# 1972–73 League of Ireland

Below are the statistics of League of Ireland in the 1972/1973 season.

## Overview

It was contested by 14 teams, and Waterford won the championship.

## Final classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Waterford (C) | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 67 | 21 | +46 | 42 | Qualification to European Cup first round |
| 2 | Finn Harps | 26 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 59 | 32 | +27 | 41 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Bohemians | 26 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 46 | 25 | +21 | 37 | |
| 4 | Cork Hibernians | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 53 | 27 | +26 | 34 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 5 | Shamrock Rovers | 26 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 45 | 32 | +13 | 30 | |
| 6 | Athlone Town | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 38 | 31 | +7 | 30 | |
| 7 | St Patrick's Athletic | 26 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 37 | 43 | −6 | 25 | |
| 8 | Shelbourne | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 50 | 40 | +10 | 24 | |
| 9 | Limerick | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 32 | 35 | −3 | 20 | |
| 10 | Sligo Rovers | 26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 25 | 51 | −26 | 20 | |
| 11 | Home Farm Drumcondra | 26 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 29 | 60 | −31 | 19 | |
| 12 | Cork Celtic | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 29 | 50 | −21 | 18 | |
| 13 | Dundalk | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 19 | 48 | −29 | 14 | |
| 14 | Drogheda | 26 | 1 | 8 | 17 | 22 | 56 | −34 | 10 | |
* 1 2 After the Limerick 2-1 Sligo Rovers game, both points were awarded to Sligo Rovers.
* ↑ Home Farm Drumcondra changed their club name to Home Farm for next season.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ATH | BOH | CCF | CHF | DRO | DUN | FHA | HOM | LIM | SHM | SHE | SLI | StP | WAT |
| Athlone Town | — | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Bohemians | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 5–3 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 |
| Cork Celtic | 1–2 | 0–2 | — | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–5 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–5 |
| Cork Hibernians | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 6–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 3–1 |
| Drogheda United | 0–1 | 1–6 | 4–2 | 0–1 | — | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–4 |
| Dundalk | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–4 |
| Finn Harps | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 4–2 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 3–2 |
| Home Farm Drumcondra | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–6 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 |
| Limerick | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | — | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–3 |
| Shelbourne | 0–1 | 1–4 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 3–0 | — | 6–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 1–4 | — | 0–2 | 1–3 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | — | 2–3 |
| Waterford | 2–1 | 0–0 | 7–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 3–2 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | — |
* ↑ The points from the match between Limerick and Sligo Rovers (2–1) were awarded to Sligo.

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Alfie Hale | Waterford | 20 |
| 1 | Terry Harkin | Finn Harps | 20 |
| 3 | Johnny Matthews | Waterford | 14 |
| 4 | Eric Barber | Shelbourne | 13 |
| 4 | John Lawson | Cork Hibernians | 13 |
| 4 | Kevin Murray | St Patrick's Athletic | 13 |
| 7 | Joe Nicholl | Finn Harps | 12 |
| 8 | Turlough O'Connor | Bohemians | 11 |
| 8 | Jim 'Chang' Smith | Finn Harps | 11 |
| 10 | Phil Buck | Waterford | 10 |
| 10 | Des Kennedy | Limerick | 10 |
| 10 | Mick Leech | Shamrock Rovers | 10 |