1970–71 Liverpool F.C. season explained

Club:	Liverpool F.C.
Season:	1970–71
Chairman:	H.E. Roberts
Manager:	Bill Shankly
League:	First Division
League Result:	5th
League Topscorer:	Alun Evans (10)
Season Topscorer:	Alun Evans (15)
Cup1:	Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Cup1 Result:	Semi-finals
Cup2:	FA Cup
Cup2 Result:	Runners-up
Cup3:	League Cup
Cup3 Result:	Third round
Average Attendance:	45,136
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Prevseason:	1969–70
Nextseason:	1971–72

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.

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

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

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Results

First Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
15-Aug-70		A	2–1		26,702	Report	Report
17-Aug-70		A	0–0		28,818	Report	Report
22-Aug-70		H	4–0		52,628	Report	Report
25-Aug-70		H	1–1		47,612	Report	Report
29-Aug-70		A	1–1		31,624	Report	Report
05-Sep-70		H	1–1		52,541	Report	Report
12-Sep-70		A	0–0		35,501	Report	Report
19-Sep-70		H	3–0		40,676	Report	Report
26-Sep-70		A	0–1		26,155	Report	Report
03-Oct-70		H	1–0		46,196	Report	Report
10-Oct-70		A	0–1		44,457	Report	Report
17-Oct-70		H	2–0		40,804	Report	Report
24-Oct-70		A	0–1		22,577	Report	Report
31-Oct-70		H	2–0		45,391	Report	Report
07-Nov-70		A	0–0		33,004	Report	Report
14-Nov-70		H	0–0		40,303	Report	Report
21-Nov-70		H	3–2		53,777	Report	Report
28-Nov-70		A	0–2		45,097	Report	Report
05-Dec-70		H	1–1		51,357	Report	Report
12-Dec-70		A	2–1		27,459	Report	Report
19-Dec-70		A	0–0		25,033	Report	Report
26-Dec-70		H	0–0		47,103	Report	Report
09-Jan-71		H	2–2		42,939	Report	Report
12-Jan-71		H	0–0		45,985	Report	Report
16-Jan-71		A	0–1		28,253	Report	Report
30-Jan-71		H	2–0		43,847	Report	Report
06-Feb-71		A	1–0		48,425	Report	Report
16-Feb-71		H	1–0		38,032	Report	Report
20-Feb-71		A	0–0		56,846	Report	Report
27-Feb-71		A	0–1		32,290	Report	Report
13-Mar-71		A	0–1		27,687	Report	Report
20-Mar-71		H	2–0		40,990	Report	Report
29-Mar-71		H	2–1		42,017	Report	Report
02-Apr-71		H	1–1		43,580	Report	Report
06-Apr-71		H	1–1		44,289	Report	Report
10-Apr-71		A	1–0		28,810	Report	Report
12-Apr-71		A	0–1		38,705	Report	Report
17-Apr-71		H	0–0		49,363	Report	Report
19-Apr-71		A	2–0		44,004	Report	Report
24-Apr-71		A	1–0		20,678	Report	Report
26-Apr-71		A	2–2		17,975	Report	Report
01-May-71		H	1–0		38,427	Report	Report

Football League Cup

See main article: 1970–71 Football League Cup.

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
08-Sep-70		A	0–0		31,612	Report	Report
22-Sep-70		H	3–2		29,964	Report	Report
06-Oct-70		A	0–2		40,878	Report	Report

FA Cup

See main article: 1970–71 FA Cup.

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
02-Jan-71		H	1–0		45,500	Report	Report
23-Jan-71		H	3–0		47,229	Report	Report
13-Feb-71		H	1–0		50,226	Report	Report
06-Mar-71		H	0–0		54,731	Report	Report
16-Mar-71		A	1–0		56,283	Report	Report
27-Mar-71		N	2–1		62,144	Report	Report

Final

See main article: 1971 FA Cup Final.

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 LM 9 Steve Heighway ST 10 John Toshack CM 11 Brian Hall Substitutes: MF 12 Manager: Bill Shankly

GK 1 Bob Wilson RB 2 Pat Rice LB 3 Bob McNab RM 4 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 Manager: Bertie Mee

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

See main article: 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
15-Sep-70		H	1–0		37,531	Report	Report
29-Sep-70		A	1–1		25,000	Report	Report
21-Oct-70		H	3–0		36,525	Report	Report
04-Nov-70		A	1–1		50,000	Report	Report
09-Dec-70		A	1–0		30,296	Report	Report
22-Dec-70		H	2–0		37,815	Report	Report
10-Mar-71		H	3–0		45,616	Report	Report
24-Mar-71		A	1–1		22,000	Report	Report
14-Apr-71		H	0–1		52,577	Report	Report
28-Apr-71		A	0–0		40,462	Report	Report

References

^[1]

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Ibra . Ovic . 21 August 2023 . Liverpool Matches . live . https://fullmatchreplay.co/full-matches-replays/england/ . 17 September 2023 . 22 June 2020 . fullmatchreplay.co.