The 1971–72 season was Arsenal Football Club's 46th consecutive season in the Football League First Division. Arsenal finished fifth in the league.

In Cup play, Arsenal featured for the first time in the European Cup, but went out to defending champions Ajax in the quarterfinals. Arsenal were knocked out of the League Cup in the fourth round by Sheffield United. In the FA Cup, Arsenal reached the final, their fifth cup final in five years. However, the team could not follow up on the previous year's victory and lost 1-0 to Leeds United.

Ray Kennedy was the top scorer in both the league and in all competitions. Frank McLintock served as captain.

In June 1971, the club saw the exit of Don Howe as manager Bertie Mee's hands-on coach. He was replaced with Steve Burtenshaw. In December, midfielder Alan Ball joined Arsenal to strengthen the squad.

Season summary Following up the 1970-71 Double was always going to be difficult. On 15 June, that proposition was made even harder by the departure of Don Howe, the hands-on second-in-command to Bertie Mee who was widely considered the originator of the Double. Howe accepted an offer to become the manager of West Brom. Two other Arsenal staff, George Wright and youth coach Brian Whitehouse, also moved to West Brom. Steve Burtenshaw was appointed to Howe's previous position. Arsenal's only other summer transfer news was that Jon Sammels left the club for Leicester City at a price of £100,000.

Arsenal began the season with a convincing win over Chelsea, followed up by beating Huddersfield. The dynamic Charlie George missed the opening of the season with cartilage trouble. However, Arsenal's fortunes soon turned and they were defeated three times in a row, including a loss to newly promoted Sheffield United at home, Arsenal's first loss at Highbury in 19 months.

Arsenal's inconsistencies prevented them from being serious title contenders. Injuries left John Radford, Charlie George, Peter Marinello, and Bob McNab out of the squad for parts of the seasons, and other players such as Peter Simpson and Peter Storey suffered from poor form. In December, Mee paid a Football League record fee of £200,000 for Everton's Alan Ball in order to strengthen the squad. Despite some of these issues, midway through the season, Arsenal went on a 14-match unbeaten run after a dismal 5-1 loss to Wolves. The run left them just four points from the top. However, they were to find rather less success with the rest of the season. They still affected the title race, as a 0-0 draw with Liverpool in the penultimate game of the season handed the league championship to Derby County. Arsenal ended the season with a 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham and finished fifth.

Arsenal featured in the European Cup for the first time, reaching the quarterfinals. Ball joined the team too late to be eligible for Arsenal's quarterfinal matchup. After beating Stroemsgodset 3-1 in their first game and 4-0 at home in the next, Arsenal faced Grasshopper Club Zurich, winning 5-0 on aggregate. Arsenal faced European Cup holders Ajax in the quarterfinals, playing against Johan Cruyff and other great young players. They lost 2-1 away, meaning a 1-0 victory at home would take Arsenal to the semifinals. Instead, Arsenal lost 1-0 thanks to a George Graham own goal.

New signing Ball was especially influential in Arsenal's FA Cup run. Facing Swindon in the third round, Ball provided first a goal and assist to help Arsenal ease past their opponents. Arsenal then muddled 2-1 away past Fourth Division Reading. Derby County in the fifth round took three games. The first was a 2-2 tie away at the Baseball Ground in which George netted twice, the field described as a "bog" and the game extremely tough. Then, the two teams tied 0-0 at Highbury. Arsenal won the second replay with a goal from Kennedy. In the quarterfinals, Arsenal faced Orient and beat them 1-0 away.

Arsenal's semifinal opponents were again Stoke City, with Arsenal fielding nearly an unchanged side from the same game the year before. Ball was included in place of Kennedy, all other starters from the previous season remained. After Armstrong opened the scoring, Arsenal's goalkeeper Bob Wilson was injured but left on the field. A mistake from Simpson trying to protect his goalkeeper led to an own goal and a tie. Wilson was pulled off the field for Kennedy, and Radford took to the goal to help his team stay in the Cup. With reserve keeper Geoff Barnett now in goal, Arsenal beat Stoke in the replay with goals from George and Radford, and faced Leeds United in the final. It was a tough match at Wembley, in front of the Queen and Prince Philip. Arsenal were outplayed and lost due to a headed goal from Allan Clarke.

Arsenal followed up their stellar Double season with disappointment in a fifth-place league finish and finalists medals in the FA Cup. The FA Cup final had been their fifth Cup final in five years.

Final league table

Results Arsenal's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League First Division DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 14 August 1971 ChelseaH3–049,174Kennedy, McLintock, Radford 17 August 1971Huddersfield TownA1–021,279Kennedy 20 August 1971 Manchester UnitedA1–327,649McLintock 24 August 1971 Sheffield UnitedH0–145,395 28 August 1971 Stoke CityH0–137,637 4 September 1971 West Bromwich AlbionA1–029,922Roberts 11 September 1971 Leeds UnitedH2–051,196Graham, Storey (pen.) 18 September 1971 EvertonA1–239,710Kennedy 25 September 1971 Leicester CityH3–040,201Radford (2), Rice 2 October 1971 SouthamptonA1–023,738Simpson 9 October 1971 Newcastle UnitedH4–240,509Armstrong, Graham, Kennedy, Kelly 16 October 1971 ChelseaA2–152,338Kennedy (2) 23 October 1971 Derby CountyA1–236,480Graham 30 October 1971 Ipswich TownH2–139,065George, (o.g.) 6 November 1971 LiverpoolA2–346,929Kennedy, (o.g.) 13 November 1971 Manchester CityH1–247,443Nelson 20 November 1971 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–528,851Kennedy 24 November 1971 Tottenham HotspurA1–152,884Kennedy 27 November 1971 Crystal PalaceH2–132,461Radford, Kelly 4 December 1971 West Ham UnitedA0–035,155 11 December 1971 Coventry CityH2–028,597Radford (2) 18 December 1971 West Bromwich AlbionH2–028,177Roberts (2) 27 December 1971 Nottingham ForestA1–142,750Graham 1 January 1972 EvertonH1–147,031Simpson 8 January 1972 Stoke CityA0–018,965 22 January 1972 Huddersfield TownH1–036,670Armstrong 29 January 1972 Sheffield UnitedA5–030,778George (2), Graham, Kennedy, Simpson 12 February 1972 Derby CountyH2–052,055George (2; 1 pen.) 19 February 1972 Ipswich TownA1–028,657George 4 March 1972 Manchester CityA0–244,213 11 March 1972 Newcastle UnitedA0–233,907 25 March 1972 Leeds UnitedA0–345,055 28 March 1972 SouthamptonH1–027,172Marinello 1 April 1972 Nottingham ForestH3–033,895George (pen.), Kennedy, Graham 4 April 1972 Leicester CityA0–027,431 8 April 1972 Wolerhampton WanderersH2–138,189Graham (2) 11 April 1972 Crystal PalaceA2–234,384Ball, Radford 22 April 1972 West Ham UnitedH2–142,251Ball (2) 25 April 1972 Manchester UnitedH3–049,125Kennedy, Radford, Simpson 1 May 1972 Coventry CityA1–023,509McLintock 8 May 1972 LiverpoolH0–039,289 11 May 1972 Tottenham HotspurH0–242,038

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR315 January 1972 Swindon TownA2–032,000Armstrong, BallR45 February 1972 ReadingA2–125,756Rice, (o.g.)R526 February 1972 Derby CountyA2–239,622George (2)R5 R29 February 1972 Derby CountyH0–063,077R5 2R13 March 1972 Derby CountyN1–040,000KennedyR618 March 1972 OrientA1–031,768BallSF15 April 1972 Stoke CityN1–156,576ArmstrongSF R19 April 1972 Stoke CityN2–138,970George, RadfordF6 May 1972 Leeds UnitedN0–1100,000

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR28 September 1971 BarnsleyH1–027,294KennedyR36 October 1971 Newcastle UnitedH4–034,071Graham, Kennedy, Radford (2)R426 October 1971 Sheffield UnitedH0–044,061R4 R8 November 1971 Sheffield UnitedA0–235,461

European Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 L115 September 1971 StrømsgodsetA3–123,000Marinello, Simpson, KellyR2 L229 September 1971 StrømsgodsetH4–027,176Armstrong, Kennedy, Radford (2)R320 October 1971 GrasshopperA2–023,000Graham, KennedyR33 November 1971 GrasshopperH3–031,105George, Kennedy, Radford R48 March 1972 AjaxA1–263,000KennedyR4 R22 March 1972 AjaxH0–156,155

Squad

References