1976–77 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

Nottingham Forest F.C.
1976–77 season
Chairman	BJ Appleby, QC
Manager	Brian Clough
Stadium	The City Ground
Second Division	3rd; (In 1977–78 First Division)
FA Cup	4th round
League Cup	3rd round
Top goalscorer	League: ; Peter Withe (16); All: ; Withe (19)
Highest home attendance	31,004 (8 March 1977 v Notts County); (League); 38,284 (Cup)
Lowest home attendance	12,393 (League); 12,717 (Cup)
Average home league attendance	20,540 (League)
Home colours	Away colours
	← 1975–76 1977–78 →

The 1976–77 season was Nottingham Forest's 112th year in existence and fifth campaign consecutive in the Second Division since their relegation in 1972.

Summary

During summer chairman BJ Appleby appointed Brighton & Hove Albion manager Peter Taylor as new assistant for Clough, now in his third season with the club. The 1972 First Division Champion Duo was reunited again after two campaigns now in Second Division.^[1] The club reinforced the squad with several players, for the offensive line arriving striker Garry Birtles from Long Eaton United,^[2] forward Peter Withe was bought from Birmingham City.^[3] and Taylor asked for the return of Tony Woodcock^[4] after a loan spell from Lincoln City F.C. The defensive line had a poor performance through September, Middleton replaced Wells as Goalkeeper starter and Taylor asked for the transfer in of central-back defender Larry Lloyd arriving from Coventry City during October allowing McGovern came back as midfielder.^[5] Forest ended their season by beating Millwall 1–0, thanks to an own goal by Moore netting the winner, leaving them on 52 points with Bolton Wanderers (who draw Luton Town 1–1 on the same day) on 48 with three more games to play. Forest's destiny was not in their own hands, on 10 May Bolton won 2-1 to Cardiff City netting 50 and needed only two points in two more matches to overtake Forest.

On 14 May, Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Bolton Wanderers 1–0 at Burnden Park. In their final match Bolton only draw 2-2 to Bristol Rovers. The promotion was unusually close throughout the campaign and the final table saw Forest clinching the last 3rd spot just one point ahead of the teams in 4th (Bolton) and 5th (Blackpool). Therefore, the club was promoted to the Division One for the first time since being relegated in the 1971–72 season.

Also, the squad clinched the Anglo-Scottish Cup on December 1976, their first piece of silverware since the FA Cup in 1959 after defeated Leyton Orient in the Finals with a massive 5–1 aggregate score.

Meanwhile, in League Cup the club advanced to the third round being defeated by Coventry City. In FA Cup the squad was eliminated in fourth round after a replay against Southampton F.C.

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	John Middleton
—	GK	ENG	Chris Woods
—	GK	ENG	Peter Wells
—	DF	ENG	Viv Anderson
—	DF	ENG	Frank Clark
—	DF	SCO	John McGovern
—	DF	ENG	Sammy Chapman (c)
—	DF	ENG	Larry Lloyd
—	DF	ENG	Colin Barrett
—	DF	ENG	Bryn Gunn
—	DF	ENG	Glyn Saunders
—	MF	ENG	Terry Curran
—	MF	ENG	Ian Bowyer


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Bert Bowery
—	MF	ENG	Steve Burke
—	MF	NIR	Martin O'Neill
—	MF	SCO	John Robertson
—	MF	SCO	George Lyall
—	MF	ENG	Sean Haslegrave
—	FW	SCO	John O'Hare
—	FW	ENG	Barry Butlin
—	FW	ENG	Tony Woodcock
—	FW	ENG	Garry Birtles
—	FW	ENG	Peter Withe

Transfers

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
MF	Sean Haslegrave	Stoke City	£50,000
FW	Garry Birtles	Long Eaton United	£2,000
FW	Peter Withe	Birmingham City
DF	Larry Lloyd	Coventry City	£49,000
FW	Tony Woodcock	Lincoln City	loan ended
MF	Steve Burke	Youth team
GK	Chris Woods	Youth team

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type
FW	Tony Woodcock	Lincoln City	loan
DF	Glynn Saunders
MF	Paul Richardson	Chester City F.C.
DF	John Cottam	Chesterfield F.C.
DF	Liam O'Kane		retired
DF	David Sunley	Hull City F.C.
GK	Peter Wells	Southampton F.C.

Winter

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
FW	Tony Woodcock	Lincoln City	loan ended

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type
MF	Bert Bowery	Boston Minutemen

Competitions

Second Division

League Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Wolverhampton Wanderers (C, P)	42	22	13	7	84	45	+39	57	Promotion to the First Division
2	Chelsea (P)	42	21	13	8	73	53	+20	55
3	Nottingham Forest (P)	42	21	10	11	77	43	+34	52
4	Bolton Wanderers	42	20	11	11	75	54	+21	51
5	Blackpool	42	17	17	8	58	42	+16	51

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Position by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Ground	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H
Result	D	D	L	D	W	D	W	L	W	L	W	L	W	W	D	W	W	W	D	D	W	L	W	L	L	W	D	L	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	D	L	L	W	D	W	W
Position	10	13	17	15	13	12	7	11	4	8	5	8	6	5	5	5	5	2	3	4	4	4	3	4	5	6	7	7	7	7	7	5	4	3	3	3	4	4	3	3	3	3

Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; = Leader, 1977–78 First Division; = 1977–78 First Division; = 1977–78 Third Division

A list of Nottingham Forest's matches in the 1976–77 season.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Matches

21 August 1976 1	Fulham	2-2	Nottingham Forest	Fulham
	Lacy 38' Mitchell 45'		23' Curran 63' O'Hare	Stadium: Craven Cottage Attendance: 9,437

25 August 1976 2	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Charlton Athletic	West Bridgford
	Curran 33' (pen.)		6' Hales	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 12,662

28 August 1976 3	Nottingham Forest	1–3	Wolverhampton Wanderers	West Bridgford
	Daley 18' (o.g.)		14', 73' Gould 16' Dailey 16	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 17,222

4 September 1976 4	Luton Town	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Luton
	Barrett 89' (o.g.)		30' (pen.) Curran	Stadium: Kenilworth Road

11 September 1976 5	Nottingham Forest	4–3	Hereford United	West Bridgford
	Bowyer 33' Butlin 37' Butlin 74' Robertson 64'		11', 75' McNeil 17' Spiring	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 12,081

18 September 1976 6	Southampton	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Southampton
	Stokes 9'		28' Bowyer	Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 23,006

25 September 1976 7	Nottingham Forest	5–1	Carlisle United	West Bridgford
	O'Hare 19' Bowyer 69', 89' Barratt 72' Withe 78'		7' Barry	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 12,479

2 October 1976 8	Hull City	1–0	Nottingham Forest	Kingston upon Hull
	Bremner 40'			Stadium: Boothferry Park Attendance: 16,096

9 October 1976 9	Nottingham Forest	6–1	Sheffield United	West Bridgford
	Bowyer 11' Butlin 36' Bowyer 41' Curran 48' Withe 56' Anderson 61'		38' (pen.) Ian 'Chico' Hamilton	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 17,801

16 October 1976 10	Blackpool	1–0	Nottingham Forest	Blackpool
	Walsh 64'			Stadium: Bloomfield Road Attendance: 17,089

23 October 1976 11	Nottingham Forest	5–2	Burnley	West Bridgford
	Curran 3' Robertson 50' (pen.) Butlin 54' O'Neill 76', 80'		19' Flynn 48' Smith	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 15,281

30 October 1976 12	Oldham Athletic	1–0	Nottingham Forest	Oldham
	Halom 31'			Stadium: Boundary Park Attendance: 10,597

6 November 1976 13	Nottingham Forest	3–0	Blackburn Rovers	West Bridgford
	Bowyer 7' Withe 52' Haslegrave 77'			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 12,972

13 November 1976 14	Leyton Orient	0–1	Nottingham Forest	Leyton
			74' Woodcock	Stadium: Brisbane Road Attendance: 27,089

20 November 1976 15	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Chelsea	West Bridgford
	O'Neill 34'		38' Britton	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 27,089

27 November 1976 16	Cardiff City	0–3	Nottingham Forest	Cardiff
			1'Withe 43'Chapman 88' Woodcock	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 12,770

4 December 1976 17	Nottingham Forest	4–2	Bristol Rovers	West Bridgford
	Robertson 13' (pen.) Woodcock 65' Robertson 74' Withe 88'		30' David Williams 38' Gordon Fearnley	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 16,302

11 December 1976 18	Millwall	0–2	Nottingham Forest	Bermondsey
			11' O'Neill 79' O'Hare	Stadium: The Den Attendance: 9,307

18 December 1976 19	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Plymouth Argyle	West Bridgford
	Barrett 88'		12' Austin	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 15,180

27 December 1976 20	Bolton Wanderers	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Bolton
	Whatmore 46'		1' Withe	Stadium: Burnden Park Attendance: 31,313

1 January 1977 21	Blackburn Rovers	1–3	Nottingham Forest	Blackburn
	Alcock 29'		23' Withe 27' Woodcock 82'Bowyer	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 14,534

14 January 1977 22	Charlton Athletic	2–1	Nottingham Forest	Charlton
	Mike Flanagan 23' Hugh McAuley 34'		37' Bowyer	Stadium: The Valley Attendance: 8,021

22 January 1977 23	Nottingham Forest	3–0	Fulham	West Bridgford
	Lloyd 83' O'Neill 85' Woodcock 86'			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 24,718

5 February 1977 24	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Nottingham Forest	Wolverhampton
	Carr 32' Richards 35'		89' Chapman	Stadium: Molineux Stadium Attendance: 30,661

12 February 1977 25	Nottingham Forest	1–2	Luton Town	West Bridgford
	Lloyd 86'		55' R Futcher 71' Aston	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 18,225

16 February 1977 26	Nottingham Forest	abd.	Southampton	West Bridgford
			1' Holmes	Stadium: City Ground
Note: Match abandoned at 47' due to fog.^[9]

2 March 1977 27	Hereford United	0–1	Nottingham Forest	Hereford
			38' Curran	Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 7,503

5 March 1977 28	Carlisle United	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Carlisle
	Martin 78'		72' (pen.) Robertson	Stadium: Brunton Park

8 March 1977 29	Nottingham Forest	1–2	Notts County	West Bridgford
	Withe 86'		53' (o.g.) Viv Anderson 63' (pen.) Steve Carter	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 31,004 Referee: DW Civil

12 March 1977 30	Nottingham Forest	2–0	Hull City	West Bridgford
	Woodcock 4' Withe 45'			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 15,126

19 March 1977 31	Sheffield United	2–0	Nottingham Forest	Sheffield
	Edwards 37', 89'			Stadium: Bramall Lane Attendance: 20,370

22 March 1977 26 ^[10]	Nottingham Forest	2–1	Southampton	West Bridgford
	Woodcock 21' O'Neill 55'		65' Rodrigues	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 12,393

26 March 1977 32	Nottingham Forest	3–0	Blackpool	West Bridgford
	Withe 43' Woodcock 45' Withe 80'			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 16,658

29 March 1977 33	Nottingham Forest	3–0	Leyton Orient	West Bridgford
	Robertson 14' Withe 31' Withe 35' Lloyd 60'			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 16,267
Note: Jackson saved a John Robertson penalty in the 14th minute

2 April 1977 34	Burnley	0–1	Nottingham Forest	Burnley
			65' Woodcock	Stadium: Turf Moor Attendance: 10,904

6 April 1977 35	Nottingham Forest	3–1	Bolton Wanderers	West Bridgford
	O'Neill 44' Withe 53' Bowyer 82'		72' Paul Jones	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 24,580

9 April 1977 36	Notts County	1–1	Nottingham Forest	West Bridgford
	Bradd 17'		27' Withe	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 32,518

16 April 1977 37	Chelsea	2–1	Nottingham Forest	Fulham
15:00	Britton 63' Finnieston 87'	Report	42' O'Neill	Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 36,499 Referee: Ron Chalis

23 April 1977 38	Nottingham Forest	0–1	Cardiff City	West Bridgford
			25' Sayer	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 20,646

27 April 1977 39	Nottingham Forest	3–0	Oldham Athletic	West Bridgford
	Bowyer 38' O'Neill 83' Woodcock 49'			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 17,139

30 April 1977 40	Bristol Rovers	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Bristol
	Bater 62'		84' Robertson	Stadium: Eastville Attendance: 8,893

2 May 1977 41	Plymouth Argyle	1–2	Nottingham Forest	Plymouth
	Bruce Bannister 19'		29' Woodcock 52' Withe	Stadium: Home Park Attendance: 13,542

7 May 1977 42	Nottingham Forest	1–0	Millwall	West Bridgford
	Moore 15' (o.g.)			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 23,529

League Cup

Second round

31 August 1976	Walsall F.C.	2–4	Nottingham Forest	Walsall
	Alan Buckley 24' Bernie Wright 86'		17' Curran 41' Barrett 62' O'Neill 80' O'Neill	Stadium: Fellows Park Attendance: 8,437

Third round

21 September 1976	Nottingham Forest	0–3	Coventry City	Nottingham
			23' Mick Ferguson 30' (pen.) Mick Coop 39' Les Cartwright	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 15,969 Referee: TP Bosi

FA Cup

Third round

8 January 1977	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Bristol Rovers	Nottingham
	John Robertson 53' (pen)		David Williams 77'	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 17,770

8 January 1977 replay	Bristol Rovers	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Nottingham Forest	Bristol
	Alan Warboys		Tony Woodcock	Stadium: 12,348

18 January 1977 2nd replay	Nottingham Forest	6–0	Bristol Rovers	Birmingham
	Woodcock 10' Anderson 72' Bowyer 52' O'Hare 76' Withe 59' Woodcock 60'			Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 5,736

Fourth round

29 January 1977	Nottingham Forest	3–3	Southampton F.C.	Nottingham
	Robertson 38' (pen.) Robertson 66' Woodcock 69'		52' Alan Ball 57' Mick Channon 68' Peter Osgood	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 38,284

1 February 1977 2nd replay	Southampton F.C.	2–1	Nottingham Forest	Southampton
	Woodcock 18'		10' Ted MacDougall 66'	Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 29,401

Anglo-Scottish Cup

First round

7 August 1976 1	Notts County	0–0	Nottingham Forest	Nottingham
				Stadium: City Ground

11 August 1976 2	Nottingham Forest	3–2	West Bromwich Albion	Nottingham
	Curran Curran Butlin			Stadium: City Ground

14 August 1976 3	Nottingham Forest	4–2	Bristol City	Nottingham
	Butlin Butlin			Stadium: City Ground

Quarterfinals

14 September 1976 3	Nottingham Forest	2–1	Kilmarnock F.C.	Nottingham
	Sammy Chapman Robertson			Stadium: City Ground

28 September 1976 3	Kilmarnock F.C.	2–2	Nottingham Forest	Kilmarnock
			Curran Curran

Semifinals

20 October 1976	Nottingham Forest	2–2	Ayr United	Nottingham
	Lloyd Withe			Stadium: City Ground

3 November 1976	Ayr United	0–2	Nottingham Forest
			Withe Woodcock

Final

13 December 1976	Leyton Orient	1–1	Nottingham Forest	Leyton
			Robertson	Attendance: 5,058

15 December 1976	Nottingham Forest	4–0 (5–1 agg.)	Leyton Orient	Nottingham
	Chapman Barrett Barrett Bowyer			Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 12,717

Statistics

Players statistics

The statistics for the following players are for their time during 1976–77 season playing for Nottingham Forest. Any stats from a different club during 1976–77 are not included. Includes all competitive matches.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Football League Division Two		Football League Cup		FA Cup		Anglo-Scottish Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ENG	Middleton	49	-47	38	-34	1	-2	5	-7	5	-4
	DF	ENG	Anderson	49	2	32+3	1	3	0	5	1	6	0
	DF	ENG	Lloyd	34	4	26	3	0	0	5	0	3	1
	DF	ENG	Chapman	41	4	29+2	2	2	0	2	0	6	2
	DF	ENG	Clark	56	0	42	0	2	0	5	0	7	0
	MF	NIR	O'Neill	51	11	36+2	9	2	2	5	0	6	0
	MF	ENG	Bowyer	57	14	41	12	2	0	5	1	9	1
	MF	SCO	McGovern	51	0	39	0	2	0	3	0	7	0
	MF	SCO	Robertson	57	11	41	6	2	0	5	3	9	2
	FW	ENG	Withe	42	19	32+1	16	0	0	5	1	4	2
	FW	ENG	Woodcock	37	17	30	11	0	0	5	5	2	1
	GK	ENG	Wells	9	-17	4	-9	1	-3	0	0	4	-5
	FW	SCO	O'Hare	32	6	16+3	3	2	1	5	0	6	2
	MF	ENG	Curran	20	12	11+2	7	2	1	0	0	5	4
	DF	ENG	Barrett	17	5	10	2	2	1	0	0	5	2
	FW	ENG	Butlin	17	6	8+2	3	2	0	0	0	5	3
	MF	ENG	Haslegrave	11	1	3+2	1	0	0	0	0	6	0
	DF	ENG	Saunders	7	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	FW	ENG	Birtles	1	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Bowery	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	GK	ENG	Woods	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Burke	1	0	0+1	0
	MF	ENG	Richardson	1	0	0+1	0
	DF	ENG	Gunn

Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/nottingham-forest/tab/players/season/1977/

References

^ "Brian Clough and the miracle of Nottingham Forest" theguardian.com 10 October 2015
^ Mullan, Sean (27 June 2015). "Manchester United's transfer 'firsts'". Manchester United. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
^ "Peter Withe" The Observer, 6 February 2005
^ "The story of Tony Woodcock: An Englishman in Cologne". 1. FC Köln. 30 December 2015. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
^ "Honours". Nottinghamforest.co.uk. 23 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
^ "1977-1978". Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
^ Smales, Ken (1991). Forest – The First 125 Years. Nottingham: Temple Printing. ISBN 978-1870010092.
^ Attaway, Pete (2010). Nottingham Forest: Brian Clough and His Legacy - A Complete Record 1975 - 2010. Southend-on-Sea: Desert Island Book. ISBN 978-1905328833.
^ "The Fog On The Trent Was Heaven Sent !". fansnetwork.co.uk. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
^ Delayed from 16 February 1977

[1] "Brian Clough and the miracle of Nottingham Forest" theguardian.com 10 October 2015

[2] Mullan, Sean (27 June 2015). "Manchester United's transfer 'firsts'". Manchester United. Retrieved 27 March 2018.

[3] "Peter Withe" The Observer, 6 February 2005

[4] "The story of Tony Woodcock: An Englishman in Cologne". 1. FC Köln. 30 December 2015. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2018.

[5] "Honours". Nottinghamforest.co.uk. 23 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2016.

[6] "1977-1978". Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2019.

[7] Smales, Ken (1991). Forest – The First 125 Years. Nottingham: Temple Printing. ISBN 978-1870010092.

[8] Attaway, Pete (2010). Nottingham Forest: Brian Clough and His Legacy - A Complete Record 1975 - 2010. Southend-on-Sea: Desert Island Book. ISBN 978-1905328833.

[9] "The Fog On The Trent Was Heaven Sent !". fansnetwork.co.uk. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2023.

[10] Delayed from 16 February 1977

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