# 1971–72 Leicester City F.C. season

During the 1971–72 English football season, Leicester City F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

## Season summary

In the 1971–72 season, Jimmy Bloomfield was appointed as new Leicester boss for the new season, and kept them in the First Division in their first season back in the top flight after a 2-year absence with a satisfying 12th-place finish. Unusually, due to Division One champions Arsenal's commitments in European competition, Division Two winners Leicester were invited to play FA Cup winners Liverpool in the Charity Shield, winning it for the first time, by 1-0.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 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 | |
* ↑ 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

Leicester City's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 14 August 1971 | Huddersfield Town | A | 2–2 | 16,285 | Brown, Nish |
| 18 August 1971 | Nottingham Forest | H | 2–1 | 32,079 | Brown, O'Kane (own goal) |
| 21 August 1971 | Derby County | H | 0–2 | 35,460 | |
| 25 August 1971 | Stoke City | A | 1–3 | 21,678 | Brown |
| 28 August 1971 | Liverpool | A | 2–3 | 50,970 | Fern, Farrington |
| 1 September 1971 | Southampton | H | 0–1 | 22,055 | |
| 4 September 1971 | Manchester City | H | 0–0 | 25,238 | |
| 11 September 1971 | Ipswich Town | A | 2–1 | 18,483 | Sammels, Kellard |
| 18 September 1971 | Sheffield United | H | 0–1 | 30,143 | |
| 25 September 1971 | Arsenal | A | 0–3 | 40,201 | |
| 2 October 1971 | Crystal Palace | H | 0–0 | 28,493 | |
| 9 October 1971 | West Ham United | A | 1–1 | 31,060 | Cross |
| 16 October 1971 | Huddersfield Town | H | 2–0 | 22,412 | Sammels, Weller |
| 23 October 1971 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–0 | 23,088 | Weller |
| 30 October 1971 | Chelsea | H | 1–1 | 36,574 | Birchenall |
| 6 November 1971 | Leeds United | A | 1–2 | 39,877 | Brown |
| 13 November 1971 | Newcastle United | H | 3–0 | 28,792 | Brown, Sammels, Fern |
| 20 November 1971 | Manchester United | A | 2–3 | 48,757 | Birchenall, Glover |
| 27 November 1971 | Everton | H | 0–0 | 29,662 | |
| 4 December 1971 | Coventry City | A | 1–1 | 26,300 | Brown |
| 11 December 1971 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 0–1 | 30,721 | |
| 18 December 1971 | Manchester City | A | 1–1 | 29,524 | Weller |
| 27 December 1971 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–2 | 37,966 | Sammels |
| 1 January 1972 | Sheffield United | A | 1–1 | 34,406 | Sjoberg |
| 8 January 1972 | Liverpool | H | 1–0 | 26,421 | Brown |
| 22 January 1972 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–1 | 27,250 | Weller, Birchenall |
| 29 January 1972 | Stoke City | H | 2–1 | 26,931 | Glover, Farrington |
| 12 February 1972 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 0–1 | 24,225 | |
| 19 February 1972 | Chelsea | A | 1–2 | 38,783 | Glover |
| 4 March 1972 | Newcastle United | A | 0–2 | 25,256 | |
| 11 March 1972 | West Ham United | H | 2–0 | 23,345 | Nish (2) |
| 18 March 1972 | Derby County | A | 0–3 | 34,019 | |
| 22 March 1972 | Leeds United | H | 0–0 | 32,152 | |
| 25 March 1972 | Ipswich Town | H | 1–0 | 19,769 | Tomlin |
| 1 April 1972 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–0 | 23,981 | Shaw (own goal) |
| 3 April 1972 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–1 | 23,736 | Fern |
| 4 April 1972 | Arsenal | H | 0–0 | 27,431 | |
| 8 April 1972 | Manchester United | H | 2–0 | 35,970 | Weller, Birchenall |
| 11 April 1972 | Southampton | A | 0–1 | 18,752 | |
| 15 April 1972 | Everton | A | 0–0 | 33,342 | |
| 22 April 1972 | Coventry City | H | 1–0 | 24,254 | Glover |
| 29 April 1972 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 3–4 | 19,631 | Glover, Sammels (pen), Partridge |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 15 January 1972 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–1 | 38,121 | Farrington |
| R3R | 19 January 1972 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–0 | 37,060 | Farrington, Glover |
| R4 | 5 February 1972 | Leyton Orient | H | 0–2 | 31,402 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R2 | 7 September 1971 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1–3 | 11,694 | Partridge |

### FA Charity Shield

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 7 August 1971 | Liverpool | H | 1–0 | 25,014 | Whitworth |

### Anglo-Italian Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| Group 2 | 1 June 1972 | Cagliari | A | 0–1 | 4,000 | |
| Group 2 | 4 June 1972 | Atalanta | A | 3–5 | 7,000 | Weller, Sammels (2) |
| Group 2 | 7 June 1972 | Cagliari | H | 2–1 | 16,027 | Weller, Nish |
| Group 2 | 10 June 1972 | Atalanta | H | 6–0 | 10,949 | Glover, Nish, Sammels, Weller (2), Farrington |

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | GK | ENG | Peter Shilton |
| - | DF | ENG | Steve Whitworth |
| - | DF | ENG | David Nish |
| - | MF | ENG | Bobby Kellard |
| - | DF | SCO | John Sjoberg |
| - | DF | ENG | Graham Cross |
| - | MF | ENG | John Farrington |
| - | FW | SCO | Alistair Brown |
| - | FW | ENG | Rodney Fern |
| - | MF | ENG | Jon Sammels |
| - | MF | ENG | Len Glover |
| - | MF | ENG | Willie Carlin |
| - | DF | ENG | Joe Jopling |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | DF | SCO | Malcolm Manley |
| - | DF | ENG | Alan Woollett |
| - | FW | ENG | Malcolm Partridge |
| - | MF | ENG | Paul Matthews |
| - | DF | ENG | Malcolm Munro |
| - | MF | ENG | Keith Weller |
| - | MF | ENG | Alan Birchenall |
| - | MF | ENG | David Tomlin |
| - | GK | ENG | Carl Jayes |
| - | GK | ENG | Mark Wallington |
| - | FW | ENG | Bob Lee |
| - | DF | ENG | Steve Yates |