1972–73 in English football

The 1972–73 season was the 93rd season of competitive football in England.

Football in England
Season1972–73
Men's football
First DivisionLiverpool
Second DivisionBurnley
Third DivisionBolton Wanderers
Fourth DivisionSouthport
FA CupSunderland
League CupTottenham Hotspur
Charity ShieldManchester City
England

Honours
CompetitionWinnerRunner-up
First DivisionLiverpool (8*)Arsenal
Second DivisionBurnleyQueens Park Rangers
Third DivisionBolton WanderersNotts County
Fourth DivisionSouthportHereford United
FA CupSunderland (2)Leeds United
League CupTottenham Hotspur (2*)Norwich City
Charity ShieldManchester CityAston Villa
Home Championship England Northern Ireland

Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition

Football League
Main article: 1972–73 Football League

The Football League announced that a three-up, three-down system would operate between the top three divisions from the following season, rather than the traditional two-up, two-down system. The four-up, four-down system between the Third and Fourth Divisions would continue, as would the re-election system between the league's bottom four clubs.

First Division

Liverpool won the championship (their first in 7 years) in Bill Shankly's penultimate season as manager despite competition from Arsenal, Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Arsenal actually led by a point with six matches to play, but a dismal 1-3-2 record down the stretch cost them the title.[1]

Manchester United sacked manager Frank O'Farrell after 18 months in charge, following a terrible first half of the season which left them in serious danger of relegation only five years after their European Cup victory. Tommy Docherty, the 44-year-old Scottish national coach and former Aston Villa manager, was appointed as his successor, and steered them to survival. Neighbours Manchester City had a similarly poor campaign and were nearly relegated only a year after narrowly missing out on the title, but recovered well to finish safely in mid-table after manager Malcolm Allison was replaced by Johnny Hart late in the season.

West Bromwich Albion were relegated to Division Two for the first time since 1949, ultimately being left to rue losing five games in a row at the end of the season; winning just two of those games would have seen them survive. Crystal Palace, who had spent the previous few years battling against the odds on a limited budget, finally succumbed to relegation.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Liverpool 42 25 10 7 72 42 1.714 60 Qualified for the European Cup
2 Arsenal 42 23 11 8 57 43 1.326 57
3 Leeds United 42 21 11 10 71 45 1.578 53 Qualified for the UEFA Cup[lower-alpha 1]
4 Ipswich Town 42 17 14 11 55 45 1.222 48
5 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 18 11 13 66 54 1.222 47
6 West Ham United 42 17 12 13 67 53 1.264 46
7 Derby County 42 19 8 15 56 54 1.037 46
8 Tottenham Hotspur 42 16 13 13 58 48 1.208 45 Qualified for the UEFA Cup[lower-alpha 1]
9 Newcastle United 42 16 13 13 60 51 1.176 45
10 Birmingham City 42 15 12 15 53 54 0.981 42
11 Manchester City 42 15 11 16 57 60 0.950 41
12 Chelsea 42 13 14 15 49 51 0.961 40
13 Southampton 42 11 18 13 47 52 0.904 40
14 Sheffield United 42 15 10 17 51 59 0.864 40
15 Stoke City 42 14 10 18 61 56 1.089 38
16 Leicester City 42 10 17 15 40 46 0.870 37
17 Everton 42 13 11 18 41 49 0.837 37
18 Manchester United 42 12 13 17 44 60 0.733 37
19 Coventry City 42 13 9 20 40 55 0.727 35
20 Norwich City 42 11 10 21 36 63 0.571 32
21 Crystal Palace 42 9 12 21 41 58 0.707 30 Relegated to the Second Division
22 West Bromwich Albion 42 9 10 23 38 62 0.613 28
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the UEFA Cup as the Football League Cup winners. Thus, Arsenal could not qualify due to rule "only one club per city".

Second Division

Burnley and Queens Park Rangers won promotion to the First Division. Huddersfield Town's decline continued as they slid into the Third Division, where they were joined by Brighton & Hove Albion.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Burnley 42 24 14 4 72 35 2.057 62 Promoted to the First Division
2 Queens Park Rangers 42 24 13 5 81 37 2.189 61
3 Aston Villa 42 18 14 10 51 47 1.085 50
4 Middlesbrough 42 17 13 12 46 43 1.070 47
5 Bristol City 42 17 12 13 63 51 1.235 46
6 Sunderland 42 17 12 13 59 49 1.204 46 Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
7 Blackpool 42 18 10 14 56 51 1.098 46
8 Oxford United 42 19 7 16 52 43 1.209 45
9 Fulham 42 16 12 14 58 49 1.184 44
10 Sheffield Wednesday 42 17 10 15 59 55 1.073 44
11 Millwall 42 16 10 16 55 47 1.170 42
12 Luton Town 42 15 11 16 44 53 0.830 41
13 Hull City 42 14 12 16 64 59 1.085 40
14 Nottingham Forest 42 14 12 16 47 52 0.904 40
15 Orient 42 12 12 18 49 53 0.925 36
16 Swindon Town 42 10 16 16 46 60 0.767 36
17 Portsmouth 42 12 11 19 42 59 0.712 35
18 Carlisle United 42 11 12 19 50 52 0.962 34
19 Preston North End 42 11 12 19 37 64 0.578 34
20 Cardiff City 42 11 11 20 43 58 0.741 33
21 Huddersfield Town 42 8 17 17 36 56 0.643 33 Relegated to the Third Division
22 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 8 13 21 46 83 0.554 29
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Third Division

Bolton Wanderers and Notts County occupied the two promotion places in the Third Division. Rotherham United, Brentford, Swansea City and Scunthorpe United were relegated to the Fourth Division.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Bolton Wanderers 46 25 11 10 73 39 1.872 61 Promoted to the Second Division
2 Notts County 46 23 11 12 67 47 1.426 57
3 Blackburn Rovers 46 20 15 11 57 47 1.213 55
4 Oldham Athletic 46 19 16 11 72 54 1.333 54
5 Bristol Rovers 46 20 13 13 77 56 1.375 53
6 Port Vale 46 21 11 14 56 69 0.812 53
7 AFC Bournemouth 46 17 16 13 66 44 1.500 50
8 Plymouth Argyle 46 20 10 16 74 66 1.121 50
9 Grimsby Town 46 20 8 18 67 61 1.098 48
10 Tranmere Rovers 46 15 16 15 56 52 1.077 46
11 Charlton Athletic 46 17 11 18 69 67 1.030 45
12 Wrexham 46 14 17 15 55 54 1.019 45
13 Rochdale 46 14 17 15 48 54 0.889 45
14 Southend United 46 17 10 19 61 54 1.130 44
15 Shrewsbury Town 46 15 14 17 46 54 0.852 44
16 Chesterfield 46 17 9 20 57 61 0.934 43
17 Walsall 46 18 7 21 56 66 0.848 43
18 York City 46 13 15 18 42 46 0.913 41
19 Watford 46 12 17 17 43 48 0.896 41
20 Halifax Town 46 13 15 18 43 53 0.811 41
21 Rotherham United 46 17 7 22 51 65 0.785 41 Relegated to the Fourth Division
22 Brentford 46 15 7 24 51 69 0.739 37
23 Swansea City 46 14 9 23 51 73 0.699 37
24 Scunthorpe United 46 10 10 26 33 72 0.458 30
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Fourth Division

Hereford United were promoted from the Fourth Division in their first season as a Football League club. They had been elected to the Football League a year earlier after finishing as runners-up to Chelmsford City in the Southern League and achieving a shock win over Newcastle United in the FA Cup. They were joined in the promotion zone by champions Southport, Cambridge United and Aldershot. Newport County missed promotion only on goal average. There were no arrivals or departures in the league for 1973.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Southport 46 26 10 10 71 48 1.479 62 Promoted to the Third Division
2 Hereford United 46 23 12 11 56 38 1.474 58
3 Cambridge United 46 20 17 9 67 57 1.175 57
4 Aldershot 46 22 12 12 60 38 1.579 56
5 Newport County 46 22 12 12 64 44 1.455 56
6 Mansfield Town 46 20 14 12 78 51 1.529 54
7 Reading 46 17 18 11 51 38 1.342 52
8 Exeter City 46 18 14 14 57 51 1.118 50
9 Gillingham 46 19 11 16 63 58 1.086 49
10 Lincoln City 46 16 16 14 64 57 1.123 48
11 Stockport County 46 18 12 16 53 53 1.000 48
12 Bury 46 14 18 14 58 51 1.137 46
13 Workington 46 17 12 17 59 61 0.967 46
14 Barnsley 46 14 16 16 58 60 0.967 44
15 Chester 46 14 15 17 61 52 1.173 43
16 Bradford City 46 16 11 19 61 65 0.938 43
17 Doncaster Rovers 46 15 12 19 49 58 0.845 42
18 Torquay United 46 12 17 17 44 47 0.936 41
19 Peterborough United 46 14 13 19 71 76 0.934 41
20 Hartlepool 46 12 17 17 34 49 0.694 41
21 Crewe Alexandra 46 9 18 19 38 61 0.623 36 Re-elected
22 Colchester United 46 10 11 25 48 76 0.632 31
23 Northampton Town 46 10 11 25 40 73 0.548 31
24 Darlington 46 7 15 24 42 85 0.494 29
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Top goalscorers

First Division

Second Division

Third Division

Fourth Division

FA Cup
Sunderland's bus parade following their FA Cup final victory
Main article: 1972–73 FA Cup

An Ian Porterfield goal saw Sunderland achieve a famous 1–0 win over Leeds United in the FA Cup final.[4] Sunderland's team, managed by Bob Stokoe, did not contain any full internationals, whereas Don Revie's Leeds side were all internationals. Sunderland goalkeeper Jim Montgomery also received plaudits after a good performance featuring a noted double-save from Trevor Cherry and Peter Lorimer.

Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Arsenal 3–1 at Highbury in a third-place playoff, held three months after the final.

League Cup

Tottenham Hotspur's Bill Nicholson guided his club to a League Cup triumph, beating Norwich City 1–0 in the final, and in the process added another trophy to the club's ever-growing list of honours.

European Football

Derby County lost to the eventual finals runner-up Juventus by an aggregate score of 3–1 in the semifinals of the European Cup. Leeds United lost a controversial European Cup Winners Cup Final against AC Milan.

Star players

Star managers
  • Bill Shankly guided Liverpool to another league championship triumph.
  • Bob Stokoe helped Sunderland achieve a shock win against Leeds United in the FA Cup final.
  • Bill Nicholson added the League Cup to his list of trophies won as Tottenham manager.
  • Don Revie took Leeds to 3rd in the league and led them to the finals of the FA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup.
  • Brian Clough took his Derby County side to the semi-finals of European Cup, losing to Juventus.

References
  1. "Arsenal football club match record: 1973". 11v11.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  2. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  3. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  4. The FA (2008). "Cup Final Statistics". Find out the result of every each and every Cup Final, as well as venue records, most wins and most appearances... Past FA Cup Finals. The Football Association. Archived from the original (web) on 18 May 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2008.
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