| Competition: | Football League First Division |
| Season: | 1971–72 |
| Winners: | Derby County 1st English title |
| Relegated: | Nottingham Forest Huddersfield Town |
| Continentalcup1: | European Cup |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Derby County |
| Continentalcup2: | European Cup Winners' Cup |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Leeds United |
| Continentalcup3: | UEFA Cup |
| Continentalcup3 Qualifiers: | Liverpool Manchester City Tottenham Hotspur Stoke City |
| Continentalcup4: | Watney Cup |
| Continentalcup4 Qualifiers: | Wolverhampton Wanderers Sheffield United |
| League Topscorer: | Francis Lee (33 goals)[1] |
| Biggest Home Win: | (20 November 1971) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (29 January 1972) |
| Highest Scoring: | (20 November 1971) |
| Matches: | 462 |
| Total Goals: | 1160 |
| Prevseason: | 1970–71 |
| Nextseason: | 1972–73 |
Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1971–72 season.
Derby County won the First Division title for the first time in the club's history that season. Derby's first ever First Division title was confirmed on May 8, after title challengers Liverpool and Leeds United failed to win their final games at Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively. On April 26, Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest were relegated after Crystal Palace beat Stoke City 2-0 at Selhurst Park to ensure their survival.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester United | Matt Busby | End of caretaker spell | 6 June 1971 | Pre-season | Frank O'Farrell | 6 June 1971 | |
| Leicester City | Frank O'Farrell | Signed by Manchester United | 6 June 1971 | Jimmy Bloomfield | 23 June 1971 | ||
| West Bromwich Albion | Alan Ashman | Sacked | 1 July 1971 | Don Howe | 8 July 1971 | ||
| Manchester City | Joe Mercer | Resigned | 7 October 1971 | 4th | Malcolm Allison | 7 October 1971 | |
| Coventry City | Noel Cantwell | Sacked | 12 March 1972 | 18th | Bob Dennison (caretaker) | 12 March 1972 |
| width=20 | Rank | width=155 | Player | width=155 | Club | width=50 | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Francis Lee | Manchester City | 33 | ||||
| 2 | 25 | ||||||
| 3 | 23 | ||||||
| = | 23 | ||||||
| 4 | 18 | ||||||
| = | 18 | ||||||
| = | 18 | ||||||
| 5 | 17 | ||||||
| = | 17 |