The 1973–74 season was the 94th season of competitive
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
in England.
Leeds United became league champions for the second time, finishing five points ahead of runners-up
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
in the
First Division.
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
,
Oldham Athletic and
Peterborough United won the Second, Third and Fourth Divisions, respectively. Liverpool won their second FA Cup, beating
Newcastle United in the
final, while the
League Cup final saw
Wolverhampton Wanderers defeat
Manchester City. In European club football,
Tottenham Hotspur reached the
UEFA Cup final but lost over two legs to
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...
.
Honours
Notes = Number in brackets is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition
Football League
First Division
Don Revie marked his last season as
Leeds United's manager by guiding them to the league championship, before taking over from
Sir Alf Ramsey as the
England national team manager, with England having failed to qualify for the
1974 World Cup. Revie's Leeds side beat
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
to the title by five points to win it for the second time in their history. Despite the sensational dismissal of manager
Brian Clough only 18 months after he won the First Division with the club,
Derby County regrouped well under new manager
Dave Mackay to finish third and qualify for the UEFA Cup, along with
Ipswich Town and
Stoke City. Newly promoted
Burnley finished in sixth place.
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
were relegated from the First Division just six years after winning the
European Cup at the end of a season which had seen goalkeeper
Alex Stepney as joint top scorer with two goals at Christmas. Manchester United's 36-year stay at the top ended after their penultimate game of the season, a 1–0 home defeat against
Manchester City; former Manchester United striker
Denis Law scored Manchester City's winning goal. Despite this, the board kept faith in manager
Tommy Docherty as the man to regain the club's top flight place.
Joining Manchester United in the
Second Division were
Norwich City and
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
. This was the first season in which the League introduced three relegation places from the top division.
Second Division
Former
Leeds United player
Jack Charlton had managed
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
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 champions. Third-placed
Carlisle United, managed by
Alan Ashman, 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.
Preston North End and
Swindon Town were relegated along with
Crystal Palace, who suffered a second successive relegation.
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
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
,
Shrewsbury Town,
Southport
Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...
and
Rochdale were all relegated.
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 from or arrivals into the league in 1974.
Top goalscorers
First Division
*
Mick Channon (
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
) – 21 goals
Second Division
*
Duncan McKenzie (
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
) – 26 goals
Third Division
*
Billy Jennings (
Watford
Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a smal ...
) – 26 goals
Fourth Division
*
Brian Yeo (
Gillingham) – 31 goals
FA Cup
The
1974 FA Cup Final was won by
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, who beat
Newcastle United 3–0
at
Wembley with two goals from
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.
The quarter-final tie between Newcastle and Nottingham Forest was halted mid-match when "hundreds of fans" invaded the
St James' Park pitch, one of whom attacked Forest's midfielder
Dave Serella. As a result, Newcastle's win was annulled and the teams were ordered to replay, and the Football Association banned Newcastle from hosting home cup games the following season.
Surprises in the earlier rounds included
Alvechurch's first round defeat of
Exeter City 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. Second Division
Bristol City knocked out
Leeds United 1–0 at
Elland Road
Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...
in a fifth round replay.
League Cup
Bill McGarry's
Wolverhampton Wanderers beat
Manchester City 2–1 in the
final at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
with
Kenny Hibbitt and
John Richards getting the Wolves goals and
Colin Bell replying for City. It was Wolves' first
League Cup, and their first major trophy since the
Stan Cullis era more than a decade earlier.
Plymouth Argyle of the Third Division reached the semi-finals before losing to Manchester City.
European football
Tottenham Hotspur reached the
UEFA Cup final but lost 4–2 on aggregate to
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...
. Tottenham Hotspur supporters rioted after the second leg in Rotterdam, following Feyenoord's victory.
England national team
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
defeated
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
7–0 at Wembley in their first international of the season, with
Mick Channon,
Allan Clarke and
Tony Currie each scoring twice.
England failed to qualify for the
1974 World Cup, however, after
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
held them to a 1–1 draw at
Wembley in the final qualifying game in October.
Alf Ramsey was sacked in April 1974 after 11 years as England manager.
Joe Mercer then took over the role on a caretaker basis. England's first match since Ramsey's dismissal ended in a 2–0 win over
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
in the
Home Championship.
England finished second in the competition after being beaten 2–0 by
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
at
Hampden Park
Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...
.
In July 1974,
Don Revie accepted the
Football Association's offer to manage the England team, ending his 13-year reign as manager of Leeds United.
Player awards
*Veteran
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
winger
Ian Callaghan won the
FWA Footballer of the Year award for his contribution to his 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 award was won by
Norman Hunter of
Leeds United, whilst the
PFA Young Player of the Year award was won by
Kevin Beattie of
Ipswich Town.
Diary of the season
25 August 1973: Champions
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
begin the new league season with a 1–0 win at home to
Stoke City.
30 September 1973:
Leeds United top the First Division at the end of September, leading
Coventry City by three points having dropped one point from their first nine matches. At the bottom,
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...
and
West Ham United are still looking for their first league wins of the season.
15 October 1973:
Brian Clough, the
Derby County manager, and his assistant
Peter Taylor, leave the club after a dispute with the club's directors.
20 October 1973: Leeds United beat Liverpool 1–0 at
Elland Road
Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...
to move eight points ahead of the reigning champions.
23 October 1973: The eight-day saga of Brian Clough and Derby County, which has seen numerous protests by the club's fans calling for his reinstatement, ends when former Rams player
Dave Mackay resigns as
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
manager to take charge of his old club.
31 October 1973: Leeds United are five points ahead of
Everton, newly promoted
Burnley and
Derby County at the end of October.
1 November 1973: Brian Clough and his assistant Peter Taylor return to the game after accepting an offer to take charge of Third Division club
Brighton & Hove Albion.
30 November 1973: Leeds United, without a league title since
1969, are seven points clear at the top, and still unbeaten, at the end of November.
Newcastle United, Burnley, Everton and Liverpool lead the chasing pack. Birmingham City and West Ham United remain at the foot of the table, and have been joined in the relegation zone by
Norwich City.
31 December 1973: At the end of the year, Leeds United are still unbeaten in the league, and now lead nearest rivals Liverpool by eight points. Only goal difference keeps
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
, level on points with Birmingham City, out of the relegation zone.
31 January 1974: Leeds United remain eight points ahead of Liverpool at the end of January. An improved run of form has seen West Ham United move out of the bottom three at the expense of Manchester United.
2 February 1974:
Ipswich Town thrash
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
7–0 at
Portman Road in the biggest win of the First Division season.
23 February 1974: After beginning the season with a 29-match unbeaten run, Leeds United finally suffer defeat when they are beaten 3–2 by Stoke City at the
Victoria Ground. However, they remain eight points ahead of Liverpool, who have moved six points ahead of third-placed Derby County.
16 March 1974: Liverpool beat Leeds United 1–0 at Anfield to move six points behind the Yorkshire side with two games in hand. At the other end of the table, Manchester United's relegation problems continue as they lose 1–0 to Birmingham City, who also remain in the bottom three.
30 March 1974: Leeds United lose 3–1 at West Ham United, their third league defeat in a row, handing control of the title race to Liverpool, who are now four points behind with three games in hand.
8 April 1974: Liverpool's hopes of retaining their league title are hit by a 1–0 defeat away to
Sheffield United.
20 April 1974: Liverpool draw 0–0 at home to Everton, allowing Leeds United to move to the verge of the title with a 3–2 win over Ipswich Town. Norwich City are relegated to the Second Division.
24 April 1974: Liverpool's 1–0 home defeat by
Arsenal ends their
double
Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Multiplication by 2
* Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length
* A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1
* A ...
hopes and hands the league title to Leeds United.
27 April 1974: Manchester United go into the
Manchester derby at
Old Trafford needing to beat neighbours
City
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
to stand any chance of avoiding relegation, six years after
winning
Winning may refer to:
* Victory
Film
* Winning (film), ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman
* ''Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams
Music
* ''Winning'', an album by Ten Fo ...
the
European Cup. They lose 1–0 with former club hero
Denis Law scoring City's only goal, but would have been relegated even if they had won due to Birmingham City winning. Birmingham's win also relegates Southampton, despite the Saints' 3–0 win away to Everton. Leeds United end the season with a 1–0 away win over
Queens Park Rangers.
12 July 1974:
Bill Shankly announced his retirement as manager after 15 years. He is to be succeeded by his 55-year-old assistant
Bob Paisley.
30 July 1974: Brian Clough leaves Brighton & Hove Albion to become the new manager of Leeds United, but his assistant Peter Taylor remains at the
Goldstone Ground and steps into the manager's seat there.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1973-74 in English football