- 1977–78 in English football
The 1977-1978 season was the 98th season of competitive
football (soccer) inEngland , from August1977 to July1978 :Overview
First Division
Brian Clough 'sNottingham Forest side took on the First Division by storm, by winning the League Cup on22 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 defenderGordon McQueen .West Ham United ,Newcastle United andLeicester City were all relegated.econd Division
Bolton Wanderers ,Southampton F.C. andTottenham Hotspur were all promoted, whileBlackpool F.C. ,Mansfield Town andHull City were all relegatedThird Division
Wrexham, Cambridge United and
Preston North End were all promoted, whilePortsmouth 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 andBrentford F.C. were all promoted, whileSouthport 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 since1949 . 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 theDebenhams 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 strikerKevin Keegan . They went on to beatClub Brugge 1-0 on10 May thanks to aKenny Dalglish goal and thus retained the European Cup.Manchester United were thrown out of the
Cup Winners' Cup on19 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 fromManchester and the venue was Plymouth Argyle's Home Park ground.Honours
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"
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