1971 in association football

The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 1971 throughout the world.

• January 2 – Second Ibrox disaster. Barriers on Stairway 13 at Ibrox Park give way under a crush of fans departing a Rangers–Celtic match, killing 66 and injuring over 200.^[1]

• 17 April 1971 - France and the Netherlands played the first women's international football match recognized by FIFA against the France.^[2] The match took place in Hazebrouck, France and resulted in a 4–0 defeat for the Netherlands with Jocelyne Ratignier scoring a hattrick and Marie-Claire Caron-Harant scoring once.^[3]

• Copa Libertadores:Won by Nacional after defeating Estudiantes de La Plata on an aggregate score of 2–0.
• May 20 – Ajax claims the KNVB Cup by defeating Sparta Rotterdam in the second leg, 2–1.
• 9 May – The very first Women's FA Cup in England, the Mitre Challenge Trophy for women's professional soccer football, was won when Southampton Women's F.C. defeated Stewarton Thistle, 4 to 1, in the final held at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. Pat Davies scored three of her team's four goals and Dot Cassell contributed the lone Stewarton score.^[4]

•  Iran: Taj
•  Qatar: Al-Oruba

•  France: Olympique de Marseille
•  Italy: Inter Milan
•  Netherlands: Feyenoord
•  Spain: Valencia
•  Turkey: Galatasaray

•  Mexico: Club América
•  United States /  Canada:
  • Dallas Tornado (NASL)

•  Brazil: Atlético Mineiro

• 1971 British Home Championship (May 15 – May 22, 1971)

 England

• Pan American Games in Colombia (July 31 – August 12, 1971)
  • Gold Medal:  Argentina
  • Silver Medal:  Colombia
  • Bronze Medal:  Cuba

• January 1 – Juan Carlos Plata, Guatemalan footballer and coach^[5]
• January 2 – Slobodan Komljenović, Serbian footballer^[6]
• January 5 – Bjørn Otto Bragstad, Norwegian footballer^[7]
• January 8 – Jesper Jansson, Swedish footballer^[8]
• January 10 – Rudi Istenič, Slovenian footballer^[9]
• January 14 – Bert Konterman, Dutch footballer^[10]
• January 14 – Antonis Nikopolidis, Greek goalkeeper^[11]
• January 16 – Ulrich van Gobbel, Dutch footballer^[12]
• January 18 – Pep Guardiola, Spanish footballer^[13]
• January 29 – Jörg Albertz, German footballer^[14]
• January 31 – Georgios Karathanasis, Swedish former professional footballer^[15]

• February 1 –
  • Joaquín Hernández, Mexican footballer^[16]
  • Zlatko Zahovič, Slovenian footballer^[17]
  • Marcelinho Carioca, Brazilian footballer^[18]
• February 2 – Osvaldo Peralta, Paraguayan footballer^[19]
• February 4 – Maarten Atmodikoro, Dutch footballer^[20]
• February 17 – Carlos Gamarra, Paraguayan footballer^[21]
• February 20 – Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer^[22]

• March 1 – Avi Pitusi, Israeli football manager and former player^[23]
• March 4 – Jovan Stanković, Serbian footballer^[24]
• March 11 – Kokos Elia, Cypriot former international footballer^[25]
• March 13
  • Juraj Mintál, retired Slovak footballer^[26]
  • Allan Nielsen, Danish footballer^[27]
• March 15 – Joachim Björklund, Swedish footballer^[28]
• March 18 – Jerzy Brzęczek, Polish footballer^[29]
• March 18 – Fernando Ochoaizpur, Bolivian footballer^[30]
• March 24 – Conny Rosén, Swedish former footballer^[31]
• March 26 – Liviu Ciobotariu, Romanian footballer^[32]

• April 2 – Francisco Arce, Paraguayan international^[33]
• April 2 – Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto, Brazilian footballer^[34]
• April 5 – Choi Eun-sung, South Korean club player^[35]
• April 7
  • Daniel Albert, former Israeli footballer^[36]
  • Franky Vandendriessche, Belgian goalkeeper^[37]
• April 8 – Kim Byung-ji, South Korean international goalkeeper^[38]
• April 9 – Víctor López, Uruguayan footballer
• April 13
  • Mariano Aguilar, Spanish retired footballer^[39]
  • Steven Lustü, Danish footballer and coach^[40]
• April 14
  • Miguel Calero, Colombian international (d. 2012)
  • Jérôme Sykora, French former professional footballer^[41]
• April 15 – Finidi George, Nigerian footballer^[42]
• April 17 – José Francisco Cevallos, Ecuadorian footballer, Minister of Sports in Ecuador and President of Barcelona F.C.^[43]
• April 23 – Hjalmar Zambrano, Ecuadorian footballer^[44]

• May 1 – Mariusz Luncik, Polish former professional footballer^[45]
• May 14 – Martin Reim, Estonian footballer^[46]

• June 3 – Luigi Di Biagio, Italian footballer^[47]
• June 5 – Francisco Gabriel de Anda, Mexican footballer and analyst^[48]
• June 9
  • Gilles De Bilde, Belgian footballer^[49]
  • Uladzimir Zhuravel, Belarusian footballer and coach (d. 2018)^[50]
• June 11 – Valeri Smolkov, former Russian professional footballer^[51]
• June 14 – Håkan Mild, Swedish footballer^[52]
• June 23 – Enrique Romero, Spanish footballer^[53]
• June 24 – Thomas Helveg, Danish international^[54]
• June 25 – Neil Lennon, Northern Irish footballer and manager^[55]
• June 28 – Fabien Barthez, French footballer^[56]

• July 26 – Mladen Rudonja, Slovenian footballer^[57]
• July 31 – Elivélton, Brazilian international footballer
• July 31 – Ignacio Vázquez, Mexican footballer^[58]

• August 9 – Oswald Snip, Dutch footballer^[59]
• August 10 – Roy Keane, Irish footballer and manager^[60]
• August 16 – Rick Slor, Dutch footballer^[61]
• August 18 – Patrik Andersson, Swedish footballer
• August 19
  • Marios Pefkos, retired Cypriot footballer^[62]
  • Miguel Ponce, Chilean footballer^[63]
• August 23
  • Demetrio Albertini, Italian footballer^[64]
  • Florent Delay, retired Swiss footballer^[65]
• August 26
  • Osman Özköylü, Turkish footballer^[66]
  • Giuseppe Pancaro, Italian footballer^[67]
• August 27 – Ernest Faber, Dutch footballer^[68]
• August 29 – Marco Sandy, Bolivian footballer^[69]

• September 1
  • Gilles Frechingues, French former professional footballer^[70]
  • Hakan Şükür, Turkish footballer^[71]
• September 3 – Ángel Lemus, Mexican footballer^[72]
• September 3 – Paolo Montero, Uruguayan footballer^[73]
• September 9 – Mikel Lasa, Spanish footballer^[74]
• September 9 – Johan Mjällby, Swedish footballer^[75]
• September 13 – Mladen Dabanovič, Slovenian footballer^[76]
• September 17 – Edílson, Brazilian footballer
• September 18 – Filip Apelstav, Swedish footballer^[77]
• September 20 – Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer and manager^[78]
• September 29 – Miguel Fuentes, Mexican footballer
• September 29 – Jeffrey Talan, Dutch footballer^[79]

• October 4 – Jorge Costa, Portuguese footballer
• October 5 – Bertrand Crasson, Belgian footballer
• October 7 – Ismael Urzaiz, Spanish footballer
• October 8 – Miran Pavlin, Slovenian footballer
• October 13 – André Bergdølmo, Norwegian footballer
• October 15 – Andy Cole, English footballer
• October 15 – Niko Kovač, Croatian footballer
• October 16 – Geert De Vlieger, Belgian footballer
• October 18 – Yoo Sang-chul, South Korean footballer
• October 21 – René Ponk, Dutch footballer
• October 25 – Geoffrey Prommayon, Dutch footballer
• October 26 – Didier Martel, French footballer
• October 27 – Theodoros Zagorakis, Greek footballer

• November 3 – Dwight Yorke, Trinidadian and Tobagonian footballer
• November 12 – Robert Jones, English former professional footballer^[80]
• November 13
  • Unai Emery, Spanish footballer and manager
  • Erwin Ramírez, Ecuadorian footballer
• November 16 – Mustapha Hadji, Moroccan footballer
• November 17
  • Jamie Murphy, English former professional footballer^[81]
  • Vladimir Shutov, former Russian footballer^[82]
• November 30 – Pedro Pineda, Mexican footballer

• December 2 – Francesco Toldo, Italian footballer
• December 3 – Henk Timmer, Dutch footballer
• December 7 – Spira Grujić, Serbian footballer
• December 8 – Abdullah Ercan, Turkish footballer
• December 14 – Arsenio Benítez, Paraguayan footballer
• December 26 – Mika Nurmela, Finnish footballer
• December 28 – Sergi Barjuán, Spanish footballer
• December 29 – Niclas Alexandersson, Swedish footballer

• June 30 – Georgi Asparuhov (28), Bulgarian footballer (born 1943)
• June 30 – Nikola Kotkov (32), Bulgarian footballer (born 1938)
• July 13 – Harry Dénis (74), Dutch footballer (born 1896)
• August 5 – Ber Groosjohan (74), Dutch footballer (born 1897)