The 1972–73 season was the 74th completed season of The Football League.

Liverpool's championship win meant they claimed their first trophy since 1966 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

Final league tables and results

The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79,Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980. with home and away statistics separated.

Beginning with the season 1894–95, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded), or more properly put, goal ratio. In case one or more teams had the same goal difference, this system favoured those teams who had scored fewer goals. The goal average system was eventually scrapped beginning with the 1976–77 season.

Since the Fourth Division was established in the 1958–59 season, the bottom four teams of that division have been required to apply for re-election.

First Division

Results

Maps

Second Division

Results

Maps

Third Division

Results

Maps

Fourth Division

Results

Maps

Attendances Source:

Division One No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Manchester United 48,623 61,676 36,073 2 Liverpool FC 48,127 56,202 41,550 3 Arsenal FC 40,246 56,194 27,199 4 Birmingham City FC 36,663 51,278 30,757 5 Leeds United FC 35,831 46,468 25,088 6 Everton FC 34,471 54,856 21,806 7 Manchester City FC 32,351 52,086 23,973 8 Tottenham Hotspur FC 32,318 51,291 16,942 9 West Ham United FC 30,174 38,804 23,269 10 Crystal Palace FC 30,167 44,536 17,858 11 Derby County FC 29,766 38,462 20,374 12 Chelsea FC 29,722 51,102 18,279 13 Norwich City FC 28,420 36,688 19,320 14 Newcastle United FC 27,939 38,964 18,103 15 Coventry City FC 24,623 42,911 16,391 16 Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 24,418 34,049 14,888 17 Stoke City FC 23,800 36,063 17,770 18 Sheffield United FC 23,509 40,035 16,231 19 Leicester City FC 22,706 35,876 15,307 20 Ipswich Town FC 22,241 34,636 16,948 21 West Bromwich Albion FC 21,427 39,209 12,147 22 Southampton FC 18,118 24,164 12,125

Division Two

No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Aston Villa FC 27,693 38,637 15,902 2 Sunderland AFC 22,603 43,265 11,141 3 Sheffield Wednesday FC 17,076 30,394 8,455 4 Queens Park Rangers FC 14,715 22,518 9,790 5 Brighton & Hove Albion FC 14,167 18,699 9,709 6 Burnley FC 14,083 22,852 9,834 7 Bristol City FC 12,892 20,490 10,588 8 Cardiff City FC 11,456 21,982 6,235 9 Blackpool FC 10,782 25,277 5,303 10 Luton Town FC 10,643 15,799 6,177 11 Middlesbrough FC 10,418 24,145 6,816 12 Swindon Town FC 10,267 15,552 7,245 13 Fulham FC 10,267 20,895 6,262 14 Millwall FC 10,265 16,136 7,811 15 Preston North End FC 10,199 21,550 5,759 16 Nottingham Forest FC 9,995 18,082 6,414 17 Portsmouth FC 9,477 16,419 4,688 18 Hull City AFC 9,233 13,580 5,278 19 Oxford United FC 9,197 13,647 4,954 20 Huddersfield Town AFC 8,175 13,689 3,871 21 Carlisle United FC 7,606 17,840 5,517 22 Leyton Orient FC 6,449 10,629 3,887

Division Three

No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Bolton Wanderers FC 13,928 33,309 5,788 2 AFC Bournemouth 12,268 18,374 8,579 3 Grimsby Town FC 10,849 16,807 7,395 4 Notts County FC 10,701 23,613 6,118 5 Blackburn Rovers FC 9,214 16,346 5,710 6 Plymouth Argyle FC 9,057 20,104 4,768 7 Bristol Rovers FC 8,884 18,567 5,750 8 Brentford FC 8,742 11,803 6,067 9 Oldham Athletic FC 8,256 19,745 4,516 10 Southend United FC 7,329 11,233 4,347 11 Watford FC 6,749 9,241 4,578 12 Chesterfield FC 5,723 8,755 3,508 13 Charlton Athletic FC 5,658 7,375 3,015 14 Tranmere Rovers 5,615 14,356 2,830 15 Port Vale FC 5,429 14,168 3,468 16 Walsall FC 4,803 8,159 3,402 17 Rotherham United FC 4,733 7,045 2,907 18 Wrexham AFC 4,546 6,586 2,611 19 York City FC 3,793 9,894 2,307 20 Scunthorpe United FC 3,736 10,768 1,687 21 Rochdale AFC 3,186 7,168 1,588 22 Swansea City AFC 3,104 5,390 1,607 23 Shrewsbury Town FC 3,004 6,574 1,763 24 Halifax Town AFC 2,741 4,838 970

Division Four

No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Hereford United FC 8,917 14,849 6,566 2 Reading FC 5,321 10,325 3,721 3 Mansfield Town FC 5,010 7,312 3,451 4 Exeter City FC 4,956 11,296 3,137 5 Newport County AFC 4,817 8,776 2,847 6 Peterborough United FC 4,761 7,577 2,345 7 Lincoln City FC 4,547 6,657 2,429 8 Aldershot Town FC 4,442 10,800 2,761 9 Cambridge United FC 4,227 11,542 2,627 10 Stockport County FC 3,728 5,905 2,204 11 Hartlepool United FC 3,691 7,193 1,887 12 Southport FC 3,580 6,525 1,966 13 Bradford City AFC 3,498 5,566 1,628 14 Torquay United FC 3,300 8,164 1,825 15 Colchester United FC 3,232 6,093 2,437 16 Gillingham FC 3,186 6,115 1,575 17 Bury FC 2,971 4,319 2,039 18 Chester City FC 2,963 4,781 1,390 19 Barnsley FC 2,862 5,900 1,638 20 Northampton Town FC 2,835 5,008 1,180 21 Doncaster Rovers FC 2,259 3,540 1,488 22 Crewe Alexandra FC 2,059 3,820 1,164 23 Darlington FC 1,697 3,724 1,088 24 Workington AFC 1,442 2,065 918

See also 1972-73 in English football

External links Season 1972-73 complete complete lineups, tables and squads at Historical Football Lineups

References

Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.