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.
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.

Football League First Division

DateLeague
position		OpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
25 August 197315thManchester CityAL1–3Hatton35,881
28 August 197317thTottenham HotspurHL1–2Hatton37,754
1 September 197320thDerby CountyHD0–034,899
5 September 197322ndChelseaAL1–3Page25,660
8 September 197322ndLeeds UnitedAL0–339,746
11 September 197322ndChelseaHL2–4Hatton, Taylor30,252
15 September 197322ndLiverpoolHD1–1R. Latchford35,719
22 September 197322ndQueens Park RangersAD2–2R. Latchford, Burns18,701
29 September 197322ndIpswich TownHL0–326,919
6 October 197322ndArsenalAL0–123,915
13 October 197321stWolverhampton WanderersHW2–1Francis pen, Burns34,977
20 October 197322ndManchester UnitedAL0–148,937
27 October 197322ndEvertonHL0–231,181
3 November 197322ndSheffield UnitedAD1–1Hynd19,339
10 November 197322ndSouthamptonHD1–1Hatton25,297
17 November 197322ndStoke CityAL2–5Hynd, R. Latchford19,179
24 November 197322ndLeicester CityHW3–0R. Latchford 327,719
8 December 197321stNewcastle UnitedHW1–0Burns25,428
15 December 197320thWest Ham UnitedHW3–1Burns, Hatton23,767
22 December 197320thIpswich TownAL0–315,457
26 December 197319thCoventry CityHW1–0R. Latchford33,423
29 December 197320thLeeds UnitedHD1–1R. Latchford50,451
1 January 197319thDerby CountyAD1–1Hatton31,189
12 January 197420thLiverpoolAL2–3R. Latchford39,094
19 January 197420thManchester CityHD1–1R. Latchford31,401
2 February 197420thWest Ham UnitedAD0–027,948
6 February 197420thTottenham HotspurAL2–4England og, Phillips14,345
16 February 197420thWolverhampton WanderersAL0–133,821
23 February 197420thArsenalHW3–1Gallagher, Hatton, Francis29,828
2 March 197420thCoventry CityAW1–0Hatton27,863
9 March 197420thEvertonAL1–4Hatton33,944
16 March 197420thManchester UnitedHW1–0Gallagher37,768
20 March 197420thNorwich CityAL1–2Styles18,309
23 March 197420thSouthamptonAW2–0Burns, Francis23,349
30 March 197420thSheffield UnitedHW1–0Hatton27,877
6 April 197420thLeicester CityAD3–3Burns 328,486
12 April 197420thBurnleyAL1–2Campbell17,038
13 April 197420thStoke CityHD0–029,467
16 April 197420thBurnleyHD2–2Hatton 236,548
20 April 197420thNewcastle UnitedAD1–1Francis34,066
23 April 197419thQueens Park RangersHW4–0Taylor, Francis 2, Kendall39,160
27 April 197419thNorwich CityHW2–1Hatton, Burns44,182

League table (part)

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
Third round5 January 1974Cardiff CityHW5–2Francis, R. Latchford 2, Hatton 222,435
Fourth round26 January 1974Queens Park RangersAL0–223,367

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
Second round9 October 1973BlackpoolAD1–1Burns7,943
Second round replay16 October 1973BlackpoolHW4–2Burns, Hatton 316,880
Third round7 September 1973Newcastle UnitedHD2–2R. Latchford 213,025
Third round replay7 September 1973Newcastle UnitedAW1–0
aet		Francis pen19,276
Fourth round7 September 1973Ipswich TownAW3–1R. Latchford 312,241
Fifth round7 September 1973Plymouth ArgyleHL1–2Hatton15,273

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. 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. 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.
RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScore
F–A		ScorersAttendance
First round 1st leg19 September 1973Stoke CityAD0–09,530
First round 2nd leg2 October 1973Stoke CityHD0–0
aet
3–1 pens		13,433
Second round 1st leg22 October 1973Newcastle UnitedHD1–1R. Latchford12,422
Second round 2nd leg5 December 1973Newcastle UnitedAL1–3Francis9,762

Appearances and goals