1976–77 Arsenal F.C. season

Arsenal

1976–77 season
Chairman	Denis Hill-Wood
Manager	Terry Neill
First Division	8th
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Quarter finals
Top goalscorer	League: Malcolm Macdonald (25) All: Malcolm Macdonald (29)
Highest home attendance	53,232 vs Manchester United (14 May 1977)
Lowest home attendance	19,517 vs West Bromwich Albion (23 October 1976)
Average home league attendance	32,671
Home colours Away colours
← 1975–76 1977–78 →

During the 1976–77 English football season, Arsenal F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary

In the 1976–77 season, former Tottenham boss Terry Neill was recruited by the Arsenal board to replace Bertie Mee in the summer, and at the age of 34 he became the youngest Arsenal manager to date.

Arsenal started the season well with just 2 defeats in their first 9 league games but their title challenge soon began to fade and at one stage went on a poor run of 9 defeats in 11 league games picking up just 3 points out of the possible 22. The Gunners finished the season in a disappointing 8th place.

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts
1	Liverpool	42		18	3	0	47	11		5	8	8	15	22		62	33	+ 29		57
2	Manchester City	42		15	5	1	38	13		6	9	6	22	21		60	34	+ 26		56
3	Ipswich Town	42		15	4	2	41	11		7	4	10	25	28		66	39	+ 27		52
4	Aston Villa	42		17	3	1	55	17		5	4	12	21	33		76	50	+ 26		51
5	Newcastle United	42		14	6	1	40	15		4	7	10	24	34		64	49	+ 15		49
6	Manchester United	42		12	6	3	41	22		6	5	10	30	40		71	62	+ 9		47
7	West Bromwich Albion	42		10	6	5	38	22		6	7	8	24	34		62	56	+ 6		45
8	Arsenal	42		11	6	4	37	20		5	5	11	27	39		64	59	+ 5		43
9	Everton	42		9	7	5	35	24		5	7	9	27	40		62	64	– 2		42
10	Leeds United	42		8	8	5	28	26		7	4	10	20	25		48	51	– 3		42
11	Leicester City	42		8	9	4	30	28		4	9	8	17	32		47	60	– 13		42
12	Middlesbrough	42		11	6	4	25	14		3	7	11	15	31		40	45	– 5		41
13	Birmingham City	42		10	6	5	38	25		3	6	12	25	36		63	61	+ 2		38
14	Queens Park Rangers	42		10	7	4	31	21		3	5	13	16	31		47	52	– 5		38
15	Derby County	42		9	9	3	36	18		0	10	11	14	37		50	55	– 5		37
16	Norwich City	42		12	4	5	30	23		2	5	14	17	41		47	64	– 17		37
17	West Ham United	42		9	6	6	28	23		2	8	11	18	42		46	65	– 19		36
18	Bristol City	42		8	7	6	25	19		3	6	12	13	29		38	48	– 10		35
19	Coventry City	42		7	9	5	34	26		3	6	12	14	33		48	59	– 11		35
20	Sunderland	42		9	5	7	29	16		2	7	12	17	38		46	54	– 8		34
21	Stoke City	42		9	8	4	21	16		1	6	14	7	35		28	51	– 23		34
22	Tottenham Hotspur	42		9	7	5	26	20		3	2	16	22	52		48	72	– 24		33

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Key
	League Champions, qualified for European Cup
	FA Cup winners, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
	Qualified for UEFA Cup
	League Cup winners, qualified for UEFA Cup
	Relegated

Results

Arsenal's score comes first^[1]

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
21 August 1976	Bristol City	H	0–1	41,082
25 August 1976	Norwich City	A	3–1	26,769	Macdonald, Nelson, Stapleton
28 August 1976	Sunderland	A	2–2	41,211	Macdonald, Ross
4 September 1976	Manchester City	H	0–0	35,132
11 September 1976	West Ham United	A	2–0	31,965	Ross, Stapleton
18 September 1976	Everton	H	3–1	34,076	Brady, Macdonald, Stapleton
25 September 1976	Ipswich Town	A	1–3	25,505	Hunter (own goal)
2 October 1976	Queens Park Rangers	H	3–2	39,442	Brady, Rice, Stapleton
16 October 1976	Stoke City	H	2–0	28,745	Macdonald, Rice
20 October 1976	Aston Villa	A	1–5	33,860	Ball
23 October 1976	Leicester City	A	1–4	19,351	Stapleton
30 October 1976	Leeds United	A	1–2	33,566	Matthews
6 November 1976	Birmingham City	H	4–0	23,063	Stapleton, Macdonald (pen), Nelson, Ross
20 November 1976	Liverpool	H	1–1	45,016	Armstrong
27 November 1976	Coventry City	A	2–1	18,313	Macdonald, Stapleton
4 December 1976	Newcastle United	H	5–3	35,000	Macdonald (3), Ross, Stapleton
15 December 1976	Derby County	A	0–0	24,016
18 December 1976	Manchester United	H	3–1	39,572	Brady, Macdonald (2)
27 December 1976	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–2	47,751	Macdonald (2)
3 January 1977	Leeds United	H	1–1	44,090	Macdonald
15 January 1977	Norwich City	H	1–0	30,537	Rice
18 January 1977	Birmingham City	A	3–3	23,247	Macdonald (3)
22 January 1977	Bristol City	A	0–2	26,282
5 February 1977	Sunderland	H	0–0	30,925
12 February 1977	Manchester City	A	0–1	45,368
15 February 1977	Middlesbrough	A	0–3	26,083
19 February 1977	West Ham United	H	2–3	38,221	Brady, Stapleton
1 March 1977	Everton	A	1–2	29,802	Macdonald
5 March 1977	Ipswich Town	H	1–4	34,688	Macdonald (pen)
8 March 1977	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–2	19,517	Macdonald
12 March 1977	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–2	26,191	Young
23 March 1977	Stoke City	A	1–1	13,951	Price
2 April 1977	Leicester City	H	3–0	23,013	O'Leary (2), Rix
9 April 1977	West Bromwich Albion	A	2–0	24,275	Macdonald, Stapleton
11 April 1977	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–0	47,432	Macdonald
16 April 1977	Liverpool	A	0–2	48,174
23 April 1977	Coventry City	H	2–0	22,790	Macdonald, Stapleton
25 April 1977	Aston Villa	H	3–0	23,961	Armstrong, Macdonald, Nelson
30 April 1977	Newcastle United	A	2–0	44,677	Macdonald, Matthews
3 May 1977	Derby County	H	0–0	26,659
7 May 1977	Middlesbrough	H	1–1	23,911	Stapleton
14 May 1977	Manchester United	A	2–3	53,232	Brady, Stapleton

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	8 January 1977	Notts County	A	1–0	17,328	Ross
R4	29 January 1977	Coventry City	H	3–1	41,078	Macdonald (2), Stapleton
R5	26 February 1977	Middlesbrough	A	1–4	35,208	Macdonald

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2	31 August 1976	Carlisle United	H	3–2	21,550	Macdonald, Ross (2)
R3	21 September 1976	Blackpool	A	1–1	18,983	Armstrong
R3R	28 September 1976	Blackpool	H	0–0	27,195
R3R2	5 October 1976	Blackpool	H	2–0	26,791	Stapleton, O'Leary
R4	26 October 1976	Chelsea	H	2–1	52,285	Ross, Stapleton
QF	1 December 1976	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–2	27,621	Stapleton

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player - GK Jimmy Rimmer - DF Pat Rice - DF David O'Leary - DF Peter Simpson - DF Sammy Nelson - MF Liam Brady - MF Trevor Ross - MF Alan Hudson - FW Frank Stapleton - FW Malcolm Macdonald - MF George Armstrong

No. Position Player - MF Alan Ball - DF Pat Howard - MF John Matthews - DF Willie Young - DF Richie Powling - DF Peter Storey - MF David Price - DF Wilf Rostron - MF Graham Rix - MF Alex Cropley - FW John Radford

References

1. http://www.statto.com/football/teams/arsenal/1976-1977/results