		2–1	1–0	2–0	3–0	3–2	4–1	3–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	4–0	2–0	0–0	6–3	2–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	4–1	4–1
Blackpool	1–1		1–0	4–2	3–0	2–0	5–0	2–1	1–1	0–1	3–1	0–0	1–2	4–1	2–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	4–1	5–0
Bristol City	1–0	4–0		0–2	2–0	1–4	2–0	1–2	4–0	0–0	2–1	3–3	0–1	5–3	4–2	1–1	4–1	2–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	2–1
Burnley	1–1	2–1	1–1		3–0	3–1	3–1	1–1	0–2	2–1	5–2	2–0	1–0	6–1	1–1	1–3	1–0	1–0	5–3	0–1	1–2	3–0
Cardiff City	0–0	3–4	2–3	2–2		3–1	6–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	1–1	3–2	5–2	0–0	3–2	1–2	0–1	2–0
Carlisle United	2–2	2–0	2–0	0–3	2–1		5–2	3–1	2–1	0–0	3–0	3–3	3–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	1–4	2–2	1–2	0–0	2–0
Charlton Athletic	1–1	2–3	2–0	2–0	2–2	1–1		2–2	1–0	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–2	3–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–0
Fulham	0–0	2–1	2–0	0–2	4–3	0–1	1–0		1–0	3–1	2–2	1–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–3	4–0	0–0	2–4	3–0
Hull City	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–2	0–0	2–0	2–3	4–0		0–0	4–3	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–3	3–2	1–1	1–0	2–3	2–0	4–0
Luton Town	0–0	1–4	0–0	1–0	2–2	0–2	1–2	2–0	0–1		3–2	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–2	0–0	0–0
Middlesbrough	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–2	2–2	2–0	3–0	0–0		1–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	0–1	3–2	2–1	2–0	2–0	2–1
Millwall	3–0	1–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	4–1	2–1	2–2	1–0		2–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	3–2
Norwich City	2–2	5–1	2–2	3–0	2–1	1–0	3–0	2–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	2–2		0–0	3–2	3–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–1
Orient	0–1	0–1	2–0	1–0	4–1	2–1	3–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–2	1–2		1–1	2–1	3–2	2–0	0–3	5–0	0–1	1–0
Oxford United	0–1	3–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	3–1	2–1	1–0	2–2	1–1	0–0	1–2	0–2	1–1		2–2	2–0	3–1	1–0	2–0	1–1	0–0
Portsmouth	1–0	1–3	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–0	0–0	6–3	0–0	0–3	2–1	1–1	2–1	3–2	2–0		1–1	1–0	1–2	2–2	1–2	2–2
Preston North End	0–0	1–4	1–0	1–3	1–2	3–0	2–1	2–0	3–1	0–1	1–0	4–0	0–2	1–1	1–0	4–0		1–1	1–0	1–3	2–2	2–0
Queens Park Rangers	1–0	0–1	3–0	3–1	3–0	3–0	2–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	4–2	1–1	2–1		3–0	2–1	3–0	3–0
Sheffield Wednesday	1–2	1–2	1–5	2–1	2–2	2–1	2–1	4–0	2–1	2–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	0–0		3–0	1–0	2–1
Sunderland	1–1	0–0	1–1	4–3	1–1	0–3	3–0	2–1	0–1	2–2	4–1	3–3	1–1	2–0	3–0	3–2	4–3	0–1	2–0		1–0	5–0
Swindon Town	1–1	1–0	0–1	0–1	3–1	0–0	2–1	4–0	2–1	2–1	0–1	0–2	0–1	2–2	4–0	3–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–1		2–0
Watford	0–1	1–0	0–2	2–1	2–2	1–2	0–3	1–2	1–2	2–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–0

Maps

Charlton Athletic Fulham Orient Millwall Queens Park Rangers Watford class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1971–1972

Birmingham Blackpool Bristol City Burnley Carlisle United Cardiff City Charlton Fulham Hull Luton Town Middlesbrough Millwall Norwich City Orient Oxford Portsmouth Preston North End QPR Sheffield Wednesday Sunderland Swindon Watford class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League Second Division 1971–1972 teams

Third Division

Football league season

Third Division
Season	1971–72
Champions	Aston Villa
Promoted	Aston Villa Brighton & Hove Albion
Relegated	Mansfield Town Barnsley Torquay United Bradford City
Cup Winners' Cup	Wrexham
Watney Cup	Notts County Bristol Rovers
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,407 (2.55 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ted MacDougall (35 goals)
← 1970–71 1972–73 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Aston Villa (C, P)	46	32	6	8	85	32	2.656	70	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Brighton & Hove Albion (P)	46	27	11	8	82	47	1.745	65	Promotion to the Second Division
3	Bournemouth	46	23	16	7	73	37	1.973	62
4	Notts County	46	25	12	9	74	44	1.682	62	Qualification for the Watney Cup
5	Rotherham United	46	20	15	11	69	52	1.327	55
6	Bristol Rovers	46	21	12	13	75	56	1.339	54	Qualification for the Watney Cup
7	Bolton Wanderers	46	17	16	13	51	41	1.244	50
8	Plymouth Argyle	46	20	10	16	74	64	1.156	50
9	Walsall	46	15	18	13	62	57	1.088	48
10	Blackburn Rovers	46	19	9	18	54	57	0.947	47
11	Oldham Athletic	46	17	11	18	59	63	0.937	45
12	Shrewsbury Town	46	17	10	19	73	65	1.123	44
13	Chesterfield	46	18	8	20	57	57	1.000	44
14	Swansea City	46	17	10	19	46	59	0.780	44
15	Port Vale	46	13	15	18	43	59	0.729	41
16	Wrexham	46	16	8	22	59	63	0.937	40	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
17	Halifax Town	46	13	12	21	48	61	0.787	38
18	Rochdale	46	12	13	21	57	83	0.687	37
19	York City	46	12	12	22	57	66	0.864	36
20	Tranmere Rovers	46	10	16	20	50	71	0.704	36
21	Mansfield Town (R)	46	8	20	18	41	63	0.651	36	Relegation to the Fourth Division
22	Barnsley (R)	46	9	18	19	32	64	0.500	36
23	Torquay United (R)	46	10	12	24	41	69	0.594	32
24	Bradford City (R)	46	11	10	25	45	77	0.584	32

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	BOU	AST	BAR	BLB	BOL	BRA	B&HA	BRR	CHF	HAL	MAN	NTC	OLD	PLY	PTV	ROC	ROT	SHR	SWA	TOR	TRA	WAL	WRE	YOR
AFC Bournemouth		3–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	3–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	3–2	4–1	3–1	3–1	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	4–0	2–2
Aston Villa	2–1		2–0	4–1	3–2	3–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	3–1	2–0	2–0	1–2	3–0	2–0	5–1	2–0	0–0	2–0	1–0
Barnsley	0–0	0–4		0–0	1–0	0–2	0–1	0–0	1–4	1–2	1–1	2–1	2–1	2–2	0–0	3–3	1–1	1–3	0–1	0–0	0–0	4–2	2–1	2–1
Blackburn Rovers	2–1	1–1	4–0		0–3	1–0	2–2	1–2	1–0	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–1	3–2	3–1	3–0	2–1	1–0	1–2	1–0	4–1	1–1	2–1	3–0
Bolton Wanderers	0–0	2–0	0–0	1–0		0–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–2	2–1	2–1	3–0	2–1	2–2	2–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	0–1	0–2	0–1
Bradford City	2–2	0–1	0–2	1–2	0–3		2–1	1–1	2–2	2–1	2–2	2–3	2–2	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	0–2	0–1	1–1	3–0	0–2	3–1
Brighton & Hove Albion	2–0	2–1	0–0	3–0	1–1	3–1		3–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	3–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	3–1	2–0	1–2	3–2	0–2
Bristol Rovers	1–2	0–1	3–0	3–0	2–0	7–1	2–2		3–1	1–0	2–1	0–2	1–0	2–2	2–1	5–2	1–2	3–1	2–1	2–0	2–1	2–1	3–1	5–4
Chesterfield	0–0	0–4	0–0	2–0	2–1	0–1	0–1	1–3		2–1	2–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–0	2–1
Halifax Town	1–0	0–1	2–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	0–5	2–1	2–0		1–1	3–1	0–0	0–1	2–0	2–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	3–2	3–1	4–1	3–1
Mansfield Town	0–5	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–3	0–0	2–1	0–0		1–1	2–1	2–3	0–1	3–1	0–1	2–2	0–2	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–0
Notts County	1–1	0–3	3–0	1–0	1–2	2–0	1–0	2–3	1–4	3–1	2–0		2–0	1–0	2–1	4–0	1–1	1–0	5–0	2–1	1–0	3–0	1–0	2–2
Oldham Athletic	3–1	0–6	6–0	1–1	2–2	0–2	2–4	3–2	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–1		0–1	1–0	3–2	5–1	1–4	1–0	1–0	3–1	1–3	0–2	1–0
Plymouth Argyle	1–1	3–2	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–4	1–2	2–1	1–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	0–0		0–0	4–1	2–1	1–2	4–1	3–1	2–2	3–2	1–2	4–0
Port Vale	1–1	4–4	1–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	0–2	1–0	1–0	0–3	1–0	0–0		1–1	1–2	2–1	3–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	4–3
Rochdale	1–1	1–0	0–2	2–1	2–2	0–1	1–2	3–1	0–2	3–2	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	3–2		2–1	0–0	1–1	5–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–2
Rotherham United	0–0	0–2	3–0	2–1	2–0	2–0	2–4	0–0	0–1	3–2	3–1	2–2	3–1	4–3	3–0	5–1		2–1	4–0	2–2	0–0	1–1	2–2	1–1
Shrewsbury Town	3–2	1–1	1–0	7–1	1–0	3–0	3–5	2–2	3–4	3–0	4–2	1–1	2–4	1–2	0–0	2–1	0–1		3–0	2–0	0–0	4–1	2–1	2–1
Swansea City	1–2	1–2	2–0	0–1	3–2	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–3	3–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–2	1–0		0–0	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–1
Torquay United	0–2	2–1	1–2	3–1	1–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	3–2	2–0	0–1	1–1	0–2	2–1	3–0	1–1	0–1	2–0	1–4		0–1	2–2	2–3	0–1
Tranmere Rovers	1–2	0–1	0–0	1–3	0–0	4–1	2–0	0–1	1–2	2–3	2–2	2–1	2–2	3–2	3–2	2–0	0–0	0–4	0–0	2–0		3–3	2–1	2–0
Walsall	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	3–0	0–1	2–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–2	2–3	1–0	2–0	3–0	0–0	4–1	4–0	1–0	4–1		2–1	2–1
Wrexham	1–3	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–2	2–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	0–2	1–2	1–3	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–2	3–0	3–1		2–0
York City	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	3–1	1–2	0–0	4–1	1–1	1–2	0–2	0–0	2–3	2–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	5–0	2–0	1–1

Maps

Aston Villa Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Bolton AFC Bournemouth Brighton & Hove Bradford City Bristol Rovers Chesterfield Halifax Town Mansfield Town Notts County Oldham Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Rochdale Rotherham Shrewsbury Swansea City Tranmere Torquay Walsall Wrexham York City class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1971–1972

Fourth Division

Football league season

Football League
Fourth Division
Season	1971–72
Champions	Grimsby Town (1st title)
Promoted	Brentford, Scunthorpe United, Southend United
Failed re-election	Barrow
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,496 (2.71 per match)
Top goalscorer	Peter Price (Peterborough United), 28
← 1970–71 1972–73 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Grimsby Town	46	18	3	2	61	26	10	4	9	27	30	1.571	63	Division Champions, promoted
2	Southend United	46	18	2	3	56	26	6	10	7	25	29	1.473	60	Promoted
3	Brentford	46	16	2	5	52	21	8	9	6	24	23	1.727	59
4	Scunthorpe United	46	13	8	2	34	15	9	5	9	22	22	1.514	57
5	Lincoln City	46	17	5	1	46	15	4	9	10	31	44	1.305	56	Qualified for 1972 Watney Cup
6	Workington	46	12	9	2	34	7	4	10	9	16	27	1.471	51
7	Southport	46	15	5	3	48	21	3	9	11	18	25	1.435	50
8	Peterborough United	46	14	6	3	51	24	3	10	10	31	40	1.281	50	Qualified for 1972 Watney Cup
9	Bury	46	16	4	3	55	22	3	8	12	18	37	1.237	50
10	Cambridge United	46	11	8	4	38	22	6	6	11	24	38	1.033	48
11	Colchester United	46	13	6	4	38	23	6	4	13	32	46	1.014	48
12	Doncaster Rovers	46	11	8	4	35	24	5	6	12	21	39	0.889	46
13	Gillingham	46	11	5	7	33	24	5	8	10	28	43	0.910	45
14	Newport County	46	13	5	5	34	20	5	3	15	26	52	0.833	44
15	Exeter City	46	11	5	7	40	30	5	6	12	21	38	0.897	43
16	Reading	46	14	3	6	37	26	3	5	15	19	50	0.737	42
17	Aldershot	46	5	13	5	27	20	4	9	10	21	34	0.889	40
18	Hartlepool	46	14	2	7	39	25	3	4	16	19	44	0.841	40
19	Darlington	46	9	9	5	37	24	5	2	16	27	58	0.780	39
20	Chester	46	10	11	2	34	16	0	7	16	13	40	0.839	38
21	Northampton Town	46	8	9	6	43	27	4	4	15	23	52	0.835	37	Re-elected
22	Barrow	46	8	8	7	23	26	5	3	15	17	45	0.563	37	Failed re-election
23	Stockport County	46	7	10	6	33	32	2	4	17	22	55	0.632	32	Re-elected
24	Crewe Alexandra	46	9	4	10	27	25	1	5	17	16	44	0.623	29	Re-elected

Source: rsssf.com
Notes:

^ The two teams who scored the most goals in each division, and did not qualify for Europe and were not promoted, qualified for the Watney Cup.

Results

Home \ Away	ALD	BRW	BRE	BRY	CAM	CHE	COL	CRE	DAR	DON	EXE	GIL	GRI	HAR	LIN	NPC	NOR	PET	REA	SCU	STD	SOU	STP	WRK
Aldershot		1–1	1–2	2–2	1–1	0–0	0–2	0–0	3–0	3–0	0–0	0–2	1–1	2–0	0–0	3–0	0–2	1–1	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–1	4–0	2–2
Barrow	1–1		0–3	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–1	0–4	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	2–2	1–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	0–1	2–1	0–2	3–2	2–0
Brentford	1–1	4–0		2–0	2–1	1–1	0–2	1–0	6–2	2–1	1–0	1–3	2–0	6–0	2–0	3–1	6–1	5–1	1–2	0–3	1–2	1–0	2–0	2–0
Bury	3–1	4–0	0–2		0–1	3–1	3–0	2–0	3–2	3–3	4–3	5–0	1–1	1–1	0–1	3–0	4–2	1–1	2–1	3–1	2–0	2–1	4–0	2–0
Cambridge United	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–2		2–0	4–2	3–2	6–0	1–1	0–1	2–1	3–1	2–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	2–5	4–1	2–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	0–0
Chester	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–0	1–1		2–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	5–1	1–2	4–0	2–1	3–0	3–2	1–1	2–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–1
Colchester United	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–0		4–2	4–3	1–2	3–0	2–2	0–1	1–0	5–2	2–3	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	3–2	1–0
Crewe Alexandra	2–1	1–0	2–1	0–0	1–1	3–1	2–4		1–1	0–1	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–2	3–1	1–2	0–1	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–2	2–1	3–1	0–0
Darlington	4–2	0–1	0–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–1		4–1	2–1	0–0	3–2	1–2	3–3	0–0	5–2	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–3	0–0	1–2	4–0
Doncaster Rovers	2–1	0–1	0–3	4–1	1–1	0–0	2–0	0–0	4–0		2–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	3–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–1	2–2	0–0
Exeter City	1–0	7–1	0–1	3–2	3–4	1–1	3–3	3–1	3–0	1–0		1–1	3–4	1–0	1–2	1–0	1–3	3–2	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–3	2–0	0–2
Gillingham	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	0–2	2–1	4–2	2–0	0–2		0–1	1–0	3–3	1–2	4–1	1–1	4–2	0–1	0–0	2–1	3–2	0–0
Grimsby Town	3–3	2–0	3–1	4–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	2–3	2–0	3–1	3–0	2–1		3–2	2–2	4–2	4–2	3–2	2–0	4–1	4–1	0–1	4–1	1–1
Hartlepool	0–1	4–3	1–2	3–1	1–2	2–1	3–2	1–0	2–3	0–0	1–0	3–1	0–1		2–1	0–1	2–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	2–2	1–0	5–0	1–3
Lincoln City	2–2	3–2	4–1	2–0	3–1	4–0	2–0	0–0	0–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	3–0	2–1		3–1	2–0	3–2	0–0	1–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–0
Newport County	2–3	2–1	0–0	2–1	3–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	4–0	1–3	0–0	1–2	2–1	0–2	2–0		1–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	2–0	2–2	1–0	0–1
Northampton Town	2–3	2–0	0–0	2–2	1–2	4–2	1–1	4–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	6–1	3–0	2–1	2–3	1–1		1–1	5–0	0–2	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–2
Peterborough United	0–0	7–0	2–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–0	1–3	2–0	3–3	2–1	0–2	2–2	4–4	3–1	1–0		3–2	0–1	2–0	2–0	4–2	1–1
Reading	2–0	1–0	2–1	0–2	1–0	1–0	2–4	1–0	2–0	3–1	3–1	1–2	1–3	3–0	0–1	4–2	2–1	2–1		2–0	1–4	1–1	2–2	0–0
Scunthorpe United	1–0	2–1	0–0	3–0	2–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	0–0	3–0	3–3	1–2	2–2	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–1		1–1	1–0	0–2	2–0
Southend	1–0	1–0	3–1	0–0	1–2	4–2	1–4	4–1	3–0	2–1	3–0	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	4–1	2–1	4–1	2–3		2–1	4–2	2–0
Southport	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	4–1	4–3	3–0	4–2	2–1	3–0	4–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	4–2	4–0	2–4	5–2	1–1	0–1		1–0	2–2
Stockport County	0–0	1–3	0–1	2–2	3–0	0–0	2–2	3–1	2–1	1–2	0–4	2–1	0–2	2–1	4–2	4–4	3–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	2–2	1–1		1–1
Workington	5–0	0–1	3–0	1–0	0–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	3–0	2–0	4–1	5–0	2–1	3–1	0–0	1–1

Maps

Aldershot Barrow Brentford Bury Cambridge U.Chester Colchester Crewe Alexandra Darlington Doncaster Exeter City Gillingham Grimsby Town Hartlepool Lincoln City Newport County Northampton Town Peterborough Reading Scunthorpe United Southport Stockport Southend Workington class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1971–1972

References

Corbett, James (2007-11-25). "James Corbett on Don Revie". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
"England 1971–72". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 June 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
^ Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
^ "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.

Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane's, London & Sydney, 1980.

External links

Season 1971-72 complete lineups, tables and squads at Historical Football Lineups

v t e English Football League seasons
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1971–72 in English football

« 1970–71 1972–73 »

National teams

League competitions

Levels 1–4	Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division, Fourth Division)
Levels 5–6	Isthmian League (level 5 only) Northern Premier League (level 5 only) Southern League (Premier, One North, One South)
Levels 7–9	Athenian League (Premier, One, Two) Cheshire County League (level 7 only) Eastern Counties League (level 7 only) Essex Senior League (level 7 only) Hellenic League (Premier, One A, One B) Kent League (level 7 only) Lancashire Combination (level 7 only) Midland Football Combination (level 7 only) Midland League (level 7 only) Northern League (level 7 only) South Midlands League (Premier, One) Spartan League (level 7 only) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (One, Two, Three) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 7 only) Western League (level 7 only) Yorkshire League (One, Two, Three)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) Charity Shield FA Trophy (Final) FA Amateur Cup
Football League cups	League Cup (Final) Watney Cup

European competitions

Club seasons
First Division	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 Queens Park Rangers Sheffield United Southampton Stoke City Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Birmingham City Blackpool Bristol City Burnley Cardiff City Carlisle United Charlton Athletic Fulham Hull City Leyton Orient Luton Town Middlesbrough Millwall Norwich City Oxford United Portsmouth Preston North End Sheffield Wednesday Sunderland Swindon Town Watford
Third Division	Aston Villa Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Bournemouth Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol Rovers Chesterfield Halifax Town Mansfield Town Notts County Oldham Athletic Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Rochdale Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Swansea City Torquay United Tranmere Rovers Walsall Wrexham York City
Fourth Division	Aldershot Barrow Brentford Bury Cambridge United Chester Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Darlington Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Gillingham Grimsby Town Hartlepool United Lincoln City Newport County Northampton Town Peterborough United Reading Scunthorpe United Southend United Southport Stockport County Workington

v t e 1971–72 in European football (UEFA)
« 1970–71 1972–73 »
Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark '71 '72 England Faroe Islands '71 '72 Finland '71 '72 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '71 '72 Israel Italy Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '71 '72 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union '71 '72 Spain Sweden '71 '72 Switzerland Turkey Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Faroe Islands '71 '72 Finland '71 '72 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '71 '72 Israel Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '71 '72 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union '71 '72 Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Wales Yugoslavia
League cups	England Scotland
UEFA competitions	European Cup (Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final)
Non-UEFA competitions	Intertoto Cup Balkans Cup '71 '72

Categories:

Final league tables and results

First Division

Results

Maps

Second Division

Results

Maps

Third Division

Results

Maps

Fourth Division

Results

Maps

See also

References

External links