1975–76 Liverpool F.C. season

The 1975–76 season was Liverpool Football Club's 84th season in existence and their 14th consecutive season in the First Division. Liverpool won its ninth Football League title and second UEFA Cup, which were the first trophies won under manager Bob Paisley, in his second season as manager.

Liverpool F.C.
1975–76 season
ChairmanEngland John W Smith
ManagerEngland Bob Paisley
First DivisionChampions
UEFA CupWinners
FA CupFourth round
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerLeague: John Toshack (16)
All: John Toshack (23)
Average home league attendance41,670

Paisley saw his team clinch the league title narrowly ahead of contenders Queens Park Rangers. In a climax to the season, Liverpool needed to either win or secure a low-scoring draw against relegation-threatened Wolverhampton Wanderers. With 14 minutes left for play and despite constant pressure in the second half, the Reds trailed to a Steve Kindon strike for Wolves. The title was slipping away from Liverpool but three late goals from Kevin Keegan, John Toshack and Ray Kennedy in front of away support ensured Liverpool's ninth title and Bob Paisley's first trophy.

In the UEFA Cup, Liverpool overcame Barcelona in the semi-finals, to set up a final with Club Brugge. Liverpool won the first leg 3–2 on 28 April after being two-nil down in the first half. Three weeks later, a 1–1 draw in Olympiastadion, Bruges, saw them lift the cup for the second time.

The emergence of Phil Neal, Phil Thompson and Ray Kennedy in the Liverpool side saw them make their England debuts in the Welsh FA Centenary International against Wales on 24 March 1976.[1] Also in the England side were Ray Clemence and, captaining England for the first time, Kevin Keegan, and those five would go on to play for England for many years to come.

Squad

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Goalkeepers

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Defenders

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Midfielders

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Attackers

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Squad statistics

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Appearances and goals

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No. Pos Nat Player Total Division 1 FA Cup League Cup UEFA Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
FW   ENG Phil Boersma 5 0 1+2 0 0+0 0 0+1 0 0+1 0
MF   ENG Ian Callaghan 57 4 40+0 3 2+0 0 3+0 0 12+0 1
MF   ENG Jimmy Case 39 12 27+0 6 2+0 0 1+0 1 7+2 5
GK   ENG Ray Clemence 59 0 42+0 0 2+0 0 3+0 0 12+0 0
MF   SCO Peter Cormack 24 1 16+1 1 0+0 0 3+0 0 3+1 0
FW   ENG David Fairclough 19 8 5+9 7 0+0 0 0+0 0 2+3 1
MF   SCO Brian Hall 25 2 12+1 2 0+1 0 2+0 0 6+3 0
MF   IRL Steve Heighway 54 6 39+0 4 2+0 0 2+0 0 11+0 2
DF   ENG Emlyn Hughes 57 2 41+0 2 2+0 0 3+0 0 11+0 0
DF   WAL Joey Jones 14 0 13+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0
FW   ENG Kevin Keegan 57 16 41+0 12 2+0 1 3+0 0 11+0 3
MF   ENG Ray Kennedy 43 10 29+1 6 2+0 0 1+0 0 10+0 4
DF   ENG Brian Kettle 2 0 1+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0
DF   ENG Chris Lawler 1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 1+0 0
DF   ENG Alec Lindsay 11 1 6+0 0 0+0 0 3+0 1 2+0 0
MF   ENG Terry McDermott 10 1 7+2 1 0+0 0 1+0 0 0+0 0
DF   ENG Phil Neal 59 7 42+0 6 2+0 0 3+0 0 12+0 1
DF   ENG Tommy Smith 35 0 24+0 0 2+0 0 0+0 0 9+0 0
DF   ENG Max Thompson 1 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+0 0 0+1 0
DF   ENG Phil Thompson 57 2 41+0 0 2+0 0 3+0 0 11+0 2
FW   WAL John Toshack 51 23 35+0 16 2+0 1 2+0 0 12+0 6

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Liverpool (C) 42 23 14 5 66 31 2.129 60 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Queens Park Rangers 42 24 11 7 67 33 2.030 59 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Manchester United 42 23 10 9 68 42 1.619 56
4 Derby County 42 21 11 10 75 58 1.293 53
5 Leeds United 42 21 9 12 65 46 1.413 51
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions

Results

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First Division

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Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance Report 1 Report 2
16-Aug-75 Queens Park Rangers A 0–2 27,113 Report Report
19-Aug-75 West Ham United H 2–2 Callaghan   24' Toshack   81' 40,564 Report Report
23-Aug-75 Tottenham Hotspur H 3–2 Keegan   54 Pen' Case   68' Heighway   72' 42,729 Report Report
26-Aug-75 Leeds United A 3–0 Kennedy   26' Callaghan   84', 88' 36,186 Report Report
30-Aug-75 Leicester City A 1–1 Keegan   50' 25,008 Report Report
06-Sep-75 Sheffield United H 1–0 Kennedy   78' 37,340 Report Report
13-Sep-75 Ipswich Town A 0–2 28,132 Report Report
20-Sep-75 Aston Villa H 3–0 Toshack   62' Keegan   77' Case   86' 42,779 Report Report
27-Sep-75 Everton A 0–0 55,570 Report Report
04-Oct-75 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 2–0 Hall   60' Case   86' 36,391 Report Report
11-Oct-75 Birmingham City H 3–1 Toshack   13', 59', 86' 36,532 Report Report
18-Oct-75 Coventry City A 0–0 20,695 Report Report
25-Oct-75 Derby County H 1–1 Toshack   27' 46,324 Report Report
01-Nov-75 Middlesbrough A 1–0 McDermott   71' 30,952 Report Report
08-Nov-75 Manchester United H 3–1 Heighway   12' Toshack   46' Keegan   78' 49,136 Report Report
15-Nov-75 Newcastle United A 2–1 Hall   41' R. Kennedy   88' 39,686 Report Report
22-Nov-75 Coventry City H 1–1 Toshack   28' 36,929 Report Report
29-Nov-75 Norwich City H 1–3 Hughes   87' 34,780 Report Report
02-Dec-75 Arsenal H 2–2 Neal   23 Pen', 59 Pen' 27,447 Report Report
06-Dec-75 Burnley A 0–0 18,426 Report Report
13-Dec-75 Tottenham Hotspur A 4–0 Keegan   43' Case   54' Neal   74' Heighway   86' 29,891 Report Report
20-Dec-75 Queens Park Rangers H 2–0 Toshack   22' Neal   75 Pen' 39,182 Report Report
26-Dec-75 Stoke City A 1–1 Toshack   8' 32,092 Report Report
27-Dec-75 Manchester City H 1–0 Cormack   61' 53,386 Report Report
10-Jan-76 Ipswich Town H 3–3 Keegan   13', 33' Case   78' 40,547 Report Report
17-Jan-76 Sheffield United A 0–0 31,255 Report Report
31-Jan-76 West Ham United A 4–0 Toshack   63', 75', 81' Keegan   88' 26,741 Report Report
07-Feb-76 Leeds United H 2–0 Keegan   40' Toshack   71' 54,525 Report Report
18-Feb-76 Manchester United A 0–0 59,709 Report Report
21-Feb-76 Newcastle United H 2–0 Keegan   26' Case   51' 43,404 Report Report
24-Feb-76 Arsenal A 0–1 36,127 Report Report
28-Feb-76 Derby County A 1–1 Kennedy   86' 32,800 Report Report
06-Mar-76 Middlesbrough H 0–2 41,391 Report Report
13-Mar-76 Birmingham City A 1–0 Neal   83 Pen' 31,397 Report Report
20-Mar-76 Norwich City A 1–0 Fairclough   59' 29,013 Report Report
27-Mar-76 Burnley H 2–0 Fairclough   39', 61' 36,708 Report Report
03-Apr-76 Everton H 1–0 Fairclough   88' 54,632 Report Report
06-Apr-76 Leicester City H 1–0 Keegan   58' 36,290 Report Report
10-Apr-76 Aston Villa A 0–0 44,250 Report Report
17-Apr-76 Stoke City H 5–3 Neal   37 Pen' Toshack   43' Kennedy   51' Hughes   73' Fairclough   78' 44,069 Report Report
19-Apr-76 Manchester City A 3–0 Heighway   73' Fairclough   88', 89' 50,439 Report Report
04-May-76 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 3–1 Keegan   76' Toshack   85' Kennedy   89' 48,900 Report Report

Football League Cup

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Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance Report 1 Report 2
10-Sep-75 York City A 1–0 Lindsay   88 Pen' 9.421 Report Report
07-Oct-75 Burnley H 1–1 Case   81' 24,607 Report Report
14-Oct-75 Burnley A 0–1 19,857 Report Report

FA Cup

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Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance Report 1 Report 2
03-Jan-76 West Ham United A 2–0 Keegan   37' Toshack   82' 32,363 Report Report
24-Jan-76 Derby County A 0–1 38,200 Report Report

UEFA Cup

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Date Opponents Venue Result Scorers Attendance Report 1 Report 2
17-Sep-75 Hibernian A 0–1 19,219 Report Report
30-Sep-75 Hibernian H 3–1 Toshack   21', 53', 64' 29,963 Report Report
22-Oct-75 Real Sociedad A 3–1 Heighway   20' Callaghan   61' P. Thompson   82' 16,256 Report Report
04-Nov-75 Real Sociedad H 6–0 Toshack   14' Kennedy   30', 75' Fairclough   72' Heighway   77' Neal   79' 23,796 Report Report
26-Nov-75 Śląsk Wrocław A 2–1 Kennedy   61' Toshack   75' 40,000 Report Report
10-Dec-75 Śląsk Wrocław H 3–0 Case   22', 30', 46' 17,886 Report Report
03-Mar-76 Dynamo Dresden A 0–0 32,182 Report Report
17-Mar-76 Dynamo Dresden H 2–1 Case   24' Keegan   47' 39,300 Report Report
30-Mar-76 Barcelona A 1–0 Toshack   13' 70,000 Report Report
14-Apr-76 Barcelona H 1–1 P. Thompson   50' 55,104 Report Report

Final

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First leg

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Liverpool  3–2  Club Brugge
Kennedy   59'
Case   61'
Keegan   65' (pen.)
Report Report Lambert   5'
Cools   15'
Attendance: 50,188
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Liverpool
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Club Brugge
GK 1   Ray Clemence
RB 2   Phil Neal
LB 3   Tommy Smith
CB 4   Phil Thompson
LM 5   Ray Kennedy
CB 6   Emlyn Hughes (c)
ST 7   Kevin Keegan
ST 8   David Fairclough
RM 9   Steve Heighway
ST 10   John Toshack   46'
CM 11   Ian Callaghan
Substitutes:
MF 12   Jimmy Case   46'
GK 13   Peter McDonnell
DF 14   Joey Jones
MF 15   Brian Hall
MF 16   Terry McDermott
Manager:
  Bob Paisley
GK 1   Birger Jensen
RB 2   Fons Bastijns (c)
CB 3   Eddie Krieger
CB 4   Georges Leekens
LB 5   Jos Volders
MF 6   Julien Cools
MF 7   René Vandereycken
MF 8   Daniël de Cubber
FW 9   Roger van Gool
FW 10   Raoul Lambert
FW 11   Ulrik le Fevre
Substitutes:
GK 12   Hugo Pieters
RB 13   Norbert De Naeghel
MF 14   Dirk Sanders
FW 15   Konrad Holenstein
FW 16   Dirk Hinderyckx
Manager:
  Ernst Happel

Second leg

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Club Brugge  1–1  Liverpool
Lambert   11' (pen.) Report Report Keegan   15'
Attendance: 29,423
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Club Bruges
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Liverpool
GK 1   Birger Jensen
RB 2   Fons Bastijns (c)
CB 3   Eddie Krieger
CB 4   Georges Leekens
LB 5   Jos Volders
MF 6   Julien Cools
MF 7   René Vandereycken
MF 8   Daniël de Cubber   68'
FW 9   Roger van Gool
FW 10   Raoul Lambert   75'
FW 11   Ulrik le Fevre
Substitutes:
GK 12   Hugo Pieters
RB 13   Norbert De Naeghel
FW 14   Dirk Hinderyckx   68'
MF 15   Dirk Sanders   75'
Manager:
  Ernst Happel
GK 1   Ray Clemence
RB 2   Phil Neal
LB 3   Tommy Smith
CB 4   Phil Thompson
LM 5   Ray Kennedy
CB 6   Emlyn Hughes (c)
ST 7   Kevin Keegan
CM 8   Jimmy Case
RM 9   Steve Heighway
ST 10   John Toshack   62'
CM 11   Ian Callaghan
Substitutes:
FW 12   David Fairclough   62'
GK 13   Peter McDonnell
DF 14   Joey Jones
MF 15   Brian Hall
MF 16   Terry McDermott
Manager:
  Bob Paisley

References

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  1. ^ "englandstats.com | 497 - Wales 1-2 England, Wednesday, 24th March 1976".