With agreement reached with the Council at last it was the end for the 10,000 capacity Popular Enclosure on the Leazes Terrace side of the pitch. The three-sided ground made for a bizarre sight although it did allow for some lucky spectators to watch the match free from the balcony along the Terrace.
This was Phase 1 of the ground improvement plan which was scheduled to take ten years and cost approximately £1 million. The end result would be a uniform fully cantilevered concrete stadium with a capacity of 47,340 (22,140 seated).
Harvey recognised that it "will have some effect on the players," but at least "it means the new stand will be ready for the beginning of the new season". Unfortunately, the economic problems of the time meant that the new stand was not opened until 1973.
Many British football grounds had not been improved for seasons; SJP was no exception. Clubs had not been willing to put cash into improving their grounds and many were in a dilapidated and unsafe state. Following the Ibrox disaster of the previous season an investigation was commissioned by the Home Secretary.
The Wheatley Report called for much stricter crowd control and for football grounds to be subject to the same safety rules as other places of entertainment such as cinemas and theatres, unfortunately it would be another three years before the Safety at Grounds Act was introduced and even this could not prevent further tragedies.
ln 1970/71 average First Division attendances had fallen to 30,205 - which represented a 5.7% drop on the previous season - and there was much soul-searching within the game about what needed to be done.
The average League attendance at SJP during the season was 32,659 (32,397 including the Cup games) which was almost 3,000 up on 1970/71. The top crowd was for the home game against League leaders Man Utd; 55,603. The lowest crowd of 18,927 was for the penultimate home game against WBA.
When the Magpies struggled early in the season there was dissension among the fans and one local reporter even suggested that they might start boycotting games. But despite the fact that less than 21,000 turned up to see Palace visit St James' the arrival of Green and the transformation in form soon had them flocking back.
The renewed optimism was demonstrated by an end of season Sunday Sun poll of supporter's views.
When asked if they would rather see attacking football with more risk of defeat rather than defensive football with more chance of success a whopping 79% voted for the attacking option.
50% thought the club wasn't doing enough to attract quality local talent but 64% were "satisfied" with the current squad.
60% thought that United should spend more money on the facilities for fans and players whilst the rest thought it was more important to improve the team. 60% were also happy with the club's expenditure on the ground and the squad during the last 12 months.
During 1971/72 there was a slight improvement in the number of goals scored to 2.5 goals per game, Newcastle's average was 2.51.
Northumberland Police launched a special task force to deal with weekend trouble makers using "mobile" squads ready to go to any trouble spot.
At the match at White Hart Lane, a couple of youngsters fired staples at Newcastle players with a staple gun. Tottenham received a fine of £2000.
During the Texaco Cup match with Hearts, the supporters from Edinburgh engaged in a spot of bottle throwing at the Gallowgate End.
A massive police operation (including 80 uniformed officers, plain clothes detectives, four dogs and four mounted officers) was put in place for the visit of Manchester United in October and this helped prevent any major outbreaks of trouble although there were still 13 arrests and 31 people hurt including half a dozen who needed hospital treatment. They included a Manchester United fan who suffered a broken nose after being hit with an iron bar.
There was more trouble when the blue half of Manchester were in Town. One of the City coaches was attacked by thirty United thugs as it parked in Stanhope St. before the match. One wielded an iron crowbar and five windows were smashed. The driver admitted it was the third time that season his vehicle had been attacked.
In April scores of fans (mostly from the North-East) were arrested after the worst soccer violence seen in Sheffield this season. There was fighting during the match when bottles were thrown which caused many injuries. There was loads of trouble before and after the match too. Windows of houses near the ground were smashed, shopkeepers were forced to close and board-up and police were attacked. Twenty-nine adults and twenty-three juveniles appeared in court.