1972–73 Irish League

Irish League
Season	1972–73
Champions	Crusaders ; 1st Irish title
Matches played	132
Goals scored	446 (3.38 per match)
Top goalscorer	Des Dickson (23)
	← 1971–72 1973–74 →

Belfast

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders
Distillery
Glentoran
Linfield

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Location of teams in the Irish League from 1972–75

1972–73 Irish League is located in Greater Belfast

Cliftonville

Crusaders and Distillery

Glentoran

Linfield

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Location of Belfast-based teams in the Irish League from 1972–75

The 1972–73 Irish League was the 72nd edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league consisted of 12 teams, and Crusaders won the championship.

League standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification
1	Crusaders (C)	22	14	4	4	50	22	2.273	32	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Ards	22	13	5	4	49	22	2.227	31	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Portadown	22	12	5	5	37	27	1.370	29
4	Coleraine	22	13	2	7	51	31	1.645	28
5	Linfield	22	12	3	7	38	29	1.310	27
6	Glenavon	22	10	3	9	33	28	1.179	23
7	Distillery	22	9	4	9	40	47	0.851	22
8	Glentoran	22	9	3	10	48	40	1.200	21	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round
9	Ballymena United	22	7	5	10	26	35	0.743	19
10	Bangor	22	5	8	9	28	32	0.875	18
11	Cliftonville	22	3	1	18	18	66	0.273	7
12	Larne	22	2	3	17	28	67	0.418	7

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away	ARD	BAN	BLM	CLI	COL	CRU	DIS	GLV	GLT	LRN	LIN	POR
Ards		3–1	3–1	7–0	1–1	5–2	1–1	1–3	2–3	2–0	1–1	4–0
Bangor	1–1		1–0	1–0	1–2	1–1	2–5	1–1	2–3	6–0	0–1	1–3
Ballymena United	0–2	1–0		2–1	2–4	1–1	2–1	1–1	4–1	2–2	0–0	3–1
Cliftonville	0–4	1–1	1–0		0–5	0–1	2–3	3–1	0–5	1–3	1–2	1–5
Coleraine	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–0		0–3	4–0	4–0	4–1	6–1	4–2	1–3
Crusaders	2–1	2–0	3–0	3–0	2–1		1–0	2–0	2–0	6–1	2–0	1–1
Distillery	0–2	2–4	1–2	4–2	4–1	0–8		1–0	4–2	1–0	2–2	1–1
Glenavon	1–2	0–0	4–1	3–0	0–3	1–0	2–0		4–0	4–1	2–0	2–0
Glentoran	0–1	3–0	0–1	9–0	1–3	2–2	3–3	4–0		3–2	0–2	1–1
Larne	0–2	1–1	2–2	2–3	2–4	2–5	3–2	2–4	1–5		0–2	2–3
Linfield	4–2	1–3	2–0	2–1	3–1	5–1	2–3	1–0	0–1	2–1		3–1
Portadown	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	3–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	2–1	1–0	3–1

Source: Irish League Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

Northern Ireland - List of final tables (RSSSF)

v t e NIFL Premiership seasons
Irish League	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
Irish Premier League	2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08
IFA Premiership	2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13
NIFL Premiership	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Belfast & District League (wartime)	1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19
Northern Regional League (wartime)	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47

v t e 1972–73 in Northern Irish football
Domestic leagues	Irish League
Domestic cups	Irish Cup Gold Cup City Cup Ulster Cup Carlsberg Cup County Antrim Shield
All-Ireland competitions	Blaxnit Cup
European competitions	~~European Cup~~ ~~UEFA Cup~~ ~~European Cup Winners' Cup~~
Related to national team	British Home Championship 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (Group 6)

v t e 1972–73 in European football (UEFA)
« 1971–72 1973–74 »
Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark '72 '73 England Faroe Islands '72 '73 Finland '72 '73 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '72 '73 Israel Italy Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '72 '73 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union '72 '73 Spain Sweden '72 '73 Switzerland Turkey Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Faroe Islands '72 '73 Finland '72 '73 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '72 '73 Israel Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '72 '73 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union '72 '73 Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Wales
League cups	England West Germany Scotland Switzerland
UEFA competitions	European Cup (Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final)
Non-UEFA competitions	Intertoto Cup Balkans Cup '72 '73 European Super Cup