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1974–75 Football League

76th season of the Football League

Field	Value
competition	The Football League
season	[1974–75](1974-75-in-english-football)
winners	Derby County
prevseason	[1973–74](1973-74-football-league)
nextseason	[1975–76](1975-76-football-league)

The 1974–75 season was the 76th completed season of The Football League.

Dave Mackay guided Derby County to their second league title in four years having overcome strong competition from Liverpool, Ipswich Town, Everton, Stoke City, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough in a title race which went right to the wire. There was disappointment at Bramall Lane after Sheffield United's title challenge ended in failure without even a UEFA Cup place, but this would be as good as it got for the Blades as a sharp decline soon set in and within a few seasons had pushed them into the Fourth Division.

Carlisle United, in the First Division for the first time, topped the league three games into the season but were unable to maintain their good start and were eventually relegated in bottom place. Joining the Cumbrians in the drop zone were Luton Town and Chelsea.

Brian Clough was named as Don Revie's successor at Leeds United but was dismissed after just 44 days in charge. He was replaced by Jimmy Armfield.

Manchester United's directors kept faith in Tommy Docherty after their relegation to the Second Division, and he rewarded them with the Second Division championship to return immediately to the top flight. They were joined by Aston Villa (who also won the League Cup) and Norwich City. Docherty had built a new-look team containing players such as Jim Holton, Stuart Pearson and Brian Greenhoff. Meanwhile, FIFA finally lifted George Best's worldwide ban from football; however, Docherty was not prepared to give him another chance at Old Trafford and he joined Stockport County on a free transfer.

Millwall, Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday were the three unlucky clubs who were unable to escape the Second Division drop zone. In the space of a few years, Sheffield Wednesday had slumped to the Third Division having previously been a strong First Division side.

Blackburn Rovers, Plymouth Argyle and Charlton Athletic occupied the three promotion places in the Third Division.

Going down were AFC Bournemouth, Tranmere Rovers, Watford and Huddersfield Town. This meant that Huddersfield would be playing Fourth Division football for the first time in their history, the first former English champions so to do. Watford, meanwhile, were enduring their last unsuccessful season for many years to come.

Mansfield Town, Shrewsbury Town, Rotherham United and Chester occupied the four promotion places in the Fourth Division. Chester had finally managed promotion after 44 years of league membership, narrowly edging out Lincoln City on goal average.

Scunthorpe United, who had narrowly missed out on top-division football during the 1960s, found themselves bottom of the league but retained their league status after being re-elected along with the three clubs placed above them.

Final league tables and results

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics separated.

Beginning with the season 1894–95, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), or more properly put, goal ratio. In case one or more teams had the same goal difference, this system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals. The goal average system was eventually scrapped beginning with the 1976–77 season.

Since the Fourth Division was established in the 1958–59 season, the bottom four teams of that division have been required to apply for re-election.

First Division

2nd English title Chelsea Carlisle United Ipswich Town Everton (21 goals) (15 March 1975) (14 September 1974) Newcastle United 2–5 Tottenham Hotspur (11 January 1975) Burnley 2–5 Derby County (31 March 1975) Birmingham City 1–4 Luton Town (19 April 1975) 0–3: 7 matches (15 March 1975) A tight title race saw just five points separating the top seven sides, with Derby County finally winning the title in their first full season under the management of Dave Mackay. Liverpool finished runners-up under Bob Paisley, who had succeeded the legendary Bill Shankly at the start of the season. Ipswich Town, Everton, Stoke City, Sheffield United and newly promoted Middlesbrough completed the top seven.

Despite the close nature of the final table; most pundits had dubbed Everton Champions elect going into the closing stages. The Merseysiders had lost just four games all season, topped the table and appeared to have a relatively trouble-free run-in mostly against teams in the bottom half of the table. The pressure of the title being theirs to lose appeared to get to the Toffeemen who inexplicably lost four of their last nine games, three of which, against Luton, Carlisle, who would ultimately be relegated, and Sheffield United in a game they had led 2-0 in at half time, ultimately costing them the title. Liverpool also came within a hair's breadth of the title, with a 1-0 loss at Middlesbrough in the penultimate game of the season proving their undoing.

Leeds United began life without Don Revie in disastrous fashion, with Brian Clough being sacked after 44 days in charge, having won just one league game. His successor Jimmy Armfield dragged them up to ninth place in the final table and also took them to their first European Cup final, but they were on the losing side and a riot by their fans saw them banned from European competitions for three years. Arsenal finished a disappointing 16th in the league, one of their lowest finishes in more than half a century of unbroken First Division membership. Their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur finished just one place and one point above the relegation zone. Luton Town's First Division comeback ended in relegation after just one season, while financial problems contributed to Chelsea's relegation and the end of their 12-year run in the First Division. Carlisle United had an incredible start to their first season in the First Division, topping the league after winning their first three games, but were eventually relegated in bottom place.

Results

Maps

Arsenal Chelsea Queens Park Rangers Tottenham West Ham

Arsenal Birmingham Burnley Carlisle United Chelsea Coventry Derby County Everton Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Luton Town Middlesbrough Manchester City Newcastle QPR Sheffield United Stoke Tottenham West Ham Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division

Aston Villa Norwich City Cardiff City Sheffield Wednesday (20 goals) (26 April 1975) (25 September 1974) Sheffield Wednesday 0–4 Aston Villa (23 April 1975) (7 December 1974) Tommy Docherty rewarded the loyalty of the Manchester United directors who kept faith in him after their first relegation in nearly 40 years by delivering an instant return to the First Division as his exciting young side were crowned champions of the Second Division. Aston Villa – with arguably an even more exciting side – ended their eight-year absence from the top flight by finishing runners-up, being divisional top scorers and also lifting the League Cup, in the final of which they beat Norwich City, who finished third in the league and so clinched the final promotion place.

Sunderland and Bristol City just missed out on promotion, while ninth placed Fulham partly compensated for a lack of a serious promotion challenge by reaching their first ever FA Cup final, although they lost to West Ham United. Nottingham Forest looked to build for a better future and end their spell of Second Division struggle by appointing Brian Clough as manager in January.

Sheffield Wednesday were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in their history after a terrible season in which they managed only five league wins. They finished 14 points adrift of safety and went down along with Millwall and Cardiff City.

Results

Maps

Fulham Orient Millwall

Aston Villa Blackpool Bolton Bristol City Bristol Rovers Cardiff City Fulham Hull Orient Manchester United Millwall Norwich City Nottingham Forest Notts County Oldham Oxford Portsmouth Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Sunderland West Bromwich Albion York City

Third Division

Plymouth Argyle Charlton Athletic Tranmere Rovers Watford Huddersfield Town (31 goals)

Results

Maps

Charlton Athletic Watford

AFC Bournemouth Aldershot Blackburn Rovers Brighton & Hove Bury Charlton Chesterfield Colchester Crystal Palace Gillingham Grimsby Town Halifax Town Hereford United Huddersfield Peterborough Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Preston North End Southend Swindon Tranmere Walsall Watford Wrexham

Fourth Division

Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town

Results

Maps

Brentford

Barnsley Bradford City Brentford Cambridge Utd Chester Crewe Alexandra Darlington Doncaster Exeter City Hartlepool Lincoln City Mansfield Town Newport County Northampton Town Reading Rochdale Rotherham Scunthorpe & Lindsey Shrewsbury Southport Stockport Swansea City Torquay Workington

Attendances

Source:

Division One

No.	Club	Average	Highest	Lowest
1	Liverpool FC	45,966	55,853	35,151
2	Everton FC	40,021	57,190	31,882
3	Leeds United FC	34,822	50,084	25,832
4	Newcastle United FC	34,614	43,526	21,895
5	Manchester City FC	32,898	45,194	24,047
6	Birmingham City FC	30,854	36,513	24,240
7	West Ham United FC	29,872	40,256	20,977
8	Middlesbrough FC	28,605	39,500	21,478
9	Arsenal FC	28,315	43,762	16,540
10	Chelsea FC	27,396	39,461	11,048
11	Stoke City FC	27,339	46,023	20,526
12	Derby County FC	26,719	36,882	21,197
13	Tottenham Hotspur FC	26,458	50,998	12,813
14	Ipswich Town FC	24,924	31,642	20,193
15	Leicester City FC	23,765	38,143	16,636
16	Wolverhampton Wanderers FC	23,405	34,875	15,187
17	Sheffield United FC	22,555	38,442	14,694
18	Queens Park Rangers FC	20,394	28,357	13,244
19	Burnley FC	19,641	32,111	14,644
20	Coventry City FC	19,100	25,460	15,217
21	Luton Town FC	17,396	23,096	10,464
22	Carlisle United FC	14,530	20,844	8,339

Division Two

No.	Club	Average	Highest	Lowest
1	Manchester United	48,389	60,585	40,671
2	Sunderland AFC	29,931	45,976	24,000
3	Aston Villa FC	27,653	57,266	15,840
4	Norwich City FC	22,460	35,943	16,981
5	Southampton FC	15,910	21,866	11,491
6	Bristol City FC	14,061	28,953	9,300
7	Bolton Wanderers FC	13,800	38,152	8,199
8	Sheffield Wednesday FC	13,453	35,230	7,585
9	Nottingham Forest FC	13,000	25,013	7,957
10	Oldham Athletic FC	12,492	26,356	9,240
11	Portsmouth FC	12,474	25,608	7,412
12	West Bromwich Albion FC	12,424	29,614	7,812
13	Bristol Rovers FC	12,222	20,911	8,667
14	Notts County FC	10,927	20,303	7,227
15	Fulham FC	10,809	26,513	5,739
16	Blackpool FC	10,112	25,370	4,922
17	Cardiff City FC	9,143	22,344	5,648
18	York City FC	8,954	15,314	6,321
19	Millwall FC	8,583	17,540	4,963
20	Hull City AFC	8,573	23,287	5,203
21	Oxford United FC	8,261	15,959	5,772
22	Leyton Orient FC	7,605	17,772	4,352

Division Three

No.	Club	Average	Highest	Lowest
1	Crystal Palace FC	17,274	24,271	12,835
2	Plymouth Argyle FC	14,060	28,744	5,175
3	Blackburn Rovers FC	12,651	24,007	5,858
4	Brighton & Hove Albion FC	11,751	26,123	8,172
5	Charlton Athletic FC	10,444	26,104	4,527
6	Preston North End FC	9,568	18,042	5,819
7	Peterborough United FC	8,446	13,172	4,580
8	Swindon Town FC	8,280	12,094	5,130
9	Gillingham FC	7,331	14,565	4,824
10	Hereford United FC	7,230	11,488	4,807
11	Southend United FC	6,655	17,648	4,466
12	Watford FC	6,460	11,635	3,941
13	Walsall FC	6,268	10,251	2,927
14	AFC Bournemouth	5,988	10,307	4,116
15	Grimsby Town FC	5,962	9,250	4,501
16	Bury FC	5,527	11,963	3,428
17	Huddersfield Town AFC	5,428	8,122	2,455
18	Colchester United FC	4,937	7,790	3,202
19	Chesterfield FC	4,615	8,692	3,257
20	Aldershot Town FC	4,385	8,790	2,464
21	Wrexham AFC	4,376	8,226	2,463
22	Port Vale FC	4,346	9,135	2,704
23	Tranmere Rovers	2,803	6,534	1,264
24	Halifax Town AFC	2,681	8,689	1,241

Division Four

No.	Club	Average	Highest	Lowest
1	Mansfield Town FC	7,204	14,392	3,109
2	Lincoln City FC	5,795	13,108	2,461
3	Rotherham United FC	5,488	11,669	2,738
4	Reading FC	5,386	9,787	3,855
5	Brentford FC	5,172	6,485	3,983
6	Chester City FC	4,745	8,583	2,625
7	Barnsley FC	4,646	7,810	2,666
8	Northampton Town FC	4,179	7,275	2,482
9	Shrewsbury Town FC	4,125	8,913	2,880
10	Exeter City FC	3,435	7,271	2,271
11	Bradford City AFC	3,191	4,970	1,697
12	Cambridge United FC	3,021	4,159	1,858
13	Doncaster Rovers FC	2,975	7,278	1,286
14	Torquay United FC	2,868	5,570	1,822
15	Newport County AFC	2,674	4,165	1,535
16	Crewe Alexandra FC	2,649	5,118	1,506
17	Hartlepool United FC	2,634	5,178	1,627
18	Scunthorpe United FC	2,239	6,044	1,440
19	Darlington FC	2,233	3,974	1,582
20	Stockport County FC	2,099	2,721	1,500
21	Swansea City AFC	2,070	3,501	1,428
22	Southport FC	1,737	2,657	924
23	Rochdale AFC	1,507	2,317	1,033
24	Workington AFC	1,481	2,113	1,102

References

(1979-03-29). "Ban on Best Is Lifted". The New York Times.
"England 1974–75". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
Ian Laschke: ''Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79''. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
"English League Leading Goalscorers".
Roberts, Mark. (22 May 2012). "A strange season: 1974-75| ToffeeWeb | Fan Articles".
"Liverpool football club match record: 1975".
https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/eng/aveeng1975.htm

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