# 1971 in association football

The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 1971 throughout the world.

## Events

* January 2 – Second Ibrox disaster. Barriers on Stairway 13 at Ibrox Park give way under a crush of fans departing a Rangers–Celtic match, killing 66 and injuring over 200.
* 17 April 1971 - France and the Netherlands played the first women's international football match recognized by FIFA against the France. The match took place in Hazebrouck, France and resulted in a 4–0 defeat for the Netherlands with Jocelyne Ratignier scoring a hattrick and Marie-Claire Caron-Harant scoring once.
* Copa Libertadores:Won by Nacional after defeating Estudiantes La Plata on an aggregate score of 2–0.
* May 20 – Ajax claims the KNVB Cup by defeating Sparta Rotterdam in the second leg, 2–1.
* 9 May – The very first Women's FA Cup in England, the Mitre Challenge Trophy for women's professional soccer football, was won when Southampton Women's F.C. defeated Stewarton Thistle, 4 to 1, in the final held at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. Pat Davies scored three of her team's four goals and Dot Cassell contributed the lone Stewarton score.

## Winners club national championship
### Asia

* Iran: Taj
* Qatar: Al-Oruba

### Europe

* France: Olympique de Marseille
* Italy: Inter Milan
* Netherlands: Feyenoord
* Spain: Valencia
* Turkey: Galatasaray

### North America

* Mexico: Club América
* United States / Canada:
** Dallas Tornado (NASL)

### South America

* Brazil: Atlético Mineiro

## International tournaments

* 1971 British Home Championship (May 15 – May 22, 1971)
       England
* Pan American Games in Colombia (July 31 – August 12, 1971)
** Gold Medal: Argentina
** Silver Medal: Colombia
** Bronze Medal: Cuba

## Births
### January

* January 1 – Juan Carlos Plata, Guatemalan footballer and coach
* January 2 – Slobodan Komljenović, Serbian footballer
* January 5 – Bjørn Otto Bragstad, Norwegian footballer
* January 8 – Jesper Jansson, Swedish footballer
* January 10 – Rudi Istenič, Slovenian footballer
* January 14 – Bert Konterman, Dutch footballer
* January 14 – Antonis Nikopolidis, Greek goalkeeper
* January 16 – Ulrich van Gobbel, Dutch footballer
* January 18 – Pep Guardiola, Spanish footballer
* January 26 – Giuseppe Pancaro, Italian footballer
* January 29 – Jörg Albertz, German footballer
* January 31 – Georgios Karathanasis, Swedish former professional footballer

### February

* February 1 – Joaquín Hernández, Mexican footballer
* February 1 – Zlatko Zahovič, Slovenian footballer
* February 1 – Marcelinho Carioca, Brazilian footballer
* February 2 – Osvaldo Peralta, Paraguayan footballer
* February 4 – Maarten Atmodikoro, Dutch footballer
* February 17 – Carlos Gamarra, Paraguayan footballer
* February 20 – Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer

### March

* March 1 – Avi Pitusi, Israeli football manager and former player
* March 4 – Jovan Stanković, Serbian footballer
* March 11 – Kokos Elia, Cypriot former international footballer
* March 13
** Juraj Mintál, retired Slovak footballer
** Allan Nielsen, Danish footballer
* March 15 – Joachim Björklund, Swedish footballer
* March 18 – Jerzy Brzęczek, Polish footballer
* March 18 – Fernando Ochoaizpur, Bolivian footballer
* March 24 – Conny Rosén, Swedish former footballer
* March 26 – Liviu Ciobotariu, Romanian footballer

### April

* April 2 – Francisco Arce, Paraguayan international
* April 2 – Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto, Brazilian footballer
* April 5 – Choi Eun-sung, South Korean club player
* April 7
** Daniel Albert, former Israeli footballer
** Franky Vandendriessche, Belgian goalkeeper
* April 8 – Kim Byung-ji, South Korean international goalkeeper
* April 9 – Víctor López, Uruguayan footballer
* April 13
** Mariano Aguilar, Spanish retired footballer
** Steven Lustü, Danish footballer and coach
* April 14
** Miguel Calero, Colombian international (d. 2012)
** Jérôme Sykora, French former professional footballer
* April 15 – Finidi George, Nigerian footballer
* April 17 – José Francisco Cevallos, Ecuadorian footballer, Minister of Sports in Ecuador and President of Barcelona F.C.
* April 23 – Hjalmar Zambrano, Ecuadorian footballer

### May

* May 1 – Mariusz Luncik, Polish former professional footballer
* May 14 – Martin Reim, Estonian footballer

### June

* June 3 – Luigi Di Biagio, Italian footballer
* June 5 – Francisco Gabriel de Anda, Mexican footballer and analyst
* June 9
** Gilles De Bilde, Belgian footballer
** Uladzimir Zhuravel, Belarusian footballer and coach (d. 2018)
* June 11 – Valeri Smolkov, former Russian professional footballer
* June 14 – Håkan Mild, Swedish footballer
* June 23 – Enrique Romero, Spanish footballer
* June 24 – Thomas Helveg, Danish international
* June 25 – Neil Lennon, Northern Irish footballer and manager
* June 28 – Fabien Barthez, French footballer

### July

* July 26 – Mladen Rudonja, Slovenian footballer
* July 31 – Elivélton, Brazilian international footballer
* July 31 – Ignacio Vázquez, Mexican footballer

### August

* August 9 – Oswald Snip, Dutch footballer
* August 10 – Roy Keane, Irish footballer and manager
* August 16 – Rick Slor, Dutch footballer
* August 18 – Patrik Andersson, Swedish footballer
* August 19
** Marios Pefkos, retired Cypriot footballer
** Miguel Ponce, Chilean footballer
* August 23
** Demetrio Albertini, Italian footballer
** Florent Delay, retired Swiss footballer
* August 26 – Osman Özköylü, Turkish footballer
* August 27 – Ernest Faber, Dutch footballer
* August 29 – Marco Sandy, Bolivian footballer

### September

* September 1
** Gilles Frechingues, French former professional footballer
** Hakan Şükür, Turkish footballer
* September 3 – Ángel Lemus, Mexican footballer
* September 3 – Paolo Montero, Uruguayan footballer
* September 9 – Mikel Lasa, Spanish footballer
* September 9 – Johan Mjällby, Swedish footballer
* September 13 – Mladen Dabanovič, Slovenian footballer
* September 17 – Edílson, Brazilian footballer
* September 18 – Filip Apelstav, Swedish footballer
* September 20 – Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer and manager
* September 29 – Miguel Fuentes, Mexican footballer
* September 29 – Jeffrey Talan, Dutch footballer

### October

* October 4 – Jorge Costa, Portuguese footballer
* October 5 – Bertrand Crasson, Belgian footballer
* October 7 – Ismael Urzaiz, Spanish footballer
* October 8 – Miran Pavlin, Slovenian footballer
* October 13 – André Bergdølmo, Norwegian footballer
* October 15 – Andy Cole, English footballer
* October 15 – Niko Kovač, Croatian footballer
* October 16 – Geert De Vlieger, Belgian footballer
* October 18 – Yoo Sang-chul, South Korean footballer
* October 21 – René Ponk, Dutch footballer
* October 25 – Geoffrey Prommayon, Dutch footballer
* October 26 – Didier Martel, French footballer
* October 27 – Theodoros Zagorakis, Greek footballer

### November

* November 3 – Dwight Yorke, Trinidadian and Tobagonian footballer
* November 12 – Robert Jones, English former professional footballer
* November 13
** Unai Emery, Spanish footballer and manager
** Erwin Ramírez, Ecuadorian footballer
* November 16 – Mustapha Hadji, Moroccan footballer
* November 17
** Jamie Murphy, English former professional footballer
** Vladimir Shutov, former Russian footballer
* November 30 – Pedro Pineda, Mexican footballer

### December

* December 2 – Francesco Toldo, Italian footballer
* December 3 – Henk Timmer, Dutch footballer
* December 7 – Spira Grujić, Serbian footballer
* December 8 – Abdullah Ercan, Turkish footballer
* December 14 – Arsenio Benítez, Paraguayan footballer
* December 26 – Mika Nurmela, Finnish footballer
* December 28 – Sergi Barjuán, Spanish footballer
* December 29 – Niclas Alexandersson, Swedish footballer

## Deaths

* June 30 – Georgi Asparuhov (28), Bulgarian footballer (born 1943)
* June 30 – Nikola Kotkov (32), Bulgarian footballer (born 1938)
* July 13 – Harry Dénis (74), Dutch footballer (born 1896)
* August 5 – Ber Groosjohan (74), Dutch footballer (born 1897)