1971-1972

Brian Clough and Peter Taylor took unfancied and unfashionable Derby County to the very pinnacle of the English game in the 1971-72 season.  With players of the calibre of Dave Mackay, Colin Todd, John McGovern and Archie Gemmill in their midst it was perhaps a surprise that Derby only won the title after results conspired to go their way in Leeds' and Liverpool's final games a week after Derby's.

On 1 May, Derby had beaten Liverpool by a goal to nil at the Baseball Ground to leapfrog their opponents and Manchester City into top spot. Derby now had 58 points, with City and Leeds on 57 and Liverpool on 56 but with a better goal average. City were out of it, but with Liverpool having to play at Arsenal and Leeds with a trip to Molineux things were out of their hands. As it was Leeds lost 2-1 and Liverpool could only draw so Derby were champions.

P W D L F A GA Pts
Derby County 42 24 10 8 69 33 2.09 58
Leeds United 42 24 9 9 73 31 2.36 57
Liverpool 42 24 9 9 64 30 2.13 57
Manchester City 42 23 11 8 77 45 1.71 57
Arsenal 42 22 8 12 58 40 1.45 52
Tottenham Hotspur 42 19 13 10 63 42 1.50 51
Chelsea 42 18 12 12 58 49 1.18 48
Manchester United 42 19 10 13 69 61 1.13 48
Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 18 11 13 65 57 1.14 47
Sheffield United 42 17 12 13 61 60 1.02 46
Newcastle United 42 15 11 16 49 52 0.94 41
Leicester City 42 13 13 16 41 46 0.89 39
Ipswich Town 42 11 16 15 39 53 0.74 38
West Ham United 42 12 12 18 47 51 0.92 36
Everton 42 9 18 15 37 48 0.77 36
West Bromwich Albion 42 12 11 19 42 54 0.78 35
Stoke City 42 10 15 17 39 56 0.70 35
Coventry City 42 9 15 18 44 67 0.66 33
Southampton 42 12 7 23 52 80 0.65 31
Crystal Palace 42 8 13 21 39 65 0.60 29
Nottingham Forest 42 8 9 25 47 81 0.58 25
Huddersfield Town 42 6 13 23 27 59 0.46 25

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