The 1976–77 season was West Bromwich Albion's 99th season in existence and first season back in the First Division, following promotion in the 1975–76 season, in which they finished 7th. The club also competed in the FA Cup, League Cup (being eliminated in the third round of both) and Anglo-Scottish Cup (where they were eliminated in the group stage).

Background The club were managed by Johnny Giles on a player-manager basis, and had been since 1975 when Giles joined the club for a fee of £48,000. Giles led West Brom to promotion to the First Division in the 1975–76 season, his first as player-manager, but announced he was to resign at the end of the 1975–76 season, being dissatisfied with his role and wanting more influence over transfers and contract decisions; Giles was later convinced to remain as player-manager until the end of the 1976–77 season.

Review

Prior to the start of the league campaign, West Brom took part in the 1976–77 Anglo-Scottish Cup, but were eliminated after a third-place finish in their group and so played their final match in the competition on 14 August. West Bromwich Albion's league season opened away to Leeds United in the First Division on 21 August, and despite taking a first-half 2–0 lead with goals from Alistair Brown and Tony Brown, they drew 2–2 after two late Leeds goals. A pair of home matches followed, first a 1–0 defeat at home to Liverpool and then a 2–0 victory over Norwich City, again with goals from both Alistair and Tony Brown. A 1–0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers was followed by a 1–0 victory over Birmingham City again with Tony Brown scoring. Following a 1–1 draw at home to Coventry City, the club re-signed Irish international Ray Treacy, who had left the club in 1968, and he scored both West Brom goals in a 2–2 draw away to Derby County in his first game back to leave the Baggies 11th after 7 matches played. West Brom did beat Liverpool after a replay in the second round of the League Cup, but were knocked out in the third round after a 2–0 defeat to Third Division club Brighton & Hove Albion.

Treacy scored twice again in West Brom's opening match of October, alongside Tony Brown and Mick Martin, as the club beat Tottenham Hotspur 4–2 after going 2–0 behind, and despite losing 2–0 away to Newcastle United in their following match, Treacy scored his fifth in four matches with the final goal of a 4–0 victory over Manchester United after goals from Johnny Giles, Alistair Brown, Len Cantello. A 1–0 defeat to Middlesbrough and a 3–0 win over West Ham United followed, before the club were beaten 7–0 by Ipswich Town. The match is both Ipswich's joint largest margin of victory and West Brom's joint largest margin of defeat in any match.

Competitions

First Division League table

Matches +First Division match resultsDateOpponentVenueResultF–AScorersAttendance21 August 1976Leeds UnitedA2–2A. Brown, T. Brown40,24825 August 1976LiverpoolH0–129,73528 August 1976Norwich CityH2–0A. Brown, T. Brown (pen.)16,4344 September 1976Queens Park RangersA0–118,87611 September 1976Birmingham CityA1–0T. Brown38,44817 September 1976Coventry CityH1–1Wile24,47425 September 1976Derby CountyA2–2Treacy (2)24,2782 October 1976Tottenham HotspurH4–2T. Brown (pen.), Martin, Treacy (2)23,4616 October 1976Newcastle UnitedA0–228,75716 October 1976Manchester UnitedH4–0Giles, A. Brown, Cantello, Treacy36,61523 October 1976MiddlesbroughA0–123,16930 October 1976West Ham UnitedH3–0Martin, A. Brown (2)20,3966 November 1976Ipswich TownA0–726,70610 November 1976Aston VillaH1–1Wile41,86720 November 1976Manchester CityA0–136,65627 November 1976EvertonH3–0T. Brown, Cross, Treacy21,07811 December 1976Leicester CityH2–2Treacy, Cross19,04918 December 1976Stoke CityA2–0Statham, Trewick15,98927 December 1976Bristol CityH1–1Cross30,4973 January 1977West Ham UnitedA0–025,23615 January 1977LiverpoolA1–1Cross39,19522 January 1977Leeds UnitedH1–2T. Brown (pen.)25,9585 February 1977Norwich CityA0–119,61312 February 1977Queens Park RangersH1–1Wile18,34222 February 1977SunderlandA1–6Robson30,31728 February 1977Birmingham CityH2–1Robson, A. Brown28,6395 March 1977Derby CountyH1–0Robson19,2808 March 1977ArsenalA2–1Cross (2)19,51712 March 1977Tottenham HotspurA2–0Robson, Cross28,83416 March 1977Ipswich TownH4–0Robson (3), Cunningham23,05419 March 1977Newcastle UnitedH1–1Cunningham23,84323 March 1977Manchester UnitedA2–2Cross, Robson51,0532 April 1977MiddlesbroughH2–1Cunningham, Johnston18,5195 April 1977Bristol CityA2–1Hunter (o.g.), Cross23,7529 April 1977ArsenalH0–224,24216 April 1977Manchester CityH0–224,89919 April 1977Coventry CityA1–1Wile19,13630 April 1977SunderlandH2–3Cunningham, Cross21,8597 May 1977Leicester CityA5–0Martin (2), Cross, Cunningham, T. Brown18,13914 May 1977Stoke CityH3–1Martin, Cunningham, Cross22,75416 May 1977EvertonA1–1T. Brown20,10223 May 1977Aston VillaA0–442,532

FA Cup + FA Cup match resultsRoundDateOpponentVenueResultF–AScorersAttendanceThird round8 January 1977Manchester CityA1–1Johnston38,195Third round replay11 January 1977Manchester CityH0–127,218

League Cup + League Cup match resultsRoundDateOpponentVenueResultF–AScorersAttendanceSecond round31 August 1976LiverpoolA1–1Giles22,984Second round replay6 September 1976LiverpoolH1–0Martin22,622Third round22 September 1976Brighton & Hove AlbionH0–218,728

Anglo-Scottish Cup + Anglo-Scottish Cup match resultsRoundDateOpponentVenueResultF–AScorersAttendanceGroup stage7 August 1976Bristol CityA0–14,941Group stage10 August 1976Nottingham ForestA2–3Mulligan, Mayo7,018Group stage14 August 1976Notts CountyH3–1Mayo (2), Johnston6,936

Friendlies + Friendly match resultsDateOpponentVenueResultF–AScorersAttendance2 August 1976Crewe AlexandraA6–2A. Brown (2), Cantello, T. Brown (pen.), Nisbet1,08921 December 1976Kettering TownA2–3Treacy, Mayo1,69929 January 1977Sheffield UnitedA0–13,924

Appearances and goals Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute. :Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

+ Players' appearances and goals by competitionNameLeagueFA CupLeague CupAnglo-Scottish CupTotalGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsFW19 (3)600101021 (3)6MF368203030448MF211203020281FW27122000002912FW136000000136FW4000202080MF36 (1)100212040 (1)1MF1000000010GK6000000060MF0 (1)00000000 (1)0FW341213031423MF346203130426FW9 (1)000303315 (1)3DF400203031481GK340203020410DF420203020490MF21 (2)80 (1)01 (1)02024 (4)8DF161000000161FW20 (1)620000022 (1)6DF5 (2)12000108 (2)1GK2000001030DF424203030504

References

Bibliography