# 1976–77 Newport County A.F.C. season

The 1976–77 season was Newport County's 15th consecutive season in the Football League Fourth Division and their 49th season overall in the Football League. The season became known as the "Great Escape" as County were entrenched in the re-election places until the last game of the season and would almost certainly have been voted out of the league had they finished there.

## Season review
### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 42 | 58 | −16 | 38 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 33 | 21 | +12 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 9 | 37 | −28 |
Source: rsssf.com

### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | H | A | H |
| Result | L | L | L | D | L | W | W | D | D | L | L | D | D | L | D | D | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | W | L | W | L | W | D | L | W | L | W | W | L | W | L | D | W | W | W | W | W |
| Position | 19 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 19 |

## Fixtures and results
### Fourth Division

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 21 Aug 1976 | Stockport County | H | 0–1 | | 2,746 |
| 23 Aug 1976 | Darlington | A | 0–1 | | 2,684 |
| 28 Aug 1976 | Barnsley | A | 0–2 | | 4,166 |
| 4 Sep 1976 | Huddersfield Town | H | 1–1 | Bell | 2,284 |
| 10 Sep 1976 | Doncaster Rovers | A | 0–1 | | 3,739 |
| 18 Sep 1976 | Aldershot | H | 2–1 | Clark 2 | 2,490 |
| 25 Sep 1976 | Southport | A | 1–0 | Williams | 1,313 |
| 2 Oct 1976 | Torquay United | H | 0–0 | | 2,460 |
| 9 Oct 1976 | Brentford | A | 1–1 | Woods | 5,890 |
| 16 Oct 1976 | Bradford City | A | 1–3 | Jones | 5,057 |
| 22 Oct 1976 | Swansea City | H | 0–2 | | 3,416 |
| 26 Oct 1976 | Hartlepool United | H | 1–1 | Woods | 2,330 |
| 29 Oct 1976 | Southend United | A | 1–1 | Villars | 4,821 |
| 2 Nov 1976 | Bournemouth | A | 0–1 | | 3,570 |
| 13 Nov 1976 | Rochdale | A | 0–0 | | 2,482 |
| 27 Nov 1976 | Halifax Town | H | 1–1 | Woods | 2,901 |
| 27 Dec 1976 | Cambridge United | A | 1–3 | Woods | 4,865 |
| 1 Jan 1977 | Colchester United | A | 0–5 | | 4,614 |
| 11 Jan 1977 | Watford | A | 0–2 | | 4,600 |
| 14 Jan 1977 | Darlington | H | 0–1 | | 1,428 |
| 21 Jan 1977 | Stockport County | A | 1–2 | Bell | 3,450 |
| 28 Jan 1977 | Scunthorpe United | H | 0–0 | | 1,601 |
| 12 Feb 1977 | Huddersfield Town | A | 0–3 | | 5,452 |
| 22 Feb 1977 | Colchester United | H | 1–2 | Emmanuel | 1,575 |
| 26 Feb 1977 | Aldershot | A | 0–4 | | 3,285 |
| 1 Mar 1977 | Doncaster Rovers | H | 1–2 | Parsons | 1,714 |
| 4 Mar 1977 | Southport | H | 3–1 | Parsons 2, Bruton | 1,569 |
| 12 Mar 1977 | Torquay United | A | 0–1 | | 3,283 |
| 18 Mar 1977 | Brentford | H | 3–1 | Relish, Clark, White | 1,737 |
| 23 Mar 1977 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 0–2 | | 2,110 |
| 26 Mar 1977 | Bradford City | H | 2–0 | Clark, Woods | 2,096 |
| 28 Mar 1977 | Barnsley | H | 1–1 | Walker | 2,319 |
| 2 Apr 1977 | Swansea City | A | 1–3 | Relish | 3,577 |
| 5 Apr 1977 | Cambridge United | H | 4–2 | Clark 3, Relish | 2,306 |
| 9 Apr 1977 | Exeter City | A | 0–1 | | 5,243 |
| 12 Apr 1977 | Bournemouth | H | 1–0 | Preece | 2,962 |
| 16 Apr 1977 | Hartlepool United | A | 1–0 | Woods | 1,507 |
| 19 Apr 1977 | Scunthorpe United | A | 0–1 | | 1,883 |
| 23 Apr 1977 | Rochdale | H | 3–0 | Woods 3 | 2,206 |
| 26 Apr 1977 | Exeter City | H | 0–3 | | 3,550 |
| 30 Apr 1977 | Halifax Town | A | 0–0 | | 1,299 |
| 3 May 1977 | Watford | H | 3–0 | Clark, Preece, Woods | 2,218 |
| 7 May 1977 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 2–1 | Woods, OG | 2,484 |
| 10 May 1977 | Southend United | H | 3–0 | Preece 2, Relish | 3,356 |
| 14 May 1977 | Workington | A | 1–0 | Preece | 1,285 |
| 17 May 1977 | Workington | H | 1–0 | Woods | 8,313 |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 1 | 20 Nov 1976 | Bournemouth | A | 0–0 | | 4,801 |
| 1r | 23 Nov 1976 | Bournemouth | H | 3–0 | Parsons 2, Woods | 3,807 |
| 2 | 11 Dec 1976 | Southend United | A | 0–3 | | 5,724 |

### Football League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Notes |
| 1–1 | 14 Aug 1976 | Swansea City | A | 1–4 | Woods | 3,281 | |
| 1–2 | 17 Aug 1976 | Swansea City | H | 1–0 | Bell | 2,692 | 2–4 agg |

### Welsh Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 4 | 18 Jan 1977 | Swansea City | H | 1–4 | Parsons | 3,755 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Cambridge United | 46 | 26 | 13 | 7 | 87 | 40 | +47 | 65 |
| 2 | Exeter City | 46 | 25 | 12 | 9 | 70 | 46 | +24 | 62 |
| 3 | Colchester United | 46 | 25 | 9 | 12 | 77 | 43 | +34 | 59 |
| 4 | Bradford City | 46 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 78 | 51 | +27 | 59 |
| 5 | Swansea City | 46 | 25 | 8 | 13 | 92 | 68 | +24 | 58 |
| 6 | Barnsley | 46 | 23 | 9 | 14 | 62 | 39 | +23 | 55 |
| 7 | Watford | 46 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 67 | 50 | +17 | 51 |
| 8 | Doncaster Rovers | 46 | 21 | 9 | 16 | 71 | 65 | +6 | 51 |
| 9 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 60 | 49 | +11 | 50 |
| 10 | Southend United | 46 | 15 | 19 | 12 | 52 | 45 | +7 | 49 |
| 11 | Darlington | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 59 | 64 | −5 | 49 |
| 12 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 47 | 60 | −13 | 49 |
| 13 | Bournemouth | 46 | 15 | 18 | 13 | 54 | 44 | +10 | 48 |
| 14 | Stockport County | 46 | 13 | 19 | 14 | 53 | 57 | −4 | 45 |
| 15 | Brentford | 46 | 18 | 7 | 21 | 77 | 76 | +1 | 43 |
| 16 | Torquay United | 46 | 17 | 9 | 20 | 59 | 67 | −8 | 43 |
| 17 | Aldershot | 46 | 16 | 11 | 19 | 49 | 59 | −10 | 43 |
| 18 | Rochdale | 46 | 13 | 12 | 21 | 50 | 59 | −9 | 38 |
| 19 | Newport County | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 42 | 58 | −16 | 38 |
| 20 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 49 | 73 | −24 | 37 |
| 21 | Halifax Town | 46 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 47 | 58 | −11 | 36 |
| 22 | Hartlepool | 46 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 47 | 73 | −26 | 32 |
| 23 | Southport | 46 | 3 | 19 | 24 | 33 | 77 | −44 | 25 |
| 24 | Workington | 46 | 4 | 11 | 31 | 41 | 102 | −61 | 19 |
* Division Champions
* Promoted
* Re-elected
* Failed re-election
P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points