1976–77 Football League - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from 1976–77 Football League Third Division) 78th season of the Football League Football league season

The Football League
Season	1976–77
Champions	Liverpool
Relegated	Workington
← 1975–76 1977–78 →

The 1976–77 season was the 78th completed season of The Football League.

As of this season, goal difference (GD in league tables) was used to separate the clubs finishing level on points. The earlier system, used from the season 1894–95 until the 1975–76 had been the so-called goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), or more properly put, goal ratio. In case one or more teams had the same positive goal difference, this earlier system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals. Now the system would favour the teams that had scored more goals, and it was hoped that more goals would be seen as a result of this new system.

The season was also the first in which the referee used the yellow card and the red card, with the yellow to caution the offending player, and the red to show spectators and viewers that the player had been ejected from the game. Writing in The Observer, sportswriter Bob Houston noted that the season opener was "the day the Football League went Continental, arming its referees with those coloured cards we've all learned to watch for in European and World Cup matches."

On 2 October 1976, Dave Wagstaffe of Blackburn Rovers became the first player in Football League history to be shown the red card when he was sent off in a 1-0 win over Orient in a Division 2 match.

Overview

Liverpool retained their league championship trophy and won their first European Cup to confirm Bob Paisley as a successful replacement for Bill Shankly in his third season at the helm. Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City's long spells in the First Division came to an end with relegation. Stoke sacked their manager Tony Waddington. On the last day of the season, Coventry City and Bristol City played out a controversial 2–2 draw, with play virtually stopping when it was heard that Sunderland had lost to Everton. Both clubs survived while Sunderland was relegated.

After Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty had admitted his affair with the wife of the club's physiotherapist, the club's directors decided that he had broken their moral code and he was sacked.

Wolverhampton Wanderers, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest gained promotion to the First Division. Brian Clough's Forest would achieve success beyond the dreams of most supporters over the next few seasons. Carlisle United, Plymouth Argyle and Hereford United occupied the three relegation places. Hereford became the first club to finish bottom of the Second Division after winning the Third Division the previous season.

Mansfield Town, Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace were the three teams promoted to the Second Division. Palace's manager was a certain Terry Venables who would enjoy more success at Palace and elsewhere over the next 20 years. Going down were Reading, Northampton Town, Grimsby Town and York City.

Cambridge United, Exeter City, Colchester United and Bradford City occupied the four promotion places in the league's lowest division. A terrible season for Workington was compounded by their failure to gain re-election to the Football League, a humiliation which saw them slip into the Northern Premier League. In their place were Southern League champions Wimbledon, who would make amazing progress over the next decade.

The British pop star Elton John took over Fourth Division side Watford and installed Graham Taylor as manager. Former Arsenal manager Bertie Mee came out of retirement to work at Watford as assistant to Graham Taylor. John immediately asserted his ambition by promising to bring First Division football to Watford.

Final league tables and results

The tables and results 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 this season.

Re-election: During the first five seasons of the league, that is, until the season 1893–94, re-election process concerned the clubs which finished in the bottom four of the league. From the 1894–95 season and until the 1920–21 season the re-election process was required of the clubs which finished in the bottom three of the league. From the 1922–23 season on it was required of the bottom two teams of both Third Division North and Third Division South. Since the Fourth Division was established in the 1958–59 season, the re-election process has concerned the bottom four clubs in that division.

First Division

Main article: 1976–77 Football League First Division Football league season

First Division
Season	1976–77
Champions	Liverpool 10th English title
Relegated	Sunderland Stoke City Tottenham Hotspur
European Cup	Liverpool
Cup Winners' Cup	Manchester United
UEFA Cup	Aston Villa Ipswich Town Manchester City Newcastle United
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,183 (2.56 per match)
Top goalscorer	Andy Gray Malcolm Macdonald (25 goals each)
Biggest home win	Ipswich Town 7–0 West Bromwich Albion (6 November 1976)
Biggest away win	Leicester City 0–5 West Bromwich Albion (7 May 1977)
Highest scoring	Derby County 8–2 Tottenham Hotspur (16 October 1976)
← 1975–76 1977–78 →

Despite failing to win any of their final four matches, Liverpool retained the First Division title against a strong challenge by Manchester City and went on to win the European Cup for the first time, although their bid for a unique treble was ended when they lost to Manchester United in the final of the FA Cup. Liverpool finished a point ahead of Manchester City in the league. Ipswich Town, Aston Villa and Newcastle United completed the top five. Newly promoted West Bromwich Albion finished seventh.

Tottenham Hotspur went down in bottom place after a 27-year run in the First Division, along with Stoke City who had been in the First Division continuously since 1963. The final relegation place went to Sunderland, just one year after promotion.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool (C)	42	23	11	8	62	33	+29	57	Qualification for the European Cup second round
2	Manchester City	42	21	14	7	60	34	+26	56	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Ipswich Town	42	22	8	12	66	39	+27	52
4	Aston Villa	42	22	7	13	76	50	+26	51
5	Newcastle United	42	18	13	11	64	49	+15	49
6	Manchester United	42	18	11	13	71	62	+9	47	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round
7	West Bromwich Albion	42	16	13	13	62	56	+6	45
8	Arsenal	42	16	11	15	64	59	+5	43
9	Everton	42	14	14	14	62	64	−2	42
10	Leeds United	42	15	12	15	48	51	−3	42
11	Leicester City	42	12	18	12	47	60	−13	42
12	Middlesbrough	42	14	13	15	40	45	−5	41
13	Birmingham City	42	13	12	17	63	61	+2	38
14	Queens Park Rangers	42	13	12	17	47	52	−5	38
15	Derby County	42	9	19	14	50	55	−5	37
16	Norwich City	42	14	9	19	47	64	−17	37
17	West Ham United	42	11	14	17	46	65	−19	36
18	Bristol City	42	11	13	18	38	48	−10	35
19	Coventry City	42	10	15	17	48	59	−11	35
20	Sunderland (R)	42	11	12	19	46	54	−8	34	Relegation to the Second Division
21	Stoke City (R)	42	10	14	18	28	51	−23	34
22	Tottenham Hotspur (R)	42	12	9	21	48	72	−24	33

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

Manchester United qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1976–77 FA Cup winners.

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	AST	BIR	BRI	COV	DER	EVE	IPS	LEE	LEI	LIV	MCI	MUN	MID	NEW	NWC	QPR	STK	SUN	TOT	WBA	WHU
Arsenal		3–0	4–0	0–1	2–0	0–0	3–1	1–4	1–1	3–0	1–1	0–0	3–1	1–1	5–3	1–0	3–2	2–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	2–3
Aston Villa	5–1		1–2	3–1	2–2	4–0	2–0	5–2	2–1	2–0	5–1	1–1	3–2	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	4–1	2–1	4–0	4–0
Birmingham City	3–3	2–1		3–0	3–1	5–1	1–1	2–4	0–0	1–1	2–1	0–0	2–3	3–1	1–2	3–2	2–1	2–0	2–0	1–2	0–1	0–0
Bristol City	2–0	0–0	0–1		0–0	2–2	1–2	1–2	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	3–1	1–0	1–1	4–1	1–0	1–2	1–1
Coventry City	1–2	2–3	2–1	2–2		2–0	4–2	1–1	4–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	5–2	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–1
Derby County	0–0	2–1	0–0	2–0	1–1		2–3	0–0	0–1	1–0	2–3	4–0	0–0	0–0	4–2	2–2	2–0	2–0	1–0	8–2	2–2	1–1
Everton	2–1	0–2	2–2	2–0	1–1	2–0		1–1	0–2	1–2	0–0	2–2	1–2	2–2	2–0	3–1	1–3	3–0	2–0	4–0	1–1	3–2
Ipswich Town	3–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	2–0		1–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	0–1	2–0	5–0	2–2	0–1	3–1	3–1	7–0	4–1
Leeds United	2–1	1–3	1–0	2–0	1–2	2–0	0–0	2–1		2–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–1	2–2	3–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–2	1–1
Leicester City	4–1	1–1	2–6	0–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–1		0–1	2–2	1–1	3–3	1–0	1–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	2–1	0–5	2–0
Liverpool	2–0	3–0	4–1	2–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	5–1		2–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	3–1	4–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–0
Manchester City	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	3–2	1–1	2–1	2–1	5–0	1–1		1–3	1–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	5–0	1–0	4–2
Manchester United	3–2	2–0	2–2	2–1	2–0	3–1	4–0	0–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	3–1		2–0	3–1	2–2	1–0	3–0	3–3	2–3	2–2	0–2
Middlesbrough	3–0	3–2	2–2	0–0	1–0	2–0	2–2	0–2	1–0	0–1	0–1	0–0	3–0		1–0	1–0	0–2	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1
Newcastle United	0–2	3–2	3–2	0–0	1–0	2–2	4–1	1–1	3–0	0–0	1–0	2–2	2–2	1–0		5–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–0
Norwich City	1–3	1–1	1–0	2–1	3–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–2	3–2	2–1	0–2	2–1	1–0	3–2		2–0	1–1	2–2	1–3	1–0	1–0
Queens Park Rangers	2–1	2–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	0–4	1–0	0–0	3–2	1–1	0–0	4–0	3–0	1–2	2–3		2–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	1–1
Stoke City	1–1	1–0	1–0	2–2	2–0	1–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	0–1	0–0	0–2	3–3	3–1	0–0	0–0	1–0		0–0	0–0	0–2	2–1
Sunderland	2–2	0–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–2	2–1	4–0	2–2	0–1	1–0	0–0		2–1	6–1	6–0
Tottenham Hotspur	2–2	3–1	1–0	0–1	0–1	0–0	3–3	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–2	1–3	0–0	0–2	1–1	3–0	2–0	1–1		0–2	2–1
West Bromwich Albion	0–2	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	3–0	4–0	1–2	2–2	0–1	0–2	4–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–3	4–2		3–0
West Ham United	0–2	0–1	2–2	2–0	2–0	2–2	2–2	0–2	1–3	0–0	2–0	1–0	4–2	0–1	1–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	5–3	0–0

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 Queens Park Rangers Tottenham West Ham class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1976–1977

Aston Villa Birmingham Arsenal Bristol City Coventry Derby County Everton Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Middlesbrough Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle Norwich City QPR Stoke Sunderland Tottenham West Bromwich Albion West Ham class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League First Division 1976–1977 teams

Second Division

Football league season

Second Division
Season	1976–77
Champions	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Promoted	Wolverhampton Wanderers Chelsea Nottingham Forest
Relegated	Carlisle United Plymouth Argyle Hereford United
Cup Winners' Cup	Cardiff City
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,290 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorer	Mickey Walsh (26 goals)
Biggest home win	Blackburn Rovers 6–1 Notts County (9 October 1976) Nottingham Forest 6–1 Sheffield United (9 October 1976) Fulham 5–0 Oldham Athletic (4 December 1976) Fulham 6–1 Orient (7 March 1977) Luton Town 5–0 Carlisle United (26 March 1977)
Biggest away win	Carlisle United 0–6 Southampton (22 January 1977)
Highest scoring	Charlton Athletic 6–2 Southampton (24 September 1976) Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–6 Southampton (5 October 1976) Burnley 4–4 Charlton Athletic (16 October 1976) Oldham Athletic 3–5 Hereford United (16 April 1977)
← 1975–76 1977–78 →

Wolverhampton Wanderers achieved an instant return to the First Division as champions of the Second Division, while runners-up Chelsea regained their top flight status two years after losing it. Brian Clough steered Nottingham Forest into the final promotion place, while Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool missed out by a single point.

Hereford United, Plymouth Argyle and Carlisle United went down to the Third Division.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Wolverhampton Wanderers (C, P)	42	22	13	7	84	45	+39	57	Promotion to the First Division
2	Chelsea (P)	42	21	13	8	73	53	+20	55
3	Nottingham Forest (P)	42	21	10	11	77	43	+34	52
4	Bolton Wanderers	42	20	11	11	75	54	+21	51
5	Blackpool	42	17	17	8	58	42	+16	51
6	Luton Town	42	21	6	15	67	48	+19	48
7	Charlton Athletic	42	16	16	10	71	58	+13	48
8	Notts County	42	19	10	13	65	60	+5	48
9	Southampton	42	17	10	15	72	67	+5	44
10	Millwall	42	15	13	14	57	53	+4	43
11	Sheffield United	42	14	12	16	54	63	−9	40
12	Blackburn Rovers	42	15	9	18	42	54	−12	39
13	Oldham Athletic	42	14	10	18	52	64	−12	38
14	Hull City	42	10	17	15	45	53	−8	37
15	Bristol Rovers	42	12	13	17	53	68	−15	37
16	Burnley	42	11	14	17	46	64	−18	36
17	Fulham	42	11	13	18	54	61	−7	35
18	Cardiff City	42	12	10	20	56	67	−11	34	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
19	Orient	42	9	16	17	37	55	−18	34
20	Carlisle United (R)	42	11	12	19	49	75	−26	34	Relegation to the Third Division
21	Plymouth Argyle (R)	42	8	16	18	46	65	−19	32
22	Hereford United (R)	42	8	15	19	57	78	−21	31

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

Results

Home \ Away	BLB	BLP	BOL	BRR	BUR	CAR	CRL	CHA	CHE	FUL	HER	HUL	LUT	MIL	NOT	NTC	OLD	ORI	PLY	SHU	SOU	WOL
Blackburn Rovers		0–1	3–1	0–0	2–2	2–1	1–3	0–0	0–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–3	6–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–0	3–0	0–2
Blackpool	1–1		1–0	4–0	1–1	1–0	0–0	2–2	0–1	3–2	2–1	0–0	1–0	4–2	1–0	1–1	0–2	3–0	0–2	1–0	1–0	2–2
Bolton Wanderers	3–1	0–3		1–0	2–1	2–1	3–4	1–0	2–2	2–1	3–1	5–1	2–1	3–1	1–1	4–0	3–0	2–0	3–0	1–2	3–0	0–1
Bristol Rovers	0–0	1–4	2–2		1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	2–3	3–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	5–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	3–1	2–3	1–5
Burnley	3–1	0–0	0–0	1–1		0–0	2–0	4–4	1–0	3–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	1–3	0–1	3–1	1–0	3–3	0–2	1–0	2–0	0–0
Cardiff City	2–1	2–2	3–2	1–2	0–1		1–1	1–1	1–3	3–0	3–1	1–1	4–2	0–0	0–3	2–3	3–1	0–1	0–1	0–2	1–0	2–2
Carlisle United	1–1	1–1	0–1	2–3	2–1	4–3		4–2	0–1	1–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–0	3–1	4–1	0–6	2–1
Charlton Athletic	4–0	1–2	1–1	4–3	5–2	0–2	1–0		4–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	4–3	3–2	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	3–1	3–2	6–2	1–1
Chelsea	3–1	2–2	2–1	2–0	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–1		2–0	5–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	4–3	1–1	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–3
Fulham	2–0	0–0	0–2	1–0	2–2	1–2	2–0	1–1	3–1		4–1	0–0	1–2	2–3	2–2	1–5	5–0	6–1	2–0	3–2	1–1	0–0
Hereford United	1–0	1–1	3–3	1–1	3–0	2–2	0–0	1–2	2–2	1–0		1–0	0–1	3–1	0–1	1–4	0–0	2–3	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–6
Hull City	1–0	2–2	2–2	0–1	4–1	1–2	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–1		3–1	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	4–0	2–0
Luton Town	2–0	0–0	1–1	4–2	2–0	2–1	5–0	2–0	4–0	0–2	2–0	2–1		1–2	1–1	4–2	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–4	2–0
Millwall	0–1	1–1	3–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–0	0–0	4–2	2–1	4–2		0–2	2–5	2–1	0–1	3–0	0–1	0–0	1–1
Nottingham Forest	3–0	3–0	3–1	4–2	5–2	0–1	5–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	4–3	2–0	1–2	1–0		1–2	3–0	3–0	1–1	6–1	2–1	1–3
Notts County	0–0	2–0	0–1	2–1	5–1	1–0	2–1	0–1	2–1	0–0	3–2	1–1	0–4	1–2	1–1		1–0	0–1	2–0	2–1	3–1	1–1
Oldham Athletic	2–0	1–0	2–2	4–0	3–1	3–2	4–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	3–5	3–0	1–2	2–1	1–0	1–1		0–0	2–2	1–2	2–1	0–2
Orient	0–1	0–1	2–2	2–0	0–1	3–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–2		2–2	0–2	2–3	2–4
Plymouth Argyle	4–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–1	2–2	0–1	1–0	2–3	2–2	2–1	1–2	1–0	2–2	1–2	1–2	2–2	1–2		0–0	1–1	0–0
Sheffield United	1–1	1–5	2–3	2–3	1–0	3–0	3–0	3–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–3	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	1–0		2–2	2–2
Southampton	2–0	3–3	1–3	2–1	2–0	3–2	1–2	2–1	1–1	4–1	1–0	2–2	1–0	0–2	1–1	2–1	4–0	2–2	4–1	1–1		1–0
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–2	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	4–1	4–0	3–0	1–1	5–1	2–1	2–1	1–2	3–1	2–1	2–2	5–0	1–0	4–0	2–1	2–6

Maps

Charlton Athletic Chelsea Fulham Orient Millwall class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1976–1977

Blackburn Rovers Blackpool Bolton Bristol Rovers Burnley Cardiff City Carlisle United Charlton Chelsea Fulham Hereford United Hull Orient Luton Town Millwall Nottingham Forest Notts County Oldham Plymouth Argyle Sheffield United Southampton Wolverhampton Wanderers class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League Second Division 1976–1977 teams

Third Division

Football league season

Football League
Third Division
Season	1976–77
Champions	Mansfield Town (1st title)
Promoted	Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace
Relegated	Grimsby Town, Northampton Town, Reading, York City
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,462 (2.65 per match)
Top goalscorer	Peter Ward (Brighton & Hove Albion), 32
← 1975–76 1977–78 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Mansfield Town	46	17	6	0	52	13	11	2	10	26	29	+36	64	Division Champions, promoted
2	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	19	3	1	63	14	6	8	9	20	26	+43	61	Promoted
3	Crystal Palace	46	17	5	1	46	15	6	8	9	22	25	+28	59	Promoted
4	Rotherham United	46	11	9	3	30	15	11	6	6	39	29	+25	59
5	Wrexham	46	15	6	2	47	22	9	4	10	33	32	+26	58
6	Preston North End	46	15	4	4	48	21	6	8	9	16	22	+21	54
7	Bury	46	15	2	6	41	21	8	6	9	23	38	+5	54
8	Sheffield Wednesday	46	15	4	4	39	18	7	5	11	26	37	+10	53
9	Lincoln City	46	12	9	2	50	30	7	5	11	27	40	+7	52
10	Shrewsbury Town	46	13	7	3	40	21	5	4	14	25	38	+6	47	Welsh Cup winners, not qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
11	Swindon Town	46	12	6	5	48	33	3	9	11	20	42	−7	45
12	Gillingham	46	11	8	4	31	21	5	4	14	24	43	−9	44
13	Chester	46	14	3	6	28	20	4	5	14	20	38	−10	44
14	Tranmere Rovers	46	10	7	6	31	23	3	10	10	20	30	−2	43
15	Walsall	46	8	7	8	39	32	5	8	10	18	33	−8	41
16	Peterborough United	46	11	4	8	33	28	2	11	10	22	37	−10	41
17	Oxford United	46	9	8	6	34	29	3	7	13	21	36	−10	39
18	Chesterfield	46	10	6	7	30	20	4	4	15	26	44	−8	38
19	Port Vale	46	9	7	7	29	28	2	9	12	18	43	−24	38
20	Portsmouth	46	8	9	6	28	26	3	5	15	25	44	−17	36
21	Reading	46	10	5	8	29	24	3	4	16	20	49	−24	35	Relegated
22	Northampton Town	46	9	4	10	33	29	4	4	15	27	46	−15	34
23	Grimsby Town	46	10	6	7	29	22	2	3	18	16	47	−24	33
24	York City	46	7	8	8	25	34	3	4	16	25	55	−39	32

Source: rsssf.com
Notes:

Shrewsbury Town were winners of the Welsh Cup this season, but as they are an English club, they did not earn a place in the Cup Winners' Cup.

Results

Home \ Away	B&HA	BRY	CHE	CHF	CRY	GIL	GRI	LIN	MAN	NOR	OXF	PET	POR	PTV	PNE	REA	ROT	SHW	SHR	SWI	TRA	WAL	WRE	YOR
Brighton & Hove Albion		1–1	3–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	3–0	4–0	3–1	2–0	3–2	1–0	4–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	3–2	4–0	4–0	1–1	7–0	0–2	7–2
Bury	3–0		2–0	3–1	0–1	3–1	2–0	3–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	4–1	1–0	3–0	3–2	1–0	1–1	1–3	0–1	0–1	2–1	0–2	0–2	4–2
Chester	0–1	1–0		1–2	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–3	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	3–1	1–3	1–0	1–2	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–0
Chesterfield	1–1	7–0	1–0		0–2	1–0	0–1	1–4	0–1	0–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	4–0	1–1	4–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–6	2–0
Crystal Palace	3–1	2–1	1–2	0–0		3–1	2–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	4–0	2–1	5–0	1–0	3–0	2–1	1–0
Gillingham	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	0–3		1–1	0–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–2	1–0	2–1	2–2	3–0	1–0	2–0	2–0
Grimsby Town	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	0–1	1–1		1–2	0–1	0–1	1–2	2–2	1–0	2–4	1–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–2	3–0	1–0
Lincoln City	2–2	2–3	3–3	3–2	3–2	4–0	2–0		3–2	5–4	0–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–2	4–1	1–1	2–0
Mansfield Town	1–1	5–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	2–2	3–0	3–1		3–0	3–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	3–1	4–0	3–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	3–0	2–0	4–1
Northampton Town	0–2	3–0	0–0	2–1	3–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–1		1–0	2–2	3–1	3–0	0–1	1–2	1–4	0–2	5–3	1–1	3–4	0–1	0–2	3–0
Oxford United	1–0	2–2	2–0	3–2	0–1	3–1	5–2	1–2	0–3	1–0		2–3	2–1	0–0	2–2	1–0	1–2	1–1	4–2	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–2	0–2
Peterborough United	2–0	0–1	3–2	0–3	0–0	0–1	3–1	1–2	2–1	3–1	2–0		4–2	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–2	1–2	2–1	1–0	0–0	3–5	0–2	3–0
Portsmouth	1–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	0–0	3–2	1–2	1–1	2–2	2–1	1–1	0–0		1–1	0–0	0–2	5–1	0–3	2–0	2–1	0–3	1–1	0–1	3–1
Port Vale	2–2	0–1	1–0	1–1	4–1	1–2	2–0	1–0	1–4	2–1	2–1	1–1	1–0		0–0	1–0	1–4	2–0	1–2	2–2	1–1	0–0	2–3	0–2
Preston North End	1–1	0–1	3–4	2–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	3–0	1–2	3–0	2–1	6–2	0–0	4–0		3–0	0–0	4–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	0–1	2–1	4–2
Reading	2–3	1–3	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	2–0	1–2	1–0	2–4	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	0–2		0–3	0–1	0–0	4–1	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–1
Rotherham United	0–0	3–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	3–2	1–0	3–0	2–0	1–1	0–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	1–2		0–1	1–0	1–1	1–2	1–0	2–0	1–1
Sheffield Wednesday	0–0	1–0	3–0	4–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–2	2–1	2–0	4–0	1–1	1–2	1–0	2–1	1–3		0–1	3–1	3–1	0–0	3–1	3–2
Shrewsbury Town	1–0	0–1	2–0	3–0	1–1	4–2	2–1	2–1	0–0	3–0	1–0	2–1	4–1	1–1	1–2	2–0	0–0	1–1		2–2	2–2	1–2	3–2	2–1
Swindon Town	2–1	0–1	2–1	3–0	1–1	2–2	4–1	2–2	0–1	5–1	1–0	0–4	4–3	1–0	0–1	2–2	2–4	5–2	1–0		1–1	2–2	3–2	5–1
Tranmere Rovers	1–3	1–2	0–1	2–1	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–2	4–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–3	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	2–1	0–1		0–0	0–0	4–4
Walsall	1–0	3–3	1–0	2–2	0–0	1–2	1–0	1–3	1–2	0–3	2–2	1–1	1–1	3–1	0–1	6–1	0–1	5–1	3–3	2–0	2–0		2–3	1–2
Wrexham	0–0	0–0	4–2	3–1	2–4	2–1	3–2	3–0	0–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	6–2	2–0	3–1	2–1	2–2	1–0	2–2	2–0	1–0		1–1
York City	0–1	2–2	0–2	2–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	2–2	0–1	1–4	2–1	2–1	1–4	1–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–3	4–2	1–0	0–0	0–0

Maps

Brighton & Hove Bury Chester Chesterfield Crystal Palace Gillingham Grimsby Town Lincoln City Mansfield Town Northampton Town Oxford Peterborough Portsmouth Port Vale Preston North End Reading Rotherham Sheffield Wednesday Shrewsbury Swindon Tranmere Walsall Wrexham York City class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1976–1977

Fourth Division

Football league season

Football League
Fourth Division
Season	1976–77
Champions	Cambridge United (1st title)
Promoted	Bradford City, Colchester United, Exeter City
Failed re-election	Workington
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,423 (2.58 per match)
Top goalscorer	Brian Joicey (Barnsley), 25
← 1975–76 1977–78 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Cambridge United	46	16	5	2	57	18	10	8	5	30	22	+47	65	Division Champions, promoted
2	Exeter City	46	17	5	1	40	13	8	7	8	30	33	+24	62	Promoted
3	Colchester United	46	19	2	2	51	14	6	7	10	26	29	+34	59
4	Bradford City	46	16	7	0	51	18	7	6	10	27	33	+27	59
5	Swansea City	46	18	3	2	60	30	7	5	11	32	38	+24	58
6	Barnsley	46	16	5	2	45	18	7	4	12	17	21	+23	55
7	Watford	46	15	7	1	46	13	3	8	12	21	37	+17	51
8	Doncaster Rovers	46	16	2	5	47	25	5	7	11	24	40	+6	51
9	Huddersfield Town	46	15	5	3	36	15	4	7	12	24	34	+11	50
10	Southend United	46	11	9	3	35	19	4	10	9	17	26	+7	49
11	Darlington	46	13	5	5	37	25	5	8	10	22	39	−5	49
12	Crewe Alexandra	46	16	6	1	36	15	3	5	15	11	45	−13	49
13	AFC Bournemouth	46	13	8	2	39	13	2	10	11	15	31	+10	48
14	Stockport County	46	10	10	3	29	19	3	9	11	24	38	−4	45
15	Brentford	46	14	3	6	48	27	4	4	15	29	49	+1	43
16	Torquay United	46	12	5	6	33	22	5	4	14	26	45	−8	43
17	Aldershot	46	10	8	5	29	19	6	3	14	20	40	−10	43
18	Rochdale	46	8	7	8	32	25	5	5	13	18	34	−9	38
19	Newport County	46	11	6	6	33	21	3	4	16	9	37	−16	38
20	Scunthorpe United	46	11	6	6	32	24	2	5	16	17	49	−24	37
21	Halifax Town	46	11	6	6	36	18	0	8	15	11	40	−11	36	Re-elected
22	Hartlepool	46	8	9	6	30	20	2	3	18	17	53	−26	32
23	Southport	46	3	12	8	17	28	0	7	16	16	49	−44	25
24	Workington	46	3	7	13	23	42	1	4	18	18	60	−61	19	Failed re-election

Source:

Results

Home \ Away	BOU	ALD	BAR	BRA	BRE	CAM	COL	CRE	DAR	DON	EXE	HAL	HAR	HUD	NPC	ROC	SCU	STD	SOU	STP	SWA	TOR	WAT	WRK
AFC Bournemouth		4–1	1–0	1–1	3–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	3–1	2–0	3–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–2	2–0	5–0	3–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1
Aldershot	1–0		0–1	2–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–0	2–2	0–0	3–0	1–0	4–0	0–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	2–2	0–1	2–1	2–0
Barnsley	3–1	1–0		2–2	2–0	2–1	0–1	2–2	1–1	1–1	3–4	1–0	3–0	2–1	2–0	2–0	5–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	4–0
Bradford City	1–1	3–1	0–0		3–2	0–0	1–0	1–0	3–1	3–1	1–1	3–0	2–2	3–1	3–1	3–0	4–0	2–0	1–0	3–3	4–1	3–2	0–0	4–1
Brentford	3–2	0–1	0–1	4–0		0–2	1–4	0–0	0–3	2–2	1–0	2–1	3–1	1–3	1–1	3–2	4–2	1–0	3–0	4–0	4–0	3–2	3–0	5–0
Cambridge United	2–0	4–1	0–0	2–1	3–2		2–0	2–0	4–0	3–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	3–1	0–0	1–0	2–3	5–1	2–2	2–3	4–1	4–0	4–1
Colchester United	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	0–1		3–2	4–0	1–0	3–1	3–0	6–2	3–1	5–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	4–1	1–0	1–1	4–0	1–0	3–1
Crewe Alexandra	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	3–2	1–0	1–0		1–1	1–2	2–0	3–1	3–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	3–1	2–1	2–0	1–1
Darlington	4–0	2–1	2–1	0–0	2–2	0–2	2–0	4–0		1–3	2–1	0–0	3–1	2–0	1–0	0–2	5–2	0–0	2–1	0–2	0–4	2–1	0–0	3–2
Doncaster Rovers	0–0	1–2	2–1	2–3	5–0	1–1	3–2	3–0	4–0		0–3	3–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	3–0	0–3	3–1	1–0	2–1	0–4	1–0	6–3
Exeter City	1–1	3–0	1–0	0–0	3–2	1–1	1–0	3–0	1–0	0–2		1–0	3–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	3–1	3–1	2–1	2–0	3–0	2–2	0–0
Halifax Town	2–3	2–0	0–1	2–1	0–0	0–2	1–2	3–0	2–1	6–0	1–2		1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	3–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–1	6–1
Hartlepool	0–1	0–2	0–2	0–1	2–0	2–2	2–2	3–0	1–1	0–0	2–2	1–0		0–1	0–1	2–0	3–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	4–0	1–0	2–0
Huddersfield Town	0–0	2–0	1–0	3–0	1–0	1–2	0–0	0–1	3–1	2–1	0–1	1–0	4–1		3–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–2	2–1	2–2	2–1
Newport County	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	4–2	1–2	2–1	0–1	1–2	0–3	1–1	1–1	1–1		3–0	0–0	3–0	3–1	0–1	0–2	0–0	3–0	1–0
Rochdale	0–0	2–1	2–3	0–1	2–3	2–2	1–0	0–1	2–2	1–0	1–2	4–1	0–1	2–2	0–0		5–0	0–0	3–0	1–1	1–0	0–1	3–1	0–3
Scunthorpe United	0–0	1–3	1–2	2–1	2–1	0–2	2–0	4–0	3–0	1–1	4–1	2–1	2–0	0–4	1–0	0–1		1–0	1–1	2–2	0–3	0–0	0–0	3–1
Southend United	2–2	5–0	1–1	4–1	2–1	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	3–0	1–1		3–2	0–0	1–2	0–3	2–1	2–0
Southport	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–4	1–2	0–0	1–3	0–0	0–0	2–2	1–1	0–0	1–2	2–2	0–1	1–1	2–1	0–0		1–0	1–3	1–1	1–3	1–1
Stockport County	1–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	0–0	1–1	1–2	2–2	2–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	2–3	2–1	0–1	1–0	0–0	2–2		3–0	2–1	2–2	1–0
Swansea City	3–0	4–2	2–1	2–3	5–3	3–1	2–1	3–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	4–2	2–1	3–1	3–2	2–0	2–0	2–1	4–4		4–1	1–4	4–0
Torquay United	2–1	0–1	1–0	0–3	1–1	2–2	2–2	5–0	2–0	0–1	0–1	3–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–3	0–0	0–0	1–2	2–1		3–1	3–1
Watford	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	2–0	2–1	3–1	1–1	5–1	4–1	0–0	4–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	4–0		2–0
Workington	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	1–3	0–2	2–4	1–0	2–3	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	3–2	0–1	0–2	1–0	0–3	2–2	2–2	1–3	2–4	0–1

Maps

Brentford Watford class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League Fourth Division London teams 1976–1977

Aldershot Barnsley Bournemouth Bradford City Brentford Cambridge Utd Colchester Crewe Alexandra Darlington Doncaster Exeter City Halifax Town Hartlepool Huddersfield Newport County Rochdale Scunthorpe & Lindsey Southend Southport Stockport Swansea City Torquay Watford Workington class=notpageimage| Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1976–1977

References

"Football Round-up", by Bob Houston, The Observer (London), 3 October 1976, p. 18
"How English football came to love and curse the red card", by Martin Winch, BBC News], 10 August 2013
"England 1976–77". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
^ 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.
"Liverpool football club match record: 1977". 11v11.com. Retrieved 15 December 2017.

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

v t e English Football League seasons
First tier	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92
Second tier	1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

English Football League seasons

First tier

1888–89
1889–90
1890–91
1891–92
1892–93
1893–94
1894–95
1895–96
1896–97
1897–98
1898–99
1899–1900
1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92

Second tier

1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25

1976–77 in English football

« 1975–76 1977–78 »

National teams

League competitions

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

Cup competitions

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

European competitions

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

v t e 1976–77 in European football (UEFA)
« 1975–76 1977–78 »
Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark '76 '77 England Faroe Islands '76 '77 Finland '76 '77 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '76 '77 Israel Italy Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '76 '77 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union '76 '77 Spain Sweden '76 '77 Switzerland Turkey Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Faroe Islands '76 '77 Finland '76 '77 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '76 '77 Israel Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '76 '77 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Wales Yugoslavia
League cups	England Poland Republic of Ireland Scotland Switzerland
Super cups	Soviet Union
UEFA competitions	European Cup (Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Super Cup
Non-UEFA competitions	Intertoto Cup Balkans Cup '76 '77

Categories:

Overview

Final league tables and results

First Division

Results

Maps

Second Division

Results

Maps

Third Division

Results

Maps

Fourth Division

Results

Maps

See also

References