DIVISION 3    1971/72
      P W D L F A Pts
  Leading goalscorer:
Ted MacDougall
 (Bournemouth) &
Alf Wood 
(Shrewsbury Town)
 35  goals

Ted MacDougall 
(pictured above) of Bournemouth set a new FA Cup goalscoring record on November 20th 1971 when he scored 9 goals against Margate in a First Round tie. Bournemouth beat the Southern League Premier Division side 11-0.

Despite a second season in Division 3, Aston Villa's home support stuck with them. Their average home League crowd of 31,952 was the 13th best in the whole of the Football League.

   1 Aston Villa 46 32 6 8 85 32 70 Promoted
    2 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 27 11 8 82 47 65 Promoted
    3 Bournemouth 46 23 16 7 73 37 62
    4 Notts County 46 25 12 9 74 44 62
    5 Rotherham United 46 20 15 11 69 52 55
    6 Bristol Rovers 46 21 12 13 75 56 54
    7 Bolton Wanderers 46 17 16 13 51 41 50
    8 Plymouth Argyle 46 20 10 16 74 64 50
    9 Walsall 46 15 18 13 62 57 48
    10 Blackburn Rovers 46 19 9 18 54 57 47
    11 Oldham Athletic 46 17 11 18 59 63 45
    12 Shrewsbury Town 46 17 10 19 73 65 44
    13 Chesterfield 46 18 8 20 57 57 44
    14 Swansea City 46 17 10 19 46 59 44
    15 Port Vale 46 13 15 18 43 59 41
    16 Wrexham 46 16 8 22 59 63 40
    17 Halifax Town 46 13 12 21 48 61 38
    18 Rochdale 46 12 13 21 57 83 37
    19 York City 46 12 12 22 57 66 36
    20 Tranmere Rovers 46 10 16 20 50 71 36
    21 Mansfield Town 46 8 20 18 41 63 36 Relegated
    22 Barnsley 46 9 18 19 32 64 36 Relegated
    23 Torquay United 46 10 12 24 41 69 32 Relegated
    24 Bradford City 46 11 10 25 45 77 32

Relegated