1972–73 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
1972–73 season
Chairman	Doug Ellis
Manager	Vic Crowe
Stadium	Villa Park
Second Division	3rd
FA Cup	Third round
League Cup	Third round

The 1972–73 English football season was Aston Villa's 74th season in the Football League, this season playing in the Football League Second Division. Under manager Vic Crowe^[1] Aston Villa won promotion in the previous season as champions with a record 70 points, and thus ended their two-year spell in the Third Division. By the end of the decade they would be firmly re-established as a First Division club.

The 1972 FA Charity Shield was contested between Manchester City and Aston Villa with City winning 1–0,^[2] following a penalty from striker Francis Lee. Normally, the Charity Shield would have been contested by the First Division champions and FA Cup holders, who were Derby County and Leeds United respectively, but both declined the chance to play in the Charity Shield. Instead, Manchester City, who had finished in fourth place in the First Division; and Aston Villa, who finished as Third Division champions accepted the invitation to play. The match was played at Villa Park.

There were debut appearances for John Gidman (197), John Robson (144) Alun Evans (60), Keith Leonard (38), and Bobby McDonald (39).^[3]

Second Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Burnley (C, P)	42	24	14	4	72	35	2.057	62	Promotion to the First Division
2	Queens Park Rangers (P)	42	24	13	5	81	37	2.189	61	Promotion to the First Division
3	Aston Villa	42	18	14	10	51	47	1.085	50
4	Middlesbrough	42	17	13	12	46	43	1.070	47
5	Bristol City	42	17	12	13	63	51	1.235	46	Qualification for the Watney Cup

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

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Note	Scorers
12 August 1972	Preston	A	1–0	—	Willie Anderson
19 August 1972	Huddersfield	H	2–0	—	Geoff Vowden, Ray Graydon
26 August 1972	Burnley	A	1–4	—	Chico Hamilton
29 August 1972	Carlisle	H	1–0	—	Bruce Rioch
2 September 1972	Brighton	H	1–1	—	Andy Lochhead
9 September 1972	Cardiff	A	2–0	—	Bruce Rioch, Andy Lochhead
16 September 1972	Swindon	H	2–1	—	Alun Evans, Andy Lochhead
23 September 1972	Forest	A	1–1	—	Own goal
27 September 1972	Sunderland	H	2–0	—	Alun Evans, Bruce Rioch
30 September 1972	Millwall	H	1–0	—	Bruce Rioch (pen)
7 October 1972	Fulham	A	0–2	—	—
14 October 1972	QPR	H	0–1	—	—
17 October 1972	Blackpool	A	1–1	—	Alun Evans
21 October 1972	Portsmouth	A	1–0	—	Geoff Vowden
28 October 1972	Boro	H	1–1	—	Geoff Vowden
4 November 1972	Sunderland	A	2–2	—	Bruce Rioch, Brian Little
11 November 1972	Blackpool	H	0–0	—	—
18 November 1972	Luton	H	0–2	—	—
25 November 1972	Oxford	A	0–2	—	—
2 December 1972	Hull	H	2–0	—	Ray Graydon (pen), Chico Hamilton
16 December 1972	Orient	H	1–0	—	Alun Evans
23 December 1972	Wednesday	A	2–2	—	Ray Graydon (2)
26 December 1972	Forest	H	2–2	—	Andy Lochhead, Alun Evans
30 December 1972	Huddersfield	A	1–1	—	Alun Evans
6 January 1973	Burnley	H	0–3	—	—
20 January 1973	Brighton	A	3–1	—	Alun Evans, Ray Graydon, Jimmy Brown
27 January 1973	Cardiff	H	2–0	—	Ray Graydon (pen), Bruce Rioch
10 February 1973	Swindon	A	3–1	—	Alun Evans, Ray Graydon (2)
17 February 1973	Preston	H	1–1	—	Charlie Aitken
24 February 1973	Orient	A	0–4	—	—
3 March 1973	Fulham	H	2–3	—	Brian Little, Bruce Rioch
10 March 1973	QPR	A	0–1	—	—
17 March 1973	Portsmouth	H	2–0	—	Geoff Vowden, Pat McMahon
24 March 1973	Boro	A	1–1	—	Pat McMahon
27 March 1973	Bristol City	A	0–3	—	—
31 March 1973	Oxford	H	2–1	—	Pat McMahon, Geoff Vowden
7 April 1973	Hull	A	2–1	—	Chico Hamilton, Brian Little
14 April 1973	Bristol City	H	1–0	—	Neil Rioch
21 April 1973	Luton	A	0–0	—	—
23 April 1973	Millwall	A	1–1	—	Ray Graydon
24 April 1973	Wednesday	H	2–1	—	Andy Lochhead, Chico Hamilton
28 April 1973	Carlisle	A	2–2	—	Andy Lochhead, Chico Hamilton

Source: avfchistory.co.uk

FA Cup

League Cup

FA Charity Shield

5 August 1972

Manchester City	1–0	Aston Villa
Lee	Report

Villa Park, Birmingham

Manchester City

Aston Villa

References

^ Saunders chosen as Aston Villa's new manager, 5 June 1974, The Times, Issue: 59107
^ "England – List of FA Charity/Community Shield Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
^ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.

[1] Saunders chosen as Aston Villa's new manager, 5 June 1974, The Times, Issue: 59107

[2] "England – List of FA Charity/Community Shield Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 February 2012.

[3] "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.

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Aston Villa F.C. seasons
1870s	1870–71 1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80
1880s	1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
1890s	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900
1900s	1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10
1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
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