The

1977–78 Football League The 1977–78 season was the 79th completed season of The Football League. Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest side took the First Division by storm, first winning the League Cup on 22 March and then confirming themselves as league champions the f ...

season was

Birmingham City Football Club Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first tea ...

's 75th in the Football League and their 44th in the First Division. They finished in 11th position in the 22-team division. They entered the

1977–78 FA Cup The 1977–78 FA Cup was the 97th season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. The final saw Ipswich Town beat Arsenal 1–0, with a goal from Roger Osborne. First round proper ...

at the third round proper and lost to Derby County in the fourth, and lost to Notts County in their opening second-round match in the League Cup. They entered the Anglo-Scottish Cup but failed to progress past the group stage. Twenty-two players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were ten different goalscorers. Forward pairing

Keith Bertschin Keith Edwin Bertschin (born 25 August 1956) is a former professional footballer and coach. Bertschin, a striker, began his professional career with Ipswich Town (1973–1977), before playing for Birmingham City (1977–1981), Norwich City (1981 ...

and

Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis (born 19 April 1954) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million player follo ...

played in all 48 first-team matches of the season – midfielder

Terry Hibbitt Terence Arthur Hibbitt (1 December 1947 – 5 August 1994) was an English footballer who played for Leeds United, Newcastle United and Birmingham City. His brother Kenny was also a footballer. He died of cancer in 1994, aged just 46. During hi ...

missed only one – and Francis was the club's top scorer with 29 goals, of which 25 were scored in the league. Both Francis and Hibbitt had been ever-present in the previous season. After defeats in the first four league matches of the season,

Willie Bell William John Bell (3 September 1937 – 21 March 2023) was a Scottish football player and manager. He played as a left back for Queen's Park, Leeds United, Leicester City, Brighton & Hove Albion and represented Scotland. Playing career Bell w ...

was sacked in September and succeeded by former England national manager

Sir Alf Ramsey Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he represented the England national team and captained the side, but he is best known for his time as England manager fr ...

, a member of the club's

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

. Ramsey lasted only six months, leaving the club ostensibly for health reasons, but his biography suggests he was "locked in an increasingly bitter three-way dispute with his star player, Trevor Francis, and the board". After initially accepting a transfer request from Francis, the board changed their minds, reluctant to "incur the wrath of already disgruntled fans", so Ramsey handed in his notice. ''The Times'' reported that "Sir Alf said he told the board

n February N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

that he intended to quit and sever his links with the club. ... He said at a board meeting on February 20 he recommended both Francis and the defender, Joe Gallagher, should be transfer listed. The board agreed but three days later changed their minds about Francis. Sir Alf said he then decided to opt out because of the board's policy." Blackburn Rovers manager Jim Smith took over, having decided, according to the Rovers' website, that "Birmingham City offered better career prospects".

Football League First Division

League table (part)

FA Cup

League Cup

Anglo-Scottish Cup

Appearances and goals

:Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute. :Players marked left the club during the playing season. :Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW –

Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Sources

* * * For match dates and results: * For lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), ''Complete Record'', pp. 390–91, 478.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1977-78 Birmingham City F.C. season Birmingham City F.C. seasons Birmingham City