# 1976–77 Football League First Division

Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1976–77 season.

## 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 were 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.

## League standings

| Pos | Team | 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 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 42 | 22 | 7 | 13 | 76 | 50 | +26 | 51 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Newcastle United | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 64 | 49 | +15 | 49 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 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 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 22 | Tottenham Hotspur (R) | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 48 | 72 | −24 | 33 | Relegation to the Second Division |
* ↑ Manchester United qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1976–77 FA Cup winners.

### Stats

Record
* Most wins: Liverpool (23)
* Fewest losses: Manchester City (7)
* Most goals scored: Aston Villa (76)
* Fewest goals conceded: Liverpool (33)
* Best goal difference ratio: Liverpool (+29)
* Most draws: Derby County (19)
* Fewest draws: Aston Villa (7)
* Most losses: Tottenham Hotspur
* Fewest wins: Derby County (9)
* Fewest goals scored: Stoke City (28)
* Most goals conceded: Tottenham Hotspur (72)
* Worst goal difference ratio: Tottenham Hotspur (–24)

## 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 | |

## Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Arsenal | Bertie Mee | Retired | 4 May 1976 | Pre-season | Terry Neill | 7 July 1976 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Terry Neill | Signed by Arsenal | 7 July 1976 | Pre-season | Keith Burkinshaw | 7 July 1976 |
| Sunderland | Bob Stokoe | Resigned | 18 October 1976 | 22nd | Jimmy Adamson | 1 December 1976 |
| Derby County | Dave Mackay | Resigned | 25 November 1976 | 19th | Colin Murphy | 25 November 1976 |
| Everton | Billy Bingham | Sacked | 8 January 1977 | 15th | Gordon Lee | 1 February 1977 |
| Newcastle United | Gordon Lee | Signed by Everton | 1 February 1977 | 7th | Richard Dinnis | 1 February 1977 |
| Stoke City | Tony Waddington | Mutual consent | 22 March 1977 | 14th | George Eastham | 24 March 1977 |
| Middlesbrough | Jack Charlton | Resigned | 2 April 1977 | 10th | Harold Shepherdson (caretaker) | 2 April 1977 |