1972–73 Arsenal F.C. season

Arsenal
1972–73 season
Chairman	Denis Hill-Wood
Manager	Bertie Mee
First Division	2nd
FA Cup	Fourth place
League Cup	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: John Radford (15); All: John Radford (18)
Highest home attendance	56,194 vs Manchester United (6 January 1973)
Lowest home attendance	27,199 vs West Bromwich Albion F.C. (16 December 1972)
Home colours	Away colours
	← 1971–72 1973–74 →

The 1972–73 season was Arsenal Football Club's 47th consecutive season in the Football League First Division. Arsenal were runners-up to Liverpool in the league. They were knocked out of the League Cup in the quarterfinals by Norwich and the FA Cup in the semifinals by Sunderland.

John Radford was the top scorer in both the league and in all competitions. Frank McLintock served as captain.

1972-73 was the last season under manager Bertie Mee in which Arsenal challenged for silverware.

Season summary

In the summer of 1972, double-winners Charlie George and Eddie Kelly were put on the transfer list. Though neither left the club, it represented some of the internal struggles of the club at the time, as George and Kelly felt under-rewarded compared to more senior players.^[1] Dressing room tensions continued throughout the season, as Mee saw captain Frank McLintock's influence over the dressing room as a challenge to his own authority. Mee also continued to struggle with the absence of Don Howe who had left the previous season to manage West Brom.^[2]

Mee made one major purchase in October 1972, buying centre-back Jeff Blockley from Coventry for £200,000.^[1] Blockley, who received his first cap for England days after his move to Highbury, was considered the long-term replacement for McLintock.^[3] However, this view was not shared by McLintock himself or most of the Arsenal dressing room.^[1]

In league play, Mee attempted to respond to the regular criticism that "boring old" Arsenal failed to entertain. Mee attempted to make stylistic changes to play "total football," a style far from their regular long-ball game and unsuited to the English Game.^[1] Alan Ball, a player comfortable with possession and who wanted more midfield involvement, was essential to such an approach.^[2] However, instead of success, the style led to a 5-0 loss to Derby in the league and a 0-3 home defeat to Norwich, knocking Arsenal out of the League Cup. Returning to their standard tactics, Arsenal went 15 games without defeat. By early 1973, they were nearing Liverpool in the title race. However, they ended up finishing three points behind the league leaders.^[1]

In the FA Cup, Arsenal progressed over Leicester City, Bradford City, Carlisle United, and Chelsea before being drawn against Second Division Sunderland in the semifinals.^[1] Mee chose to start the dynamic George over the hardworking John Radford.^[2] Sunderland scored thanks to a Blockley mistake; he was then roundly criticized for his poor performance, as he played without being fully fit.^[4] He was then substituted at half for Radford. Although Arsenal hoped to recover in the second half, Sunderland doubled their lead through Billy Hughes. Arsenal's sole consolation came in the 85th minute from George.^[2] Out of the FA Cup, Arsenal lost the third place match 1-3 to Wolves.

After the season's lackluster results, Mee was convinced he had to rebuild Arsenal and let several key players go at the end of the season, including McLintock and George Graham. The 1972/73 season was the beginning of the end for Mee as Arsenal began to descend into mediocrity.^[2]^[1]

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	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
5	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	18	11	13	66	54	1.222	47

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions

Results

Arsenal's score comes first^[5]

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance
12 August 1972	Leicester City	A	1–0	28,003
15 August 1972	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	5–2	38,524
19 August 1972	Stoke City	H	2–0	42,146
22 August 1972	Coventry City	A	1–1	24,670
26 August 1972	Manchester United	A	0–0	48,108
29 August 1972	West Ham United	H	1–0	43,802
2 September 1972	Chelsea	H	1–1	46,675
9 September 1972	Newcastle United	A	1–2	23,878
16 September 1972	Liverpool	H	0–0	47,597
23 September 1972	Norwich City	A	2–3	32,273
26 September 1972	Birmingham City	H	2–0	30,003
30 September 1972	Southampton	H	1–0	34,694
7 October 1972	Sheffield United	A	0–1	24,478
14 October 1972	Ipswich Town	H	1–0	34,196
21 October 1972	Crystal Palace	A	3–2	35,865
28 October 1972	Manchester City	H	0–0	45,536
4 November 1972	Coventry City	H	0–2	33,699
11 November 1972	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	3–1	25,988
18 November 1972	Everton	H	1–0	35,738
25 November 1972	Derby County	A	0–5	31,034
2 December 1972	Leeds United	H	2–1	39,108
9 December 1972	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–1	47,505
16 December 1972	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–1	30,199
23 December 1972	Birmingham City	A	1–1	32,721
26 December 1972	Norwich City	H	2–0	39,038
30 December 1972	Stoke City	A	0–0	24,586
6 January 1973	Manchester United	H	3–1	56,194
20 January 1973	Chelsea	A	1–0	36,292
27 January 1973	Newcastle United	H	2–2	37,906
10 February 1973	Liverpool	A	2–0	49,898
17 February 1973	Leicester City	H	1–0	42,047
28 February 1973	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–1	29,308
3 March 1973	Sheffield United	H	3–2	33,346
10 March 1973	Ipswich Town	A	2–1	34,636
24 March 1973	Manchester City	A	2–1	32,031
26 March 1973	Crystal Palace	H	1–0	41,879
31 March 1973	Derby County	H	0–1	45,217
14 April 1973	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–1	50,863
21 April 1973	Everton	A	0–0	42,888
23 April 1973	Southampton	A	2–2	23,919
28 April 1973	West Ham United	A	2–1	37,366
9 May 1973	Leeds United	A	1–6	25,088

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance
R3	13 January 1973	Leicester City	H	2–2	36,433
R3 R	17 January 1973	Leicester City	A	2–1	32,973
R4	3 February 1973	Bradford City	H	2–0	40,407
R5	24 February 1973	Carlisle United	A	2–1	23,922
R6	17 March 1973	Chelsea	A	2–2	37,685
R6 R	20 March 1973	Chelsea	H	2–1	62,746
SF	7 April 1973	Sunderland	N	1–2	55,000
3rd	18 August 1973	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–3	21,038

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance
R2	5 September 1972	Everton	H	1–0	35,230
R3	3 October 1972	Rotherham United	H	5–0	25,241
R4	31 October 1972	Sheffield United	A	2–1	20,128
QF	21 November 1972	Norwich City	H	0–3	37,671

Squad

[1] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
-	GK	SCO	Bob Wilson
-	GK	ENG	Geoff Barnett
-	DF	NIR	Pat Rice
-	DF	SCO	Frank McLintock
-	DF	ENG	Peter Simpson
-	DF	ENG	Bob McNab
-	DF	NIR	Sammy Nelson
-	DF	WAL	John Roberts
-	DF	ENG	Brendon Batson
-	DF	ENG	Jeff Blockley


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
-	MF	ENG	George Armstrong
-	MF	SCO	George Graham
-	MF	ENG	Peter Storey
-	MF	ENG	Alan Ball
-	MF	SCO	Eddie Kelly
-	FW	ENG	Ray Kennedy
-	FW	ENG	John Radford
-	FW	ENG	Charlie George
-	FW	SCO	Peter Marinello

Top scorers

First Division

John Radford - 15
Alan Ball - 10
Ray Kennedy - 9

Football League Cup

John Radford - 3
Peter Storey - 2
Charlie George - 2

FA Cup

Alan Ball - 4
Bob McNab - 2

^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. pp. 181–82. ISBN 0600588262.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Fensome, David (29 August 2019). "1973 and the Downfall of Bertie Mee". The Online Gooner. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
^ "Jeff Blockley". Arsenal. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
^ Attwood, Tony (5 October 2013). "Jeff Blockley, derided by fans, but the manager should take more blame". The History of Arsenal. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
^ "Arsenal results for the 1972-1973 season – Statto.com". Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
^ Arsenal Official Handbook 1973-74. London: Arsenal. 1973. p. 37.

[:0-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1995). Arsenal: Official History. London: Hamlyn. pp. 181–82. ISBN 0600588262.

[:1-2] Fensome, David (29 August 2019). "1973 and the Downfall of Bertie Mee". The Online Gooner. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2023.

[3] "Jeff Blockley". Arsenal. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2023.

[4] Attwood, Tony (5 October 2013). "Jeff Blockley, derided by fans, but the manager should take more blame". The History of Arsenal. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2023.

[5] "Arsenal results for the 1972-1973 season – Statto.com". Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2017.

[6] Arsenal Official Handbook 1973-74. London: Arsenal. 1973. p. 37.

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