# 1972–73 Derby County F.C. season

During the 1972–73 English football season, Derby County F.C. competed in the Football League First Division. As the reigning champions of the First Division, Derby would represent England in the European Cup.

## Season summary

The club broke the British transfer record with the signing of half-back David Nish, from Midland rivals Leicester City, for £225,000. Derby County were unable to retain their title and finished in 7th place, one point off qualification for the UEFA Cup. This slump was in part due to the club's poor away form, winning only four matches away from home all season – one of the matches lost was a 5–0 defeat at Leeds United, the loss only serving to intensify the rivalry between Clough and United manager Don Revie. The club had better success in the European Cup, reaching the semi-finals before being knocked out by Juventus: Clough accused the Bianconeri of bribing the match officials — describing the Italians as "cheating bastards" at the end of the first leg match in Turin —, despite they will prove later unrelated to any attempt to combine.
At the end of the season, Kevin Hector was voted Derby's Player of the Year.

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Colin Boulton |
| — | DF | ENG | Peter Daniel |
| — | DF | ENG | Roy McFarland (c) |
| — | DF | ENG | David Nish |
| — | DF | ENG | Colin Todd |
| — | DF | ENG | Ron Webster |
| — | DF | WAL | Terry Hennessey |
| — | MF | ENG | Willie Carlin |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Alan Hinton |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve Powell |
| — | MF | SCO | Archie Gemmill |
| — | MF | SCO | John McGovern |
| — | FW | ENG | Roger Davies |
| — | FW | ENG | Kevin Hector |
| — | FW | SCO | John O'Hare |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| DF | David Nish | Leicester City | £225,000 |
| FW | John Sims | | |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| DF | John Robson | Aston Villa | £90,000 |
| FW | Barry Butlin | Luton Town | |

## Results
### First Division
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 5 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 66 | 54 | 1.222 | 47 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | West Ham United | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 67 | 53 | 1.264 | 46 | Qualification for the Watney Cup |
| 7 | Derby County | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 56 | 54 | 1.037 | 46 | |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 58 | 48 | 1.208 | 45 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 9 | Newcastle United | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 60 | 51 | 1.176 | 45 | |
* 1 2 Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the UEFA Cup as the Football League Cup winners.
* ↑ West Ham United and Stoke City qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that had not already qualified for a European competition.

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | A | A | H | H | H | H |
| Result | D | D | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | L | W | L | W | L | W | L | D | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | D | W | D | W | L | L | W | L | L | D | L | W | W | L | D | W | W | W |
| Position | 14 | 13 | 16 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 |

#### Matches
### European Cup
#### Eightfinals
#### Semi-finals
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Football League Division One | Football League Division One | Football League Cup | Football League Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | European Cup | European Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Colin Boulton | 56 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Ron Webster | 34 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Roy McFarland | 53 | 7 | 38 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| | DF | ENG | Colin Todd | 57 | 1 | 41 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | David Nish | 46 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | John McGovern | 55 | 3 | 39 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| | MF | SCO | Archie Gemmill | 49 | 9 | 34 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| | MF | ENG | Alan Hinton | 37 | 15 | 27 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| | FW | ENG | Roger Davies | 32 | 9 | 19+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 3 |
| | FW | ENG | Kevin Hector | 52 | 18 | 41 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
| | FW | SCO | John O'Hare | 50 | 5 | 34 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| | GK | ENG | Graham Moseley | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Powell | 30 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | WAL | Terry Hennessey | 28 | 4 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | WAL | Alan Durban | 27 | 1 | 11+7 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | John Robson | 14 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Peter Daniel | 14 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Jim Walker | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| | DF | ENG | Tony Parry | 6 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | John Sims | 4 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Alan Lewis | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Barry Butlin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Willie Carlin |
* Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/derby-county/tab/players/season/1973/comp/56/