Second Division – tough race for promotion and no outsiders. Typical English league season.
Blackburn Rovers finished last with 30 points. 10 wins, 10 draws, and 22 matches lost.
Milwall with 2 points more than Blackburn was 21st.
Rough time for the city famous for its ‘Sheffield steel’ – just like the metalworks, football was down. And out…
One point short of safety… United finished 20th with 34 points and dwon they went. There was to be a Sheffiled derby next year… in 3rd Division.
Down on their luck – or plainly in decline – were Leicester City.
They finished 17th – 3 points ahead of the deadly relegation zone. The exciting players of the early 1970s were all gone. Sitting on the far left is Gary Lineker – unknown youngster.
Ups and downs across the league – mid-table season for Newcastle United (8th) and West Ham United out of the race for promotion (5th), but the battle for three spots lifting teams up to first division was heavy – 4 teams competed. Sunderland left West Ham United behind – far behind, for 5 points were big difference at that time – but at the end they were one point short of the coveted spots. Sunderland was 4th with 55 points.
56 points meant promotion – two clubs shared the same record and goal-difference determined silver and bronze.
Stoke City were 3rd – two seasons in second division were enough. They were returning to where they belonged.
Brighton & Hove Albion finished a place above Stoke City. Back in 1976-77 Stoke City played in first division and Brighton in third. Obviously, a team going up and quickly too. Nice surprise they were – newcomers to top flight.
And a bit ahead of Brighton and Stoke – only a point ahead, but enough to win the championship , were familiar name. Up, down, now up again – Crystal Palace.
‘London’s pride’ they were called in magazines, peddling team posters. May be every London club was tagged with the same moniker, but there was some truth in this case: most London clubs were in bad shape. QPR and Chelsea were just relegated, leaving London with only 2 clubs in first division. Crystal Palace did not win easily, but win they did and up they went. It had been a long time… Crystal Palace did not play first division football since 1972-73.