Champions Sunderland Fourth place Arsenal Dates 2 Sep 1972 – 5 May 1973 | Runners-up Leeds United Champion Sunderland A.F.C. Country England | |
Third place Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. People also search for 1927–28 FA Cup, 1928–29 FA Cup | ||
The 1972–73 FA Cup was the 92nd season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Second Division Sunderland won the competition for the second time, beating Leeds United 1–0 in the final at Wembley, London with a goal from Ian Porterfield.
Contents
- First Round Proper
- Second Round Proper
- Third Round Proper
- Fourth Round Proper
- Fifth Round Proper
- Sixth Round Proper
- Semi Finals
- Third place playoff
- Final
- TV Coverage
- References
Matches were scheduled to be played at the stadium of the team named first on the date specified for each round, which was always a Saturday. Some matches, however, might be rescheduled for other days if there were clashes with games for other competitions or the weather was inclement. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played, a replay would take place at the stadium of the second-named team later the same week. If the replayed match was drawn further replays would be held until a winner was determined. If scores were level after 90 minutes had been played in a replay, a 30-minute period of extra time would be played.
First Round Proper
At this stage clubs from the Football League Third and Fourth Divisions joined those non-league clubs having come through the qualifying rounds. Matches were scheduled to be played on Saturday, 18 November 1972. Nine matches were drawn, of which one went to a second replay.
Second Round Proper
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 9 December 1972, with the exception of the Walsall–Charlton Athletic game which was played three days later. Five matches were drawn, with replays taking place later the same week.
Third Round Proper
The 44 First and Second Division clubs entered the competition at this stage. The matches were scheduled Saturday, 13 January 1973, with the exception of the Reading–Doncaster Rovers game, which was played on the following Wednesday. Eleven matches were drawn, of which two required a second replay.
Fourth Round Proper
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 3 February 1973. Five matches were drawn, of which two required a second replay.
Fifth Round Proper
The matches were scheduled for Saturday, 24 February 1973 with one replay played three days later.
Sixth Round Proper
The four quarter-final ties were played on the 17 March 1973. There was one replay three days later.
Semi-Finals
The semi-final matches were played on Saturday, 7 April 1973 with no replays being needed. Sunderland and Leeds United won their respective matches to go on to the final at Wembley.
Third place playoff
Between 1970 and 1974, a third place playoff between the two losing semi-finalists was held.
Final
The final took place on Saturday, 5 May 1973 at Wembley and ended in a victory for Sunderland over Leeds United by one goal to nil. The attendance was 100,000.
TV Coverage
The right to show FA Cup games were, as with Football League matches, shared between the BBC and ITV network. All games were shown in a highlights format, except the Final, which was shown live both on BBC1 & ITV. The BBC football highlights programme Match Of The Day would show up to three games and the various ITV regional network stations would cover up to one game and show highlights from other games covered elsewhere on the ITV network. No games from Rounds 1 or 2 were shown. Hiighlights of replays would be shown on either the BBC or ITV. Third Round BBC Arsenal v Leicester City, Norwich City v Leeds United, Orient v Coventry City, Leicester v Arsenal (Midweek replay) ITV Brighton & Hove Albion v Chelsea (Southern & LWT), Chelmsford City v Ipswich Town (Anglia), Manchester City v Stoke City (Granada), Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester United (ATV), Newcastle United v AFC Bournemouth (Tyne-Tees), Sheffield Wednesday v Fulham (Yorkshire) Fourth Round BBC Newcastle United v Luton Town, Liverpool v Manchester City, Sheffield Wednesday v Crystal Palace ITV Chelsea v Ipswich Town (LWT), Everton v Millwall (Granada), Derby County v Tottenham Hotspur(ATV), Hull City v West Ham United (Anglia & Yorkshire), Sunderland v Reading (Tyne-Tees), Manchester City v Liverpool (Midweek replay All Regions) Fifth Round BBC Carlisle United v Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers v Millwall, Derby County v Queens Park Rangers ITV Manchester City v Sunderland (Granada & Tyne-Tees), Sheffield Wednesday v Chelsea (Yorkshire & LWT), Coventry City v Hull City (ATV & Anglia), Sunderland v Manchester City (Midweek replay All Regions) Sixth Round BBC Chelsea v Arsenal, Sunderland v Luton Town ITV Derby County v Leeds United (All regions, LWT covered it), Wolverhampton Wanderers v Coventry City (ATV) Semi-Finals BBC Leeds United v Wolverhampton Wanderers ITV Arsenal v Sunderland (All Regions)Final Leeds United v Sunderland Shown Live on BBC & ITV