1972–73 Football League

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 website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics separated.
Beginning with the season 1894–95, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average, 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

Second Division

Third Division

Fourth Division

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