Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition
Football League
The Football League announced that a three-up, three-down system would operate between the top three divisions from the following season, rather than the traditional two-up, two-down system. The four-up, four-down system between the Third and Fourth Divisions would continue, as would the re-election system between the league's bottom four clubs.
won the championship in Bill Shankly's penultimate season as manager despite competition from Arsenal, Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Arsenal actually led by a point with six matches to play, but a dismal 1-3-2 record down the stretch cost them the title. Manchester United sacked manager Frank O'Farrell after 18 months in charge. He had been unable to mount a title challenge. Tommy Docherty, the 44-year-old Scottish national coach and former Aston Villa manager, was appointed as his successor.
Second Division
Burnley and Queens Park Rangers won promotion to the First Division. Huddersfield Town's decline continued as they slid into the Third Division, where they were joined by Brighton & Hove Albion.
were promoted from the Fourth Division in their first season as a Football League club. They had been elected to the Football League a year earlier after finishing as runners-up to Chelmsford City in the Southern League and achieving a shock win over Newcastle United in the FA Cup. They were joined in the promotion zone by champions Southport, Cambridge United and Aldershot. Newport County missed promotion only on goal average. There were no arrivals or departures in the league for 1973.
An Ian Porterfield goal saw Sunderland achieve a famous 1–0 win over Leeds United in the FA Cup final. Sunderland's team, managed by Bob Stokoe, did not contain any full internationals, whereas Don Revie's Leeds side were all internationals. Sunderland goalkeeper Jim Montgomery also received plaudits after a good performance featuring a noted double-save from Trevor Cherry and Peter Lorimer. Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Arsenal 3–1 at Highbury in a third-place playoff, held three months after the final.
Tottenham Hotspur's Bill Nicholson guided his club to a League Cup triumph, beating Norwich City 1–0 in the final, and in the process added another trophy to the club's ever-growing list of honours.
