1972–73 Mansfield Town F.C. season
# 1972–73 Mansfield Town F.C. season

The 1972–73 season was Mansfield Town's 36th season in the Football League and 4th in the Fourth Division, they finished in 6th position with 54 points.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Liverpool (C) | 42 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 72 | 42 | 1.714 | 60 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Arsenal | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 57 | 43 | 1.326 | 57 | |
| 3 | Leeds United | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 71 | 45 | 1.578 | 53 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 55 | 45 | 1.222 | 48 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 66 | 54 | 1.222 | 47 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | West Ham United | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 67 | 53 | 1.264 | 46 | Qualification for the Watney Cup |
| 7 | Derby County | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 56 | 54 | 1.037 | 46 | |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 58 | 48 | 1.208 | 45 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 9 | Newcastle United | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 60 | 51 | 1.176 | 45 | |
| 10 | Birmingham City | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 53 | 54 | 0.981 | 42 | |
| 11 | Manchester City | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 57 | 60 | 0.950 | 41 | |
| 12 | Chelsea | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 49 | 51 | 0.961 | 40 | |
| 13 | Southampton | 42 | 11 | 18 | 13 | 47 | 52 | 0.904 | 40 | |
| 14 | Sheffield United | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 51 | 59 | 0.864 | 40 | |
| 15 | Stoke City | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 61 | 56 | 1.089 | 38 | Qualification for the Watney Cup |
| 16 | Leicester City | 42 | 10 | 17 | 15 | 40 | 46 | 0.870 | 37 | |
| 17 | Everton | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 41 | 49 | 0.837 | 37 | |
| 18 | Manchester United | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 44 | 60 | 0.733 | 37 | |
| 19 | Coventry City | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 40 | 55 | 0.727 | 35 | |
| 20 | Norwich City | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 36 | 63 | 0.571 | 32 | |
| 21 | Crystal Palace (R) | 42 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 41 | 58 | 0.707 | 30 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 22 | West Bromwich Albion (R) | 42 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 38 | 62 | 0.613 | 28 | Relegation to the Second Division |

* 1 2 West Ham United and Stoke City qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 4 | Aldershot (P) | 46 | 22 | 12 | 12 | 60 | 38 | 1.579 | 56 | Promoted to the Third Division |
| 5 | Newport County | 46 | 22 | 12 | 12 | 64 | 44 | 1.455 | 56 | |
| 6 | Mansfield Town | 46 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 78 | 51 | 1.529 | 54 | Qualified for 1973 Watney Cup |
| 7 | Reading | 46 | 17 | 18 | 11 | 51 | 38 | 1.342 | 52 | |
| 8 | Exeter City | 46 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 57 | 51 | 1.118 | 50 | |

* ↑ The two teams who scored the most goals in each division, and did not qualify for Europe and were not promoted, qualified for the Watney Cup.

## Results

### Football League Fourth Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 12 August 1972 | Northampton Town | H | 1–0 | 4,303 | Wignall |
| 2 | 19 August 1972 | Doncaster Rovers | A | 1–0 | 3,540 | Fairbrother |
| 3 | 26 August 1972 | Exeter City | H | 3–0 | 4,172 | Ellis (2), McCaffrey |
| 4 | 30 August 1972 | Cambridge United | H | 3–1 | 5,216 | Walker, Fairbrother, Longhorn |
| 5 | 2 September 1972 | Newport County | A | 1–0 | 4,833 | Fairbrother |
| 6 | 9 September 1972 | Bury | H | 1–1 | 4,836 | Fairbrother |
| 7 | 16 September 1972 | Aldershot | A | 1–0 | 4,808 | Thompson |
| 8 | 18 September 1972 | Gillingham | H | 2–0 | 5,399 | Fairbrother, Wignall |
| 9 | 23 September 1972 | Barnsley | H | 3–1 | 5,997 | Fairbrother (2), McCaffrey |
| 10 | 25 September 1972 | Stockport County | A | 1–2 | 4,543 | Thompson |
| 11 | 30 September 1972 | Darlington | A | 3–2 | 1,604 | Fairbrother, Longhorn, Wignall |
| 12 | 7 October 1972 | Southport | H | 3–3 | 7,312 | Fairbrother, Bentley, Wignall |
| 13 | 9 October 1972 | Peterborough United | H | 4–2 | 5,379 | Fairbrother (3), Walker |
| 14 | 14 October 1972 | Bradford City | A | 1–1 | 3,383 | Roberts |
| 15 | 21 October 1972 | Chester | H | 4–1 | 5,787 | Fairbrother (2), Laverick, McCaffrey |
| 16 | 25 October 1972 | Hereford United | A | 1–3 | 10,092 | Wignall |
| 17 | 28 October 1972 | Colchester United | A | 1–1 | 3,842 | Ellis |
| 18 | 4 November 1972 | Stockport County | H | 1–0 | 5,114 | Walker |
| 19 | 11 November 1972 | Gillingham | A | 1–2 | 2,766 | Bird |
| 20 | 25 November 1972 | Lincoln City | A | 1–1 | 6,657 | Fairbrother |
| 21 | 2 December 1972 | Reading | H | 1–1 | 4,505 | Cottam |
| 22 | 9 December 1972 | Workington | A | 0–2 | 1,234 | |
| 23 | 16 December 1972 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 4–0 | 2,439 | Roberts, Thompson, Ellis, Fairbrother |
| 24 | 23 December 1972 | Hartlepool | H | 2–0 | 4,208 | Fairbrother, McCaffrey |
| 25 | 26 December 1972 | Barnsley | A | 1–1 | 5,900 | Matthews |
| 26 | 30 December 1972 | Doncaster Rovers | H | 0–0 | 5,187 | |
| 27 | 6 January 1972 | Exeter City | A | 2–4 | 6,744 | Thompson, Fairbrother |
| 28 | 13 January 1972 | Hereford United | H | 1–1 | 5,530 | Ellis |
| 29 | 27 January 1972 | Bury | A | 0–1 | 3,068 | |
| 30 | 3 February 1972 | Peterborough United | A | 0–1 | 7,224 | |
| 31 | 10 February 1972 | Aldershot | H | 2–0 | 4,289 | Wignall, Bird |
| 32 | 16 February 1972 | Northampton Town | A | 0–1 | 2,288 | |
| 33 | 24 February 1972 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 5–1 | 3,665 | Ellis, Fairbrother, Wignall, McKenzie, Thompson |
| 34 | 2 March 1972 | Southport | A | 1–3 | 5,656 | McKenzie |
| 35 | 5 March 1972 | Workington | H | 4–0 | 4,548 | McKenzie (2), Thompson, Geidmintis (o.g.) |
| 36 | 10 March 1972 | Bradford City | H | 4–1 | 5,300 | McKenzie (3), Fairbrother |
| 37 | 17 March 1972 | Chester | A | 2–2 | 2,114 | Laverick, Matthewson (o.g.) |
| 38 | 21 March 1972 | Torquay United | A | 1–1 | 2,704 | Roberts |
| 39 | 24 March 1972 | Colchester United | H | 1–1 | 4,666 | Ellis |
| 40 | 26 March 1972 | Newport County | H | 0–0 | 6,402 | |
| 41 | 31 March 1972 | Lincoln City | H | 0–2 | 5,277 | |
| 42 | 7 April 1972 | Reading | A | 0–2 | 7,102 | |
| 43 | 14 April 1972 | Torquay United | H | 2–1 | 3,451 | Roberts, McCaffrey |
| 44 | 20 April 1972 | Hartlepool | A | 1–1 | 2,855 | Thompson |
| 45 | 24 April 1972 | Darlington | H | 5–0 | 5,131 | Roberts (3), Thompson, McCaffrey |
| 46 | 28 April 1972 | Cambridge United | A | 2–3 | 11,542 | Roberts, McCaffrey |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R1 | 18 November 1972 | York City | A | 1–2 | 4,316 | Fairbrother |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R1 | 16 August 1972 | Lincoln City | H | 3–1 | 4,642 | Pate, Laverick, Longhorn |
| R2 | 5 September 1972 | Charlton Athletic | A | 3–4 | 5,218 | McCaffrey, Walker, Wignall |

## Squad statistics

* Squad list sourced from 1972–73 Mansfield Town F.C. season at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Rod Arnold | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| GK | Graham Brown | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| DF | Kevin Bird | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 2 |
| DF | John Cottam | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| DF | Sam Ellis | 44 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 7 |
| DF | Barry Foster | 11(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11(2) | 0 |
| DF | Colin Foster | 6 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6(1) | 0 |
| DF | Sandy Pate | 46 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 49 | 1 |
| DF | John Saunders | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| DF | Clive Walker | 40 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 43 | 4 |
| MF | David Bentley | 1(3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(3) | 1 |
| MF | Alan Jarvis | 24(4) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26(4) | 0 |
| MF | Micky Laverick | 12(5) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14(5) | 3 |
| MF | Dennis Longhorn | 39(1) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 42(1) | 3 |
| MF | Paul Matthews | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 1 |
| MF | Jim McCaffrey | 45 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 47 | 8 |
| FW | Alan Crawford | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 |
| FW | John Fairbrother | 42(2) | 20 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 45(2) | 21 |
| FW | Alan Green | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Duncan McKenzie | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 |
| FW | Dudley Roberts | 16(2) | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16(2) | 8 |
| FW | John Sainty | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | Dave Thompson | 38(2) | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41(2) | 8 |
| FW | Frank Wignall | 27(4) | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 30(4) | 8 |
| – | Own goals | – | 2 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 2 |
