# 1970–71 Football League First Division

Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1970–71 season.

## Overview

Arsenal won the First Division title for the eighth time in the club's history that season. They also won the FA Cup to complete the club's first double. Arsenal wrapped up the title on 3 May, with a 1–0 win at North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Blackpool were relegated on 12 April, after only holding Tottenham Hotspur to a 0–0 draw at home. Burnley joined them on 24 April, after losing 2–1 at home to Derby County, which meant West Ham United's 1–1 draw at Manchester United saved the Hammers from relegation.

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Arsenal (C) | 42 | 29 | 7 | 6 | 71 | 29 | 2.448 | 65 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Leeds United | 42 | 27 | 10 | 5 | 72 | 30 | 2.400 | 64 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 19 | 14 | 9 | 54 | 33 | 1.636 | 52 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 64 | 54 | 1.185 | 52 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Liverpool | 42 | 17 | 17 | 8 | 42 | 24 | 1.750 | 51 | Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 6 | Chelsea | 42 | 18 | 15 | 9 | 52 | 42 | 1.238 | 51 | Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 7 | Southampton | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 56 | 44 | 1.273 | 46 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 8 | Manchester United | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 65 | 66 | 0.985 | 43 | Qualification for the Watney Cup |
| 9 | Derby County | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 56 | 54 | 1.037 | 42 | |
| 10 | Coventry City | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 37 | 38 | 0.974 | 42 | |
| 11 | Manchester City | 42 | 12 | 17 | 13 | 47 | 42 | 1.119 | 41 | |
| 12 | Newcastle United | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 44 | 46 | 0.957 | 41 | |
| 13 | Stoke City | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 44 | 48 | 0.917 | 37 | |
| 14 | Everton | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 54 | 60 | 0.900 | 37 | |
| 15 | Huddersfield Town | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 40 | 49 | 0.816 | 36 | |
| 16 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 42 | 61 | 0.689 | 36 | |
| 17 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 58 | 75 | 0.773 | 35 | Qualification for the Watney Cup |
| 18 | Crystal Palace | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 39 | 57 | 0.684 | 35 | |
| 19 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 12 | 10 | 20 | 42 | 48 | 0.875 | 34 | |
| 20 | West Ham United | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 47 | 60 | 0.783 | 34 | |
| 21 | Burnley (R) | 42 | 7 | 13 | 22 | 29 | 63 | 0.460 | 27 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 22 | Blackpool (R) | 42 | 4 | 15 | 23 | 34 | 66 | 0.515 | 23 | Relegation to the Second Division |
* ↑ Liverpool qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup runners-up, as winners, Arsenal, qualified for the European Cup.
* ↑ Chelsea qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1970-71 European Cup Winners' Cup winners.
* 1 2 Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion 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 | BLP | BUR | CHE | COV | CRY | DER | EVE | HUD | IPS | LEE | LIV | MCI | MUN | NEW | NOT | SOU | STK | TOT | WBA | WHU | WOL |
| Arsenal | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 6–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Blackpool | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 3–4 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Burnley | 1–2 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 |
| Chelsea | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Coventry City | 1–3 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Crystal Palace | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–5 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Derby County | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 1–0 | | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–4 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 1–2 |
| Everton | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Huddersfield Town | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Ipswich Town | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | | 2–4 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 |
| Leeds United | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Liverpool | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Manchester City | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–2 | | 3–4 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Manchester United | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–4 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Newcastle United | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Nottingham Forest | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 4–1 |
| Southampton | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Stoke City | 5–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 3–1 | | 2–1 | 2–4 |
| West Ham United | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | | 3–3 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | |

## Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Blackpool | Les Shannon | Sacked | 26 October 1970 | 21st | Jimmy Meadows (caretaker) | 26 October 1970 |
| Blackpool | Jimmy Meadows | End of caretaker spell | 20 December 1970 | 22nd | Bob Stokoe | 20 December 1970 |
| Manchester United | Wilf McGuinness | Demoted to coach | 29 December 1970 | 18th | Matt Busby (caretaker) | 29 December 1970 |

## Top goalscorers

* Goalscorers are listed order of total goals, then according to the number of league goals, then of FA cup goals, then of League Cup goals. A dash means the team of the player in question did not participate in European competitions.
| Rank | Scorer | Club | League goals | FA Cup goals | League Cup goals | Texaco Cup goals | Euro competitions | Total |
| 1 | Martin Chivers | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 1 | 7 | 5 | — | 34 |
| 2 | Tony Brown | West Bromwich Albion | 28 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 30 |
| 3 | Ray Kennedy | Arsenal | 19 | 2 | 2 | — | 3 | 26 |
| 4 | Bobby Gould | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 17 | 2 | 0 | 5 | — | 24 |
| 5 | Allan Clarke | Leeds United | 19 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 23 |
| 6 | Joe Royle | Everton | 17 | 2 | 0 | — | 4 | 23 |
| 7 | Ian Storey-Moore | Nottingham Forest | 18 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 22 |
| 8 | George Best | Manchester United | 18 | 1 | 2 | — | — | 21 |
| 9 | Ron Davies | Southampton | 17 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 21 |
| 10 | John Radford | Arsenal | 15 | 2 | 1 | — | 3 | 21 |
| 11 | Mick Channon | Southampton | 18 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 20 |
| 12 | Hugh Curran | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 16 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | 20 |
| 13 | Francis Lee | Manchester City | 14 | 0 | 1 | — | 4 | 19 |
| 14 | Colin Bell | Manchester City | 13 | 4 | 0 | — | 2 | 19 |
| 15 | John Toschack | Liverpool / Cardiff City | 5 + 8 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 + 5 | 19 |
| 16 | Peter Lorimer | Leeds United | 12 | 2 | 0 | — | 5 | 19 |
| 17 | Martin Peters | Tottenham Hotspur | 9 | 2 | 4 | 4 | — | 19 |
| 18 | John Ritchie | Stoke City | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 |
| 19 | Alan Gilzean | Tottenham Hotspur | 9 | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | 17 |
| 20 | Denis Law | Manchester United | 15 | 0 | 1 | — | — | 16 |
| = | Geoff Hurst | West Ham United | 15 | 0 | 1 | — | — | 16 |
| 22 | Johnny Giles | Leeds United | 13 | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 16 |
| 23 | Jeff Astle | West Bromwich Albion | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 15 |
| = | John O’Hare | Derby County | 13 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 15 |
| 25 | Alun Evans | Liverpool | 10 | 1 | 1 | — | 3 | 15 |
| 26 | John Tudor | Newcastle United / Sheffield United | 5 + 9 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 14 |
| 27 | Keith Weller | Chelsea | 13 | 0 | 1 | — | 0 | 14 |
| 28 | Terry Conroy | Stoke City | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 14 |
| 29 | George Graham | Arsenal | 11 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 14 |
| 30 | Neil Martin | Coventry City / Nottingham Forest | 1 + 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| 31 | Pop Robson | Newcastle United / West Ham United | 3 + 9 | 0 + 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 13 |
| 32 | Derek Dougan | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | — | 13 |
| 33 | Alan Birchenall | Crystal Palace | 10 | 1 | 2 | — | — | 13 |
| 34 | Ernie Hunt | Coventry City | 10 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 13 |
| 35 | Brian Kidd | Manchester United | 8 | 0 | 5 | — | — | 13 |
| 36 | Kevin Hector | Derby County | 11 | 0 | 1 | — | — | 12 |
| 37 | / Colin Viljoen | Ipswich Town | 10 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 12 |
| 38 | Alan Hinton | Derby County | 10 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 12 |
| 39 | Gerry Queen | Crystal Palace | 9 | 0 | 3 | — | — | 12 |
| 40 | Peter Cormack | Nottingham Forest | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | 12 |
| 41 | Frank Worthington | Huddersfield Town | 9 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 11 |
| 42 | Micky Burns | Blackpool | 10 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 10 |
| 43 | Frank James Clarke | Ipswich Town | 8 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 10 |
| 44 | Jimmy Greenhoff | Stoke City | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 |
| 45 | Charlie George | Arsenal | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 10 |
* The listing above is from the Rothmans Football Yearbook 1971–72, pp. 465–468. The Queen Anne Press Limited. Compiled by Tony Williams and Roy Peskett. Editorial Board: Denis Howell, Sir Matt Busby, David Coleman, Jimmy Hill, Tony Williams and Roy Peskett.