The achievements of those clubs who picked up major honours during the 1970s have been widely documented, (not least on the pages of this blog-site), but it was also a decade when English football produced some very fine teams who gained glowing testament from those they entertained, but alas no trophies – or put another way, plenty of plaudits, yet never enough points to land the title.
Indeed, as Liverpool on two occasions gave their trophy-winning machine a 70s reboot, Newcastle United twice succumbed in major cup finals. In the most memorable season in their history, Queens Park Rangers were pipped at the 1975-76 League Championship post after amassing 59 points – a total higher than Derby County managed on both occasions they were champions during the same period.
It was also an era when topflight outfits Stoke City, Wolves, West Ham United, Manchester United and Ipswich Town were each able to assemble one cup winning team, although other useful outfits such as Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City could not.
Then, as if to prove English football often seemed a few sandwiches light of a picnic, or in this case a couple of yards short of a penalty area, Sunderland and Southampton both won the FA Cup from Division Two, Aston Villa doing likewise with the League Cup.
While Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Leeds United, Manchester City, Derby County, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest all lifted at least two pieces of silverware apiece, ultimately Liverpool eclipsed them and everybody else.
To some extent the 1970 League Title/Charity Shield triumphs of Everton, while achieved with an excellent group of players, has similarities to the rise of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – the super-group/terrific team assembled in the previous decade, peaking in the first eight months of 1970 before losing their bearings thereafter.
All of which leads to the following clubs, who at various stages between 1970 and 1980, sometimes more than once, gave the most enthralling decade for football a fair smattering of highlights – so duly honoured are those who missed out on honours.
(Major honours are defined as League Championship, FA and League Cup – small entry competitions and ‘invites’ to contest the Charity Shield have been excluded).
QUEENS PARK RANGERS: Arguably the finest post-war team not to win the league and certainly the best of the 1970s, the agonisingly close-run title challenge mounted by QPR in 1975-76 was the culmination of four years’ work begun in early-70s by Gordon Jago and continued by former Chelsea boss Dave Sexton.
After receiving £200,000 from Manchester City in March 1972 for Loftus Road leading man Rodney Marsh, six months later Jago reinvested £110,000 of the money in Mancunian maverick Stan Bowles who at the time was plying his trade with fellow Division Two outfit Carlisle United. Persuading Bowles to leave chilly Cumbria for the glamour of Goldhawk Road proved a masterstroke, ‘Stan the Man‘ added to a side already boasting the talents of future England internationals Dave Clement, Ian Gillard and midfield talisman Gerry Francis, along with experienced campaigners Mick Leach and former Spurs FA Cup winner Terry Venables.
Their promotion bid enhanced by 17 goals from Bowles, QPR finished runners-up to Burnley in 1972-73. Progress continued in laudable fashion on their top-flight return, ending 1973-74 with a reputation for playing progressive football and on finishing eighth were the highest-placed London club – a feat they repeated the following season despite dropping to 11th.
When 1975-76 dawned and with Sexton now in charge, whose transfer dealings had brought stylish Scottish midfielder Don Masson and ex-Chelsea man John Hollins to W12, the opening day saw perennial title challengers Liverpool arrive in sunny Shepherd’s Bush – where the visitors were ripped apart by an opening goal of free-flowing wonder.
With perhaps the most eye-catching passage of ‘total football‘ ever produced by an English team, in five passes – all played to feet – the home side sweep from one penalty area to the other, skipper Francis advancing to score not only their first of the afternoon, but the BBC Match of the Day ‘Goal of the Season‘.
That 2-0 victory over Liverpool set the tone for much of the dynamic, often inspired play, they would produce over the next nine months. From the end of January they embarked on a 15-match run that returned 13 wins and only one defeat – but the 3-2 Easter Saturday reversal at Norwich City was to prove fatal.
Rangers returned to top spot by winning their final two games, which left Liverpool needing victory in the final game of the season away at Wolves – the fixture delayed ten days due to the Anfield side being involved in a two-leg UEFA Cup Final.
After being made to sweat from Saturday 24 April to Tuesday 4 May when Liverpool visited Molineux, Rangers’ hopes of landing the title were raised when Wolves, needing victory to have any chance of avoiding relegation, took an early lead through Steve Kindon.
But in the face of unrelenting second half pressure the home side finally succumbed. The QPR players, gathered in a BBC TV studio close to their West London base, could only watch in despair as Liverpool, with time running out, scored through Kevin Keegan, John Toshack and Ray Kennedy, securing by a point their first league title of the Bob Paisley era – Rangers’ tally of 59 more than enough to be champions the season before or the one after.
It was not quite the last act for Sexton and his scintillating side, the following season they reached a League Cup semi-final where they lost to eventual winners Aston Villa and also endured UEFA Cup despair by exiting on penalties at the quarter-final stage – Bowles with 11 goals top scorer in the competition.
After being split by the narrowest of margins in May 1976, QPR and Liverpool began moving in opposite directions. Twelve months after their epic two horse race, Liverpool retained the title and won their first European Cup, but on struggling to recover the fine form of the previous season, QPR finished 14th with over twenty fewer points.
When Liverpool next lifted the title in 1979, Sexton had long since departed Loftus Road to replace Tommy Docherty at Old Trafford (by way of irony Docherty was in charge at QPR as the 70s came to a close), the team who came so close to becoming champions breaking up to the extent that Rangers were relegated at the end of 1978-79 – just three years after producing the most innovative football seen in England through the decade.
NEWCASTLE UNITED: When evaluating Newcastle United during the 1970s, it quickly becomes clear barnstorming centre-forward Malcolm Macdonald is the defining presence.
Signed by Joe Harvey from Luton Town for £180,000 in the summer of 1971, Macdonald was added to a nucleus of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup winning side of two years before, who were capable of magnificence on occasion but in terms of consistency and league position were middling at best.
Macdonald was an immediate hit on Tyneside even if there was not a significant improvement to their standing. Newcastle moved up one place to eleventh in his first season, 23 goals from ‘Supermac’ in 1971-72 followed by 17 the season after, this prowess in front of goal going someway to offset some humbling cup exits and career-ending injury of accomplished Scottish midfielder Tony Green – a blow from which Newcastle never quite came back from as the decade unfolded.
1973-74 brought a change to what had become the norm and while league form dipped the wind hit their FA Cup sails. With Macdonald working effectively with strike-partner John Tudor, Newcastle won through to Wembley, advancing by virtue of a ‘Supermac’ semi-final brace against Burnley at Hillsborough – midfield man Terry Hibbitt producing the most sublime through-ball imaginable in creating the second.
In truth, they were never at the races (Blaydon or otherwise) come the final and lost 3-0 to Liverpool who did not have to play particularly well to beat them. Macdonald weighed in with 21 goals as 1974-75 passed them by without much to enthuse over, but 1975-76 saw Newcastle rally in the League Cup – although giving a good account of themselves in the final was to no avail as they went down 2-1 against Manchester City.
With manager Gordon Lee, who succeeded Harvey in the summer of 1975, operating a ‘no stars‘ policy, conflict with Gallowgate glory merchant Macdonald was inevitable – the player sold to Arsenal prior to the 1976-77 season, during which Lee decamped to Everton.
Back on Tyneside Richard Dinnis guided the black and whites to fifth but it was more mirage than new dawn and come April 1978 Newcastle were relegated with just 22 points.
As a microcosm of life from the Leazes End during the 70s a couple of weeks in early 1975 serve purpose. Newcastle gain a degree of revenge for their FA Cup Final defeat of the previous year by thrashing title hopefuls Liverpool 4-1, they bury high-flying Burnley 3-0, then lose 3-2 at bottom of the pile Chelsea – all of which comes in the wake of an FA Cup fourth round exit at third division Walsall.
LEICESTER CITY: In between spending the first and final seasons of the decade out of Division One, Leicester City often showed themselves capable of illuminating the darkest of 70s Saturday afternoons – finesse always in fashion at Filbert Street.
Promoted in 1971 under Frank O’Farrell (who on taking Leicester up accepted an offer to succeed Sir Matt Busby at Manchester United) his Leicester successor Jimmy Bloomfield, in adding to inherited talent including darting winger Len Glover, goalkeeper Peter Shilton and attacking full-backs David Nish and Steve Whitworth, soon began raiding London clubs to bolster the unit.
In no time the former Leyton Orient boss had enticed Alan Birchenall (Crystal Palace), Keith Weller (Chelsea) and Jon Sammels (Arsenal) up the M1, but icing on the cake, or cherry on the cocktail as the great man himself might prefer, was signing Huddersfield Town centre-forward Frank Worthington – whose nonchalant way of playing masked a shrewd football brain and sharp eye for goal.
When it gelled few sides were so attractive to watch, Plan A being attack at every opportunity but with no Plan B they were always susceptible to conceding plenty.
1973-74 brought a ninth placed finish and FA Cup semi-final appearance where they lost to eventual winners Liverpool after a replay and although their mojo seemed misplaced in 1974-75 it returned sufficiently for them to come seventh the following season.
Finishing 11th in 1976-77 was none too shabby, but the wheels came off with the summer resignation of Bloomfield, the ensuing fall from grace in 1977-78 resulting in Leicester going down – a dreadful start to the campaign making relegation a racing certainty long before it became a mathematical one.
WEST BROMWICH ALBION: Established as serious cup campaigners from the mid-60s onward, two League Cup Final appearances (one win), FA Cup winners in 1968 and beaten semi-finalists a year later, Albion then added to these credentials with another losing League Cup Final outing in 1970.
But even with the Hawthorns’ ‘Holy Trinity‘ of Jeff Astle, Tony Brown and Bobby Hope still in tandem there were worrying signs of decline as the 70s moved along, 28 goals from league top scorer Brown in 1970-71 keeping their heads above water. By 1973 the game was up and bottom of the table Albion dropped into Division Two, but under player-manager, the former Leeds and Eire midfield maestro Johnny Giles, they regrouped and rebuilt – a 1976-77 topflight return resulting in a very presentable seventh placed finish.
On Giles being lured away to become Republic of Ireland manager, burgeoning talents such as Bryan Robson, Derek Statham, Cyrille Regis and prodigiously gifted winger Laurie Cunningham were harnessed into a formidable footballing unit by new boss Ron Atkinson. As potential developed apace, the ‘Baggies’ climbed to sixth in 1977-78 while bowing out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage.
After Nottingham Forest had come up from Division Two and won the title straight off the bat there was a sense someone with a solid defence and attacking flair could mount a challenge – particularly as Forest (league champions) and Liverpool (holders) had European Cup ambitions, Albion poised as best of the rest to make their move.
It may be pushing things to say they very nearly did, Liverpool winning the league in 1978-79 with a new record points tally and having eight to spare. But Albion were in contention for most of the race and in terms of artistic merit were in a league of their own – exemplified in a 5-3 December victory at Old Trafford that with some justification now receives ‘Game of the Decade‘ status.
Always entertaining to watch (in 78-79 Albion also advanced to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals), their haul of 59 points is testament to an exceedingly good group of players – a total enough to win the league on three occasions during the 70s.
MIDDLESBROUGH: While not as immediately romantic, the arrival of England World Cup winner Jack Charlton at Ayresome Park in May 1973 has similarities to that of Bob Stokoe taking over at Sunderland late the previous year.
True, there was no headline-grabbing glory march all the way to winning the FA Cup inside six months but recording a record points tally in running away with Division Two was the next best thing – a combative, well-drilled team quickly becoming a redoubtable topflight presence, their first season yielding a League Cup win at Anfield, decent FA Cup run and commendable seventh placed finish.
With Charlton at the helm there was always clarity of purpose, consistent performers such as goalkeeper Jim Platt, central defenders Stuart Boam and Willie Maddren, attacking midfielder David Armstrong, midfield driving force Greame Souness and centre-forward John Hickton providing ballast to a side who in 1975-76 reached the League Cup semi-finals.
Striker David Mills netted 18 times in 1976-77 as ‘Boro’ maintained their place in a mid-table comfort zone but sensing it was the limit of where they could go with him in charge, Charlton resigned in the summer of 1977 (later regretting his decision in the belief they were only two good players short of being title challengers). Successor John Neal ensured the team continued to acquit themselves well (the next two seasons seeing them finish fourteenth and twelfth) as they absorbed the departures of Souness and Mills.
BURNLEY: Relegated at the end of 1970-71, Burnley needed a season to find their bearings but once relocated returned triumphantly to the top flight as second division champions in 1972-73 – a team of experienced hands and burgeoning talent, Welsh winger Leighton James and exemplary midfield operator Martin Dobson came to the fore in 1973-74 when they finished a creditable sixth and reached the FA Cup semi-finals.
In fact had there been a clinical Claret in the ranks for the last four Hillsborough meeting against Newcastle, two Malcolm Macdonald goals may have counted for nothing such were the chances Burnley allowed to go begging.
The following season brought more likeable football as they finished in the top half – although an extraordinary Turf Moor FA Cup exit against non-league Wimbledon could have been deemed a 90 minute aberration rather than portent of doom had it not been for the mishaps to come.
Despite reaching the League Cup quarter-finals – knocking out Liverpool on the way – a bleak midwinter run of just two wins in twelve games, quickly followed by eight defeats in the last ten fixtures condemned them to a second-bottom finish in 1975-76.
Relegation brought a slew of second division local derbies but little to shout about – and from what looked promising five years earlier turned to a much darker horizon as the 1980s arrived.
SHEFFIELD UNITED: If the rapid decline of Burnley was largely unforeseen there is only bewilderment at the mid-70s collapse at Bramall Lane. From missing out on a UEFA Cup spot by a point in 1975, eight months later Sheffield United had sunk like a stone, crashing out of Division One with barely twenty points.
Quite where it all went so wrong remains one of those conundrums English football in the 70s had a habit of producing. The Blades were promoted in 1971 with a talented team in which commanding Scottish central defender Eddie Colquhoun and potent goal-scoring winger Alan Woodward were key figures – the whole thing revolving around gifted linchpin Tony Currie, whose range of passing was not surpassed by any player of the era.
Carrying their promotion buoyancy into 1971-72 United quickly adapted to Division One recording nine wins and two draws in the first eleven matches, their fine form culminating with Woodward scoring four in a 7-0 November demolition of visiting Ipswich. They were unable to find the same momentum after Christmas, but tenth place still amounted to an excellent return.
There was a drop of four places in 1972-73, then a climb of one 12 months later, with their Division One feet well and truly found in 1974-75. In a title race it appeared nobody wanted to win – Derby coming out on top with the lowest points tally for twenty years – had Sheffield United, who finished sixth, turned a few of their surfeit of draws into wins, they might well have been champions.
So finishing bottom in 1975-76 with a meagre number of points was a colossal hangover – the shakes continuing for a few seasons to come. Currie moved to Leeds in the summer of 1976 and, with a high turnover of managers, relegation to Division Three was avoided by the skin of their teeth as the 70s came to an end.
BIRMINGHAM CITY: Returning to Division One in 1972-73 after a seven-season absence, that their highest finish (10th) in a seven-year stay should occur in the first is not the curiosity it may appear – Blues promoted on the back of an excellent second half to 1971-72, reaching the FA Cup semi-finals and finding a productive strike partnership in Bob Latchford and Trevor Francis.
The St Andrews men found the going far tougher in 1973-74, dodging relegation by a whisker in dropping to 19th. Despite being in peril again the following season, relief came in the form of another run to the last four of the FA Cup – a semi-final pairing with second division Fulham offering realistic hope of a first Wembley appearance in nearly 20 years.
Underdogs against Leeds at the same stage three years before, Blues were heavily fancied to advance only to find themselves frustrated at Hillsborough before succumbing to a last-minute extra-time goal in a Maine Road replay.
With the prolific Latchford having departed for Everton in 1974, their safety in 1975-76 was not ensured until the very last match, although in the two seasons which followed, Birmingham, usually a solid outfit in front of their own supporters, moved in calm mid-table waters.
They sank without trace, however, in 1978-79 – the sale of Francis to league champions Nottingham Forest in February 1979 largely academic in their plight, the season already proving a relegation struggle too far.
NORWICH CITY: Two promotions, a relegation, two losing League Cup Final appearances and two managers whose approach to the game was completely different, life at Carrow Road in the 1970s was rarely dull.
Promoted in 1972 under the stewardship of taciturn pragmatist Ron Saunders, a football puritan in the Sir Alf Ramsey mould, he favoured a strong collective over individual excellence. As a philosophy it served him well. After winning Division Two, in 1972-73 Norwich managed to stave off relegation while also reaching the League Cup Final, losing a largely nondescript match to Spurs by the only goal – the first of three consecutive appearances Saunders would make at the fixture.
During the following season he accepted an offer to manage Manchester City, guiding them to Wembley where they lost the League Cup Final to Wolves. Saunders was replaced at Norwich by the charismatic figure of John Bond, which in 70s rock parlance was Leonard Cohen being followed onto the stage by Lindisfarne – ex-Bouremouth boss Bond wanting people to leave the venue humming merrily rather than contemplate the seriousness of it all.
Unable to avoid the drop in 1973-74, gates actually went up as Norwich went down, the following season saw The Canaries discover a chirpiness that under Bond they rarely lost.
Promoted in 1974-75 behind Manchester United and Aston Villa, to whom they lost on reaching the League Cup Final (Villa now managed by Saunders who would win another League Cup and the League Championship during his eight-year Villa Park tenure), Bond proved himself adept at blending old masters with emerging talent, the signing of seen-it-all maestro Martin Peters from Spurs a very smart move in regard to nurturing young guns.
Always stylish and quick-witted, rarely have a team so reflected their manager – Norwich unfailingly entertaining as they bounced around in mid-table until Bond departed for Manchester City in November 1980.
COVENTRY CITY: In some respects the Sky Blues resemble the party guest delighted to be invited but happy to let others dominate conversation.
Rarely did they take the limelight, but it was also rare for Coventry (a close scrape in 76-77 aside) to be in serious danger of losing the first division berth they secured in 1967 – and from time to time some very useful players came their way.
Scottish international midfielder Willie Carr was already on the scene when they came in tenth in 1970-71 and joined by fellow countrymen Brian Alderson and Tommy Hutchinson on reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals in 1973, City by now managed by highly successful ex-Manchester City boss Joe Mercer.
Their 70s high-point was finishing seventh in 1977-78, Coventry propelled to this lofty perch by a six match Highfield Road winning streak – including victories over Liverpool and Manchester United – and 37 league goals from a strike force of Mick Ferguson and Ian Wallace, City (48) scoring more at home that season than any other team in the division.
Between 1970 and 1979, from ‘Let It Be‘ to ‘London Calling‘ they were one of only eight clubs to have continual membership of Division One – something those who actually won a trophy, Stoke City, Wolves, Manchester United, Chelsea, West Ham United, Southampton, Sunderland and Spurs (three trophies in their case) all failed to do.
Coventry, therefore, a success story of sorts, on which to finish.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.