1976–77 Arsenal F.C. season explained

The 1976–77 season was Arsenal Football Club's 51st consecutive season in the Football League First Division. The first season under new manager Terry Neill, Arsenal finished eighth in the league and reached the quarterfinals of the League Cup.

New signing Malcolm Macdonald was Arsenal's top scorer. Long-tenured defender Pat Rice assumed the captaincy. Neill oversaw significant turnover in the side throughout the season, seeing the exodus of players such as Alan Ball and John Radford. Along with Macdonald, Neill brought in players like Willie Young and Alan Hudson.

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.^[1] At the age of 34 he became the youngest Arsenal manager to date.^{[2] [3]} Neill brought his number two, Wilf Dixon, from Spurs. Bobby Campbell, the previous coach, left the club a few weeks later to become Fulham's coach.^[4] Alan Ball, who had favoured Campbell to become the next manager, was ousted with a move to Southampton for £60,000 in December.^[5]

As would become a trademark of Neill's management, Neill looked to bring in a big-name striker. Newcastle's star Malcolm Macdonald was available and Neill got him for £333,333, a British transfer record.^[6] Macdonald formed a fruitful partnership with Frank Stapleton.

Arsenal started the season well with just two defeats in their first nine league games but their title challenge soon began to fade. Arsenal relied heavily on Macdonald for goals. He rewarded them, scoring hat-tricks against both Newcastle and Birmingham. However, when Macdonald went through a poor run of form, Arsenal followed, finding 8 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.

In the FA Cup, Arsenal easily beat Notts County and Coventry City. However, their run ended against Middlesbrough in a 4-1 loss. Arsenal penetrated deeper into the League Cup, beating Carlisle United before taking their tie with Blackpool to a second replay before triumphing. Arsenal overcame Chelsea in a 2-1 victory at home in front of a season-record crowd to reach the quarterfinals. They lost 2-1 to Queens Park Rangers, ending their League Cup run.

By the end of the season, only two members of the 1971 Double side remained in the first team: George Armstrong and Pat Rice. Armstrong left for Leicester at the end of the season. There were many other departures. John Radford, having lost his place to Stapleton, left to West Ham in December after 14 years at the club, playing 383 league games.^[7] Peter Storey was another player to leave, being unable to hold down a first-team place. He moved to Fulham for £10,000 and retired a few games later. Neill also moved Eddie Kelly to QPR, Alex Cropley (£135,000 to Aston Villa), and Terry Mancini (Aldershot). He brought in Willie Young who he had known at Spurs,^[8] and Alan Hudson in the spring for £200,000 from Stoke.^[9]

Final league table

See main article: 1976–77 Football League First Division.

Results

Arsenal's score comes first^[10]

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

See main article: 1976-77 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

See main article: 1976–77 Football 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

http://www.11v11.com/teams/arsenal/tab/players/season/1977

Notes and References

1. Book: Soar, Phil . Arsenal: Official History . Tyler . Martin . Hamlyn . 1995 . 0600588262 . London . 187-190 . en.
2. Web site: 21 May 2022 . Arsenal History: 1976-1986 - Terry Neill, Don Howe and lots of cup runs . https://web.archive.org/web/20230603221309/https://www.justarsenal.com/arsenal-history-continued-1976-1986/310665 . 3 June 2023 . 10 November 2023 . Just Arsenal.
3. Web site: 29 July 2022 . Terry Neill, footballer who became Arsenal’s youngest ever captain and later their youngest ever manager – obituary . https://web.archive.org/web/20220807055257/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/07/29/terry-neill-footballer-who-became-arsenals-youngest-ever-captain/ . 7 August 2022 . 10 November 2023 . The Telegraph.
4. Web site: Andrews . Mark . 28 December 2015 . Bobby Campbell – the Arsenal Obituary 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230710015255/http://www.thearsenalhistory.com/?p=12448 . 10 July 2023 . 10 November 2023 . The Arsenal History.
5. Web site: Glanville . Brian . 25 April 2007 . Alan Ball obituary . https://web.archive.org/web/20231011035957/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/apr/25/guardianobituaries.football . 11 October 2023 . 10 November 2023 . The Guardian.
6. Web site: Lawrence . Gary . 2 October 2017 . Highbury Hero Supreme, the Swaggering Supermac Malcolm Macdonald . https://web.archive.org/web/20230206020659/https://gunnerstown.com/arsenal/2017/10/02/highbury-hero-supreme-the-swaggering-supermac-malcolm-macdonald/ . 6 February 2023 . 10 November 2023 . Gunners Town.
7. Web site: John Radford . https://web.archive.org/web/20230326233313/https://www.arsenal.com/historic/players/john-radford . 26 March 2023 . 10 November 2023 . Arsenal.
8. Web site: Willie Young . https://web.archive.org/web/20221125143005/https://www.arsenal.com/historic/players/willie-young . 25 November 2022 . 10 November 2023 . Arsenal.
9. Web site: Attwood . Tony . 21 June 2013 . Alan Hudson, born 21 June 1951 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220704065840/http://blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/archives/6881 . 4 July 2022 . 10 November 2023 . The History of Arsenal.
10. Web site: Arsenal results for the 1976-1977 season – Statto.com . 27 August 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150906041824/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/arsenal/1976-1977/results . 6 September 2015 . dead .