1971-72 in English football

The 1971–72 season was the 92nd season of competitive football in England.

Brian Clough, 37, won the first major trophy of his managerial career by guiding Derby County to their first ever league championship. They overcame Leeds United, Liverpool and Manchester City to win a four-horse race, with only a single point separating them. It was so close that when Manchester City won their last game of the season—against Derby—they were top of the league by a point but had no chance of actually being champions, as Derby and Liverpool were still to play each other, and both had a superior goal average.

There were later bribery allegations from The Sun newspaper regarding Leeds manager Don Revie, who stood accused of attempting to bribe Wolverhampton Wanderers on the final day of the season in an attempt to win the league title. Captain Billy Bremner won a high court battle to clear his name of the allegations, with evidence provided by Wolves striker Derek Dougan. Although Leeds failed to win the league, they did win the FA Cup for the first time of their history.

Stoke City finally got their hands on some silverware after a century of trying, by winning the League Cup.

Manchester United started the season well under new manager Frank O'Farrell and topped the league for a while, but then lost seven league games in a row and finished eighth in the final table. Troubled winger George Best was dropped from the team towards the end of the season after failing to turn up for training, the latest controversy to surround the hugely popular Northern Irish star, whose excellent early season form had fuelled United's title hopes.

Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield Town lost their First Division status. By the end of the decade, Forest had made an explosive comeback to the top flight under Brian Clough. 1971–72 was Huddersfield's last season in the top flight to date, and within a few seasons they would be in the Fourth Division – most of their existence since 1972 has been spent in the league's third tier, with seventeen seasons being spent in the second and six in the bottom.

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