Wikipedia

1973–74 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1973–74 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 71st in the Football League and their 40th in the First Division. After spending most of the season in the relegation positions, they finished in 19th place in the 22-team division, avoiding relegation by just one point. They entered the 1973–74 FA Cup at the third round proper and lost to Queens Park Rangers in the fourth, and were eliminated from the League Cup in the fifth round by Plymouth Argyle. They lost in the second round of the Texaco Cup on aggregate, after the first attempt to play the second leg of their match against Newcastle United had to be abandoned after 100 minutes when it became too dark to play.

Birmingham City F.C.
1973–74 season
ChairmanClifford Coombs
ManagerFreddie Goodwin
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League First Division19th
FA CupFourth round
(eliminated by Queens Park Rangers)
League CupFifth round
(eliminated by Plymouth Argyle)
Texaco CupSecond round
(eliminated by Newcastle United)
Top goalscorerLeague: Bob Hatton (14)
All: Bob Hatton (20)
Highest home attendance50,451 vs Leeds United, 29 December 1973
Lowest home attendance12,422 vs Newcastle United, Texaco Cup 2nd round, 22 October 1973
Average home league attendance33,048

Thirty players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were twelve different goalscorers. Forward Bob Hatton played in 51 of the 54 first-team matches over the season, and the leading goalscorer was Hatton with 20 goals, of which 14 came in league competition.

In February 1974, by which time he had already scored 18 goals for Birmingham, centre-forward Bob Latchford signed for Everton in part-exchange for Howard Kendall, Archie Styles, and £80,000. The whole package was valued at a British record transfer fee of £350,000.[1]

Football League First Division

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Main article: 1973–74 Football League
Date League
position		 Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
25 August 1973 15th Manchester City A L 1–3 Hatton 35,881
28 August 1973 17th Tottenham Hotspur H L 1–2 Hatton 37,754
1 September 1973 20th Derby County H D 0–0 34,899
5 September 1973 22nd Chelsea A L 1–3 Page 25,660
8 September 1973 22nd Leeds United A L 0–3 39,746
11 September 1973 22nd Chelsea H L 2–4 Hatton, Taylor 30,252
15 September 1973 22nd Liverpool H D 1–1 R. Latchford 35,719
22 September 1973 22nd Queens Park Rangers A D 2–2 R. Latchford, Burns 18,701
29 September 1973 22nd Ipswich Town H L 0–3 26,919
6 October 1973 22nd Arsenal A L 0–1 23,915
13 October 1973 21st Wolverhampton Wanderers H W 2–1 Francis pen, Burns 34,977
20 October 1973 22nd Manchester United A L 0–1 48,937
27 October 1973 22nd Everton H L 0–2 31,181
3 November 1973 22nd Sheffield United A D 1–1 Hynd 19,339
10 November 1973 22nd Southampton H D 1–1 Hatton 25,297
17 November 1973 22nd Stoke City A L 2–5 Hynd, R. Latchford 19,179
24 November 1973 22nd Leicester City H W 3–0 R. Latchford 3 27,719
8 December 1973 21st Newcastle United H W 1–0 Burns 25,428
15 December 1973 20th West Ham United H W 3–1 Burns 2, Hatton 23,767
22 December 1973 20th Ipswich Town A L 0–3 15,457
26 December 1973 19th Coventry City H W 1–0 R. Latchford 33,423
29 December 1973 20th Leeds United H D 1–1 R. Latchford 50,451
1 January 1973 19th Derby County A D 1–1 Hatton 31,189
12 January 1974 20th Liverpool A L 2–3 R. Latchford 39,094
19 January 1974 20th Manchester City H D 1–1 R. Latchford 31,401
2 February 1974 20th West Ham United A D 0–0 27,948
6 February 1974 20th Tottenham Hotspur A L 2–4 England og, Phillips 14,345
16 February 1974 20th Wolverhampton Wanderers A L 0–1 33,821
23 February 1974 20th Arsenal H W 3–1 Gallagher, Hatton, Francis 29,828
2 March 1974 20th Coventry City A W 1–0 Hatton 27,863
9 March 1974 20th Everton A L 1–4 Hatton 33,944
16 March 1974 20th Manchester United H W 1–0 Gallagher 37,768
20 March 1974 20th Norwich City A L 1–2 Styles 18,309
23 March 1974 20th Southampton A W 2–0 Burns, Francis 23,349
30 March 1974 20th Sheffield United H W 1–0 Hatton 27,877
6 April 1974 20th Leicester City A D 3–3 Burns 3 28,486
12 April 1974 20th Burnley A L 1–2 Campbell 17,038
13 April 1974 20th Stoke City H D 0–0 29,467
16 April 1974 20th Burnley H D 2–2 Hatton 2 36,548
20 April 1974 20th Newcastle United A D 1–1 Francis 34,066
23 April 1974 19th Queens Park Rangers H W 4–0 Taylor, Francis 2, Kendall 39,160
27 April 1974 19th Norwich City H W 2–1 Hatton, Burns 44,182

League table (part)

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Final First Division table (part)[2]
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
17th Chelsea 42 12 13 17 56 60 0.93 37
18th West Ham United 42 11 15 16 55 60 0.92 37
19th Birmingham City 42 12 13 17 52 64 0.81 37
20th Southampton 42 11 14 17 47 68 0.69 36
21st Manchester United 42 10 12 20 38 48 0.79 32
Key Pos = League position; Pld = Matches played;
W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost;
F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points

FA Cup

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Main article: 1973–74 FA Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Third round 5 January 1974 Cardiff City H W 5–2 Francis, R. Latchford 2, Hatton 2 22,435
Fourth round 26 January 1974 Queens Park Rangers A L 0–2 23,367

League Cup

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Main article: 1973–74 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
Second round 9 October 1973 Blackpool A D 1–1 Burns 7,943
Second round replay 16 October 1973 Blackpool H W 4–2 Burns, Hatton 3 16,880
Third round 30 October 1973 Newcastle United H D 2–2 R. Latchford 2 13,025
Third round replay 7 November 1973 Newcastle United A W 1–0
aet		 Francis pen 19,276
Fourth round 21 November 1973 Ipswich Town A W 3–1 R. Latchford 3 12,241
Fifth round 19 December 1973 Plymouth Argyle H L 1–2 Hatton 15,273

Texaco Cup

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Main article: 1973–74 Texaco Cup

The home leg of the quarter-final match against Newcastle United finished as a 1–1 draw. Despite the ban on use of floodlights because of the fuel crisis, the League refused to allow an earlier kickoff time for the away leg on 28 November 1973. The match was abandoned at 1–1 after 10 minutes of extra time in almost total darkness.[3] Keith Bowker scored Birmingham's goal, in his only appearance of the season and last outing for the club; neither appearance nor goal count towards his statistics.[4] When the match was replayed, Birmingham lost 3–1 after Newcastle's Jimmy Smith was sent off in the first two minutes for a tackle that broke both bones in Tony Want's lower leg.[3]

Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
First round 1st leg 19 September 1973 Stoke City A D 0–0 9,530
First round 2nd leg 2 October 1973 Stoke City H D 0–0
aet
3–1 pens		 13,433
Second round 1st leg 22 October 1973 Newcastle United H D 1–1 R. Latchford 12,422
Second round 2nd leg 5 December 1973 Newcastle United A L 1–3 Francis 9,762

Appearances and goals

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Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.
Players marked † left the club during the playing season.
Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
Players' appearances and goals by competition
Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup League Cup Texaco Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   ENG Ritchie Blackmore 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (1) 0 0 (1) 0
GK   ENG Paul Cooper 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
GK   ENG Mike Kelly 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 (1) 0 3 (1) 0
GK   ENG Dave Latchford 25 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 28 0
GK   WAL Gary Sprake 14 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 20 0
DF   ENG Dennis Clarke 11 0 1 0 3 0 1 (1) 0 16 (1) 0
DF   ENG Joe Gallagher 21 (5) 2 2 0 4 0 4 0 31 (5) 2
DF   SCO Roger Hynd 34 (2) 2 1 0 5 0 2 0 42 (2) 2
DF   ENG Ray Martin 29 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 32 0
DF   ENG Ian Osborne 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
DF   ENG Garry Pendrey 38 (2) 0 2 0 6 0 2 0 48 (2) 0
DF   WAL John Roberts 28 (2) 0 1 0 5 0 2 0 36 (2) 0
DF   ENG Archie Styles 3 (2) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 (2) 1
DF   ENG Tony Want 11 0 0 0 5 0 4 0 20 0
DF   ENG Alan Whitehead 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
MF   ENG Steve Bryant 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
MF   SCO Jimmy Calderwood 7 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 8 (2) 0
MF   SCO Alan Campbell 32 (3) 1 2 0 3 0 2 0 35 (3) 1
MF   WAL Gary Emmanuel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (2) 0 0 (2) 0
MF   SCO Paul Hendrie 5 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 9 0
MF   ENG Lindley Jenkins 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
MF   ENG Howard Kendall 15 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 1
MF   WAL Malcolm Page 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 1
MF   ENG Gordon Taylor 33 (2) 2 2 0 4 (1) 0 1 0 40 (3) 2
FW   SCO Kenny Burns 36 (1) 10 1 0 6 2 3 0 46 (1) 12
FW   ENG Trevor Francis 37 6 2 1 5 1 3 1 47 9
FW   ENG Bob Hatton 39 14 2 2 6 4 4 0 51 20
FW   SCO Bobby Hope 6 0 0 0 0 0 1 (1) 0 7 (1) 0
FW   ENG Bob Latchford † 25 (1) 10 2 2 4 (1) 5 2 1 33 (2) 18
FW   ENG Steve Phillips 1 (3) 1 0 0 0 (2) 0 2 0 3 (5) 1

See also

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References

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General
  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • Source for match dates and results: "Birmingham City 1973–1974 : Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  • Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 382–83, 478–89.
Specific
  1. ^ Corbett, James (5 March 2006). "Bob Latchford". Observer Sport Monthly. London. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  2. ^ "Birmingham City 1973–1974: English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Season 1973/74". Toonarama. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008.
  4. ^ Matthews (1995), pp. 74, 209.
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