1981–82 in English football

The 1981-82 season was the 102nd season of competitive football in England.

Overview

First Division

Three points for a win was introduced for the first time in England. Liverpool made up for the previous season's slip in league form by winning the league championship for the 13th time in their history, fighting off competition from Ipswich Town, Manchester United and Spurs. Liverpool also won the Football League Cup for the second season in succession. The league triumph was made all the more significant by the fact that they had occupied 10th place on Christmas Day.

Their season of triumph was overshadowed, however, by the death of legendary former manager Bill Shankly, 67, following a heart attack in late September.

Middlesbrough and Wolves were relegated as financial problems at both clubs began to mount. They were joined by Leeds United, who had gradually fallen apart in the eight years since Don Revie's departure.

West Bromwich Albion felt the loss of manager Ron Atkinson and key players Bryan Robson and Remi Moses as they slumped to 19th in the league and narrowly avoided relegation. This was just the beginning of a sharp decline for a club who three seasons earlier had reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals and almost won the league title.

Swansea City were tipped for relegation by most observers as they reached the First Division for the first time in their history, having just completed their third promotion in four seasons. But John Toshack's men had a brilliant first game in the top flight, crushing Leeds United 5-1 and setting the tone for a season which would end with Leeds going down. Swansea, meanwhile, were the most unlikely title contenders, topping the league at several stages of the season before finishing sixth in the final table.

Manchester United paid a British record fee of £1.75million for West Bromwich Albion's 24-year-old England midfielder Bryan Robson. Robson's record-breaking move reflected on how the size of transfer fees had risen dramatically in a relatively short period of time. Less than four years earlier, the British record fee had been the £516,000 that West Bromwich Albion had paid for David Mills. In such a short amount of time, the British record had more than tripled.

Everton, who had struggled in the league for the past few seasons, turned to their former player Howard Kendall and appointed him as manager in hope of restoring the club to its former glory.

Second Division

Luton Town ended their long absence from the top flight by winning promotion from the Second Division. Luton's local rivals Watford, owned by Elton John and managed by Graham Taylor, were runners-up and would begin 1982-83 as First Division members for the first time in their history. Also promoted were third placed Norwich City, who ensured an instant return to the First Division.Cardiff City, Wrexham and Orient were the unfortunate three clubs to lose their Second Division status at the end of the 1981-82 season.

Third Division

Burnley, Carlisle United and Fulham enjoyed some success after a string of disappointments by winning promotion to the Second Division.

Going down were Wimbledon, Swindon Town, Bristol City and Chester. Bristol had completed a unique succession of three relegations, while Swindon had been League Cup winners little over a decade earlier. Wimbledon, meanwhile, would not be enduring any more disappointing season for many years after 1982.

Joe Royle, the 33-year-old former Everton striker, began his managerial career at Oldham Athletic.

Fourth Division

Sheffield United began the first phase of their revival by winning the Fourth Division championship, which marked a superb start to the management career of Ian Porterfield. Also promoted were Bradford City, Wigan Athletic and Bournemouth.

Crewe Alexandra endured a terrible season and propped up the league with just 27 league points, but the other league members voted in their favour and they maintained their league status.

FA Cup

Tottenham Hotspur retained the trophy, drawing 1-1 with QPR (managed by former Tottenham player Terry Venables) in the first game before winning the replay 1-0.

In the semi-final against Leicester City, Argentine midfielder Ossie Ardiles was booed whenever he touched the ball and after the game returned to his homeland, missing the final along with fellow Argentine Ricardo Villa. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSp9trOQmyE&feature=related]

League Cup

Liverpool added to their league title triumph by retaining the League Cup, with a 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

European football

Defending champions Aston Villa were disappointing in the 1981-82 First Division campaign, and manager Ron Saunders stepped down in February, seemingly thinking that Villa were incapable of salvaging something from their supposedly failing season. But they were still in the European Cup. And his assistant Tony Barton stepped up to the manager's seat and guided Villa to the final, where they beat Bayern Munich thanks to a Peter Withe goal and were crowned champions of Europe to make it six European Cup wins in a row for English clubs.

Successful players

*Southampton striker Kevin Keegan marked his return to English football by scoring more goals than any other player in the Football League and being voted Player of the Year by the PFA.
*Tottenham's Steve Perryman added to his FA Cup winners medal with the FWA Player of the Year award.
*Southampton's promising youngster Steve Moran was elected Young Player of the Year by the PFA.
*Peter Withe scored the only goal of the European Cup final to give Aston Villa victory over Bayern Munich.
*Bryan Robson gave some strong performances for Manchester United to help justify his English record fee of £1.75million.
*Bruce Grobbelaar, a 24-year-old Zimbabwian, became Liverpool's new goalkeeper in place of Ray Clemence, who was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur.

Successful managers

*Bob Paisley retained the League Cup and won the league title for Liverpool.
*Tony Barton kicked off his management career by winning the European Cup for Aston Villa.
*Keith Burkinshaw helped Tottenham win the FA Cup for the second year running.
*Ron Atkinson ended his first season as Manchester United manager with a third place league position and qualification for the UEFA Cup.
*David Pleat ended Luton Town's absence from the top flight by guiding them to the Second Division title.
*John Toshack helped Swansea City finish a remarkable sixth in their first season as a top division club.
*Bobby Robson continued his success with Ipswich Town by guiding them to runners-up spot in the league for the second year in succession. He was then appointed manager of the England team.
*Graham Taylor took Watford into the First Division for the first time in their history.
*Terry Venables guided Second Division Queens Park Rangers to runners-up spot in the F.A Cup.
*Don Megson took Bournemouth in the Third Division after they finished fourth in the Fourth Division.

National team

Ron Greenwood, 61, retired as England manager after the 1982 World Cup. He was succeeded by the Ipswich manager Bobby Robson.

Deaths

*Dave Clement, 34, former QPR and England full-back who committed suicide after breaking his leg. At the time of his death, he was registered as a player for Wimbledon.
*Bill Shankly, 68, the former Liverpool manager who transformed the Reds into one of Europe's top footballing sides, died of a heart attack on 29 September 1981. Shankly had taken Liverpool into the First Division in 1962, and over the next 12 years they were league champions three times, FA Cup winners twice and UEFA Cup winners once.

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