1872-73 in English football

The 1872–73 season was the second season of competitive football in England.

Football's second season saw the world's first FIFA recognised international match: Scotland v England. The Football Association (FA) had initiated 'international' matches between English and Scottish players since 1870, under the auspices of the FA. The first official match took place when Queen's Park, a leading Scottish club in football's development, invited the FA to pick an English team to face a Scottish team (which, as they picked the team, consisted entirely of Queen's Park players). The match took place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow on 30 November 1872 and ended in a 0–0 draw in front of around 4,000 spectators.

The FA hosted a return match at Kennington Oval, London on 8 March 1873, which marked the first official meeting of the sides in England, with the English adopting Scotland's 2–2–6 formation. England only retained two of the players who had appeared in the November 1872 match, Ernest Greenhalgh in defence and Charles Chenery, a forward. England selected a side with a strong Wanderers influence, including Leonard Howell, Robert Vidal, Alexander Bonsor, William Kenyon-Slaney and Hubert Heron. Of these only Heron would play more than two matches for England. The other players selected were Alexander Morten in goal, William Clegg (whose brother Charles had played in the previous match) and Royal Engineers Pelham von Donop and Alfred Goodwyn.

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