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
Main article: 1973–74 Football League
DateLeague
position		Opponents VenueResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
25 August 1973 15thManchester CityA L1–3Hatton 35,881
28 August 1973 17thTottenham HotspurH L1–2Hatton 37,754
1 September 1973 20thDerby CountyH D0–0 34,899
5 September 1973 22ndChelseaA L1–3Page 25,660
8 September 1973 22ndLeeds UnitedA L0–3 39,746
11 September 1973 22ndChelseaH L2–4Hatton, Taylor 30,252
15 September 1973 22ndLiverpoolH D1–1R. Latchford 35,719
22 September 1973 22ndQueens Park RangersA D2–2R. Latchford, Burns 18,701
29 September 1973 22ndIpswich TownH L0–3 26,919
6 October 1973 22ndArsenalA L0–1 23,915
13 October 1973 21stWolverhampton WanderersH W2–1Francis pen, Burns 34,977
20 October 1973 22ndManchester UnitedA L0–1 48,937
27 October 1973 22ndEvertonH L0–2 31,181
3 November 1973 22ndSheffield UnitedA D1–1Hynd 19,339
10 November 1973 22ndSouthamptonH D1–1Hatton 25,297
17 November 1973 22ndStoke CityA L2–5Hynd, R. Latchford 19,179
24 November 1973 22ndLeicester CityH W3–0R. Latchford 3 27,719
8 December 1973 21stNewcastle UnitedH W1–0Burns 25,428
15 December 1973 20thWest Ham UnitedH W3–1Burns, Hatton 23,767
22 December 1973 20thIpswich TownA L0–3 15,457
26 December 1973 19thCoventry CityH W1–0R. Latchford 33,423
29 December 1973 20thLeeds UnitedH D1–1R. Latchford 50,451
1 January 1973 19thDerby CountyA D1–1Hatton 31,189
12 January 1974 20thLiverpoolA L2–3R. Latchford 39,094
19 January 1974 20thManchester CityH D1–1R. Latchford 31,401
2 February 1974 20thWest Ham UnitedA D0–0 27,948
6 February 1974 20thTottenham HotspurA L2–4England og, Phillips 14,345
16 February 1974 20thWolverhampton WanderersA L0–1 33,821
23 February 1974 20thArsenalH W3–1Gallagher, Hatton, Francis 29,828
2 March 1974 20thCoventry CityA W1–0Hatton 27,863
9 March 1974 20thEvertonA L1–4Hatton 33,944
16 March 1974 20thManchester UnitedH W1–0Gallagher 37,768
20 March 1974 20thNorwich CityA L1–2Styles 18,309
23 March 1974 20thSouthamptonA W2–0Burns, Francis 23,349
30 March 1974 20thSheffield UnitedH W1–0Hatton 27,877
6 April 1974 20thLeicester CityA D3–3Burns 3 28,486
12 April 1974 20thBurnleyA L1–2Campbell 17,038
13 April 1974 20thStoke CityH D0–0 29,467
16 April 1974 20thBurnleyH D2–2Hatton 2 36,548
20 April 1974 20thNewcastle UnitedA D1–1Francis 34,066
23 April 1974 19thQueens Park RangersH W4–0Taylor, Francis 2, Kendall 39,160
27 April 1974 19thNorwich CityH W2–1Hatton, Burns 44,182

League table (part)
Final First Division table (part)
Pos Club Pld W D L F A GA Pts
17th Chelsea4212131756600.9337
18th West Ham United4211151655600.9237
19th Birmingham City4212131752640.8137
20th Southampton4211141747680.6936
21st Manchester United4210122038480.7932
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

Italics - Relegated.

Source [2]

FA Cup
Main article: 1973–74 FA Cup
Round DateOpponentsVenue ResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
Third round 5 January 1974Cardiff CityH W5–2Francis, R. Latchford 2, Hatton 2 22,435
Fourth round 26 January 1974Queens Park RangersA L0–2 23,367

League Cup
Main article: 1973–74 Football League Cup
Round DateOpponentsVenue ResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
Second round 9 October 1973BlackpoolA D1–1Burns 7,943
Second round replay 16 October 1973BlackpoolH W4–2Burns, Hatton 3 16,880
Third round 30 October 1973Newcastle UnitedH D2–2R. Latchford 2 13,025
Third round replay 7 November 1973Newcastle UnitedA W1–0
aet		Francis pen 19,276
Fourth round 21 November 1973Ipswich TownA W3–1R. Latchford 3 12,241
Fifth round 19 December 1973Plymouth ArgyleH L1–2Hatton 15,273

Texaco Cup
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 DateOpponentsVenue ResultScore
F–A		Scorers Attendance
First round 1st leg 19 September 1973Stoke CityA D0–0 9,530
First round 2nd leg 2 October 1973Stoke CityH D0–0
aet
3–1 pens		 13,433
Second round 1st leg 22 October 1973Newcastle UnitedH D1–1R. Latchford 12,422
Second round 2nd leg 5 December 1973Newcastle UnitedA L1–3Francis 9,762

Appearances and goals
Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.
Players with name struck through and marked left the club during the playing season.
Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.
Players having played at least one first-team match
Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup League Cup Texaco Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
GK ENG Ritchie Blackmore 0000000 (1)00 (1)0
GK ENG Paul Cooper 2000001030
GK ENG Mike Kelly 1000101 (1)03 (1)0
GK ENG Dave Latchford 250001020280
GK WAL Gary Sprake 140204000200
DF ENG Dennis Clarke 11010301 (1)016 (1)0
DF ENG Joe Gallagher 21 (5)220404031 (5)2
DF SCO Roger Hynd 34 (2)210502042 (2)2
DF ENG Ray Martin 290201000320
DF ENG Ian Osborne 0000001010
DF ENG Garry Pendrey 38 (2)020602048 (2)0
DF WAL John Roberts 28 (2)010502036 (2)0
DF ENG Archie Styles 3 (2)10000003 (2)1
DF ENG Tony Want 110005040200
DF ENG Alan Whitehead 0000001010
MF ENG Steve Bryant 0000001010
MF SCO Jimmy Calderwood 7 (2)00000108 (2)0
MF SCO Alan Campbell 32 (3)120302035 (3)1
MF WAL Gary Emmanuel 0000000 (2)00 (2)0
MF SCO Paul Hendrie 5000301090
MF ENG Lindley Jenkins 2000001030
MF ENG Howard Kendall 151000000151
MF WAL Malcolm Page 7100000071
MF ENG Gordon Taylor 33 (2)2204 (1)01040 (3)2
FW SCO Kenny Burns 36 (1)1010623046 (1)12
FW ENG Trevor Francis 376215131479
FW ENG Bob Hatton 39142264405120
FW SCO Bobby Hope 6000001 (1)07 (1)0
FW ENG Bob Latchford 25 (1)10224 (1)52133 (2)18
FW ENG Steve Phillips 1 (3)1000 (2)0203 (5)1

See also

References
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. "Season 1973/74". Toonarama. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008.
  4. Matthews (1995), pp. 74, 209.
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