1977–78 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

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Nottingham Forest F.C.
1977–78 season
Chairman S.M. Dryden, J.P.
Manager Brian Clough
Football League Division One 1st (Champions)
FA Cup Sixth Round
League Cup Winners
Top goalscorer League: John Robertson, Peter Withe (12)
All: Peter Withe, Tony Woodcock (19)
Highest home attendance 47,218 vs. Liverpool (Division One, 26 December 1977)
Lowest home attendance 18,224 vs West Ham United (League Cup, 30 August 1977)
Average home league attendance 32,501
← 1976–77 1978–79 →

The 1977–78 season was Nottingham Forest's first year back in the First Division since their relegation in 1972. They had finished third in the Second Division the previous season to earn promotion.

Summary

Forest's credentials at the start of the season did not appear to be especially impressive. Promotion from Division Two in 1976–77 had been achieved only by the skin of their teeth and the squad of players was a mixture of underachievers, journeymen and inexperienced youngsters. Many pundits tipped them to struggle. However, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor had already proved at Derby County that they were capable of blending a winning formula from apparently limited resources and they would now do so again. No player epitomised Forest's success more than Kenny Burns, who arrived for £150,000 in pre-season from Birmingham City where he had acquired something of a 'wild man' reputation. Having spent several years playing as a forward, Burns was converted back to the defensive role where he had begun his career and although it took a few matches for him to settle he ended the season by being voted Footballer of the Year.

Forest confounded the critics from the outset, registering three straight league wins to top the first table of the season and thrashing West Ham United 5-0 in the second round of the League Cup. Although their 100% record ended with a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal, Forest won the next three and ended September second in the table behind Manchester City on goal difference. A 4-0 win over Ipswich Town at the beginning of October (Peter Withe scoring all four) restored them to the top of the table and there they stayed for the rest of the season. After a slight hiccup in November saw them lose consecutive away matches at Chelsea and Leeds United they went unbeaten in their remaining 26 league fixtures and were confirmed as champions following a goalless draw at Coventry City in April.

Two further additions had been made to the playing squad in the early weeks of the season. Peter Shilton was signed from Stoke City for £325,000, then a record transfer fee for a goalkeeper, and Archie Gemmill joined from Derby in a deal that also saw Shilton's predecessor John Middleton move in the opposite direction. Middleton had conceded six goals in Forest's opening five league matches - Shilton would concede only 18 in the remaining 37. In December, Forest bought David Needham from Queens Park Rangers for £140,000 to add depth to the defence. Nevertheless, they used just 17 players during the season, one of whom (teenage reserve goalkeeper Chris Woods) only appeared in the League Cup as cover for the cup-tied Shilton.

Forest's League Cup run saw them score 23 goals in just six matches en route to facing Liverpool in the final at Wembley where Woods performed heroics to keep the reigning league and European champions at bay and earn Forest a goalless draw. Liverpool also had the better of the replay at Old Trafford but a controversial penalty converted by John Robertson was enough to give Forest their first piece of major silverware since the FA Cup in 1959. A clean sweep of domestic trophies looked a distinct possibility until defeat at West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup quarter-final.

Players

Squad Stats

The statistics for the following players are for their time during 1977-78 season playing for Nottingham Forest. Any stats from a different club during 1977-78 are not included. Includes all competitive matches.

Position Nation Name Total Division One League Cup FA Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England John Middleton 6 0 5 0 1 0 0 0
GK England Peter Shilton 43 0 37 0 0 0 6 0
GK England Chris Woods 7 0 0 0 7 0 0 0
DF England Viv Anderson 50 4 37 3 8 1 5 0
DF England Colin Barrett 41(2) 1 33(2) 1 5 0 3 0
DF Scotland Kenny Burns 55 4 41 4 8 0 6 0
DF England Frank Clark 19(1) 1 12(1) 1 4 0 3 0
DF England Bryn Gunn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF England Larry Lloyd 34 1 26 0 6 1 2 0
DF England David Needham 22 4 16 4 0 0 6 0
MF England Ian Bowyer 36(3) 6 25(3) 4 8 6 3 0
MF England Steve Burke 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MF Scotland Archie Gemmill 36(2) 3 32(2) 3 0 0 4 0
MF Scotland John McGovern 42 5 31 4 7 1 4 0
MF Northern Ireland Martin O'Neill 52(2) 13 38(2) 8 8 3 6 2
MF Scotland John Robertson 56 18 42 12 8 3 6 3
FW England Garry Birtles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FW England Steve Elliott 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FW Scotland John O'Hare 11(2) 1 10 0 1(1) 1 0(1) 0
FW England Peter Withe 54 19 40 12 8 5 6 2
FW England Tony Woodcock 50 19 36 11 8 4 6 4
Own goals 2 2

Transfers In

Pos Player From Fee Date
DF Scotland Kenny Burns England Birmingham City £150,000 July 1977
GK England Peter Shilton England Stoke City £325,000 September 1977
MF Scotland Archie Gemmill England Derby County £25,000 & P/E September 1977
DF England David Needham England Queens Park Rangers £140,000 December 1977

Transfers Out

Pos Player To Fee Date
DF England Sammy Chapman England Notts County £7500 July 1977
FW England Barry Butlin England Peterborough United £20,000 September 1977
MF England Sean Haslegrave England Preston North End £25,000 September 1977
GK England John Middleton England Derby County P/E September 1977
MF England Terry Curran England Derby County £50,000 November 1977

Club Kit

Supplier: Adidas

Home
Away

Source: Wikipedia Nottingham Forest Article

Final league table

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: 1977–78 Football League
Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GD Pts
1 Nottingham Forest 42 15 6 0 37 8 10 8 3 32 16 69 24 +45 64
2 Liverpool 42 15 4 2 37 11 9 5 7 28 23 65 34 +31 57
3 Everton 42 14 4 3 47 22 8 7 6 29 23 76 45 +31 55
4 Manchester City 42 14 4 3 46 21 6 8 7 28 30 74 51 +23 52
5 Arsenal 42 14 5 2 38 12 7 5 9 22 25 60 37 +23 52
6 West Bromwich Albion 42 13 5 3 35 18 5 9 7 27 35 62 53 +9 50
7 Coventry City 42 13 5 3 48 23 5 7 9 27 39 75 62 +13 48
8 Aston Villa 42 11 4 6 33 18 7 6 8 24 24 57 42 +15 46
9 Leeds United 42 12 4 5 39 21 6 6 9 24 32 63 53 +10 46
10 Manchester United 42 9 6 6 32 23 7 4 10 35 40 67 63 +4 42
11 Birmingham City 42 8 5 8 32 30 8 4 9 23 30 55 60 –5 41
12 Derby County 42 10 7 4 37 24 4 6 11 17 35 54 59 –5 41
13 Norwich City 42 10 8 3 28 20 1 10 10 24 46 52 66 –14 40
14 Middlesbrough 42 8 8 5 25 19 4 7 10 17 35 42 54 –12 39
15 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 7 8 6 30 27 5 4 12 21 37 51 64 –13 36
16 Chelsea 42 7 11 3 28 20 4 3 14 18 49 46 69 –23 36
17 Bristol City 42 9 6 6 37 26 2 7 12 12 27 49 53 –4 35
18 Ipswich Town 42 10 5 6 32 24 1 8 12 15 37 47 61 –14 35
19 Queens Park Rangers 42 8 8 5 27 26 1 7 13 20 38 47 64 –17 33
20 West Ham United 42 8 6 7 31 28 4 2 15 21 41 52 69 –17 32
21 Newcastle United 42 4 6 11 26 37 2 4 15 16 41 42 78 –36 22
22 Leicester City 42 4 7 10 16 32 1 5 15 10 38 26 70 –44 22

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
Qualified for European Cup
FA Cup winners, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
League Cup winners, see Nottingham Forest
Qualified for UEFA Cup
Relegated

Matches

A list of Nottingham Forest's matches in the 1977-78 season.[1][2][3]

Competitive

Division One

League Cup

FA Cup

Pre-season and Friendlies

References

  1. ↑ http://www.bridportred.com/1970s/1977-1978%20results%20&%20teams.htm
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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