1972–73 Football League First Division

Football League First Division
Season	1972–73
Champions	Liverpool (8th English title)
Relegated	Huddersfield Town ; Nottingham Forest
1973–74 European Cup	Liverpool
FA Cup winners; 1973–74 European Cup Winners' Cup	Sunderland (2nd Div.) (2nd FA Cup title)
1973–74 UEFA Cup	Ipswich Town ; Leeds United ; Tottenham Hotspur ; Wolverhampton Wanderers
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,160 (2.51 per match)
Top goalscorer	Pop Robson (West Ham United), 28
Biggest home win	Leeds – Arsenal 6–1 (9 Mar 1973) ; Crystal Palace – Manchester United 5–0 (16 Oct 1972) ; Derby County – Arsenal 5–0 (25 Nov 1972) ; Leeds United – Derby County 5–0 (7 Oct 1972) ; Liverpool – Sheffield United 5–0 (23 Sep 1972)
Biggest away win	West Bromwich Albion – Crystal Palace 0–4 (3 Mar 1973)
Highest scoring	Wolverhampton Wanderers – Stoke City 5–3 (30 Sep 1972)
	← 1971–72 1973–74 →

Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1972–73 season.

Overview[]

Liverpool won the First Division title for the eighth time in the club's history that season. They made sure of the title with a 0–0 draw against Leicester City at Anfield and finished the season three points ahead of title challengers Arsenal. Crystal Palace were relegated on 24 April, after losing 2–1 at relegation rivals Norwich City. West Bromwich Albion joined them the next day after losing 2–1 at home to Manchester City.

League standings[]

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool (C)	42	17	3	1	45	19	8	7	6	27	23	1.714	60	Qualified for the European Cup
2	Arsenal^[a]	42	14	5	2	31	14	9	6	6	26	29	1.326	57
3	Leeds United	42	15	4	2	45	13	6	7	8	26	32	1.578	53	Qualified for the UEFA Cup
4	Ipswich Town	42	10	7	4	34	20	7	7	7	21	25	1.222	48
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	13	3	5	43	23	5	8	8	23	31	1.222	47
6	West Ham United	42	12	5	4	45	25	5	7	9	22	28	1.264	46
7	Derby County	42	15	3	3	43	18	4	5	12	13	36	1.037	46
8	Tottenham Hotspur	42	10	5	6	33	23	6	8	7	25	25	1.208	45	League Cup winners, qualified for the UEFA Cup
9	Newcastle United	42	12	6	3	35	19	4	7	10	25	32	1.176	45
10	Birmingham City	42	11	7	3	39	22	4	5	12	14	32	0.981	42
11	Manchester City	42	12	4	5	36	20	3	7	11	21	40	0.950	41
12	Chelsea	42	9	6	6	30	22	4	8	9	19	29	0.961	40
13	Southampton	42	8	11	2	26	17	3	7	11	21	35	0.904	40
14	Sheffield United	42	11	4	6	28	18	4	6	11	23	41	0.864	40
15	Stoke City	42	11	8	2	38	17	3	2	16	23	39	1.089	38
16	Leicester City	42	7	9	5	23	18	3	8	10	17	28	0.870	37
17	Everton	42	9	5	7	27	21	4	6	11	14	28	0.837	37
18	Manchester United	42	9	7	5	24	19	3	6	12	20	41	0.733	37
19	Coventry City	42	9	5	7	27	24	4	4	13	13	31	0.727	35
20	Norwich City	42	7	9	5	22	19	4	1	16	14	44	0.571	32
21	Crystal Palace	42	7	7	7	25	21	2	5	14	16	37	0.707	30	Relegated
22	West Bromwich Albion	42	8	7	6	25	24	1	3	17	13	38	0.613	28	Relegated

Source: http://www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk/final/f1972-73.html
(C) League champions
Notes:

^ Arsenal were not eligible for the UEFA Cup, because Tottenham had qualified by winning the League Cup. The Football League continued to enforce the old Inter-Cities Fairs Cup rule that only one team per city could compete,^[2] although UEFA had not carried the rule over.

Results[]

Home \ Away	ARS	BIR	CHE	COV	CRY	DER	EVE	IPS	LEE	LEI	LIV	MCI	MUN	NEW	NWC	SHU	SOU	STK	TOT	WBA	WHU	WOL
Arsenal		2–0	1–1	0–2	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	3–1	2–2	2–0	3–2	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	5–2
Birmingham City	1–1		2–2	3–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	2–1	4–1	3–1	3–2	4–1	1–2	1–1	3–1	0–0	3–2	0–0	0–1
Chelsea	0–1	0–0		2–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	4–0	1–1	1–2	2–1	1–0	1–1	3–1	4–2	2–1	1–3	0–1	3–1	1–3	0–2
Coventry City	1–1	0–0	1–3		2–0	0–2	1–0	2–1	0–1	3–2	1–2	3–2	1–1	0–3	3–1	3–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	0–0	3–1	0–1
Crystal Palace	2–3	0–0	2–0	0–1		0–0	1–0	1–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	1–0	5–0	2–1	0–2	0–1	3–0	3–2	0–0	0–2	1–3	1–1
Derby County	5–0	1–0	1–2	2–0	2–2		3–1	3–0	2–3	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	4–0	0–3	2–1	2–0	1–1	3–0
Everton	0–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–0		2–2	1–2	0–1	0–2	2–3	2–0	3–1	2–2	2–1	0–1	2–0	3–1	1–0	1–2	0–1
Ipswich Town	1–2	2–0	3–0	2–0	2–1	3–1	0–1		2–2	0–2	1–1	1–1	4–1	1–0	1–2	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–1
Leeds United	6–1	4–0	1–1	1–1	4–0	5–0	2–1	3–3		3–1	1–2	3–0	0–1	1–0	2–0		1–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	0–0
Leicester City	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–2	1–1	2–0		3–2	1–1	2–2	0–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	2–0	0–1	3–1	2–1	1–1
Liverpool	0–2	4–3	3–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–0		2–0	2–0	3–2	3–1	5–0	3–2	2–1	1–1	1–0	3–2	4–2
Manchester City	1–2	1–0	0–1	1–2	2–3	4–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1		3–0	2–0	3–0	3–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	4–3	1–1
Manchester United	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	2–0	3–0	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–0		2–1	1–0	1–2	2–1	0–2	1–4	2–1	2–2	2–1
Newcastle United	2–1	3–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	3–2	2–2	2–1	2–1	2–1		3–1	4–1	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–2	2–1
Norwich City	3–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–1		1–1	0–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	0–1	1–1
Sheffield United	1–0	0–1	2–1	3–1	2–0	3–1	0–1	0–0		2–0	0–3	1–1	1–0	1–2	2–0		3–1	0–0	3–2	3–0	0–0	1–2
Southampton	2–2	2–0	3–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	0–0	1–2	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–0	1–1		1–0	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–1
Stoke City	0–0	1–2	1–1	2–1	2–0	4–0	1–1	1–0	2–2	1–0	0–1	5–1	2–2	2–0	2–0	2–2	3–3		1–1		2–0
Tottenham Hotspur	1–2	2–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–2	2–3	1–1	3–2	3–0	2–0	1–2	4–3		1–1	1–0	2–2
West Bromwich Albion	1–0	2–2	1–1	1–0	0–4	2–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–2	2–2	2–3	0–1	0–2	1–1		0–1		0–0	1–0
West Ham United	1–2	2–0	3–1	1–0	4–0	1–2	2–0	0–1	1–1	5–2	0–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	4–0	3–1	4–3	3–2	2–2	2–1		2–2
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–3	3–2	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–2	4–2	0–1	0–2	2–0	2–1	5–1	2–0	1–1	3–0	1–1	0–1		3–2	2–0	3–0

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Managerial changes[]

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Coventry City	Bob Dennison	End of caretaker spell	15 June 1972	Pre-season	Joe Mercer	15 June 1972
Manchester United	Frank O'Farrell	Sacked	19 December 1972	21st	Tommy Docherty	22 December 1972
Crystal Palace	Bert Head	Mutual consent	28 March 1973	20th	Malcolm Allison	30 March 1973
Manchester City	Malcolm Allison	Signed by Crystal Palace	30 March 1973	14th	Johnny Hart	30 March 1973
Everton	Harry Catterick	Resigned	7 April 1973	15th	Tom Eggleston (caretaker)	7 April 1973

Team locations[]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

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Locations of the Football League First Division 1972–73 teams

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Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1972–73

Top scorers[]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Pop Robson	West Ham United	28
2	John Richards	Wolverhampton Wanderers	27
3	Billy Dearden	Sheffield United	20
4	Bob Latchford	Birmingham City	19
5	Allan Clarke	Leeds United	18
=	John Tudor	Newcastle United	18

References[]

^ "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
^ Wilson, Jonathan (2011-11-10). Brian Clough: Nobody Ever Says Thank You: The Biography. Orion. p. 3. ISBN 9781409123187. Retrieved 27 June 2013.

RSSSF

[table_note_ARS0.200301694777-3] Arsenal were not eligible for the UEFA Cup, because Tottenham had qualified by winning the League Cup. The Football League continued to enforce the old Inter-Cities Fairs Cup rule that only one team per city could compete,^[2] although UEFA had not carried the rule over.

[topscorers-1] "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.

[Wilson2011-2] Wilson, Jonathan (2011-11-10). Brian Clough: Nobody Ever Says Thank You: The Biography. Orion. p. 3. ISBN 9781409123187. Retrieved 27 June 2013.

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