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.

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.

Football League First Division

DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance25 August 197315thManchester CityAL1–3Hatton35,88128 August 197317thTottenham HotspurHL1–2Hatton37,7541 September 197320thDerby CountyHD0–034,8995 September 197322ndChelseaAL1–3Page25,6608 September 197322ndLeeds UnitedAL0–339,74611 September 197322ndChelseaHL2–4Hatton, Taylor30,25215 September 197322ndLiverpoolHD1–1R. Latchford35,71922 September 197322ndQueens Park RangersAD2–2R. Latchford, Burns18,70129 September 197322ndIpswich TownHL0–326,9196 October 197322ndArsenalAL0–123,91513 October 197321stWolverhampton WanderersHW2–1Francis pen, Burns34,97720 October 197322ndManchester UnitedAL0–148,93727 October 197322ndEvertonHL0–231,1813 November 197322ndSheffield UnitedAD1–1Hynd19,33910 November 197322ndSouthamptonHD1–1Hatton25,29717 November 197322ndStoke CityAL2–5Hynd, R. Latchford19,17924 November 197322ndLeicester CityHW3–0R. Latchford 327,7198 December 197321stNewcastle UnitedHW1–0Burns25,42815 December 197320thWest Ham UnitedHW3–1Burns 2, Hatton23,76722 December 197320thIpswich TownAL0–315,45726 December 197319thCoventry CityHW1–0R. Latchford33,42329 December 197320thLeeds UnitedHD1–1R. Latchford50,4511 January 197319thDerby CountyAD1–1Hatton31,18912 January 197420thLiverpoolAL2–3R. Latchford39,09419 January 197420thManchester CityHD1–1R. Latchford31,4012 February 197420thWest Ham UnitedAD0–027,9486 February 197420thTottenham HotspurAL2–4England og, Phillips14,34516 February 197420thWolverhampton WanderersAL0–133,82123 February 197420thArsenalHW3–1Gallagher, Hatton, Francis29,8282 March 197420thCoventry CityAW1–0Hatton27,8639 March 197420thEvertonAL1–4Hatton33,94416 March 197420thManchester UnitedHW1–0Gallagher37,76820 March 197420thNorwich CityAL1–2Styles18,30923 March 197420thSouthamptonAW2–0Burns, Francis23,34930 March 197420thSheffield UnitedHW1–0Hatton27,8776 April 197420thLeicester CityAD3–3Burns 328,48612 April 197420thBurnleyAL1–2Campbell17,03813 April 197420thStoke CityHD0–029,46716 April 197420thBurnleyHD2–2Hatton 236,54820 April 197420thNewcastle UnitedAD1–1Francis34,06623 April 197419thQueens Park RangersHW4–0Taylor, Francis 2, Kendall39,16027 April 197419thNorwich CityHW2–1Hatton, Burns44,182

League table (part) +Final First Division table (part)PosClubPldWDLFAGAPts17thChelsea4212131756600.933718thWest Ham United4211151655600.923719thBirmingham City4212131752640.813720thSouthampton4211141747680.693621stManchester United4210122038480.7932Key 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

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceThird round5 January 1974Cardiff CityHW5–2Francis 3', R. Latchford (2) 36', 66;, Hatton (2) 76', 88'22,435Fourth round26 January 1974Queens Park RangersAL0–223,367

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceSecond round9 October 1973BlackpoolAD1–1Burns7,943Second round replay16 October 1973BlackpoolHW4–2Burns, Hatton 316,880Third round30 October 1973Newcastle UnitedHD2–2R. Latchford (2) 18', 50'13,025Third round replay7 November 1973Newcastle UnitedAW1–0aetFrancis (pen) 99'19,276Fourth round21 November 1973Ipswich TownAW3–1R. Latchford 312,241Fifth round19 December 1973Plymouth ArgyleHL1–2Hatton 9'15,273

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. 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.Matthews (1995), pp. 74, 209. 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.

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceFirst round 1st leg19 September 1973Stoke CityAD0–09,530First round 2nd leg2 October 1973Stoke CityHD0–0aet3–1 pens13,433Second round 1st leg22 October 1973Newcastle UnitedHD1–1R. Latchford12,422Second round 2nd leg5 December 1973Newcastle UnitedAL1–3Francis9,762

Appearances and goals

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute. Players marked left the club during the playing season. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

+ Players' appearances and goals by competitionNameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTexaco CupTotalGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGK Ritchie Blackmore0000000 (1)00 (1)0GK Paul Cooper2000001030GK Mike Kelly1000101 (1)03 (1)0GK Dave Latchford250001020280GK Gary Sprake140204000200DF Dennis Clarke11010301 (1)016 (1)0DF Joe Gallagher21 (5)220404031 (5)2DF Roger Hynd34 (2)210502042 (2)2DF Ray Martin290201000320DF Ian Osborne0000001010DF Garry Pendrey38 (2)020602048 (2)0DF John Roberts28 (2)010502036 (2)0DF Archie Styles3 (2)10000003 (2)1DF Tony Want110005040200DF Alan Whitehead0000001010MF Steve Bryant0000001010MF Jimmy Calderwood7 (2)00000108 (2)0MF Alan Campbell32 (3)120302035 (3)1MF Gary Emmanuel0000000 (2)00 (2)0MF Paul Hendrie5000301090MF Lindley Jenkins2000001030MF Howard Kendall151000000151MF Malcolm Page7100000071MF Gordon Taylor33 (2)2204 (1)01040 (3)2FW Kenny Burns36 (1)1010623046 (1)12FW Trevor Francis376215131479FW Bob Hatton39142264405120FW Bobby Hope6000001 (1)07 (1)0FW Bob Latchford 25 (1)10224 (1)52133 (2)18FW Steve Phillips1 (3)1000 (2)0203 (5)1

See also Birmingham City F.C. seasons

References General

Source for match dates and results: Source for lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 382–83, 478–89.

Specific