The 1972–73 season was Liverpool Football Club's 81st season in existence and their 11th consecutive season in the First Division. After seven years without a trophy, Liverpool won both the Football League and the UEFA Cup in an extremely successful season, the highlight of Bill Shankly's managerial career. The rebuilding of the team from the one that served so well in the 1960s had been fully realised.
Having come close the previous season, Liverpool finally won the league title by three points from Arsenal. On 30 December 1972, they beat Crystal Palace at Anfield for their twenty-first consecutive home win in the league. This was the longest run in English top-flight history until it was surpassed by Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool team in March 2020.
The UEFA Cup triumph marked the start of a period of success in Europe, as they overcame the previous season's winners Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-finals and Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–2 on aggregate in the final.
Peter Cormack was a key signing from Nottingham Forest during the summer of 1972. The emergence of Kevin Keegan and Ray Clemence led to both players making their England debuts in the World Cup qualifier against Wales on 15 November 1972, alongside Emlyn Hughes, who was already established in the England team.
Squad
Goalkeepers Ray Clemence Frankie Lane Grahame Lloyd
Defenders Steve Arnold Roy Evans Chris Lawler Alec Lindsay Larry Lloyd John McLaughlin Ian Ross Tommy Smith Trevor Storton John Webb
Midfielders Ian Callaghan Peter Cormack Brian Hall Steve Heighway Emlyn Hughes Hughie McAuley Phil Thompson Peter Thompson
Attackers Phil Boersma Derek Brownbill Kevin Keegan Kevin Kewley John Toshack Jack Whitham
Squad statistics
Appearances and goals
League table
Results
First Division
DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 12-Aug-72 Manchester City H 2–0 Hall Callaghan 55,383 Report Report 15-Aug-72 Manchester United H 2–0 Toshack Heighway 54,779 Report Report 19-Aug-72 Crystal Palace A 1–1 Hughes 30,054 Report Report 23-Aug-72 Chelsea A 2–1 Toshack Callaghan 35,375 Report Report 26-Aug-72 West Ham United H 3–2 Toshack Ferguson (og) Hughes 50,491 Report Report 30-Aug-72 Leicester City A 2–3 Toshack 28,694 Report Report 02-Sep-72 Derby County A 1–2 Toshack 32,524 Report Report 09-Sep-72 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 4–2 Hughes Cormack Smith Keegan 43,386 Report Report 16-Sep-72 Arsenal A 0–0 47,597 Report Report 23-Sep-72 Sheffield United H 5–0 Boersma Lindsay Heighway Cormack Keegan 42,940 Report Report 30-Sep-72 Leeds United A 2–1 Lloyd Boersma 46,648 Report Report 07-Oct-72 Everton H 1–0 Cormack 55,975 Report Report 14-Oct-72 Southampton A 1–1 Lawler 24,110 Report Report 21-Oct-72 Stoke City H 2–1 Hughes Callaghan 45,604 Report Report 28-Oct-72 Norwich City A 1–1 Cormack 36,625 Report Report 04-Nov-72 Chelsea H 3–1 Toshack Keegan 48,392 Report Report 11-Nov-72 Manchester United A 0–2 53,944 Report Report 18-Nov-72 Newcastle United H 3–2 Cormack Lindsay Toshack 46,153 Report Report 25-Nov-72 Tottenham Hotspur A 2–1 Heighway Keegan 45,399 Report Report 02-Dec-72 Birmingham City H 4–3 Lindsay Cormack Toshack 45,407 Report Report 09-Dec-72 West Bromwich Albion A 1–1 Boersma 27,213 Report Report 16-Dec-72 Ipswich Town A 1–1 Heighway 25,693 Report Report 23-Dec-72 Coventry City H 2–0 Toshack 41,550 Report Report 26-Dec-72 Sheffield United A 3–0 Boersma Lawler Heighway 34,040 Report Report 30-Dec-72 Crystal Palace H 1–0 Cormack 50,862 Report Report 06-Jan-73 West Ham United A 1–0 Keegan 34,480 Report Report 20-Jan-73 Derby County H 1–1 Toshack 45,996 Report Report 27-Jan-73 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–2 Keegan 32,957 Report Report 10-Feb-73 Arsenal H 0–2 49,898 Report Report 17-Feb-73 Manchester City A 1–1 Boersma 40,528 Report Report 24-Feb-73 Ipswich Town H 2–1 Heighway Keegan 43,875 Report Report 03-Mar-73 Everton A 2–0 Hughes 54,269 Report Report 10-Mar-73 Southampton H 3–2 Lloyd Keegan 41,674 Report Report 17-Mar-73 Stoke City A 1–0 Mahoney (og) 33,540 Report Report 24-Mar-73 Norwich City H 3–1 Lawler Hughes Hall 42,995 Report Report 31-Mar-73 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–1 Keegan 48,477 Report Report 07-Apr-73 Birmingham City A 1–2 Smith 48,114 Report Report 14-Apr-73 West Bromwich Albion H 1–0 Keegan 43,853 Report Report 17-Apr-73 Coventry City A 2–1 Boersma 27,280 Report Report 21-Apr-73 Newcastle United A 1–2 Keegan 37,240 Report Report 23-Apr-73 Leeds United H 2–0 Cormack Keegan 55,738 Report Report 28-Apr-73 Leicester City H 0–0 56,202 Report Report
Football League Cup
DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 05-Sep-72 Carlisle United A 1–1 Keegan 16,257 Report Report 19-Sep-72 Carlisle United H 5–1 Keegan Boersma Lawler Heighway 22,128 Report Report 03-Oct-72 West Bromwich Albion A 1–1 Heighway 17,756 Report Report 10-Oct-72 West Bromwich Albion H 2–1 Hughes Keegan 26,461 Report Report 31-Oct-72 Leeds United H 2–2 Keegan Toshack 44,609 Report Report 22-Nov-72 Leeds United A 1–0 Keegan 34,856 Report Report 04-Dec-72 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–1 Hughes 48,677 Report Report 06-Dec-72 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–3 Callaghan 34,565 Report Report
FA Cup
DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 13-Jan-73 Burnley A 0–0 35,730 Report Report 16-Jan-73 Burnley H 3–0 Toshack Cormack 56,124 Report Report 03-Feb-73 Manchester City H 0–0 56,296 Report Report 07-Feb-73 Manchester City A 0–2 49,572 Report Report
UEFA Cup
DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendanceReport 1Report 2 12-Sep-72 Eintracht Frankfurt H 2–0 Keegan Hughes 33,380 Report Report 26-Sep-72 Eintracht Frankfurt A 0–0 17,500 Report Report 24-Oct-72 AEK Athens H 3–0 Boersma Cormack Smith 31,906 Report Report 07-Nov-72 AEK Athens A 3–1 Hughes Boersma 19,412 Report Report 29-Nov-72 BFC Dynamo A 0–0 15,835-20,000 Report Report 13-Dec-72 BFC Dynamo H 3–1 Boersma Heighway Toshack 34,140 Report Report 07-Mar-73 Dynamo Dresden H 2–0 Hall Boersma 33,270 Report Report 21-Mar-73 Dynamo Dresden A 1–0 Keegan 33,634 Report Report 10-Apr-73 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–0 Lindsay 42,174 Report Report 25-Apr-73 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–2 Heighway 46,919 Report Report
Final
First Leg
GK 1 Ray ClemenceRB 2 Chris LawlerLB 3 Alec Lindsay CM 4 Tommy Smith (c) CB 5 Larry LloydCB 6 Emlyn HughesST 7 Kevin Keegan CM 8 Peter Cormack ST 9 John ToshackLW 10 Steve Heighway RW 11 Ian CallaghanSubstitutes:MF 12 Brian Hall GK 13 Frankie Lane DF 14 Trevor Storton DF 15 Phil Thompson FW 16 Phil Boersma Manager: Bill Shankly GK 1 Wolfgang KleffRB 2 Heinz Michallik CB 3 Günter NetzerCB 4 Rainer BonhofLB 5 Berti Vogts (c) MF 6 Herbert WimmerMF 7 Dietmar DannerMF 8 Christian Kulik FW 9 Henning Jensen FW 10 Bernd Rupp FW 11 Jupp Heynckes Substitutes:FW 12 Allan Simonsen Manager: Hennes Weisweiler
Second Leg
GK 1 Wolfgang KleffRB 2 Ulrich Surau CB 3 Günter NetzerCB 4 Rainer BonhofLB 5 Berti Vogts (c) MF 6 Herbert WimmerMF 7 Dietmar DannerMF 8 Christian Kulik FW 9 Henning Jensen FW 10 Bernd Rupp FW 11 Jupp Heynckes Substitutes:FW 12 Allan SimonsenDF 13 Heinz MichallikDF 14 Klaus-Dieter SieloffGK 15 Bernd SchrageManager: Hennes Weisweiler GK 1 Ray ClemenceRB 2 Chris LawlerLB 3 Alec Lindsay CM 4 Tommy Smith (c) CB 5 Larry LloydCB 6 Emlyn HughesST 7 Kevin Keegan CM 8 Peter Cormack ST 9 John ToshackLW 10 Steve Heighway RW 11 Ian CallaghanSubstitutes:MF 12 Brian HallGK 13 Frankie Lane DF 14 Trevor Storton DF 15 Phil Thompson FW 16 Phil Boersma Manager: Bill Shankly
References LFC History.net – 1972–73 season Liverweb - 1972-73 Season LFC in Europe