Season: 1976–77
Football League Second Division
- Promoted
League
Chelsea finished 2nd of 22 in the Football League Second Division with 55 points — 21 wins, 13 draws and 8 defeats (73–53) — and went up as runners-up behind champions Wolverhampton Wanderers (57), with Nottingham Forest (52) also promoted.
- Division
- Football League Second Division (Tier 2)
- Manager
- Eddie McCreadie
- Top scorer (league)
- Steve Finnieston (24)
- Top scorer (all comps)
- Steve Finnieston (26)
- Avg. league attendance
- 30,552
Cups & Europe
- FA Cup
- Third round
- League Cup
- Fourth round
- Europe
- —
Notes
Chelsea finished 2nd of 22 in the Football League Second Division with 55 points — 21 wins, 13 draws and 8 defeats (73–53) — and went up as runners-up behind champions Wolverhampton Wanderers (57), with Nottingham Forest (52) also promoted. Home they were unbeaten: 15–6–0 (51–22); away 6–7–8 (22–31). Eddie McCreadie, in his first full season, drove a young Bridge side that sat top for long stretches after an early autumn climb, then held second through a nervy spring of draws and the odd reverse. Promotion was celebrated on the final afternoon with a 4–0 win over Hull City before 43,718 — after a 1–1 at Molineux a week earlier had left them clear of Forest. Steve Finnieston led the scoring with 24 in the league and 26 in all competitions. Ken Swain scored 13 (14 all comps); Ian Britton 10; Ray Wilkins 7 (9 all comps, including two in the League Cup); Garry Stanley 6; Steve Wicks 4; Ray Lewington and Tommy Langley 2 apiece; singles for David Hay, John Sparrow and Micky Droy, plus two own goals. Wilkins’ midfield support and Finnieston’s finishing were the spine of McCreadie’s promotion push. The FA Cup ended at the third round: a 1–1 at Southampton (Gary Locke) was followed by a 0–3 Bridge replay after extra time on 12 January (MacDougall, Channon, Peach pen). The League Cup ran to the fourth round — Sheffield United 3–1 and Huddersfield Town 2–0 at the Bridge, then a 1–2 defeat at Arsenal on 26 October before 52,285. Biggest league win was the 5–1 over Hereford United on New Year’s Day; heaviest reverses the 0–4 at Luton (29 December) and 0–4 at Charlton (11 April). Home league gates averaged 30,552 — a sharp lift from the previous season’s 18,896 — with a high of 55,003 against Fulham on Boxing Day and a low of 17,426 against Notts County. Umbro’s 1975–1977 all-blue home look continued; HFK lists a separate 1976–1977 change panel, but the site’s existing 1975–1977 Umbro row covers this season.
Kits
Under reviewUmbro became the first named kit manufacturer in 1975.
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea-change-kits.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_F.C.#Kit_manufacturers_and_shirt_sponsors
Illustration from hex colours (not official kit photography).
On this day (related years)
History
Eras, trophies, and great matches in the History section.
Explore history →Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chelsea_F.C._seasons
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976%E2%80%9377_Chelsea_F.C._season
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976%E2%80%9377_Football_League
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976%E2%80%9377_Football_League_Second_Division
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976%E2%80%9377_FA_Cup
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976%E2%80%9377_Football_League_Cup
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_McCreadie
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Finnieston
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Wilkins
- https://www.fchd.info/CHELSEA.HTM
- https://www.fchd.info/lghist/fl1977.htm
- https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Summaries/1976.htm
- https://bounder.friardale.co.uk/Results/1976.htm
- https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Managers.htm
- http://free-elements.com/England/Goals/CheL/CheL5.html
- https://www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk/stats/Report/gate/a1976-77.html
- https://www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk/final/f1976-77.html
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea.htm
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea-change-kits.html