1977–78 in English football

The 1977-1978 season was the 98th season of competitive football (soccer) in England, from August 1977 to July 1978:

Overview

First Division

Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest side took on the First Division by storm, by winning the League Cup on 22 March and confirming themselves as league champions the following month. They joined a small and exclusive company of clubs to have won the league championship one season after promotion.

Manchester United broke the British transfer fee record on 9 February by paying Leeds United £495,000 for Scottish defender Gordon McQueen.

West Ham United, Newcastle United and Leicester City were all relegated.

econd Division

Bolton Wanderers, Southampton F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur were all promoted, while Blackpool F.C., Mansfield Town and Hull City were all relegated

Third Division

Wrexham, Cambridge United and Preston North End were all promoted, while Portsmouth F.C., Port Vale, Bradford City and Hereford United were all relegated.

Fourth Division

Wimbledon play their first season in the Football League, replacing Workington. Watford F.C., Southend United, Swansea City and Brentford F.C. were all promoted, while Southport F.C. were relegated.

Non-league

Wigan Athletic were elected to the Football League in place of Southport. The club had applied for Football League membership 28 times since it was formed in 1932 in place of a previous club, Wigan Borough, who had briefly been league members during the 1920s.

FA Cup

Despite a poor League finishing position, Manager Bobby Robson led Ipswich Town to victory in the FA Cup.

Northern League side Blyth Spartans beat Second Division Stoke City 3-2 away to become the first non-League team to reach the Fifth Round of the FA Cup since 1949. They were seconds away from reaching the quarter-finals, but Wrexham equalised from a retaken corner kick before winning a replay. Blyth gained some revenge by being the final winners of the Debenhams Cup against Wrexham later in the season.

European football

Liverpool thrashed Hamburg 6-0 to win the European Super Cup 7-1 on aggregate. In the Hamburg side was former Liverpool striker Kevin Keegan. They went on to beat Club Brugge 1-0 on 10 May thanks to a Kenny Dalglish goal and thus retained the European Cup.

Manchester United were thrown out of the Cup Winners' Cup on 19 September due to the behaviour of their fans in the away leg of their tie against St. Etienne four days earlier. They were reinstated a week later, but had to play the second leg at least 300km from Manchester and the venue was Plymouth Argyle's Home Park ground.

Honours

=Third Division=

=European Cup=

Cup Winners' Cup

UEFA Cup

Transfer deals

Deaths

*Willie Hamilton, 38, former Scottish international forward who had played for Sheffield United, Middlesbrough and Aston Villa as well as several Scottish clubs. Died in Canada as a result of a heart attack.
*Peter Houseman, 31, Oxford United midfielder previously at Chelsea. Died in a car accident along with his wife.

References

* "Rothmans Football Yearbook 1978-79"