1972–73 in English football

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

Overview

The Football League announced that a three-up, three-down system would operate between the top two 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 cruised to another championship triumph in Bill Shankly's penultimate season as manager despite competition from Arsenal, Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Manchester United sacked manager Frank O'Farrell after 18 months in charge. He had been unable to mount a title challenge. Tommy Docherty, the 44-year-old Scottish national coach and former Aston Villa manager, was appointed as his successor.

Bobby Charlton and Denis Law both played their last games for the club while George Best's appearances were becoming increasingly rare.

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.

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.

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 winning the Southern League and achieving a shock win over Newcastle United in the F.A 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.

FA Cup

An Ian Porterfield goal saw Sunderland achieve a famous 1-0 win over Leeds United in the F.A Cup final.cite web
last =TheFA
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Cup Final Statistics
work =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
publisher =The Football Association
date =2008
url =http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/History/Postings/2003/11/FACupStatistics.htm
format =web
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accessdate = ] Sunderland, 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 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.

Star players

*Tottenham goalkeeper Patrick Jennings added the FWA Player of the Year award to his League Cup winners medal.

Star managers

*Bill Shankly guided Liverpool to yet another league championship triumph.
*Bob Stokoe helped Sunderland achieve a shock win against Leeds United in the F.A Cup final.
*Bill Nicholson added the League Cup to his list of trophies won as Tottenham manager.
*Brian Clough took his Derby County side to the semi-finals of European Cup, losing to Juventus

Honours

Third Division

Fourth Division

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points

References