1972–73 in English football

none May 2008 July 2020 July 2020 England 1972–73 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 yes The 1972–73 season was the 93rd season of competitive football in England. Honours CompetitionWinnerRunner-upFirst DivisionLiverpool (8*)ArsenalSecond DivisionBurnleyQueens Park RangersThird DivisionBolton WanderersNotts CountyFourth DivisionSouthportHereford UnitedFA CupSunderland (2)Leeds UnitedLeague CupTottenham Hotspur (2*)Norwich CityCharity ShieldManchester CityAston VillaHome ChampionshipENGNIR Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition Football League 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.Arsenal football club match record: 1973 https://www.11v11.com/teams/arsenal/tab/matches/season/1973/ 11v11.com 3 January 2018 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. y 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. y Second Division 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. y Third 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 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. y Fourth Division Top goalscorers First Division Pop Robson (West Ham United) – 28 goalshttps://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engtops.html English League Leading Goalscorers RSSSF 2017-06-04 Second Division Don Givens (Queens Park Rangers) – 23 goals Third Division Arthur Horsfield (Charlton Athletic) – 26 goalshttps://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engtops.html English League Leading Goalscorers RSSSF 2017-06-04 Fourth Division Fred Binney (Exeter City) – 27 goals FA Cup thumb|Sunderland's bus parade following their FA Cup final victory 1972–73 FA Cup An Ian Porterfield goal saw Sunderland achieve a famous 1–0 win over Leeds United in the FA Cup final.The FA 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 2008 http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/History/Postings/2003/11/FACupStatistics.htm web 29 May 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080518084018/http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/History/Postings/2003/11/FACupStatistics.htm 18 May 2008 dead 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 Under manager Bill Nicholson, Tottenham Hotspur won the League Cup triumph, by defeating Norwich City 1–0 in the final. The victory added another major trophy to the club’s honours. European competitions Liverpool won the UEFA Cup. 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 1972