1977–78 Leicester City F.C. season

Leicester City

1977–78 season
Chairman	Walter Needham
Manager	Frank McLintock (until 5 April) Ian MacFarlane (caretaker from 5 April)
First Division	22nd (relegated)
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	Salmons/Davies (4)
Average home league attendance	17,768
← 1976–77 1978–79 →

During the 1977–78 English football season, Leicester City F.C. competed in the Football League First Division.

Season summary

In the 1977–78 season, Frank McLintock returned to Leicester, this time as a manager. However, he endured a difficult time in charge, as the Foxes went through a spell where they had one win in 26 matches and as a result finished bottom and were relegated back to the second tier after 7 years in the top flight. McLintock was sacked on 5 April and Ian MacFarlane took charge of the team for the final 5 games of Leicester's dismal season.

Final league table

Main article: 1977–78 Football League

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GD		Pts
1	Nottingham Forest	42		15	6	0	37	8		10	8	3	32	16		69	24	+45		64
2	Liverpool	42		15	4	2	37	11		9	5	7	28	23		65	34	+31		57
3	Everton	42		14	4	3	47	22		8	7	6	29	23		76	45	+31		55
4	Manchester City	42		14	4	3	46	21		6	8	7	28	30		74	51	+23		52
5	Arsenal	42		14	5	2	38	12		7	5	9	22	25		60	37	+23		52
6	West Bromwich Albion	42		13	5	3	35	18		5	9	7	27	35		62	53	+9		50
7	Coventry City	42		13	5	3	48	23		5	7	9	27	39		75	62	+13		48
8	Aston Villa	42		11	4	6	33	18		7	6	8	24	24		57	42	+15		46
9	Leeds United	42		12	4	5	39	21		6	6	9	24	32		63	53	+10		46
10	Manchester United	42		9	6	6	32	23		7	4	10	35	40		67	63	+4		42
11	Birmingham City	42		8	5	8	32	30		8	4	9	23	30		55	60	–5		41
12	Derby County	42		10	7	4	37	24		4	6	11	17	35		54	59	–5		41
13	Norwich City	42		10	8	3	28	20		1	10	10	24	46		52	66	–14		40
14	Middlesbrough	42		8	8	5	25	19		4	7	10	17	35		42	54	–12		39
15	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42		7	8	6	30	27		5	4	12	21	37		51	64	–13		36
16	Chelsea	42		7	11	3	28	20		4	3	14	18	49		46	69	–23		36
17	Bristol City	42		9	6	6	37	26		2	7	12	12	27		49	53	–4		35
18	Ipswich Town	42		10	5	6	32	24		1	8	12	15	37		47	61	–14		35
19	Queens Park Rangers	42		8	8	5	27	26		1	7	13	20	38		47	64	–17		33
20	West Ham United	42		8	6	7	31	28		4	2	15	21	41		52	69	–17		32
21	Newcastle United	42		4	6	11	26	37		2	4	15	16	41		42	78	–36		22
22	Leicester City	42		4	7	10	16	32		1	5	15	10	38		26	70	–44		22

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Key
	League Champions, qualified for European Cup
	Qualified for European Cup
	FA Cup winners, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
	League Cup winners, see Nottingham Forest
	Qualified for UEFA Cup
	Relegated

Results

Leicester City's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
20 August 1977	Manchester City	A	0–0	45,963
24 August 1977	West Ham United	H	1–0	18,310	Kember
27 August 1977	Bristol City	H	0–0	17,011
3 September 1977	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–3	14,516
10 September 1977	Everton	H	1–5	16,425	Sims
17 September 1977	Arsenal	A	1–2	27,371	Worthington
24 September 1977	Nottingham Forest	H	0–3	21,447
1 October 1977	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–3	20,009
5 October 1977	Chelsea	A	0–0	19,575
8 October 1977	Aston Villa	H	0–2	20,276
15 October 1977	Coventry City	H	1–2	20,205	Sammels (pen)
22 October 1977	Norwich City	A	0–2	17,684
29 October 1977	Leeds United	H	0–0	20,128
5 November 1977	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–2	20,082
12 November 1977	Ipswich Town	H	2–1	13,779	Williams, Salmons
19 November 1977	Birmingham City	A	1–1	21,208	Waddle
26 November 1977	Liverpool	H	0–4	26,051
3 December 1977	Newcastle United	A	0–2	20,112
10 December 1977	Derby County	H	1–1	21,199	Kelly
17 December 1977	Ipswich Town	A	0–1	16,905
26 December 1977	Middlesbrough	H	0–0	18,476
27 December 1977	Manchester United	A	1–3	57,396	Goodwin
31 December 1977	West Ham United	A	2–3	25,455	Kember, Sims
2 January 1978	Manchester City	H	0–1	24,041
14 January 1978	Bristol City	A	0–0	19,704
21 January 1978	Queens Park Rangers	H	0–0	16,288
4 February 1978	Everton	A	0–2	33,707
11 February 1978	Arsenal	H	1–1	15,780	Williams
25 February 1978	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–0	15,763	Goodwin
4 March 1978	Aston Villa	A	0–0	29,971
11 March 1978	Coventry City	A	0–1	24,421
14 March 1978	Nottingham Forest	A	0–1	32,355
18 March 1978	Norwich City	H	2–2	13,077	Williams, Davies
25 March 1978	Manchester United	H	2–3	20,299	Smith, Salmons
27 March 1978	Middlesbrough	A	1–0	15,534	Hughes
28 March 1978	Leeds United	A	1–5	21,145	Davies (pen)
1 April 1978	West Bromwich Albion	H	0–1	14,637
8 April 1978	Liverpool	A	2–3	42,979	Hughes, White
15 April 1978	Birmingham City	H	1–4	15,431	Salmons
22 April 1978	Derby County	A	1–4	18,829	Davies
26 April 1978	Chelsea	H	0–2	12,970
29 April 1978	Newcastle United	H	3–0	11,530	Goodwin, Davies, Salmons

FA Cup

Main article: 1977-78 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	7 January 1978	Hull City	A	1–0	12,374	Armstrong
R4	28 January 1978	Walsall	A	0–1	17,421

League Cup

Main article: 1977–78 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2	30 August 1977	Portsmouth	A	0–2	13,842

Squad

[1] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player - GK Mark Wallington - DF Steve Whitworth - DF Dennis Rofe - MF Eddie Kelly - DF Steve Sims - DF Alan Woollett - MF Brian Alderson - MF Steve Kember - FW Frank Worthington - MF Jon Sammels - FW Steve Earle - DF Jeff Blockley - MF Keith Weller - DF Larry May - FW Dean Smith - MF Lammie Robertson - FW Alan Waddle

No. Position Player - MF George Armstrong - DF David Webb - DF Tommy Williams - MF Geoff Salmons - MF Winston White - FW Roger Davies - MF Steve Bicknell - MF Mark Goodwin - DF Peter Welsh - DF Kevin Farmer - FW Billy Hughes - DF Steve Yates - MF Neville Hamilton - FW Trevor Christie - MF Derek Dawkins - GK Carl Jayes