French
Deutsch1972–73 UEFA Cup
 The first leg of the final was played at Anfield in Liverpool. | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 13 September 1972 – 23 May 1973 |
| Teams | 63 (from 29[1] associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Liverpool (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Borussia Mönchengladbach |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 124 |
| Goals scored | 405 (3.27 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,947,828 (15,708 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Jupp Heynckes (Borussia Mönchengladbach) Jan Jeuring (Twente) 12 goals each |
← 1971–72 1973–74 → | |
The 1972–73 UEFA Cup was the second season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The 1973 UEFA Cup final was played over two legs at Anfield, Liverpool, England, and at Bökelbergstadion, Mönchengladbach, West Germany. It was won by Liverpool of England, who defeated West German team Borussia Mönchengladbach by an aggregate result of 3–2 to claim their first UEFA Cup title.
This was the sixth consecutive title won by an English team between the UEFA Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, as well as the first time Liverpool won a European competition.
Association team allocation
[edit]A total of 63 teams from 29 UEFA member associations participate in the 1972–73 UEFA Cup. A new allocation scheme was devised by UEFA, which featured fixed slots for all but two competing associations, and lasted for eight seasons:
- 3 associations have four teams qualify.
- 3 associations have three teams qualify.
- 18 associations have two teams qualify.
- 7 associations have one team qualify.
Spain was the only association with a fixed allocation of three teams; the other two associations would rotate on a yearly basis among all countries that were allocated two teams.
Albania was not included in this scheme, as it had only entered the competition once without playing and would not have a UEFA Cup competitor until 1981. Northern Ireland withdrew from the competition, so another association was granted an extra third birth for this season. The three chosen associations were France, Yugoslavia and Portugal.
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Teams
[edit]The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for competition:
- TH: Title holders
- CW: Cup winners
- CR: Cup runners-up
- LC: League Cup winners
- 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, etc.: League position
- P-W: End-of-season European competition play-offs winners
Notes
- ^ West Germany: The fourth UEFA Cup spot for West Germany was not awarded to the fourth best team not qualified for the European Cup or the European Cup Winners' Cup, which was Hertha BSC, as it was common practice. Instead, this place was awarded to Kaiserslautern, who had been runners-up in the 1971–72 DFB-Pokal.
- ^ Finland: Official UEFA records show HJK Helsinki as the Finnish representative in the UEFA Cup, despite finishing 4th in the 1971 Mestaruussarja, before withdrawing from its first round match-up.[2] However, records from the RSSSF, contemporary papers and the Football Association of Finland show that HIFK Helsinki was indeed the team that withdrew from the tournament after finishing 2nd in the Mestaruussarja.[3][4][5] While no official reason for the withdrawal has been provided, HIFK ran into financial problems during the 1972 season and was fighting to avoid relegation at the time of the UEFA Cup first round. The team was finally relegated on 24 September 1972, halfway through what should've been its European participation.[6]
Schedule
[edit]The schedule of the competition was as follows. Matches were scheduled for Wednesdays, though some matches took place on Tuesdays.
| Round | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|
| First round | 12–20 September 1972 | 26 September – 4 October 1972 |
| Second round | 24–25 October 1972 | 1–8 November 1972 |
| Third round | 28–29 November 1972 | 13 December 1972 |
| Quarter-finals | 6–7 March 1973 | 20–21 March 1973 |
| Semi-finals | 10–11 April 1973 | 25 April 1973 |
| Final | 10 May 1973 | 23 May 1973 |
Bracket
[edit]First round
[edit]Summary
[edit]1 Hvidovre walkover, HIFK withdrew.
Matches
[edit]
Liverpool won 2–0 on aggregate.
UTA Arad  | 1–2 |  Norrköping |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Norrköping | 2–0 | UTA Arad |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Norrköping won 4–1 on aggregate.
| Universitatea Cluj | 4–1 |  Levski-Spartak |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| Levski-Spartak | 5–1 (a.e.t.) | Universitatea Cluj |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Levski-Spartak won 6–5 on aggregate.
AEK Athens  | 3–1 |  Salgótarján |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Salgótarján | 1–1 | AEK Athens |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
AEK Athens won 4–2 on aggregate.
| Beroe Stara Zagora | 7–0 |  Austria Wien |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Austria Wien | 1–3 | Beroe Stara Zagora |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Beroe Stara Zagora won 10–1 on aggregate.
Dinamo Tbilisi  | 3–2 |  Twente |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Twente won 4–2 on aggregate.
Vojvodina  | 1–2 |  Slovan Bratislava |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Slovan Bratislava won 8–2 on aggregate.
Fenerbahçe  | 1–0 |  Ruch Chorzów |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Ruch Chorzów won 3–1 on aggregate.
| VÖEST | 2–2 |  Dynamo Dresden |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Dynamo Dresden won 4–2 on aggregate.
| Red Star Belgrade | 5–1 |  Lausanne-Sport |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
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| Lausanne-Sport | 3–2 | Red Star Belgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Red Star Belgrade won 7–4 on aggregate.
| OFK Beograd | 3–1 | Dukla Prague |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
OFK Beograd won 5–3 on aggregate.
Lyn  | 3–6 | Tottenham Hotspur |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Tottenham Hotspur won 12–3 on aggregate.
Viking won 1–0 on aggregate.
Club Brugge  | 1–2 |
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