1982–83 in English football

The 1982-83 season was the 103rd season of competitive football in England.

Overview

First Division

Bob Paisley's last season as Liverpool manager ended on a high as they topped the First Division with a comfortable lead. Bob Paisley retired as Liverpool manager with a record 21 prizes in nine years. His successor was long-serving coach Joe Fagan. Newly promoted Watford were the shock of the season, finishing in second place in their first ever season in the top flight.

Manchester City were relegated despite a four-year spending spree totalling around £5million. Swansea City were also relegated after only their second season as a First Division club. They had finished sixth a year earlier and at several stages had topped the league table. Brighton & Hove Albion joined them on the way down.

Second Division

Queens Park Rangers, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City won promotion to the First Division. Rotherham United, Burnley and Bolton Wanderers were relegated to the Third Division. It was another blow for Bolton, who had been relegated from the First Division three years earlier.

Charlton Athletic and Wolverhampton Wanderers both came within hours of going bankrupt but were both saved by respective new owners.

Leicester City's promotion was appealed against by Fulham after their final day match against Derby County was stopped with more than a minute to play due to a pitch invasion. Fulham's appeal was eventually rejected and Leicester City's promotion was confirmed.

Third Division

Portsmouth's revival continued as they ran away with the Third Division championship, followed closely behind by runners-up Cardiff City and third-placed Huddersfield Town. Newport County finished 4th, their highest post-war position in the Football League. Occupying the four relegation places were Reading, Wrexham, Doncaster Rovers and Chesterfield.

Fourth Division

Wimbledon were crowned Fourth Division champions and the efforts of manager Dave Bassett were bound to ensure that this would not be their last promotion. Hull City, Port Vale and Scunthorpe United occupied the other three promotion places. The re-election system once again went in favour of the bottom four sides in the Fourth Division, but had things gone differently then Blackpool could have gone out of the Football League little over a decade after they had been a First Division side.

At the end of the season, Fourth Division strugglers Crewe Alexandra appointed Milan-born ex-Wimbledon manager Dario Gradi as their new manager.

FA Cup

Manchester United won their first major trophy under Ron Atkinson's management by hammering Brighton 4-0 in the FA Cup final replay after a 2-2 draw in the first match.

League Cup

Liverpool won their third successive League Cup as an added bonus for manager Bob Paisley during his final season in charge. When his team prepared to ascend the 39 steps to the Royal Box, they all insisted that he should be the man to collect the trophy.

European football

Aston Villa win the European Super Cup with midfield dynamo Gordon Cowans playing a major part in the win.

Star players

*Liverpool's dominant side ran away with the honours as Kenny Dalglish was voted Player of the Year by both the PFA and FWA.
*21-year-old Liverpool striker Ian Rush established himself as one of the league's finest goalscorers after collecting the PFA Young Player of the Year award as well as league championship and League Cup medals.
*Manchester United's FA Cup winning squad included star players like Bryan Robson, Ray Wilkins and the 18-year-old Norman Whiteside.
*Aston Villa's midfield dynamo Gordon Cowans helps inspire Villa to win the European Super Cup.
*The key player in Watford's rise to the top of the English game was prolific striker Luther Blissett.

Star managers

*Bob Paisley's illustrious career as Liverpool manager went out on a high as they were league champions and League Cup winners.
*Graham Taylor guided Watford to an impressive second-place finish in their First Division debut season.
*Ron Atkinson won the FA Cup to end Manchester United's six-year trophy drought.
*Terry Venables took Queens Park Rangers back into the First Division after a four-year exile.
*Jimmy Melia guided Brighton to their first-ever FA Cup final although he couldn't save them from relegation to the Second Division.
*Graham Hawkins took Wolverhampton Wanderers back into the First Division a year after relegation.
*Dave Bassett guided Wimbledon to Fourth Division championship glory with 98 points.
*Malcolm Macdonald took Fulham to fourth place in the Second Division - just missing out on promotion - to achieve their highest league finish for nearly 20 years.
*Keith Burkinshaw inspired Tottenham to fourth place in the First Division and ensured that they would qualify for the following season's UEFA Cup.
*Brian Clough ensured that Nottingham Forest remained among English football's leading sides by inspiring them to fifth place in the league and achieving qualification for the UEFA Cup.

Honours

=Third Division=

=Fourth Division=

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
* Two points deducted.

Deaths

*Jimmy Bloomfield, 49, former inside-forward, most notably at Arsenal and Birmingham City; later manager at Leyton Orient and Leicester City. Died from cancer.