1977–78 Leeds United A.F.C. season
# 1977–78 Leeds United A.F.C. season

The 1977–78 season was Leeds United's fourteenth consecutive season in the Football League First Division. Along with the First Division, they also competed in the FA Cup and the Football League Cup.

## Background

Following the 1973–74 season, Revie left Leeds and Elland Road to manage the England national team. Brian Clough was appointed as Revie's successor. This was a surprise appointment, as Clough had been an outspoken critic of Revie and the team's tactics. Clough's tenure as manager started badly, with defeat in the Charity Shield Match against Liverpool in which Billy Bremner and Kevin Keegan were sent off for fighting. Under Clough, the team performed poorly, and after only 44 days he was dismissed.

Clough was replaced by former England captain Jimmy Armfield. Armfield took Revie's ageing team to the final of the 1974–75 European Cup, in which they were defeated by Bayern Munich under controversial circumstances. Assisted by coach Don Howe, Armfield rebuilt Revie's team, and though it no longer dominated English football, Leeds finished 5th in the 1975–76 season and 10th in 1976–77.

## Season summary

1977-78 proved to be another decent, but unexceptional season, with the highlight being a run to the semi-finals of the Football League Cup, albeit it ended in a 7-3 aggregate loss to eventual Division One champions Nottingham Forest. Leeds's league form was for the most part better than in the previous season, keeping them in the hunt for a UEFA Cup space until the latter stages of the campaign, but a poor end saw them finish in ninth place after winning just one of their last seven games. This caused the club's board to run out of patience with manager Jimmy Armfield, who was dismissed weeks after the season ended and replaced, after an unsuccessful attempt to recruit Southampton manager Lawrie McMenemy, by former Celtic manager Jock Stein.

## Competitions

### Football League First Division

**League table**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 7 | Coventry City | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 75 | 62 | +13 | 48 |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 57 | 42 | +15 | 46 |
| 9 | Leeds United | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 63 | 53 | +10 | 46 |
| 10 | Manchester United | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 67 | 63 | +4 | 42 |
| 11 | Birmingham City | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 55 | 60 | −5 | 41 |

**Matches**

| Win | Draw | Loss |
| - | - | - |
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 20 August 1977 | Newcastle United | Away | 2–3 | Hankin, Lorimer | 36,491 |
| 24 August 1977 | West Bromwich Albion | Home | 2–2 | Jordan, McQueen | 21,000 |
| 27 August 1977 | Birmingham City | Home | 1–0 | Hankin | 24,551 |
| 3 September 1977 | Coventry City | Away | 2–2 | Hankin, McQueen | 21,479 |
| 10 September 1977 | Ipswich Town | Home | 2–1 | Hankin (2) | 24,280 |
| 17 September 1977 | Derby County | Away | 2–2 | Lorimer, Graham | 24,274 |
| 24 September 1977 | Manchester United | Home | 1–1 | Hankin | 33,514 |
| 1 October 1977 | Chelsea | Away | 2–1 | Lorimer, Hankin | 35,427 |
| 5 October 1977 | Aston Villa | Home | 1–1 | McQueen | 27,797 |
| 8 October 1977 | Bristol City | Away | 2–3 | Hankin (2) | 26,215 |
| 15 October 1977 | Liverpool | Home | 1–2 | Thomas | 45,500 |
| 22 October 1977 | Middlesbrough | Away | 1–2 | Harris | 27,516 |
| October 29, 1977 | Leicester City | Away | 0–0 | — | 20,128 |
| 5 November 1977 | Norwich City | Home | 2–2 | Lorimer (2) | 24,345 |
| 12 November 1977 | Manchester City | Away | 3–2 | Jordan, Graham, Hankin | 42,651 |
| 19 November 1977 | Nottingham Forest | Home | 1–0 | Hankin | 42,925 |
| 26 November 1977 | West Ham United | Away | 1–0 | Hankin | 26,883 |
| 3 December 1977 | Queens Park Rangers | Home | 3–0 | Needham (og), Flynn, Currie | 26,597 |
| 10 December 1977 | Arsenal | Away | 1–1 | McQueen | 40,162 |
| 17 December 1977 | Manchester City | Home | 2–0 | McQueen, Cherry | 37,380 |
| 26 December 1977 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Away | 1–3 | Jordan | 27,704 |
| 27 December 1977 | Everton | Home | 3–1 | Hankin (2), Lorimer | 45,560 |
| 31 December 1977 | West Bromwich Albion | Away | 0–2 | — | 24,249 |
| 2 January 1978 | Newcastle United | Home | 0–2 | — | 36,643 |
| 14 January 1978 | Birmingham City | Away | 3–2 | Graham (3) | 23,703 |
| 21 January 1978 | Coventry City | Home | 2–0 | Hankin, Harris | 27,062 |
| 4 February 1978 | Ipswich Town | Away | 1–0 | E. Gray | 24,023 |
| 25 February 1978 | Chelsea | Home | 2–0 | F. Gray, Currie | 25,263 |
| 1 March 1978 | Manchester United | Away | 1–0 | Clarke | 49,101 |
| 4 March 1978 | Bristol City | Home | 0–2 | — | 24,830 |
| 11 March 1978 | Liverpool | Away | 0–1 | — | 48,233 |
| 18 March 1978 | Middlesbrough | Home | 5–0 | Hankin, Graham (2), Clarke (2) | 25,158 |
| 25 March 1978 | Everton | Away | 0–2 | — | 45,020 |
| 27 March 1978 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Home | 2–1 | Graham, Hankin | 24,440 |
| 28 March 1978 | Leicester City | Home | 5–1 | Hankin, F. Gray, E. Gray (3) | 21,145 |
| 1 April 1978 | Norwich City | Away | 0–3 | — | 19,615 |
| 8 April 1978 | West Ham United | Home | 1–2 | Graham | 22,953 |
| 12 April 1978 | Derby County | Home | 2–0 | E. Gray, Hankin | 16,531 |
| 15 April 1978 | Nottingham Forest | Away | 1–1 | F. Gray | 38,662 |
| 22 April 1978 | Arsenal | Home | 1–3 | Currie | 33,263 |
| 26 April 1978 | Aston Villa | Away | 1–3 | Hankin | 30,524 |
| 29 April 1978 | Queens Park Rangers | Away | 0–0 | — | 23,993 |

Source:

### FA Cup

| Win | Draw | Loss |
| - | - | - |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 7 January 1978 | Third round | Manchester City | Home | 1–2 | F. Gray | 38,517 |

Source:

### Football League Cup

| Win | Draw | Loss |
| - | - | - |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| Second round | 31 August 1977 | Rochdale | Away | 3–0 | Jordan, Cherry, Harris | 8,644 |
| Third round | 26 October 1977 | Colchester United | Home | 4–0 | Jordan, Graham, Lorimer, Hankin | 17,713 |
| Fourth round | 30 November 1977 | Bolton Wanderers | Away | 3–1 | Graham, Jordan, F. Gray | 33,766 |
| Fifth round | 18 January 1978 | Everton | Home | 4–1 | Currie, Lorimer (2), E. Gray | 35,020 |
| Semi-final - First leg | 8 February 1978 | Nottingham Forest | Home | 1–3 | E. Gray | 43,222 |
| Semi-final - Second leg | 22 February 1978 | Nottingham Forest | Away | 2–4 | F. Gray, Graham | 38,131 |

Source:

## Statistics

### Appearances and goals

Players having played at least one first-team match :

| Pos. | Nat. | Name | First Division | First Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | SCO | David Stewart | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Paul Reaney | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Trevor Cherry | 41 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 48 | 2 |
| FW | SCO | Peter Lorimer | 28 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 9 |
| DF | SCO | Gordon McQueen | 21 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 5 |
| DF | ENG | Paul Madeley | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| MF | SCO | Eddie Gray | 27 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 31 | 7 |
| FW | SCO | David McNiven | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Ray Hankin | 33 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 40 | 21 |
| MF | ENG | Tony Currie | 35 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 41 | 4 |
| MF | SCO | Arthur Graham | 40 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 47 | 12 |
| DF | SCO | Frank Gray | 41 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 48 | 6 |
| FW | SCO | Joe Jordan | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 6 |
| MF | WAL | Carl Harris | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 3 |
| MF | WAL | Byron Stevenson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| MF | WAL | Gwyn Thomas | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| DF | ENG | Keith Parkinson | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| GK | SCO | David Harvey | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| MF | WAL | Brian Flynn | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 1 |
| DF | ENG | Peter Hampton | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Allan Clarke | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| DF | ENG | Neil Parker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Paul Hart | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
