Of course, First Division was the most interesting. There was the novelty of the brown kit, unforgettable forever.
What were Admiral, the makers of the kit, thinking is irrelevant – the brown second kit of Coventry City was hated, ridiculed, and… with time passing, the atrocity became a cult. As for those wearing it, they mostly played in their usual colours.
Little brown here, but Coventry were hardly remembered for anything else – they finished 7th, more or less, as usual. Nothing great, no worries about relegation, just solid mid-table performance. Everybody was used to that for years.
Others had to worry: Leicester City, gradually losing the players of their good early-70s team, inevitably sunk to the bottom.
May be survival was an issue in the first half of the season, but hardly in the spring – the only concern was whether the team will be last or a place above. Goal-difference was not in Leicester’s favour and ended 22nd. No wonder – the team won the least matches in the division: only 5. They also had hard time scoring – measly 26 goals in 42 games! The next weakest attack still scored a goal per game on average. No wonder… by now Leicester was nothing. Mainly, the team depended on three very suspect players – Chris Garland, who never fulfilled expectations in Chelsea; Jeff Blockley, who also was promising years back, but nothing came out that promise; and mercurial Frank Worthington, huge talent, but… loving fast life and his drink too much. Wasted talent already, no matter the legends and fan’s admiration. One of the long line of players who were expected to be superstars, but chose the bottle and other things instead – George Best, Rodney Marsh, Alan Hudson… by 1977-78 it was absolutely clear that Worthington was not the man leading the team up, but down. And down they went. As for Worthington, he was already gone – to Bolton Wanderers.
Just above Leicester finished Newcastle United. A big slump for them – in 1976-77 they finished 5th! Such is the English league – high place one year does not mean anything and may be followed by disaster. Newcastle have been typical mid-table club for many seasons and such clubs normally go down, not up, at some point. Newcastle had long stretch in the middle of First Division – since their promotion in 1964-65. They even had European success, but never became a force in English football. The fall was inevitable, it was just a matter of time – and the crash came in 1977-78.
Looking at the squad, it was not surprising they finished 21st. The selection was more typical for Second Division club. The team photo is suspect on top of everything – more likely the squad of 1976-77 than 1977-78, contrary to what Football Magazine said. Peter Withe was not Newcastle player in 1977-78 – but his presence here is a fine example of Newcastle’s troubles. True, the bearded striker achieved a lot – English champion twice, European champion, national team player. But he was never a star and in fact had shaky career – he moved from club to club almost every year and did not last anywhere. Ordinary player at best, may be even less, for no club so far cared to keep him. He did not last in Newcastle either and if the club based hopes on him, they were quickly disappointed. The rest of the team was not much better – journeymen, not a single star, and hardly anybody with some leadership potential. Newcastle were reduced to competing with Leicester… for the 21st place in the league table. They won it… 10 points behind the 20th team.
There was fierce – may be fierce – battle for the last safe place in the league, the 19th, between Queen’s Park Rangers and West Ham United. It was more than just too teams trying to avoid relegation – London clubs suffered greatly since 1974, most of them declining either because of inability of replacing strong, but aging, squads made in the 1960s, or suffering financial troubles. Chelsea was relegated, followed by Tottenham Hotspur, and now it was time for West Ham United. And QPR, who escaped relegation by a point, were going down – if not this year, surely soon (soon it was – the next season).
As for unlucky Hammers, they were not all that unlucky – they were far cry from the great team of the 1960s. Once again, transition went wrong and good new team was not built. Some players failed to develop, as hoped – like the very promising a few years ago goalkeeper Marvin Day. Trevor Brooking was there, true, but he was more or less alone, and although the best English midfielder, he was not enough for saving the Hammers. Instead, the club joined the dubious fame of Second Division clubs providing key players for the national team – practically unprecedented situation, but it was becoming a tradition in the 1970s. As for Hammers fans… blame the unusual kit their club used.