The 1977–78 season was the 98th season of competitive football in England.

Diary of the season

11 July 1977: Don Revie resigns as manager of the England national football team after three years in charge.

12 July 1977: Barely 24 hours after quitting as England manager, Don Revie accepts a four-year contract worth £340,000 to take charge of the United Arab Emirates national team, making him the highest-paid football manager in the world.

14 July 1977: Dave Sexton steps down at Queens Park Rangers to take over as manager of Manchester United, where Tommy Docherty was sacked ten days ago. Frank Sibley succeeds Sexton at QPR, becoming the youngest manager in the history of the top-flight.

17 July 1977: Fulham are banned from the transfer market due to a reported £700,000 debt.

25 July 1977: Manchester City pay £300,000 for Southampton striker Mick Channon, who signs a six-year contract at Maine Road.

3 August 1977: Derby County sign a sponsorship deal with Swedish carmaker Saab, who supply all of the club's players with a Saab car.

5 August 1977: The Football League backs The Football Association's ban on sponsors advertising themselves on player's strips. However, non-league clubs are permitted to show sponsor's names on their players' shirts.

10 August 1977: Kenny Dalglish becomes the most expensive player to be signed by a British club when he joins Liverpool in a £440,000 move from Celtic. He takes over from Kevin Keegan, who recently joined Hamburg to become the most expensive player in Europe, as Liverpool's main striker.

11 August 1977: Pat Jennings ends 13 years at Tottenham Hotspur and signs for Arsenal in a £45,000 deal.

19 August 1977: Walsall hooligan Edward Beech, 19, receives a three-year prison sentence for kicking a policeman in the face at a game at Fellows Park last season.

20 August 1977: Champions Liverpool open the First Division season with 1–1 draw away to Middlesbrough. Promoted Nottingham Forest win 3–1 at Everton.

27 August 1977: Brian Clough sinks his old charges as his Nottingham Forest side beat rivals Derby County 3–0.

31 August 1977: Nottingham Forest top the First Division table at the end of the first month of the season after winning their first three matches. Birmingham City and West Ham United have both lost their first three games. as does Notts County's visit to Motherwell. Bristol City and Blackburn Rovers are beaten, by Partick Thistle and Hibernian respectively.

19 September 1977: Tommy Docherty makes a swift return to management at Derby County, who demote Colin Murphy back to his previous role as reserve team manager.

27–29 September 1977: English clubs make up two of the four Anglo-Scottish Cup semi-final contingent, as Notts County and Bristol City progress. Blackburn and Fulham are eliminated, the latter after two late goals saw St Mirren win the match 5–3 on the night and 6–4 on aggregate.

30 September 1977: Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool are level on points at the top of the League at the end of September. Newcastle United and winless Derby County fill the bottom two places.

22 October 1977: Tottenham Hotspur's challenge for an immediate return to the First Division is boosted by a 9–0 home win over Bristol Rovers, in which debutant striker Colin Lee scores four goals and his partner Ian Moores scores a hat-trick.

31 October 1977: Nottingham Forest continue to set the pace at the end of October. They are now four points ahead of Liverpool. Newcastle United remain bottom, and are joined by Leicester City and Bristol City in the relegation zone.

30 November 1977: After picking up just four points from four matches this month, Nottingham Forest have had their lead at the top of the table cut to just one point by Everton, with West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City a further two points behind. At the bottom, Newcastle United are already seven points from safety; Leicester City and West Ham United complete the bottom three.

27 December 1977: The highest scoring game of the day is at Highfield Road, as Coventry City beat Norwich City 5–4. Everton lose for the second time in two days, this time against Leeds United at a sold-out Elland Road. Arsenal go level on point with the Toffeemen by registering their fifth consecutive away win, with victory at West Bromwich Albion. Elsewhere, reigning Cup winners Manchester United draw with Third Division club Carlisle United, and Chelsea beat Liverpool 4–2.

10 January 1978: Liverpool pay a British record £352,000 for Middlesbrough midfielder Graeme Souness.

12 January 1978: Cambridge United manager Ron Atkinson is appointed as manager of West Bromwich Albion. Cambridge, who are second in the Third Division, announce that Atkinson's assistant, John Docherty will succeed him as manager.

28 January 1978: First Division strugglers Leicester City are knocked out of the FA Cup by Third Division Walsall in one of the shocks of this season's competition. Holders Manchester United are held to a 1–1 draw at home by West Bromwich Albion.

18 March 1978: The League Cup final ends in a goalless draw between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

22 March 1978: Nottingham Forest end their 19-year wait for a major trophy by defeating Liverpool 1–0 in the Football League Cup final replay at Old Trafford,

23 March 1978: Hartlepool United defender Dave Wiggett, 20, is killed in a car crash.

31 March 1978: Nottingham Forest remain in a commanding position at the top of the First Division, four points ahead of Everton with two games in hand. At the bottom, Leicester City and Newcastle United have been cut adrift, and Queens Park Rangers are one point behind West Ham United in the battle to avoid the remaining relegation spot. They get the point they need to guarantee the championship with four matches left from a goalless draw with Coventry City.

2 May 1978: Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Aston Villa 3–1 to stay in the First Division at West Ham United's expense.

Despite their failure to qualify for the World Cup, Ron Greenwood was appointed England manager on a four-and-a-half-year contract. His first match as permanent England manager ended in a 2–1 defeat to West Germany in Munich in February 1978.

Second Division

  • Bob Hatton (Blackpool) – 22 goals

Third Division

  • Alex Bruce (Preston North End) – 27 goals

Fourth Division

  • Alan Curtis (Swansea City), Steve Phillips (Brentford) – 32 goals

Non-league football

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

!Competition

!Winners

|-

|Isthmian League

|Enfield

|-

|Northern Premier League

|Boston United

|-

|Southern League

|Bath City

|-

|FA Trophy

|Altrincham

|-

|FA Vase

|Newcastle Blue Star

|}

Awards

Football Writers' Association

  • FWA Footballer of the Year – Kenny Burns, Nottingham Forest

Professional Footballers' Association

  • PFA Players' Player of the Year – Peter Shilton, Nottingham Forest
  • PFA Young Player of the Year – Tony Woodcock, Nottingham Forest
  • PFA Merit Award – Bill Shankly

Famous debutants

3 September 1977: Cyrille Regis, 19-year-old French Guiana born striker, makes his debut for West Bromwich Albion against Middlesbrough at The Hawthorns in the First Division, scoring in a 2–1 win.

3 September 1977: Russell Osman, 18-year-old defender, makes his debut for Ipswich Town in the 1–0 First Division win over Chelsea at Portman Road.

14 January 1978: Alan Brazil, 18-year-old Scottish striker, makes his debut for Ipswich Town as a substitute in the 2-1 First Division defeat by Manchester United at Portman Road.

28 January 1978: Craig Johnston, 17-year-old Australian midfielder, makes his debut for Middlesbrough in the 3-2 F.A Cup 4th Round win over Everton at Ayresome Park.

18 March 1978: Alvin Martin, 19-year-old defender, makes his debut as a substitute for West Ham United in the 4-1 First Division defeat by Aston Villa at Villa Park.

11 April 1978: Paul Goddard, 18-year-old striker, makes his debut as a substitute for Queen's Park Rangers in the 2-1 First Division win over Arsenal at Loftus Road.

15 April 1978: Terry Butcher, 19-year-old defender, makes his debut for Ipswich Town in the 1–0 First Division defeat by Everton at Goodison Park.

Deaths

  • 30 August 1977 - Alf Young, 71, played 283 league games in defence for Huddersfield Town between 1929 and 1939 and was capped nine times for England before his career was cut short by the war. After the war, he managed three Danish club sides and took charge of the Danish national side in 1956.
  • 23 October 1977 - Dick Crawshaw, 79, played 66 league at inside-forward for Manchester City, Halifax Town and Nelson between 1919 and 1924.
  • 29 November 1977 - Wilfred Milne, 78, spent his whole career as a full-back with Swansea between 1920 and 1937, making a club record 586 league appearances for the Swans.
  • 27 December 1977 - James Marshall, 69, began his career with Rangers in his native Scotland in 1925 and scored 138 league goals before his transfer south of the border to Arsenal in 1934. However, he played just four league games for the Gunners before he moved to West Ham United the following year, scoring 14 goals in 59 league games before retiring in 1937. He was capped three times by Scotland.
  • 22 February 1978 - Jack Taylor, 64, played 201 league games as a full-back for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Norwich City and Hull City between 1931 and 1950, his career being disrupted by the war. He then managed non-league Weymouth before being appointed to QPR in 1952, serving at Loftus Road for seven years despite failing to win them promotion from the third tier of the English league. He was then recruited to Leeds United but they were relegated and he was dismissed in March 1961 to be succeeded by Don Revie.
  • 23 March 1978 – Dave Wiggett, 20, Hartlepool United defender who was killed in a car crash.
  • 4 April 1978 – Tony Leighton, 38, former Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley, Huddersfield Town and Bradford City striker, who died from motor neurone disease.
  • 25 April 1978 - Harry Griffiths, 47, who served Swansea for most of the last three decades of his life, was the club's assistant manager when he died of a heart attack during the game at Vetch Field in which they clinched promotion to the Third Division. He made 422 appearances in the league as a full-back between 1949 and 1964, scoring an impressive (for a defender) 72 goals. He returned to the club as coach in 1967 and was promoted to the manager's seat in 1975, becoming assistant manager weeks before his death on the appointment of John Toshack as player-manager.
  • 15 June 1978 – Alan Groves, 29, Blackpool midfielder who died as a result of a heart attack. He had previously played for five other clubs, most notably Oldham Athletic.

References

  • Rothmans Football Yearbook 1978–79