1971–72 Liverpool F.C. season

Liverpool F.C.

1971–72 season
Chairman	H.E. Roberts
Manager	Bill Shankly
First Division	3rd
Cup Winners' Cup	2nd Round
FA Cup	4th Round
League Cup	4th Round
Top goalscorer	League: John Toshack (13) All: John Toshack (13)
Average home league attendance	47,689
Home colours Away colours
← 1970–71 1972–73 →

Liverpool F.C. fought for the league title for the first time in three years, finishing third, albeit just one point behind champions Derby, in a battle that also involved Leeds and Manchester City. Liverpool's only second attempt at the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup ended in disappointment, following an autumn defeat to Bayern Munich. The season saw the breakthrough of youngster Kevin Keegan, the attacking midfielder playing an integral part in the team, assisting several goals and scored nine himself, having been moved to a striking position. It gave them hope that their trophyless run, now in its sixth season, may soon end.

Another player who had come through the youth system and made his debut as a substitute for John Toshack against Manchester United on Easter Monday was Phil Thompson who would become an integral part of the team for the rest of the decade.

Squad

Goalkeepers

• Ray Clemence
• Tommy Lawrence

Defenders

• Steve Arnold
• Gerry Byrne
• Roy Evans
• Chris Lawler
• Alec Lindsay
• Larry Lloyd
• John McLaughlin
• Ian Ross
• Tommy Smith
• Phil Thompson

Midfielders

• Ian Callaghan
• Brian Hall
• Steve Heighway
• Emlyn Hughes
• Doug Livermore
• Ian St. John
• Peter Thompson

Attackers

• Phil Boersma
• Alun Evans
• Bobby Graham
• Kevin Keegan
• John Toshack
• Jack Whitham

First Division

First Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Derby County	42	24	10	8	69	33	2.091	58
2	Leeds United	42	24	9	9	73	31	2.355	57
3	Liverpool	42	24	9	9	64	30	2.133	57
4	Manchester City	42	23	11	8	77	45	1.711	57
5	Arsenal	42	22	8	12	58	40	1.450	52
6	Tottenham Hotspur	42	19	13	10	63	42	1.500	51
7	Chelsea	42	18	12	12	58	49	1.184	48
8	Manchester United	42	19	10	13	69	61	1.131	48
9	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	18	11	13	65	57	1.140	47
10	Sheffield United	42	17	12	13	61	60	1.017	46
11	Newcastle United	42	15	11	16	49	52	0.942	41
12	Leicester City	42	13	13	16	41	46	0.891	39
13	Ipswich Town	42	11	16	15	39	53	0.736	38
14	West Ham United	42	12	12	18	47	51	0.922	36
15	Everton	42	9	18	15	37	48	0.771	36
16	West Bromwich Albion	42	12	11	19	42	54	0.778	35
17	Stoke City	42	10	15	17	39	56	0.696	35
18	Coventry City	42	9	15	18	44	67	0.657	33
19	Southampton	42	12	7	23	52	80	0.650	31
20	Crystal Palace	42	8	13	21	39	65	0.600	29
21	Nottingham Forest	42	8	9	25	47	81	0.580	25
22	Huddersfield Town	42	6	13	23	27	59	0.458	25

Results

First Division

Main article: 1971–72 Football League § First Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
14-Aug-71	Nottingham Forest	H	3–1	Keegan  12' Smith  15 Pen' Hughes  55'	51,427	Report	Report
17-Aug-71	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	3–2	Toshack  7' Smith  89 Pen'	51,869	Report	Report
21-Aug-71	Newcastle United	A	2–3	Hughes  10' Keegan  75'	39,720	Report	Report
24-Aug-71	Crystal Palace	A	1–0	Toshack  57'	29,489	Report	Report
28-Aug-71	Leicester City	H	3–2	Heighway  25' Keegan  35' Toshack  71'	50,970	Report	Report
01-Sep-71	Manchester City	A	0–1		45,144	Report	Report
04-Sep-71	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–2		50,124	Report	Report
11-Sep-71	Southampton	H	1–0	Toshack  32'	45,878	Report	Report
18-Sep-71	Leeds United	A	0–1		41,381	Report	Report
25-Sep-71	Manchester United	H	2–2	Graham  7' Hall  24'	55,634	Report	[1]
02-Oct-71	Stoke City	A	0–0		28,698	Report	Report
09-Oct-71	Chelsea	H	0–0		48,464	Report	Report
16-Oct-71	Nottingham Forest	A	3–2	Hughes  5' Heighway  65' Smith  78 Pen'	20,945	Report	Report
23-Oct-71	Huddersfield Town	H	2–0	Smith  57' Evans  80'	41,627	Report	Report
30-Oct-71	Sheffield United	A	1–1	Keegan  47'	39,023	Report	Report
06-Nov-71	Arsenal	H	3–2	Hughes  41' Callaghan  55' Ross  80'	46,929	Report	Report
13-Nov-71	Everton	A	0–1		56,563	Report	Report
20-Nov-71	Coventry City	A	2–0	Whitham  80', 89'	25,325	Report	Report
27-Nov-71	West Ham United	H	1–0	Hughes  69'	43,399	Report	Report
04-Dec-71	Ipswich Town	A	0–0		21,359	Report	Report
11-Dec-71	Derby County	H	3–2	Whitham  14', 44', 53'	44,601	Report	Report
18-Dec-71	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–0		43,409	Report	Report
27-Dec-71	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–1		43,904	Report	Report
01-Jan-72	Leeds United	H	0–2		53,847	Report	Report
08-Jan-72	Leicester City	A	0–1		26,421	Report	Report
22-Jan-72	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–0		33,692	Report	Report
29-Jan-72	Crystal Palace	H	4–1	Lawler  38', 66' Callaghan  72' Keegan  82'	39,538	Report	Report
12-Feb-72	Huddersfield Town	A	1–0	Whitham  73'	18,702	Report	Report
19-Feb-72	Sheffield United	H	2–0	Toshack  42', 82'	42,005	Report	Report
26-Feb-72	Manchester City	H	3–0	Lloyd  37' Keegan  53' Graham  65'	50,074	Report	Report
04-Mar-72	Everton	H	4–0	Own Goal  1' Own Goal  66' Lawler  74' Hughes  87'	53,922	Report	Report
11-Mar-72	Chelsea	A	0–0		38,691	Report	Report
18-Mar-72	Newcastle United	H	5–0	Lawler  9' Keegan  22' Toshack  39' Hughes  63' Heighway  81'	43,899	Report	Report
25-Mar-72	Southampton	A	1–0	Toshack  52'	21,680	Report	Report
28-Mar-72	Stoke City	H	2–1	Own Goal  40' Keegan  53'	42,489	Report	Report
01-Apr-72	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–0	Smith  31 Pen' Lawler  58'	46,564	Report	Report
03-Apr-72	Manchester United	A	3–0	Lawler  60' Toshack  62' Hughes  84'	54,000	Report	Report
08-Apr-72	Coventry City	H	3–1	Keegan  21' Smith  67 Pen' Toshack  85'	50,628	Report	Report
15-Apr-72	West Ham United	A	2–0	Toshack  9' Heighway  46'	32,660	Report	Report
22-Apr-72	Ipswich Town	H	2–0	Toshack  39', 66'	54,316	Report	Report
01-May-72	Derby County	A	0–1		39,420	Report	Report
08-May-72	Arsenal	A	0–0		39,289	Report	Report

Football League Cup

Main article: 1971–72 Football League Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
07-Sep-71	Hull City	A	3–0	Lawler  34' Heighway  38' Hall  53 Pen'	31,612	Report	Report
05-Oct-71	Southampton	H	1–0	Heighway  50'	29,964	Report	Report
27-Oct-71	West Ham United	A	1–2	Graham  30'	40,878	Report	Report

FA Cup

Main article: 1971–72 FA Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
15-Jan-72	Oxford United	H	3–0	Keegan  47', 81' Lindsay  84'	56,124	Report	Report
05-Feb-72	Leeds United	H	0–0		56,296	Report	Report
09-Feb-72	Leeds United	A	0–2		49,572	Report	Report

European Cup Winners Cup

Main article: 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
15-Sep-71	Servette FC	H	1–2	Lawler  81'	21,000	Report	Report
29-Sep-71	Servette FC	A	2–0	Hughes  27' Heighway  60'	38,591	Report	Report
20-Oct-71	Bayern Munich	H	0–0		42,949	Report	Report
03-Nov-71	Bayern Munich	A	1–3	Evans  37'	40,000	Report	Report

FA Charity Shield

Main article: 1971 FA Charity Shield

Leicester City v Liverpool

7 August 1971

Leicester City	1–0	Liverpool
Whitworth 15'	Report

Filbert Street, Leicester Attendance: 25,104 Referee: Pat Partridge

References

• LFC History.net – 1971–72 season
• Liverweb - 1971-72 Season