1973–74 Football League First Division
# 1973–74 Football League First Division

Statistics of Football League First Division in the 1973-74 season.

## Overview

Leeds United won the First Division title for the second time in their history. The title was confirmed on 24 April, after title challengers Liverpool lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal.

Relegation was increased from two teams to three this season. Norwich City were relegated on 20 April, despite beating Burnley 1-0 at Carrow Road, Southampton's 1-1 draw with Manchester United sent the Canaries down. Manchester United went down on 27 April, after losing 1-0 at home to their fierce rivals Manchester City and Birmingham City's result going against them with a 2-1 win against relegated Norwich City at St Andrew's. Southampton were also relegated because of Birmingham City's result despite winning 3-0 at Everton.

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Leeds United (C) | 42 | 24 | 14 | 4 | 66 | 31 | 2.129 | 62 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Liverpool | 42 | 22 | 13 | 7 | 52 | 31 | 1.677 | 57 | Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Derby County | 42 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 52 | 42 | 1.238 | 48 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Ipswich Town | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 67 | 58 | 1.155 | 47 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Stoke City | 42 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 54 | 42 | 1.286 | 46 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Burnley | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 56 | 53 | 1.057 | 46 | |
| 7 | Everton | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 50 | 48 | 1.042 | 44 | |
| 8 | Queens 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 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 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 (R) | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 47 | 68 | 0.691 | 36 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 21 | Manchester United (R) | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 38 | 48 | 0.792 | 32 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 22 | Norwich City (R) | 42 | 7 | 15 | 20 | 37 | 62 | 0.597 | 29 | Relegation to the Second Division |

* ↑ Liverpool qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1973-74 FA Cup winners.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ARS | BIR | BUR | CHE | COV | DER | EVE | IPS | LEE | LEI | LIV | MCI | MUN | NEW | NWC | QPR | SHU | SOU | STK | TOT | WHU | WOL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Arsenal | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Birmingham City | 3–1 | | 2–2 | 2–4 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| Burnley | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Chelsea | 1–3 | 3–1 | 3–0 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 2–2 |
| Coventry City | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Derby County | 1–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 6–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Everton | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Ipswich Town | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 7–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 |
| Leeds United | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 4–1 |
| Leicester City | 2–0 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 2–2 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Liverpool | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Manchester City | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Manchester United | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Newcastle United | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Norwich City | 0–4 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Sheffield United | 5–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 4–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Southampton | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Stoke City | 0–0 | 5–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2–0 | 4–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 1–3 |
| West Ham United | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | | 0–0 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | |

## Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Everton | Tom Eggleston | End of caretaker spell | 28 May 1973 | Pre-season | Billy Bingham | 1 June 1974 |
| Derby County | Brian Clough | Sacked | 15 October 1973 | 3rd | Dave Mackay | 22 October 1973 |
| Manchester City | Johnny Hart | Illness | 23 October 1973 | 10th | Ron Saunders | 22 November 1973 |
| Southampton | Ted Bates | Became general manager | 17 November 1973 | 8th | Lawrie McMenemy | 22 November 1973 |
| Norwich City | Ron Saunders | Signed by Manchester City | 22 November 1973 | 20th | John Bond | 27 November 1973 |
| Sheffield United | John Harris | Retired | 5 December 1973 | 14th | Ken Furphy | 7 December 1973 |
| Manchester City | Ron Saunders | Sacked | 12 April 1974 | 16th | Tony Book | 12 April 1974 |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Mick Channon | Southampton | 21 |
| 2 | Frank Worthington | Leicester City | 20 |
| 3 | Kevin Hector | Derby County | 19 |
| = | Stan Bowles | Queens Park Rangers | 19 |
| 5 | Bob Latchford | Birmingham City / Everton | 17 |
| = | Martin Chivers | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 |
| = | Alan Woodward | Sheffield United | 17 |
| 8 | Bryan Hamilton | Ipswich Town | 16 |
