| Season Review | Matches: 1971 – 1972 | 1971-1972 Pictures |
Appearances (Goals in brackets)'
+' sign indicates the number of substitute appearances by that player
* – left Celtic during season 1971/72
† – left Celtic at the end of season 1971/72
| League | League Cup | Scottish Cup | European Cup | Total | |
| Williams | 20 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 43 |
| Marshall * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Connaghan | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Craig † | 16 | 4+1 | 3 | 5 | 28+1 |
| Gemmell * | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 (1) | 10 (1) |
| Brogan | 20+1 (1) | 4 | 4 | 5 (1) | 33+1 (2) |
| Quinn | 9 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 9+1 |
| Murdoch | 15 (4) | 6 | 6 (1) | 6 | 33 (5) |
| Hay | 28 | 10 (3) | 4 | 4 | 46 (3) |
| McNeill | 34 (3) | 8 | 6 (1) | 7 | 55 (4) |
| Connelly | 32 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 55 |
| Johnstone | 23 (9) | 8 (1) | 2 | 5+1 | 38+1 (10) |
| Wallace * | 2+2 | 1+1 (1) | 0 | 1+1 (2) | 4+4 (3) |
| Macari | 19+1 (10) | 6 (5) | 5 (5) | 8 (4) | 38+1 (24) |
| Lennox | 24+2 (12) | 9 (4) | 4 (2) | 7+1 (1) | 44+3 (19) |
| Hood | 24 (11) | 4+2 (5) | 3 | 4 (3) | 35+2 (19) |
| Callaghan | 28+2 (1) | 10 (2) | 6 (2) | 6 (1) | 50+2 (6) |
| Deans | 21 (19) | 0 | 5 (8) | 0+1 | 26+1 (27) |
| Hughes * | 0+1 | 4+1 (1) | 0 | 0+1 | 4+3 (1) |
| Dalglish | 31 (17) | 7+1 (5) | 4 (1) | 7 | 49+1 (23) |
| McGrain | 2+1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9+1 |
| McLaughlin | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Davidson | 5 (5) | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 6+1 (5) |
| Wilson | 2+2 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+2 (1) |
| McCluskey | 2+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 1+1 | 4+4 |
| Hancock | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own goals | (3) | (1) | (0) | (1) |
Most Appearances – jointly Billy McNeill and George Connelly with 55 each. McNeill also made 9 'Friendly' appearances and Connelly made 11.
Top Scorer – Dixie Deans with 27 goals ( he also had 4 goals scored for Motherwell before his transfer). Top Scorer in Scotland was Joe Harper at Aberdeen with 33 goals
New Arrival, Debuts and Departures
In many ways Season 1971 – 72 marked a return to a pattern seen in previous years at Celtic which was the scouring of Junior and amateur football throughout Scotland and bringing in those raw players and developing them through to become first team players of the future. This fine and cheap working practise had become less dominant since the signing of those that became the Quality Street Gang and who were now breaking through to the first team. This season saw the greatest expansion of those players that plied their trade either with the Reserves, farmed out, on the Groundstaff or as 'S'-Form or provisional signings. This to an extent is an indicator of the increase in Celtic 'intelligence' out there in the football world at all levels – the number of scouts and ex-club players out there watching games and reporting back to the club officially or unofficially.
Of these new players to the club at Reserve and lower level, only Billy Mitchell came from another known senior club – Raith Rovers – and he was signed for £1000 during the pre-season. He was rather unlucky at Celtic being plagued with injuries at the start of the season so that he was generally out of the Reserves , and when he did come in at inside left, he broke his leg in early December 1971. He would move to Dunfermiline during the following season.
Other new arrivals that went straight into the Reserves are worth noting. Ray Franchetti (CF, IL) came from Baillieston Juniors; Tommy O'Hara (LH, CH) was one of the many trialled from Kirkintilloch Rob Roy; John/Ian Balmer (there is some confusion as to his used Christian name) (CF) came from Beith Juniors in April '72; Neil Carr, Stefan Gryzska and Leif Neilsen, all goalkeepers respectively from Maryhill Juniors, Whitehill Welfare and Dane Nielsen released on a free from Morton; Frank Lapinski (CH) from Tranent Juniors; and Jim/Frank Welsh (CH) from Avoca Amatuers. Some new signings this season would go on to have major careers – Tommy Burns, of whom there is so much owed to by the club and who would become a fans favourite, Paul Hendrie (who was signed for 6 months then released and immediately had teams all over the country seeking his signature – he went to Birmingham City and is the father of Lee Hendrie), Jackie McNamara Snr who would have a longer career with Hibernian but whose son became another great Celtic player, and Andy Ritchie who would become a Scottish loveable legend.
The noteable arrivals were of course those at first team level.
Gordon Marshall Snr had already had a long career in football at the age of 32 when Hibernian freed him. He was brought in to challenge Evan Williams and as backup, as John Fallon had been out for the best part of 8 months with a mystery virus. Having missed the chance to be first pick goalkeeper he moved on to Aberdeen when they suffered a goalkeeper crisis during the season.
Though arriving before Marshall departed, Denis Connaghan was brought in to essentially do the same job as Marshall. He stepped into the first team after the shock of the League Cup Final loss but lost his place in the team with a growing uneasiness from those in front of him. That put Evan Williams back as first choice goalkeeper almost by default.
Without doubt the biggest arrival was Dixie Deans. Stein thought his arrival from Motherwell for a mere £17,500 was a snip of a bargain but he had a reputation as a troublemaker and in fact was suspended when he was signed. He showed his value this season and was top scorer. He also missed the penalty in an infamous incident which would have taken Celtic to another European Cup Final.
Their were also debuts for Brian McLaughlin (as a 16 year old) and Steve Hancock (his only appearance in the first team).
The departures were in a way even more significant that the arrivals. This season saw the 'winnowing' of the Lisbon Lions. Simpson and Auld had already left by the start of the season. These were followed by John Clark who moved on a free to Morton, soon to be joined there by Steve Chalmers. In October 1971 a deal was cut with Crystal Palace taking Willy Wallace and John Hughes south. At the end of 1971 international full back Tommy Gemmell, unsettled at his inability to win back his starting position, departed to Nottingham Forest. John Fallon who had never really recovered from the virus that had poleaxed him the previous season went to cover a goalkeeping crisis at Motherwell and was promply freed by them at the end of this season. And finally at the end of the season the team's university graduate and dentist Jim Craig left for a career in South Africa and to continue playing at a lesser level with Hellenic Cape Town.
In effect, even though Bobby Murdoch, Billy McNeill, Jinky and Bobby Lennox remained, this was the season of the disbanding of the Lisbon Lions.