1972–73 Cardiff City F.C. season
# 1972–73 Cardiff City F.C. season

The 1972–73 season was Cardiff City F.C.'s 46th season in the Football League. They competed in the 22-team Division Two, then the second tier of English football, finishing twentieth.

The season also saw Cardiff-born Phil Dwyer, who would go on to break the club's appearance record, make his debut for the club.

## Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | - | - | - |
| -- | GK | NIR | Bill Irwin |
| -- | GK | ENG | Frank Parsons |
| -- | DF | ENG | Gary Bell |
| -- | DF | ENG | David Carver |
| -- | DF | WAL | Phil Dwyer |
| -- | DF | ENG | Roger Hoy |
| -- | DF | ENG | John Impey |
| -- | DF | NIR | Albert Larmour |
| -- | DF | WAL | Peter Morgan |
| -- | DF | WAL | Richie Morgan |
| -- | DF | SCO | Don Murray |
| -- | DF | WAL | Freddie Pethard |
| -- | DF | WAL | David Powell |
| -- | MF | ENG | Willie Anderson |
| -- | MF | WAL | Alan Couch |
| -- | MF | ENG | Alan Foggon |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| -- | MF | ENG | Ian Gibson |
| -- | MF | SCO | Billy Kellock |
| -- | MF | ENG | Peter King |
| -- | MF | WAL | Leighton Phillips |
| -- | MF | WAL | Gil Reece |
| -- | MF | WAL | Nigel Rees |
| -- | MF | WAL | Tony Villars |
| -- | MF | ENG | Johnny Vincent |
| -- | MF | ENG | Bobby Woodruff |
| -- | FW | ENG | Brian Clark |
| -- | FW | ENG | Andy McCulloch |
| -- | FW | SCO | Jimmy McInch |
| -- | FW | WAL | John Parsons |
| -- | FW | WAL | Derek Showers |
| -- | FW | ENG | Alan Warboys |

Source.

## League standings

| 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 | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 18 | Carlisle United | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 50 | 52 | 0.962 | 34 | |
| 19 | Preston North End | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 37 | 64 | 0.578 | 34 | |
| 20 | Cardiff City | 42 | 11 | 11 | 20 | 43 | 58 | 0.741 | 33 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 21 | Huddersfield Town (R) | 42 | 8 | 17 | 17 | 36 | 56 | 0.643 | 33 | Relegation to the Third Division |
| 22 | Brighton & Hove Albion (R) | 42 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 46 | 83 | 0.554 | 29 | Relegation to the Third Division |

* ↑ Cardiff City qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1972–73 Welsh Cup winners.

### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ground | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H |
| Result | W | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | D | W | L | W | D | W | L | W | W | D | L | L | W | L | W | D | L | W | L | L | L | D | D | D | L | D | W | L | D | D | L |
| Position | 5 | 14 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 21 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 20 |

## Fixtures and results

### Second Division

Source

