The 1972–73 Football League Cup was the 13th season of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for England's top 92 football clubs. The tournament started on 15 August 1972 and ended with the final at Wembley on 3 March 1973.
Tottenham Hotspur won the tournament after defeating Norwich City in the final at Wembley Stadium, London.
Calendar Of the 92 teams, 36 received a bye to the second round (teams ranked 1st–36th in the 1971–72 Football League) and the other 56 played in the first round. Semi-finals were two-legged. RoundMain dateFixtures ClubsNew entries this roundOriginalReplays First Round16 August 1972 28 8 92 → 64 56 Second Round5 September 1972 32 8 64 → 32 36 Third Round3 October 1972 168 32 → 16 none Fourth Round31 October 1972 8 1 16 → 8 none Fifth Round21 November 1972 4 2 8 → 4 none Semi-finals December 1972 – January 1973 4 0 4 → 2 none Final 3 March 19731 0 2 → 1 none
First round
Ties Home teamScoreAway teamDate Aston Villa 4–1 Hereford United 16 August 1972 Barnsley 0–0 Grimsby Town 16 August 1972 Blackburn Rovers 0–1 Rochdale 16 August 1972 Bolton Wanderers 3–0 Oldham Athletic 16 August 1972 Bradford City 1–1 Stockport County 16 August 1972 Brentford 1–0 Cambridge United 16 August 1972 Brighton and Hove Albion 2–1 Exeter City 16 August 1972 Cardiff City 2–2 Bristol Rovers 16 August 1972 Chester City 4–3 Shrewsbury Town 16 August 1972 Darlington 0–1 Rotherham United 16 August 1972 Gillingham 1–0 Colchester United 16 August 1972 Halifax Town 1–2 Bury 15 August 1972 Hartlepool United 1–0 Doncaster Rovers 16 August 1972 Leyton Orient 2–0 Watford 16 August 1972 Mansfield Town 3–1 Lincoln City 16 August 1972 Northampton Town 0–3 Charlton Athletic 15 August 1972 Notts County 3–1 York City 16 August 1972 Oxford United 4–0 Peterborough United 16 August 1972 Plymouth Argyle 0–2 Bournemouth 15 August 1972 Reading 1–1 Fulham 16 August 1972 Scunthorpe United 0–0 Chesterfield 15 August 1972 Southend United 2–1 Aldershot 16 August 1972 Southport 4–1 Walsall 16 August 1972 Swansea City 1–1 Newport County 15 August 1972 Torquay United 1–2 Portsmouth 16 August 1972 Tranmere Rovers 0–1 Port Vale 16 August 1972 Workington 1–0 Preston North End 16 August 1972 Wrexham 4–0 Crewe Alexandra 16 August 1972
Replays Home teamScoreAway teamDate Bristol Rovers 3–1 Cardiff City 22 August 1972 Chesterfield 5–0 Scunthorpe United 23 August 1972 Fulham 1–1After Extra Time Reading 23 August 1972 Grimsby Town 2–0 Barnsley 22 August 1972 Newport County 3–0 Swansea City 22 August 1972 Stockport County 1–1After Extra Time Bradford City 21 August 1972
2nd Replays Home teamScoreAway teamDate Bradford City 0–2 Stockport County 28 August 1972 Reading 0–1 Fulham 28 August 1972
Second round
Ties Home teamScoreAway teamDate Arsenal 1–0 Everton 5 September 1972 Birmingham City 1–1 Luton Town 5 September 1972 Bournemouth 0–0 Blackpool 6 September 1972 Bristol Rovers 4–0 Brighton and Hove Albion 5 September 1972 Bury 1–0 Grimsby Town 5 September 1972 Carlisle United 1–1 Liverpool 5 September 1972 Charlton Athletic 4–3 Mansfield Town 5 September 1972 Coventry City 1–0 Hartlepool United 5 September 1972 Crystal Palace 0–1 Stockport County 5 September 1972 Gillingham 0–2 Millwall 5 September 1972 Hull City 1–0 Fulham 5 September 1972 Leeds United 4–0 Burnley 6 September 1972 Manchester City 4–0 Rochdale 6 September 1972 Middlesbrough 2–0 Wrexham 5 September 1972 Newport County 0–3 Ipswich Town 5 September 1972 Norwich City 2–1 Leicester City 6 September 1972 Nottingham Forest 0–1 Aston Villa 5 September 1972 Notts County 3–2 Southport 6 September 1972 Oxford United 2–2 Manchester United 6 September 1972 Port Vale 1–3 Newcastle United 5 September 1972 Portsmouth 0–1 Chesterfield 6 September 1972 Rotherham United 2–0 Brentford 5 September 1972 Sheffield Wednesday 2–0 Bolton Wanderers 6 September 1972 Southampton 0–0 Chester City 5 September 1972 Southend United 0–1 Chelsea 6 September 1972 Stoke City 3–0 Sunderland 6 September 1972 Swindon Town 0–1 Derby County 5 September 1972 Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 Huddersfield Town 6 September 1972 West Bromwich Albion 2–1 Queens Park Rangers 6 September 1972 West Ham United 2–1 Bristol City 6 September 1972 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–1 Leyton Orient 5 September 1972 Workington 0–1 Sheffield United 6 September 1972
Replays Home teamScoreAway teamDate Blackpool 1–1After Extra Time Bournemouth 11 September 1972 Chester City 2–2After Extra Time Southampton 13 September 1972 Liverpool 5–1 Carlisle United 19 September 1972 Luton Town 1–1After Extra Time Birmingham City 13 September 1972 Manchester United 3–1 Oxford United 12 September 1972
2nd Replays Home teamScoreAway teamDate Birmingham City 1–0 Luton Town 19 September 1972 Bournemouth 1–2 Blackpool 18 September 1972 Southampton 2–0 Chester City 20 September 1972
Third round
Ties Home teamScoreAway teamDate Arsenal 5–0 Rotherham United 3 October 1972 Aston Villa 1–1 Leeds United 4 October 1972 Birmingham City 2–1 Coventry City 3 October 1972 Bristol Rovers 1–1 Manchester United 3 October 1972 Bury 2–0 Manchester City 3 October 1972 Derby County 0–0 Chelsea 4 October 1972 Hull City 1–2 Norwich City 3 October 1972 Ipswich Town 1–2 Stoke City 3 October 1972 Middlesbrough 1–1 Tottenham Hotspur 3 October 1972 Millwall 2–0 Chesterfield 3 October 1972 Newcastle United 0–3 Blackpool 4 October 1972 Sheffield United 0–0 Charlton Athletic 3 October 1972 Southampton 1–3 Notts County 3 October 1972 Stockport County 2–1 West Ham United 4 October 1972 West Bromwich Albion 1–1 Liverpool 3 October 1972 Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–1 Sheffield Wednesday 4 October 1972
Replays Home teamScoreAway teamDate Charlton Athletic 2–2After Extra Time Sheffield United 10 October 1972 Chelsea 3–2 Derby County 9 October 1972 Leeds United 2–0 Aston Villa 11 October 1972 Liverpool 2–1After Extra Time West Bromwich Albion 10 October 1972 Manchester United 1–2 Bristol Rovers 11 October 1972 Tottenham Hotspur 0–0After Extra Time Middlesbrough 11 October 1972
2nd Replays Home teamScoreAway teamDate Sheffield United 1–0After Extra Time Charlton Athletic 23 October 1972 Tottenham Hotspur 2–1After Extra Time Middlesbrough 30 October 1972
Fourth round
Ties Home teamScoreAway teamDate Blackpool 2–0 Birmingham City 31 October 1972 Bury 0–1 Chelsea 31 October 1972 Liverpool 2–2 Leeds United 31 October 1972 Notts County 3–1 Stoke City 31 October 1972 Sheffield United 1–2 Arsenal 31 October 1972 Stockport County 1–5 Norwich City 1 November 1972 Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 Millwall 1 November 1972 Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–0 Bristol Rovers 31 October 1972
Replay Home teamScoreAway teamDate Leeds United 0–1 Liverpool 22 November 1972
Fifth round
Ties Home teamScoreAway teamDate Arsenal 0–3 Norwich City 21 November 1972 Chelsea 3–1 Notts County 22 November 1972 Liverpool 1–1 Tottenham Hotspur 4 December 1972 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–1 Blackpool 21 November 1972
Replays Home teamScoreAway teamDate Blackpool 0–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 28 November 1972 Tottenham Hotspur 3–1 Liverpool 6 December 1972
Semi-finals
First leg Home teamScoreAway teamDate Chelsea 0–2 Norwich City 13 December 1972 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–2 Tottenham Hotspur 20 December 1972
Second leg Home teamScoreAway teamDateAgg Norwich City 1–0 Chelsea 3 January 1973 3–0The first attempt to play the second leg of the semi-final was abandoned due to heavy fog at Carrow Road. Norwich were leading 3-2 on the night, 5–2 on aggregate at the time. Tottenham Hotspur 2–2After Extra Time Wolverhampton Wanderers 30 December 1972 4–3
Final
The final was held at Wembley Stadium, London on 3 March 1973.
The 1973 Football League Cup Final was won by Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs beat Norwich City 1–0 at Wembley Stadium, Ralph Coates with the goal.
1 Pat Jennings2 Joe Kinnear3 Cyril Knowles4 John Pratt 5 Mike England6 Phil Beal7 Alan Gilzean8 Steve Perryman9 Martin Chivers10 Martin Peters (c)11 Jimmy PearceSubstitute:12 Ralph Coates Manager: Bill Nicholson 1 Kevin Keelan2 Clive Payne3 Geoff Butler4 Dave Stringer 5 Duncan Forbes (c) 6 Max Briggs7 Doug Livermore8 Jim Blair 9 David Cross10 Graham Paddon11 Terry AndersonSubstitute:12 Trevor Howard Manager: Ron Saunders
References
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