1973-74 in English football

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The 1973-74 season was the 94th season of competitive football in England.

1 Overview
2 Star players
3 Star managers
4 National team
5 Honours
6 League table

[edit] Overview

[edit] First Division

Don Revie marked his last season as Leeds United's manager by guiding them to league championship glory, before taking over from Sir Alf Ramsey as the England national football team manager, with England having surprisingly failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup. Revie's conquering side had a two-horse race with Liverpool all season but won in the end, taking the title for the second time in their history by five points. Newly promoted Burnley adopted to life back in the top flight well, finishing in sixth place.

Manchester United were relegated from the First Division just six years after winning the European Cup at the end of a traumatic season which had seen goalkeeper Alex Stepney as joint top scorer with two goals at Christmas. Their 36-year stay at the top was finally ended by a 1-0 home defeat against Manchester City in the last but one game of the season - ironically, former United striker Denis Law scored City's winning goal. But Birmingham City's win on that same afternoon would have sent United down even if they had beaten City. Despite this the board kept faith in manager Tommy Docherty as the man to regain the club's top flight place.

Joining United in the Second Division were Norwich City and Southampton. This was the first season in which the League introduced three relegation places from the top division.

[edit] Second Division

Former Leeds player Jack Charlton had a fine debut in management by guiding Middlesbrough to the Second Division title and a place in the First Division. Second in the table were Luton Town, who finished 15 points behind the runaway champions. Third-placed Carlisle United, managed by Alan Ashman (who won the FA Cup with West Bromwich Albion in 1968), gained a place in the First Division for the first, and so far only, time in their history, completing a rapid rise from the Fourth Division to the First Division. Crystal Palace, Preston North End and Swindon Town were all relegated.

[edit] Third Division

Promotion was secured by champions Oldham Athletic, Bristol Rovers and York City, which at the time represented York's highest ever League finish. Cambridge United, Shrewsbury Town, Southport and Rochdale were all relegated.

[edit] Fourth Division

Peterborough United won Division Four and were promoted along with Gillingham, Colchester United and Bury. The league's re-election system voted in favour of the bottom four league clubs and there were no departures or arrivals in the league in 1974.

[edit] FA Cup

The FA Cup Final was won by Liverpool, who beat Newcastle United 3-0 with two goals from future Magpies favourite Kevin Keegan and one from Steve Heighway. Burnley beat Leicester City 1-0 at Filbert Street in the fifth and final third-place playoff, held five days after the final.

Surprises in the earlier rounds included a First Round defeat for Exeter City by Midland Football League side Alvechurch F.C. and a 4-0 Second Round replay win for a Walton & Hersham team that included Dave Bassett over a Brighton & Hove Albion side managed by Brian Clough.

[edit] League Cup

Bill McGarry's Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Manchester City 2-1 in the final at Wembley Stadium with Kenny Hibbitt and John Richards getting the Wolves goals and Colin Bell replying for City. It was a first-ever League Cup win for the Wolves, and their first major trophy since the Stan Cullis era more than a decade earlier.

The semi-finals included one surprise team as City overcame Plymouth Argyle of the Third Division.

[edit] European football

Tottenham Hotspur reached the UEFA Cup Final but lost 4-2 on aggregate to Feyenoord.

[edit] Star players

Veteran Liverpool winger Ian Callaghan won the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year for his contribution to the club's successful season.
This season also saw the inauguration of two new awards by the Professional Footballers Association, both of which were voted for by footballers. The PFA Players' Player of the Year was won by Norman Hunter of Leeds United, whilst the PFA Young Player of the Year was won by Kevin Beattie of Ipswich Town.
The top scorer in Division One was Bryan 'Pop' Robson who hit 28 goals for West Ham. The overall league top scorer was Brian Yeo who hit 31 goals for Fourth Division Gillingham.

[edit] Star managers

Don Revie led his Leeds side to their second title under his management. He left at the end of the season to take charge of the England team.
Alan Ashman led his Carlisle side to a best ever finish.
Legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly announced his retirement from the game, despite mounting pressure from the club's fans for him to stay on. He went out on a high by winning the FA Cup and handed over the reins to coach Bob Paisley.
Jack Charlton kicked off his management career on a high note as he helped Middlesbrough win promotion to the First Division.
David Mackay had a good start to his managerial career by helping Derby County finish third in the league and achieve UEFA Cup qualification. His appointment came after Brian Clough had walked out on the club only 18 months after leading them to championship glory.
Bill Nicholson retired after 17 years as Tottenham manager. During that time he had taken them to some of the finest moments in their history, the most memorable being the double triumph of 1961 - which made Tottenham the first club of the 20th century to achieve the double. In 1963 he guided Tottenham to glory in the Cup Winners Cup, which made them the first English team to win a European trophy. He had developed some of the finest teams ever to play in the English league, which included players like Jimmy Greaves, Danny Blanchflower, Cyril Knowles, Patrick Jennings and John White. In his final season, Nicholson took Tottenham to the UEFA Cup final but they were defeated by Feyenoord.

[edit] National team

England failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup and this failure cost Sir Alf Ramsey his job. The FA turned to Don Revie, manager of league champions Leeds United, to revitalise England's fortunes and help them make a fresh start for the Euro 76 qualifying campaign.

[edit] Honours

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
First Division	Leeds United	Liverpool
Second Division	Middlesbrough	Luton Town
Third Division	Oldham Athletic	Bristol Rovers
Fourth Division	Peterborough United	Gillingham
FA Cup	Liverpool	Newcastle United
League Cup	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Manchester City
Charity Shield	Burnley	Manchester City

[edit] League table

[edit] First Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Leeds United	42	24	14	4	66	31	2.129	62
2	Liverpool	42	22	13	7	52	31	1.677	57
3	Derby County	42	17	14	11	52	42	1.238	48
4	Ipswich Town	42	18	11	13	67	58	1.155	47
5	Stoke City	42	15	16	11	54	42	1.286	46
6	Burnley	42	16	14	12	56	53	1.057	46
7	Everton	42	16	12	14	50	48	1.042	44
8	Queen's Park Rangers	42	13	17	12	56	52	1.077	43
9	Leicester City	42	13	16	13	51	41	1.244	42
10	Arsenal	42	14	14	14	49	51	0.961	42
11	Tottenham Hotspur	42	14	14	14	45	50	0.900	42
12	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	13	15	14	49	49	1.000	41
13	Sheffield United	42	14	12	16	44	49	0.898	40
14	Manchester City	42	14	12	16	39	46	0.848	40
15	Newcastle United	42	13	12	17	49	48	1.021	38
16	Coventry City	42	14	10	18	43	54	0.796	38
17	Chelsea	42	12	13	17	56	60	0.933	37
18	West Ham United	42	11	15	16	55	60	0.917	37
19	Birmingham City	42	12	13	17	52	64	0.813	37
20	Southampton	42	11	14	17	47	68	0.691	36
21	Manchester United	42	10	12	20	38	48	0.792	32
22	Norwich City	42	7	15	20	37	62	0.597	29

[edit] Second Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Middlesbrough	42	27	11	4	77	30	2.567	65
2	Luton Town	42	19	12	11	64	51	1.255	50
3	Carlisle United	42	20	9	13	61	48	1.271	49
4	Leyton Orient	42	15	18	9	55	42	1.310	48
5	Blackpool	42	17	13	12	57	40	1.425	47
6	Sunderland	42	19	9	14	58	44	1.318	47
7	Nottingham Forest	42	15	15	12	57	43	1.326	45
8	West Bromwich Albion	42	14	16	12	48	45	1.067	44
9	Hull City	42	13	17	12	46	47	0.979	43
10	Notts County	42	15	13	14	55	60	0.917	43
11	Bolton Wanderers	42	15	12	15	44	40	1.100	42
12	Millwall	42	14	14	14	51	51	1.000	42
13	Fulham	42	16	10	16	39	43	0.907	42
14	Aston Villa	42	13	15	14	48	45	1.067	41
15	Portsmouth	42	14	12	16	45	62	0.726	40
16	Bristol City	42	14	10	18	47	54	0.870	38
17	Cardiff City	42	10	16	16	49	62	0.790	36
18	Oxford United	42	10	16	16	35	46	0.761	36
19	Sheffield Wednesday	42	12	11	19	51	63	0.810	35
20	Crystal Palace	42	11	12	19	43	56	0.768	34
21	Preston North End	42	9	14	19	40	62	0.645	31*
22	Swindon Town	42	7	11	24	36	72	0.500	25

* Preston North End had one point deducted for fielding an ineligble player.

[edit] Third Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Oldham Athletic	46	25	12	9	83	47	1.766	62
2	Bristol Rovers	46	22	17	7	65	33	1.970	61
3	York City	46	21	19	6	67	38	1.763	61
4	Wrexham	46	22	12	12	63	43	1.465	56
5	Chesterfield	46	21	14	11	55	42	1.310	56
6	Grimsby Town	46	18	15	13	67	50	1.340	51
7	Watford	46	19	12	15	64	56	1.143	50
8	Aldershot	46	19	11	16	65	52	1.250	49
9	Halifax Town	46	14	21	11	48	51	0.941	49
10	Huddersfield Town	46	17	13	16	56	55	1.018	47
11	Bournemouth	46	16	15	15	54	58	0.931	47
12	Southend United	46	16	14	16	62	62	1.000	46
13	Blackburn Rovers	46	18	10	18	62	64	0.969	46
14	Charlton Athletic	46	19	8	19	66	73	0.904	46
15	Walsall	46	16	13	17	57	48	1.188	45
16	Tranmere Rovers	46	15	15	16	50	44	1.136	45
17	Plymouth Argyle	46	17	10	19	59	54	1.093	44
18	Hereford United	46	14	15	17	53	57	0.930	43
19	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	16	11	19	52	58	0.897	43
20	Port Vale	46	14	14	18	52	58	0.897	42
21	Cambridge United	46	13	9	24	48	81	0.593	35
22	Shrewsbury Town	46	10	11	25	41	62	0.661	31
23	Southport	46	6	16	24	35	82	0.427	28
24	Rochdale	46	2	17	27	38	94	0.404	21

[edit] Fourth Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Peterborough United	46	27	11	8	75	38	1.974	65
2	Gillingham	46	25	12	9	90	49	1.837	62
3	Colchester United	46	24	12	10	73	36	2.028	60
4	Bury	46	24	11	11	81	49	1.653	59
5	Northampton Town	46	20	13	13	63	48	1.313	53
6	Reading	46	16	19	11	58	37	1.568	51
7	Chester City	46	17	15	14	54	55	0.982	49
8	Bradford City	46	17	14	15	58	52	1.115	48
9	Newport County	46	16	14	16	56	65	0.862	45†
10	Exeter City	45	18	8	19	58	55	1.055	44*
11	Hartlepool United	46	16	12	18	48	47	1.021	44
12	Lincoln City	46	16	12	18	63	67	0.940	44
13	Barnsley	46	17	10	19	58	64	0.906	44
14	Swansea City	46	16	11	19	45	46	0.978	43
15	Rotherham United	46	15	13	18	56	58	0.966	43
16	Torquay United	46	13	17	16	52	57	0.912	43
17	Mansfield Town	46	13	17	16	62	69	0.899	43
18	Scunthorpe United	45	14	12	19	47	64	0.734	42*
19	Brentford	46	12	16	18	48	50	0.960	40
20	Darlington	46	13	13	20	40	62	0.645	39
21	Crewe Alexandra	46	14	10	22	43	71	0.606	38
22	Doncaster Rovers	46	12	11	23	47	80	0.588	35
23	Workington	46	11	13	22	43	74	0.581	35
24	Stockport County	46	7	20	19	44	69	0.638	34

* Scunthorpe United v. Exeter was never played; Exeter failed to turn up and Scunthorpe were awarded the points.

† Newport had one point deducted for fielding an ineligble player.

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points

Seasons in English football
1969-70 \| 1970-71 \| 1971-72 \| 1972-73 \| 1973-74 \| 1974-75 \| 1975-76 \| 1976-77 \| 1977-78

Football in England

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League competitions	The FA	Cup competitions
FA Premier League	England	FA Cup
The Football League (Champ, 1, 2)	(U-21) (B)	Carling Cup
Football Conference (Nat, N, S)	List of clubs	Community Shield
Northern Premier League (Prem, 1)	List of venues	Johnstone's Paint Trophy
Southern League (Prem, Mid, S&W)	(by capacity)	FA Trophy
Isthmian League (Prem, 1N, 1S)	List of leagues	FA Vase
English football league system	Records	FA NLS Cup