1970–71 Liverpool F.C. season

The 1970–71 season was Liverpool Football Club's 79th season in existence and their ninth consecutive season in the First Division. The rebuilding of Liverpool F.C. continued into 1970-71 as many of the side who came in the previous season began to make their presence felt with the club. Although they had finished fifth in the football league, Ray Clemence, Larry Lloyd, and Alec Lindsay all begin to emerge in their second season of first-team action. Two players would figure well into the seventies; Steve Heighway who joined from Skelmersdale United in May 1970 and became a regular in his full season with the club.

Liverpool F.C.

1970–71 season
Chairman	H.E. Roberts
Manager	Bill Shankly
First Division	5th
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup	Semi-finals
FA Cup	Runners-up
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Alun Evans (10) All: Alun Evans (15)
Average home league attendance	45,136
Home colours Away colours

John Toshack was bought from Cardiff City in November 1970 for £110,000, and became an instant hero by scoring in the Merseyside derby versus Everton F.C. a few weeks later. The rebuilding of the side from the 1960s was beginning to take shape and although they finished fifth in the First Division, it seemed that Bill Shankly would be emerging with a team that would be challenging for major trophies in the next few years. One signing which took place a few days before they finished runners-up in the FA Cup final was the signing of Kevin Keegan from Scunthorpe United for £35,000.

However, the team showed that the future would look promising by losing in the FA Cup final to League and Cup double winners Arsenal and losing on aggregate 1-0 in the semi-finals to Leeds United who end up being the eventual and last winners of the Fairs Cup.

Squad

Goalkeepers

• Ray Clemence
• Tommy Lawrence

Defenders

• Chris Fagan
• Ron Yeats
• Roy Evans
• Chris Lawler
• Alec Lindsay
• Larry Lloyd
• Ian Ross
• John McLaughlin
• Tommy Smith

Midfielders

• Steve Arnold
• Ian Callaghan
• Brian Hall
• Steve Heighway
• Emlyn Hughes
• Doug Livermore
• Ian St. John
• Peter Thompson

Attackers

• Phil Boersma
• Alun Evans
• Bobby Graham
• John Toshack
• Jack Whitham

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
3	Tottenham Hotspur	42	19	14	9	54	33	1.636	52	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	22	8	12	64	54	1.185	52
5	Liverpool	42	17	17	8	42	24	1.750	51	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round
6	Chelsea	42	18	15	9	52	42	1.238	51	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round
7	Southampton	42	17	12	13	56	44	1.273	46	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
Notes:

Results

First Division

Main article: 1970–71 Football League § First Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
15-Aug-70	Burnley	A	2–1	Evans 19' Hughes 77'	26,702	Report	Report
17-Aug-70	Blackpool	A	0–0		28,818	Report	Report
22-Aug-70	Huddersfield Town	H	4–0	McLaughlin 9', 39' Evans 74', 88'	52,628	Report	Report
25-Aug-70	Crystal Palace	H	1–1	Graham 28'	47,612	Report	Report
29-Aug-70	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–1	Evans 25'	31,624	Report	Report
05-Sep-70	Manchester United	H	1–1	Evans 22'	52,541	Report	Report
12-Sep-70	Newcastle United	A	0–0		35,501	Report	Report
19-Sep-70	Nottingham Forest	H	3–0	Graham 15' Thompson 27' Evans 69'	40,676	Report	Report
26-Sep-70	Southampton	A	0–1		26,155	Report	Report
03-Oct-70	Chelsea	H	1–0	Evans 22'	46,196	Report	Report
10-Oct-70	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–1		44,457	Report	Report
17-Oct-70	Burnley	H	2–0	Yeats 44' Heighway 51'	40,804	Report	Report
24-Oct-70	Ipswich Town	A	0–1		22,577	Report	Report
31-Oct-70	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–0	Smith 48 pen' Evans 72'	45,391	Report	Report
07-Nov-70	Derby County	A	0–0		33,004	Report	Report
14-Nov-70	Coventry City	H	0–0		40,303	Report	Report
21-Nov-70	Everton	H	3–2	Heighway 69' Toshack 76' Lawler 84'	53,777	Report	Report
28-Nov-70	Arsenal	A	0–2		45,097	Report	Report
05-Dec-70	Leeds United	H	1–1	Toshack 52'	51,357	Report	Report
12-Dec-70	West Ham United	A	2–1	Whitham 27' Boersma 43'	27,459	Report	Report
19-Dec-70	Huddersfield Town	A	0–0		25,033	Report	Report
26-Dec-70	Stoke City	H	0–0		47,103	Report	Report
09-Jan-71	Blackpool	H	2–2	Heighway 38' Own Goal 82'	42,939	Report	Report
12-Jan-71	Manchester City	H	0–0		45,985	Report	Report
16-Jan-71	Crystal Palace	A	0–1		28,253	Report	Report
30-Jan-71	Arsenal	H	2–0	Toshack 4' Smith 50'	43,847	Report	Report
06-Feb-71	Leeds United	A	1–0	Toshack 2'	48,425	Report	Report
16-Feb-71	West Ham United	H	1–0	Toshack 58'	38,032	Report	Report
20-Feb-71	Everton	A	0–0		56,846	Report	Report
27-Feb-71	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–1		32,290	Report	Report
13-Mar-71	Coventry City	A	0–1		27,687	Report	Report
20-Mar-71	Derby County	H	2–0	Own Goal 42' Lawler 88'	40,990	Report	Report
29-Mar-71	Ipswich Town	H	2–1	Evans 17' Graham 60'	42,017	Report	Report
02-Apr-71	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–1	Evans 83'	43,580	Report	Report
06-Apr-71	Newcastle United	H	1–1	Lawler 44'	44,289	Report	Report
10-Apr-71	Stoke City	A	1–0	Thompson 32'	28,810	Report	Report
12-Apr-71	Chelsea	A	0–1		38,705	Report	Report
17-Apr-71	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–0		49,363	Report	Report
19-Apr-71	Manchester United	A	2–0	Heighway 19' Own Goal 58'	44,004	Report	Report
24-Apr-71	Nottingham Forest	A	1–0	Hall 68'	20,678	Report	Report
26-Apr-71	Manchester City	A	2–2	Graham 30', 34'	17,975	Report	Report
01-May-71	Southampton	H	1–0	Hughes 30'	38,427	Report	Report

Football League Cup

Main article: 1970–71 Football League Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
08-Sep-70	Mansfield Town	A	0–0		31,612	Report	Report
22-Sep-70	Mansfield Town	H	3–2	Hughes 16' Smith 85 Pen' Evans 117'	29,964	Report	Report
06-Oct-70	Swindon Town	A	0–2		40,878	Report	Report

FA Cup

Main article: 1970–71 FA Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
02-Jan-71	Aldershot	H	1–0	McLaughlin 28'	45,500	Report	Report
23-Jan-71	Swansea City	H	3–0	Toshack 53' St. John 85' Lawler 87'	47,229	Report	Report
13-Feb-71	Southampton	H	1–0	Lawler 29'	50,226	Report	Report
06-Mar-71	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–0		54,731	Report	Report
16-Mar-71	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–0	Heighway 25'	56,283	Report	Report
27-Mar-71	Everton	N	2–1	A. Evans 59' Hall 73'	62,144	Report	Report

Final

Main article: 1971 FA Cup Final

8 May 1971
15:00 BST

Liverpool	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Arsenal
Heighway 92'	Report	Kelly 101' George 111'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: Norman Burtenshaw (Great Yarmouth)

Liverpool

Arsenal

GK 1 Ray Clemence RB 2 Chris Lawler LB 3 Alec Lindsay CB 4 Tommy Smith (c) CB 5 Larry Lloyd CM 6 Emlyn Hughes RM 7 Ian Callaghan ST 8 Alun Evans  68' LM 9 Steve Heighway ST 10 John Toshack CM 11 Brian Hall Substitutes: MF 12 Peter Thompson  68' Manager: Bill Shankly

GK 1 Bob Wilson RB 2 Pat Rice LB 3 Bob McNab RM 4 Peter Storey  64' CB 5 Frank McLintock (c) CB 6 Peter Simpson LM 7 George Armstrong CM 8 George Graham ST 9 John Radford ST 10 Ray Kennedy CM 11 Charlie George Substitutes: MF 12 Eddie Kelly  64' Manager: Bertie Mee

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Main article: 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
15-Sep-70	Ferencvárosi TC	H	1–0	Graham 17'	37,531	Report	Report
29-Sep-70	Ferencvárosi TC	A	1–1	Hughes 65'	25,000	Report	Report
21-Oct-70	Dinamo București	H	3–0	Lindsay 60' Lawler 76' Hughes 82'	36,525	Report	Report
04-Nov-70	Dinamo București	A	1–1	Boersma 47'	50,000	Report	Report
09-Dec-70	Hibernian	A	1–0	Toshack 75'	30,296	Report	Report
22-Dec-70	Hibernian	H	2–0	Heighway 23' Boersma 50'	37,815	Report	Report
10-Mar-71	Bayern Munich	H	3–0	A. Evans 30', 49', 73'	45,616	Report	Report
24-Mar-71	Bayern Munich	A	1–1	Ross 75'	22,000	Report	Report
14-Apr-71	Leeds United	H	0–1		52,577	Report	Report
28-Apr-71	Leeds United	A	0–0		40,462	Report	Report

References

• LFC History.net – 1970–71 season
• Liverweb - 1970-71 Season