1971–72 Manchester City F.C. season

1971–72 season of Manchester City

Manchester City 1971–72 football season

Manchester City
1971–72 season
Manager	Joe Mercer (to 7 Oct 1971) Malcolm Allison (from 7 Oct 1971)
Stadium	Maine Road
First Division	4th
FA Cup	Third Round
League Cup	Third Round
Texaco Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Francis Lee(33) All: Francis Lee(35)
Highest home attendance	63,366 vs Manchester United 6 November 1971
Lowest home attendance	25,677 vs West Bromwich Albion 1 March 1972
Average home league attendance	38,559 (6th highest in league)
← 1970–71 1972–73 →

The 1971–72 season was Manchester City's 70th season of competitive football and 52nd season in the top division of English football.^[1] In addition to the First Division, the club competed in the FA Cup, Football League Cup, FA Charity Shield and the UEFA Cup. On the 18th March, the club were 5 points clear at the top of the table with eight games to go. However, City only won 3 of their remaining 8 games, leaving them fourth by the end of the season. The signing of Rodney Marsh in March 1972 was widely blamed for the slip up, as it was suggested by former players such as Neil Young, that his style of play did not suit the team.

First Division

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
2	Leeds United	42	24	9	9	73	31	2.355	57	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round^[a]
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^[b]

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
Notes:

^ 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.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
42	23	11	8	77	45	1.711	57	16	3	2	48	15	35	7	8	6	29	30	22

Source: [1]

Results

Date	Opponents	H / A	Venue	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
14 August 1971	Leeds United	H	Maine Road	0 – 1		38,566
18 August 1971	Crystal Palace	H	Maine Road	4 – 0	Lee (2), Booth, Davies	27,103
21 August 1971	Chelsea	A	Stamford Bridge	2 - 2	Lee (2)	38,425
24 August 1971	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	Molineux Stadium	1 – 2	Lee	26,663
28 August 1971	Tottenham Hotspur	H	Maine Road	4 – 0	Bell, Summerbee, Davies, Lee	36,463
1 September 1971	Liverpool	H	Maine Road	1 - 0	Mellor	45,144
4 September 1971	Leicester City	A	Filbert Street	0 – 0		25,258
11 September 1971	Newcastle United	H	Maine Road	2 – 1	Bell, Lee	32,710
18 September 1971	Nottingham Forest	A	City Ground	2 – 2	Lee, Davies	21,468
25 September 1971	Southampton	H	Maine Road	3 – 0	Lee, Bell, Davies	27,897
2 October 1971	West Bromwich Albion	A	The Hawthorns	2 – 0	Lee, Connor	25,834
9 October 1971	Everton	H	Maine Road	1 - 0	Lee	33,538
16 October 1971	Leeds United	A	Elland Road	0 – 3		36,004
23 October 1971	Sheffield United	H	Maine Road	2 – 1	Doyle, Lee	41,688
30 October 1971	Huddersfield Town	A	Leeds Road	1 – 1	Carter	20,153
6 November 1971	Manchester United	H	Maine Road	3 - 3	Lee, Bell, Summerbee	63,366
13 November 1971	Arsenal	A	Highbury	2 – 1	Mellor, Bell	47,443
20 November 1971	West Ham United	A	Boleyn Ground	0 – 0	Lee, Davies	33,694
27 November 1971	Coventry City	H	Maine Road	4 – 0	Lee (2), Bell (2)	31,003
4 December 1971	Derby County	A	Baseball Ground	1 – 3	Lee	35,354
11 December 1971	Ipswich Town	H	Maine Road	4 – 0	Davies, Mellor, Bell, Lee	26,900
18 December 1971	Leicester City	H	Maine Road	1 – 1	Lee	29,524
27 December 1971	Stoke City	A	Roker Park	3 – 1	Towers, Book, Lee	43,007
1 January 1972	Nottingham Forest	H	Maine Road	2 – 2	Lee, Davies	38,777
8 January 1972	Tottenham Hotspur	A	White Hart Lane	1 - 1	Davies	36,470
22 January 1972	Crystal Palace	A	Selhurst Park	2 – 1	Lee, Blyth	31,480
29 January 1972	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	Maine Road	5 – 2	Booth, Lee (3), Towers	37,639
12 February 1972	Sheffield United	A	Bramhall Lane	3 – 3	Lee (2), Bell	38,184
18 February 1972	Huddersfield Town	H	Maine Road	1 – 0	Booth	36,421
26 February 1972	Liverpool	A	Anfield	0 - 3		50,074
1 March 1972	West Bromwich Albion	H	Maine Road	2 – 1	Bell (2)	25,677
4 March 1972	Arsenal	H	Maine Road	2 - 0	Lee (2)	44,213
11 March 1972	Everton	A	Goodison Park	2 – 1	Wright (og), Hill	44,646
18 March 1972	Chelsea	H	Maine Road	1 – 0	Booth	53,322
25 March 1972	Newcastle United	A	St James Park	0 – 0		37,460
1 April 1972	Stoke City	H	Maine Road	1 – 2	Lee	49,392
3 April 1972	Southampton	A	The Dell	0 – 2		27,374
8 April 1972	West Ham United	H	Maine Road	3 – 1	Marsh (2), Bell	38,491
12 April 1972	Manchester United	A	Old Trafford	3 – 1	Lee (2), Marsh	56,000
15 April 1972	Coventry City	A	Highfield Road	1 – 1	Towers	34,225
18 April 1972	Ipswich Town	A	Portman Road	1 – 2	Summerbee	24,365
22 April 1972	Derby County	H	Maine Road	2 - 0	Marsh, Lee	55,026

FA Cup

Results

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Venue	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
15 January 1972	3rd Round	Middlesbrough	H	Maine Road	1 – 1	Lee (pen)	42,620
18 January 1972	3rd Round Replay	Middlesbrough	A	Ayresome Park	0 – 1		37,917

Football League Cup

Results

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Venue	Result F – A	Scorers	Attendance
8 September 1971	2nd Round	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	Maine Road	4 – 3	Davies, Bell (2), Lee (pen)	29,156
5 October 1971	3rd Round	Bolton Wanderers	A	Burnden Park	0 – 3		42,039

References

^ "History". Statto.

External links

Official website

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1971–72 in English football

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National teams

League competitions

Levels 1–4	Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division, Fourth Division)
Levels 5–6	Isthmian League (level 5 only) Northern Premier League (level 5 only) Southern League (Premier, One North, One South)
Levels 7–9	Athenian League (Premier, One, Two) Cheshire County League (level 7 only) Eastern Counties League (level 7 only) Essex Senior League (level 7 only) Hellenic League (Premier, One A, One B) Kent League (level 7 only) Lancashire Combination (level 7 only) Midland Football Combination (level 7 only) Midland League (level 7 only) Northern League (level 7 only) South Midlands League (Premier, One) Spartan League (level 7 only) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (One, Two, Three) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 7 only) Western League (level 7 only) Yorkshire League (One, Two, Three)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) Charity Shield FA Trophy (Final) FA Amateur Cup
Football League cups	League Cup (Final) Watney Cup

European competitions

Club seasons
First Division	Arsenal Chelsea Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Queens Park Rangers Sheffield United Southampton Stoke City Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Birmingham City Blackpool Bristol City Burnley Cardiff City Carlisle United Charlton Athletic Fulham Hull City Leyton Orient Luton Town Middlesbrough Millwall Norwich City Oxford United Portsmouth Preston North End Sheffield Wednesday Sunderland Swindon Town Watford
Third Division	Aston Villa Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Bournemouth Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol Rovers Chesterfield Halifax Town Mansfield Town Notts County Oldham Athletic Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Rochdale Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Swansea City Torquay United Tranmere Rovers Walsall Wrexham York City
Fourth Division	Aldershot Barrow Brentford Bury Cambridge United Chester Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Darlington Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Gillingham Grimsby Town Hartlepool United Lincoln City Newport County Northampton Town Peterborough United Reading Scunthorpe United Southend United Southport Stockport County Workington