# 1971–72 Football League First Division

Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1971–72 season.

## Overview

Derby County won the First Division title for the first time in the club's history that season. Derby's first ever First Division title was confirmed on May 8, after title challengers Liverpool and Leeds United failed to win their final games at Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively. On April 26, Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest were relegated after Crystal Palace beat Stoke City 2-0 at Selhurst Park to ensure their survival.

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Derby County (C) | 42 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 69 | 33 | 2.091 | 58 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Leeds United | 42 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 73 | 31 | 2.355 | 57 | Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Liverpool | 42 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 64 | 30 | 2.133 | 57 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Manchester City | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 77 | 45 | 1.711 | 57 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Arsenal | 42 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 58 | 40 | 1.450 | 52 | |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 63 | 42 | 1.500 | 51 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Chelsea | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 58 | 49 | 1.184 | 48 | |
| 8 | Manchester United | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 69 | 61 | 1.131 | 48 | |
| 9 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 65 | 57 | 1.140 | 47 | Qualification for the Watney Cup |
| 10 | Sheffield United | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 61 | 60 | 1.017 | 46 | Qualification for the Watney Cup |
| 11 | Newcastle United | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 49 | 52 | 0.942 | 41 | |
| 12 | Leicester City | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 41 | 46 | 0.891 | 39 | |
| 13 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 39 | 53 | 0.736 | 38 | |
| 14 | West Ham United | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 47 | 51 | 0.922 | 36 | |
| 15 | Everton | 42 | 9 | 18 | 15 | 37 | 48 | 0.771 | 36 | |
| 16 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 42 | 54 | 0.778 | 35 | |
| 17 | Stoke City | 42 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 39 | 56 | 0.696 | 35 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 18 | Coventry City | 42 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 44 | 67 | 0.657 | 33 | |
| 19 | Southampton | 42 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 52 | 80 | 0.650 | 31 | |
| 20 | Crystal Palace | 42 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 39 | 65 | 0.600 | 29 | |
| 21 | Nottingham Forest (R) | 42 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 47 | 81 | 0.580 | 25 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 22 | Huddersfield Town (R) | 42 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 27 | 59 | 0.458 | 25 | Relegation to the Second Division |
* ↑ Leeds United qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1971-72 FA Cup winners.
* ↑ Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the UEFA Cup as the 1971-72 UEFA Cup winners.
* ↑ Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United 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 | CHE | COV | CRY | DER | EVE | HUD | IPS | LEE | LEI | LIV | MCI | MUN | NEW | NOT | SHU | SOU | STK | TOT | WBA | WHU | WOL |
| Arsenal | | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Chelsea | 1–2 | | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| Coventry City | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Crystal Palace | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 |
| Derby County | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Everton | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 8–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Huddersfield Town | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Ipswich Town | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Leeds United | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 7–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Leicester City | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Liverpool | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 | | 3–0 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Manchester City | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–2 |
| Manchester United | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 | | 0–2 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1–3 |
| Newcastle United | 2–0 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Nottingham Forest | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 2–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Sheffield United | 0–5 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 7–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 3–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 |
| Southampton | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–5 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 3–2 | | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 |
| Stoke City | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 6–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 3–2 | 0–1 | 4–1 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 2–3 |
| West Ham United | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | | 1–0 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 5–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | |

## Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Manchester United | Matt Busby | End of caretaker spell | 6 June 1971 | Pre-season | Frank O'Farrell | 6 June 1971 |
| Leicester City | Frank O'Farrell | Signed by Manchester United | 6 June 1971 | Pre-season | Jimmy Bloomfield | 23 June 1971 |
| West Bromwich Albion | Alan Ashman | Sacked | 1 July 1971 | Pre-season | Don Howe | 8 July 1971 |
| Manchester City | Joe Mercer | Resigned | 7 October 1971 | 4th | Malcolm Allison | 7 October 1971 |
| Coventry City | Noel Cantwell | Sacked | 12 March 1972 | 18th | Bob Dennison (caretaker) | 12 March 1972 |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Francis Lee | Manchester City | 33 |
| 2 | Martin Chivers | Tottenham Hotspur | 25 |
| 3 | Peter Lorimer | Leeds United | 23 |
| = | Malcolm Macdonald | Newcastle United | 23 |
| 4 | George Best | Manchester United | 18 |
| = | Ian Storey-Moore | Nottingham Forest / Manchester United | 18 |
| = | Peter Osgood | Chelsea | 18 |
| 5 | Tony Brown | West Bromwich Albion | 17 |
| = | Clyde Best | West Ham United | 17 |