The 1976–77 season was Arsenal Football Club's 51st consecutive season in the Football League First Division. The first season under new manager Terry Neill, Arsenal finished eighth in the league and reached the quarterfinals of the League Cup.

New signing Malcolm Macdonald was Arsenal's top scorer. Long-tenured defender Pat Rice assumed the captaincy. Neill oversaw significant turnover in the side throughout the season, seeing the exodus of players such as Alan Ball and John Radford. Along with Macdonald, Neill brought in players like Willie Young and Alan Hudson.

Season summary In the 1976–77 season, former Tottenham boss Terry Neill was recruited by the Arsenal board to replace Bertie Mee in the summer. At the age of 34 he became the youngest Arsenal manager to date. Neill brought his number two, Wilf Dixon, from Spurs. Bobby Campbell, the previous coach, left the club a few weeks later to become Fulham's coach. Alan Ball, who had favoured Campbell to become the next manager, was ousted with a move to Southampton for £60,000 in December.

As would become a trademark of Neill's management, Neill looked to bring in a big-name striker. Newcastle's star Malcolm Macdonald was available and Neill got him for £333,333, a British transfer record. Macdonald formed a fruitful partnership with Frank Stapleton.

Arsenal started the season well with just two defeats in their first nine league games but their title challenge soon began to fade. Arsenal relied heavily on Macdonald for goals. He rewarded them, scoring hat-tricks against both Newcastle and Birmingham. However, when Macdonald went through a poor run of form, Arsenal followed, finding 8 defeats in 11 league games picking up just 3 points out of the possible 22. The Gunners finished the season in a disappointing 8th place.

In the FA Cup, Arsenal easily beat Notts County and Coventry City. However, their run ended against Middlesbrough in a 4–1 loss. Arsenal penetrated deeper into the League Cup, beating Carlisle United before taking their tie with Blackpool to a second replay before triumphing. Arsenal overcame Chelsea in a 2–1 victory at home in front of a season-record crowd to reach the quarterfinals. They lost 2–1 to Queens Park Rangers, ending their League Cup run.

By the end of the season, only two members of the 1971 Double side remained in the first team: George Armstrong and Pat Rice. Armstrong left for Leicester at the end of the season. There were many other departures. John Radford, having lost his place to Stapleton, left to West Ham in December after 14 years at the club, playing 383 league games. Peter Storey was another player to leave, being unable to hold down a first-team place. He moved to Fulham for £10,000 and retired a few games later. Neill also moved Eddie Kelly to QPR, Alex Cropley (£135,000 to Aston Villa), and Terry Mancini (Aldershot). He brought in Willie Young who he had known at Spurs, and Alan Hudson in the spring for £200,000 from Stoke.

Final league table

Results Arsenal's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League First Division DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 21 August 1976 Bristol CityH0–141,082 25 August 1976 Norwich CityA3–126,769Macdonald, Nelson, Stapleton 28 August 1976 SunderlandA2–241,211Macdonald, Ross 4 September 1976 Manchester CityH0–035,132 11 September 1976 West Ham UnitedA2–031,965Ross, Stapleton 18 September 1976 EvertonH3–134,076Brady, Macdonald, Stapleton 25 September 1976 Ipswich TownA1–325,505Hunter (own goal) 2 October 1976 Queens Park RangersH3–239,442Brady, Rice, Stapleton 16 October 1976 Stoke CityH2–028,745Macdonald, Rice 20 October 1976 Aston VillaA1–533,860Ball 23 October 1976 Leicester CityA1–419,351Stapleton 30 October 1976 Leeds UnitedA1–233,566Matthews 6 November 1976 Birmingham CityH4–023,063Stapleton, Macdonald (pen.), Nelson, Ross 20 November 1976 LiverpoolH1–145,016Armstrong 27 November 1976 Coventry CityA2–118,313Macdonald, Stapleton 4 December 1976 Newcastle UnitedH5–335,000Macdonald (3), Ross, Stapleton 15 December 1976 Derby CountyA0–024,016 18 December 1976 Manchester UnitedH3–139,572Brady, Macdonald (2) 27 December 1976 Tottenham HotspurA2–247,751Macdonald (2) 3 January 1977 Leeds UnitedH1–144,090Macdonald 15 January 1977 Norwich CityH1–030,537Rice 18 January 1977 Birmingham CityA3–323,247Macdonald (3) 22 January 1977 Bristol CityA0–226,282 5 February 1977 SunderlandH0–030,925 12 February 1977 Manchester CityA0–145,368 15 February 1977 MiddlesbroughA0–326,083 19 February 1977 West Ham UnitedH2–338,221Brady, Stapleton 1 March 1977 EvertonA1–229,802Macdonald 5 March 1977 Ipswich TownH1–434,688Macdonald (pen.) 8 March 1977 West Bromwich AlbionH1–219,517Macdonald 12 March 1977 Queens Park RangersA1–226,191Young 23 March 1977 Stoke CityA1–113,951Price 2 April 1977 Leicester CityH3–023,013O'Leary (2), Rix 9 April 1977 West Bromwich AlbionA2–024,275Macdonald, Stapleton 11 April 1977 Tottenham HotspurH1–047,432Macdonald 16 April 1977 LiverpoolA0–248,174 23 April 1977 Coventry CityH2–022,790Macdonald, Stapleton 25 April 1977 Aston VillaH3–023,961Armstrong, Macdonald, Nelson 30 April 1977 Newcastle UnitedA2–044,677Macdonald, Matthews 3 May 1977 Derby CountyH0–026,659 7 May 1977 MiddlesbroughH1–123,911Stapleton 14 May 1977 Manchester UnitedA2–353,232Brady, Stapleton

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR38 January 1977 Notts CountyA1–017,328RossR429 January 1977 Coventry CityH3–141,078Macdonald (2), StapletonR526 February 1977 MiddlesbroughA1–435,208Macdonald

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR231 August 1976 Carlisle UnitedH3–221,550Macdonald, Ross (2)R321 September 1976 BlackpoolA1–118,983ArmstrongR3R28 September 1976 BlackpoolH0–027,195R3R25 October 1976 BlackpoolH2–026,791Stapleton, O'LearyR426 October 1976 ChelseaH2–152,285Ross, StapletonQF1 December 1976 Queens Park RangersA1–227,621Stapleton

Squad

References