1972–73 in English football

Football in England

Season	1972–73
Men's football
First Division	Liverpool
Second Division	Burnley
Third Division	Bolton Wanderers
Fourth Division	Southport
FA Cup	Sunderland
League Cup	Tottenham Hotspur
Charity Shield	Manchester City
←  1971–72 1973–74  →

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

Honours

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
First Division	Liverpool (8*)	Arsenal
Second Division	Burnley	Queens Park Rangers
Third Division	Bolton Wanderers	Notts County
Fourth Division	Southport	Hereford United
FA Cup	Sunderland (2)	Leeds United
League Cup	Tottenham Hotspur (2*)	Norwich City
Charity Shield	Manchester City	Aston 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

• Pop Robson (West Ham United) – 28 goals ^[2]

Second Division

• Don Givens (Queens Park Rangers) – 23 goals ^[2]

Third Division

• Arthur Horsfield (Charlton Athletic) – 26 goals ^[3]

Fourth Division

• Fred Binney (Exeter City) – 27 goals ^[3]

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

• Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Pat Jennings was voted FWA Footballer of the Year to add to his League Cup winners medal.

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.