As we continue to revisit Norwich City's previous 26 seasons in the top flight, David Freezer looks back on the big changes and relegation disappointment of 1973-74.
WHAT HAPPENED
After promotion to English football’s top table for the first time in 1972, it proved to be just a two-season stint for the Canaries, being relegated back to Division Two and finishing bottom, eight points adrift of safety.
A 1-0 victory over Burnley in the final Carrow Road game had delayed the inevitable but a midweek win for Birmingham over QPR confirmed relegation mathematically with City still having two games to play.
For the second consecutive season, it was goalkeeper Kevin Keelan being named Player of the Season, making 54 appearances in all competitions, missing just two Texaco Cup games.
The only team to concede more goals than City’s 62 were Southampton, who were also relegated having conceded 68.
Manchester United were the other club dropping to the second tier, finishing three points clear of Norwich - just six seasons after they had been crowned champions of Europe.
Prior to the relegation season of 2019-20 as Daniel Farke’s team finished on 21 points, the 29 achieved in 1973-74 had been the lowest achieved by a City team in the top tier – when it was still two points for a win.
Just 37 goals represented the division’s bluntest attack, with too many draws (15) proving costly as only seven wins were earned.
BIG CHANGE
Having scraped to survival in 1972-73, the Canaries made a miserable start to the season and won just two of their opening 26 league matches.
The previous season’s top scorer, David Cross, was sold to Coventry for £150,000 in November and the atmosphere turned ugly at Carrow Road after a 3-1 defeat to Everton in the next game.
Legend has it that manager Ron Saunders and chairman Sir Arthur South had engaged in a furious argument after the defeat and within days Saunders had filled the vacancy at Manchester City that he had been linked with.
John Bond had been enjoying success in the lower leagues at Bournemouth but made a controversial start, agreeing to swap popular midfielder Graham Paddon to bring in striker Ted MacDougall, a player he had enjoyed success with on the south coast.
Right-hand man Ken Brown – the man who would eventually succeed Bond – also made the move and defender Mel Machin was also signed from the Cherries as the new boss made his mark with plenty of changes, encouraging attacking and adventurous play with an enthusiastic personality.
An upturn in form did start in February, winning three and drawing four of 11 matches but it was to prove too little, too late. A new era was beginning though, with MacDougall paired with his former Bournemouth forward partner Phil Boyer.
TOP SCORER
Ted MacDougall – 11 goals
The Scot had been on the books as a youngster at Liverpool and was prolific at lower levels with York and Bournemouth, earning a £200,000 move to Manchester United in 1972.
His time at Old Trafford didn’t work and nor did his time at West Ham but after the swap deal with Paddon, 13 goals in 27 games after joining in December would prove to be the start of a profitable time in green and yellow.
Boyer was signed in February and the understanding they had enjoyed at York and Bournemouth started to spark – which would play a pivotal role in earning promotion the following season.
HIGHLIGHTS
Bond’s first official Carrow Road game saw reigning champions Liverpool held to a 1-1 draw, with young striker Paul Cheesley scoring.
The next game was a narrow 1-0 loss away to eventual champions Leeds, as the new regime made an encouraging start.
The best league result of the season was a 4-0 home win over Stoke in March during the upturn in form, with John Sissons scoring a brace and Colin Suggett and MacDougall also on target.
The game before that had seen Suggett and Boyer score the goals as Birmingham were beaten 2-1 at Carrow Road, to really raise hopes of a great escape.
LOWLIGHTS
The heaviest defeat was 4-0 away to the previous season’s runners-up Arsenal during the poor start to the campaign.
Losing 2-1 at home to Ipswich in the early days of Bond’s reign was tempered slightly by a 1-1 draw at Portman Road in March.
The 2-0 defeat to fellow strugglers Manchester United in April had left the Canaries staring down the barrel of relegation though, in front of a crowd of almost 28,000 at Carrow Road, as the upturn in form was dealt a major blow.
CUP FUN
There was at least the distraction of a couple of cup runs though, coming close to following the previous season’s trip to Wembley for the League Cup final, which had been lost to Spurs.
Wrexham, Everton, Southampton and Millwall were disposed of in the earlier rounds but a 1-0 defeat at Wolves in the second leg of the semi-finals resulted in a 2-1 aggregate defeat.
City also reached the semi-finals of the short-lived Texaco Cup, which featured English, Scottish and Irish sides that had not qualified for Europe.
Scottish sides St Johnstone and Motherwell were beaten over two legs but top-flight rivals Burnley won 5-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals, before losing to Newcastle in the final.
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