1981–82 Football League

The 1981–82 season was the 83rd completed season (84th overall) of The Football League.

The Football League

Season	1981–82
Champions	Liverpool
← 1980–81 1982–83 →

Overview

3 points for a win was introduced for the first time in England. Champions Aston Villa finished a disappointing 11th but made up for this by triumphing in the European Cup at the first attempt.

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, only seven years after playing in the European cup final.

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.

Final league tables and results

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website,[1] with home and away statistics separated.

During the first five seasons of the league, that is, until the season 1893–94, re-election process concerned the clubs which finished in the bottom four of the league. From the 1894–95 season and until the 1920–21 season the re-election process was required of the clubs which finished in the bottom three of the league. From the 1922–23 season on it was required of the bottom two teams of both Third Division North and Third Division South. Since the Fourth Division was established in the 1958–59 season, the re-election process has concerned the bottom four clubs in that division.[2]

First Division

Football League
First Division

Season	1981–82
Champions	Liverpool (13th English title)
Relegated	Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Wolverhampton Wanderers
1982–83 European Cup	Liverpool, Aston Villa
FA Cup winners 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup	Tottenham Hotspur (7th FA Cup title), Swansea City (Welsh Cup winners)
1982–83 UEFA Cup	Arsenal, Ipswich Town, Manchester United, Southampton
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,173 (2.54 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kevin Keegan (Southampton), 26 [3]
Biggest home win	Coventry – Sunderland 6–1 (27 April 1982) Tottenham – Wolverhampton 6–1 (6 February 1982) Manchester United –Wolverhampton 5–0 (3 October 1982)
Biggest away win	Manchester City – Liverpool 0–5 (10 April 1982)
Highest scoring	Southampton – Coventry 5–5 (4 May 1982)
Longest winning run	Liverpool (11 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Liverpool (16 games)
Longest losing run	Wolverhampton Wanderers (8 games)
← 1980–81 1982–83 →

The First Division title race saw many teams take the lead throughout the season, including traditional favourites like Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, as well as thriving Ipswich Town and Southampton, and most incredibly a Swansea City side who had never been in the First Division before, and who had been in the Fourth Division just a few seasons previously. In the end, however, it was Liverpool who clinched the title after a surge in the second half of the campaign which took them from mid table at Christmas to clinching the title on the final day of the season. They also retained the League Cup. Defending champions Aston Villa only finished mid-table but finished the season as European Cup winners, three months after Ron Saunders stood down as manager and was succeeded by his assistant Tony Barton.

Wolves went down to the Second Division for the second time in seven seasons, while Middlesbrough went down after eight years in the First Division. Leeds United, who had gradually lost touch with the First Division's elite since Don Revie left in 1974, lost their top flight status after 18 years.

Other memorable events of the season included the early season transfer of Bryan Robson from West Bromwich Albion to Manchester United for a national record £1.5million, and the death of legendary former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly.

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool	42	14	3	4	39	14	12	6	3	41	18	+48	87	European Cup 1982–83 First round[lower-alpha 1]
2	Ipswich Town	42	17	1	3	47	25	9	4	8	28	28	+22	83	UEFA Cup 1982–83 First round
3	Manchester United	42	12	6	3	27	9	10	6	5	32	20	+30	78
4	Tottenham Hotspur	42	12	4	5	41	26	8	7	6	26	22	+19	71	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1982–83 First round[lower-alpha 2]
5	Arsenal	42	13	5	3	27	15	7	6	8	21	22	+11	71	UEFA Cup 1982–83 First round
6	Swansea City	42	13	3	5	34	16	8	3	10	24	35	+7	69	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1982–83 First round[lower-alpha 3]
7	Southampton	42	15	2	4	49	30	4	7	10	23	37	+5	66	UEFA Cup 1982–83 First round
8	Everton	42	11	7	3	33	21	6	6	9	23	29	+6	64
9	West Ham United	42	9	10	2	42	29	5	6	10	24	28	+9	58
10	Manchester City	42	9	7	5	32	23	6	6	9	17	27	−1	58
11	Aston Villa	42	9	6	6	28	24	6	6	9	27	29	+2	57	European Cup 1982–83 First round[lower-alpha 4]
12	Nottingham Forest	42	7	7	7	19	20	8	5	8	23	28	−6	57
13	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	8	7	6	30	24	5	6	10	13	28	−9	52
14	Coventry City	42	9	4	8	31	24	4	7	10	25	38	−6	50
15	Notts County	42	8	5	8	32	33	5	3	13	29	36	−8	47
16	Birmingham City	42	8	6	7	29	25	2	8	11	24	36	−8	44
17	West Bromwich Albion	42	6	6	9	24	25	5	5	11	22	32	−11	44
18	Stoke City	42	9	2	10	27	28	3	6	12	17	35	−19	44
19	Sunderland	42	6	5	10	19	26	5	6	10	19	32	−20	44
20	Leeds United	42	6	11	4	23	20	4	1	16	16	41	−22	42	Relegated
21	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	8	5	8	19	20	2	5	14	13	43	−31	40
22	Middlesbrough	42	5	9	7	20	24	3	6	12	14	28	−18	39

Source:
Notes:

1. Liverpool were also this season's League Cup Winners.
2. FA Cup winners
3. Swansea City qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as 1982 Welsh Cup winners.
4. Aston Villa won the European Cup this year, and thus qualified for the following season's competition as defending champions.

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	AST	BIR	B&HA	COV	EVE	IPS	LEE	LIV	MCI	MUN	MID	NOT	NTC	SOU	STK	SUN	SWA	TOT	WBA	WHU	WOL
Arsenal		4–3	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	4–1	0–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	2–2	2–0	2–1
Aston Villa	0–2		0–0	3–0	2–1	1–2	0–1	1–4	0–3	0–0	1–1	1–0	3–1	0–1	1–1	2–2	1–0	3–0	1–1	2–1	3–2	3–1
Birmingham	0–1	0–1		1–0	3–3	0–2	1–1	0–1	0–1	3–0	0–1	0–0	4–3	2–1	4–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	0–0	3–3	2–2	0–3
Brighton & Hove Albion	2–1	0–1	1–1		2–2	3–1	0–1	1–0	3–3	4–1	0–1	2–0	0–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–2	1–3	2–2	1–0	2–0
Coventry City	1–0	1–1	0–1	0–1		1–0	2–4	4–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–5	4–2	3–0	6–1	3–1	0–0	0–2	1–0	0–0
Everton	2–1	2–0	3–1	1–1	3–2		2–1	1–0	1–3	0–1	3–3	2–0	2–1	3–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	3–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–1
Ipswich Town	2–1	3–1	3–2	3–1	1–0	3–0		2–1	2–0	2–0	2–1	3–1	1–3	1–3	5–2	2–0	3–3	2–3	2–1	1–0	3–2	1–0
Leeds United	0–0	1–1	3–3	2–1	0–0	1–1	0–2		0–2	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–3	0–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	3–1	3–3	3–0
Liverpool	2–0	0–0	3–1	0–1	4–0	3–1	4–0	3–0		1–3	1–2	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	2–2	3–1	1–0	3–0	2–1
Manchester City	0–0	1–0	4–2	4–0	1–3	1–1	1–1	4–0	0–5		0–0	3–2	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–3	4–0	0–1	2–1	0–1	2–1
Manchester United	0–0	4–1	1–1	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–2	1–0	0–1	1–1		1–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	5–0
Middlesbrough	1–3	3–3	2–1	2–1	0–0	0–2	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–2		1–1	3–0	0–1	3–2	0–0	1–1	1–3	1–0	2–3	0–0
Nottingham Forest	1–2	1–1	2–1	2–1	2–1	0–1	1–1	2–1	0–2	1–1	0–1	1–1		0–2	2–1	0–0	2–0	0–2	2–0	0–0	0–0	0–1
Notts County	2–1	1–0	1–4	4–1	2–1	2–2	1–4	2–1	0–4	1–1	1–3	0–1	1–2		1–1	3–1	2–0	0–1	2–2	1–2	1–1	4–0
Southampton	3–1	0–3	3–1	0–2	5–5	1–0	4–3	4–0	2–3	2–1	3–2	2–0	2–0	3–1		4–3	1–0	3–1	1–2	0–0	2–1	4–1
Stoke City	0–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	4–0	3–1	2–0	1–2	1–5	1–3	0–3	2–0	1–2	2–2	0–2		0–1	1–2	0–2	3–0	2–1	2–1
Sunderland	0–0	2–1	2–0	3–0	0–0	3–1	1–1	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–5	0–2	2–3	1–1	2–0	0–2		0–1	0–2	1–2	0–2	0–0
Swansea City	2–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–3	1–2	5–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	1–2	1–2	3–2	1–0	3–0	2–0		2–1	3–1	0–1	0–0
Tottenham Hotspur	2–2	1–3	1–1	0–1	1–2	3–0	1–0	2–1	2–2	2–0	3–1	1–0	3–0	3–1	3–2	2–0	2–2	2–1		1–2	0–4	6–1
West Bromwich Albion	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	0–0	1–2	2–0	1–1	0–1	0–3	2–0	2–1	2–4	1–1	1–2	2–3	4–1	1–0		0–0	3–0
West Ham United	1–2	2–2	2–2	1–1	5–2	1–1	2–0	4–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	0–1	1–0	4–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	3–1		3–1
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	0–3	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–3	2–1	1–0	1–0	4–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	3–2	0–0	2–0	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–2	2–1

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Arsenal

Tottenham

West Ham

Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1981–1982

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Birmingham

Brighton & Hove

Coventry

Everton

Ipswich Town

Leeds United

Liverpool

Middlesbrough

Manchester City

Manchester United

Nottingham Forest

Notts County

Southampton

Stoke

Sunderland

Swansea City

Tottenham

West Bromwich Albion

West Ham

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Locations of the Football League First Division 1981–1982 teams

Second Division

Luton Town clinched the Second Division as their cosmopolitan side ended the club's seven-year exile from the First Division, joined by runners-up Watford (in the First Division for the first time under inspirational manager Graham Taylor) and a Norwich City side who had surged from 10th place to the final promotion place during the final quarter of the campaign. Sheffield Wednesday, QPR and Leicester City just missed out on promotion, as did two surprise contenders still yet to play in the First Division - Barnsley and Rotherham United.

Orient, Wrexham and Cardiff City went down to the Third Division.

Football League
Second Division

Season	1981–82
Champions	Luton Town (1st title)
Promoted	Norwich City, Watford
Relegated	Cardiff City, Orient, Wrexham
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,171 (2.53 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ronnie Moore (Rotherham United), 22 [3]
Biggest home win	QPR –Bolton Wanderers 7–1 (1 May 1982) Rotherham –Chelsea 6–0 (31 October 1981) Luton –Grimsby Town 6–0 (17 October 1981)
Biggest away win	Cardiff City –Newcastle 0–4 (3 October 1981) Newcastle –QPR 0–4 (5 May 1982)
Highest scoring	Cardiff City –Cambridge United 5–4 (20 March 1982)
← 1980–81 1982–83 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Luton Town	42	16	3	2	48	19	9	10	2	38	27	+40	88	Division Champions, promoted
2	Watford	42	13	6	2	46	16	10	5	6	30	26	+34	80	Promoted
3	Norwich City	42	14	3	4	41	19	8	2	11	23	31	+14	71
4	Sheffield Wednesday	42	10	8	3	31	23	10	2	9	24	28	+4	70
5	Queens Park Rangers	42	15	4	2	40	9	6	2	13	25	34	+22	69
6	Barnsley	42	13	4	4	33	14	6	6	9	26	27	+18	67
7	Rotherham United	42	13	5	3	42	19	7	2	12	24	35	+12	67
8	Leicester City	42	12	5	4	31	19	6	7	8	25	29	+8	66
9	Newcastle United	42	14	4	3	30	14	4	4	13	22	36	+2	62
10	Blackburn Rovers	42	11	4	6	26	15	5	7	9	21	28	+4	59
11	Oldham Athletic	42	9	9	3	28	23	6	5	10	22	28	−1	59
12	Chelsea	42	10	5	6	37	30	5	7	9	23	30	0	57
13	Charlton Athletic	42	11	5	5	33	22	2	7	12	17	43	−15	51
14	Cambridge United	42	11	4	6	31	19	2	5	14	17	34	−5	48
15	Crystal Palace	42	9	2	10	25	26	4	7	10	9	19	−11	48
16	Derby County	42	9	8	4	32	23	3	4	14	21	45	−15	48
17	Grimsby Town	42	5	8	8	29	30	6	5	10	24	35	−12	46
18	Shrewsbury Town	42	10	6	5	26	19	1	7	13	11	38	−20	46
19	Bolton Wanderers	42	10	4	7	28	24	3	3	15	11	37	−22	46
20	Cardiff City	42	9	2	10	28	32	3	6	12	17	29	−16	44	Relegated
21	Wrexham	42	9	4	8	22	22	2	7	12	18	34	−16	44
22	Orient	42	6	8	7	23	24	4	1	16	13	37	−25	39

Source:

Results

Home \ Away	BAR	BLB	BOL	CAM	CAR	CHA	CHE	CRY	DER	GRI	LEI	LUT	NEW	NWC	OLD	ORI	QPR	ROT	SHW	SHR	WAT	WRE
Barnsley		0–1	3–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–0	3–2	0–2	4–3	1–0	0–1	3–1	1–0	3–0	3–0	1–0	4–0	0–0	2–2
Blackburn Rovers	2–1		0–2	1–0	1–0	0–2	1–1	1–0	4–1	2–0	0–2	0–1	4–1	3–0	0–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	0–0
Bolton Wanderers	2–1	2–2		3–4	1–0	2–0	2–2	0–0	3–2	1–2	0–3	1–2	1–0	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–0	0–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–0
Cambridge United	2–1	1–0	2–1		2–1	4–0	1–0	0–0	1–2	2–2	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–2	0–0	2–0	1–0	3–0	1–2	2–0	1–2	2–3
Cardiff City	0–0	1–3	2–1	5–4		0–1	1–2	0–1	1–0	2–1	3–1	2–3	0–4	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–2	1–2	0–2	1–1	2–0	3–2
Charlton Athletic	2–1	2–0	1–0	0–0	2–2		3–4	2–1	2–1	2–0	1–4	0–0	0–1	0–0	3–1	5–2	1–2	1–2	3–0	1–0	1–1	1–0
Chelsea	1–2	1–1	2–0	4–1	1–0	2–2		1–2	0–2	1–1	4–1	1–2	2–1	2–1	2–2	2–2	2–1	1–4	2–1	3–1	1–3	2–0
Crystal Palace	1–2	1–2	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	0–1		0–1	0–3	0–2	3–3	1–2	2–1	4–0	1–0	0–0	3–1	1–2	0–1	0–3	2–1
Derby County	0–1	1–1	0–2	2–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	4–1		1–1	3–1	0–0	2–2	0–2	1–0	1–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–1	3–2	2–1
Grimsby Town	3–2	1–1	1–1	1–2	0–1	3–3	3–3	0–1	1–0		2–2	0–0	1–1	1–2	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–2	0–1	5–1	0–2	1–1
Leicester City	1–0	1–0	1–0	4–1	3–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–2		1–2	3–0	1–4	2–1	0–1	3–2	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–0
Luton Town	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	2–3	3–0	2–2	1–0	3–2	6–0	2–1		3–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–2	3–1	0–3	4–1	4–1	0–0
Newcastle United	1–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	4–1	1–0	0–0	3–0	0–1	0–0	3–2		2–1	2–0	1–0	0–4	1–1	1–0	2–0	0–1	4–2
Norwich City	1–1	2–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	5–0	2–1	1–0	4–1	2–1	0–0	1–3	2–1		1–2	2–0	0–1	2–0	2–3	2–1	4–2	4–0
Oldham Athletic	1–1	0–3	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–0		3–2	2–0	0–3	0–3	1–1	1–1	2–1
Orient	1–3	0–0	3–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–0	3–2	1–2	3–0	0–3	1–0	1–1	0–3		1–1	1–2	3–0	2–0	1–3	0–0
Queens Park Rangers	1–0	2–0	7–1	2–1	2–0	4–0	0–2	1–0	3–0	1–0	2–0	1–2	3–0	2–0	0–0	3–0		1–1	2–0	2–1	0–0	1–1
Rotherham United	2–4	4–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	6–0	2–0	2–1	2–2	1–1	2–2	0–0	4–1	1–2	1–0	1–0		2–2	3–0	1–2	2–0
Sheffield Wednesday	2–2	2–2	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–3	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	1–3	2–0		0–0	3–1	0–3
Shrewsbury Town	0–2	1–2	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	4–1	2–0	1–1	2–2	0–0	0–2	2–1	2–0	2–1	2–1	0–1		0–2	1–1
Watford	3–1	3–2	3–0	0–0	0–0	2–2	1–0	1–1	6–1	0–2	3–1	1–1	2–3	3–0	1–1	3–0	4–0	1–0	4–0	3–1		2–0
Wrexham	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	3–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–0	0–0	0–2	4–2	2–3	0–3	0–1	1–3	3–2	0–1	1–0	0–1

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Charlton Athletic

Chelsea

Crystal Palace

Orient

Queens Park Rangers

Watford

Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1981–1982

Barnsley

Blackburn Rovers

Bolton

Cambridge Utd

Cardiff City

Charlton

Chelsea

Crystal Palace

Derby County

Grimsby Town

Leicester City

Orient

Luton Town

Newcastle

Norwich City

Oldham

QPR

Rotherham

Sheffield Wednesday

Shrewsbury

Watford

Wrexham

Locations of the Football League Second Division 1981–1982 teams

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.

Football League
Third Division

Season	1981–82
Champions	Burnley (1st title)
Promoted	Carlisle United, Fulham
Relegated	Bristol City, Chester, Swindon Town, Wimbledon
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,422 (2.58 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gordon Davies (Fulham), 24 [3]
← 1980–81 1982–83 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Burnley	46	13	7	3	37	20	8	10	5	29	25	+21	80	Division Champions, promoted
2	Carlisle United	46	17	4	2	44	21	6	7	10	21	29	+15	80	Promoted
3	Fulham	46	12	9	2	44	22	9	6	8	33	29	+26	78
4	Lincoln City	46	13	7	3	40	16	8	7	8	26	24	+26	77
5	Oxford United	46	10	8	5	28	18	9	6	8	35	31	+14	71
6	Gillingham	46	14	5	4	44	26	6	6	11	20	30	+8	71
7	Southend United	46	11	7	5	35	23	7	8	8	28	28	+12	69
8	Brentford	46	8	6	9	28	22	11	5	7	28	25	+9	68
9	Millwall	46	12	4	7	36	28	6	9	8	26	34	0	67
10	Plymouth Argyle	46	12	5	6	37	24	6	6	11	27	32	+8	65
11	Chesterfield	46	12	4	7	33	27	6	6	11	24	31	−1	64
12	Reading	46	11	6	6	43	35	6	5	12	24	40	−8	62
13	Portsmouth	46	11	10	2	33	14	3	9	11	23	37	+5	61
14	Preston North End	46	10	7	6	25	22	6	6	11	25	34	−6	61
15	Bristol Rovers	46	12	4	7	35	28	6	5	12	23	37	−7	61[lower-alpha 1]
16	Newport County	46	9	10	4	28	21	5	6	12	26	33	0	58
17	Huddersfield Town	46	10	5	8	38	25	5	7	11	26	34	+5	57
18	Exeter City	46	14	4	5	46	33	2	5	16	25	51	−13	57
19	Doncaster Rovers	46	9	9	5	31	24	4	8	11	24	44	−13	56
20	Walsall	46	10	7	6	32	23	3	7	13	19	32	−4	53
21	Wimbledon	46	10	6	7	33	27	4	5	14	28	48	−14	53	Relegated
22	Swindon Town	46	9	5	9	37	36	4	8	11	18	35	−16	52
23	Bristol City	46	7	6	10	24	29	4	7	12	16	36	−25	46
24	Chester	46	2	10	11	16	30	5	1	17	20	48	−42	32

Source: rsssf.com (incorrect), source=11v11.com
Notes:

1. 2 points deducted

Results

Home \ Away	BRE	BRI	BRR	BUR	CRL	CHE	CHF	DON	EXE	FUL	GIL	HUD	LIN	MIL	NPC	OXF	PLY	POR	PNE	REA	STD	SWI	WAL	WDN
Brentford		0–1	1–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	2–0	2–2	2–0	0–1	0–1	0–1	3–1	4–1	2–0	1–2	0–0	2–2	0–0	1–2	0–1	4–2	0–0	2–3
Bristol City	0–1		1–2	2–3	1–1	1–0	0–0	2–2	3–2	0–0	2–1	0–0	0–1	4–1	2–1	0–2	3–2	0–1	0–0	2–0	0–2	0–3	0–1	1–3
Bristol Rovers	1–2	1–0		2–1	0–1	2–2	1–0	3–0	3–2	1–2	2–0	3–2	0–2	0–1	2–0	1–0	2–3	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–4	2–1	2–2
Burnley	0–0	2–0	4–0		1–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	3–3	2–2	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	2–0	3–0	3–5	0–2	2–1	2–2
Carlisle United	1–0	2–2	1–2	1–0		3–0	3–0	2–0	3–2	1–2	2–0	2–2	1–0	2–1	2–2	2–1	3–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	3–2	1–1	2–1	2–1
Chester	1–2	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–1		0–2	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–0	3–1	1–2	0–0	0–2	2–2	0–3	3–2	0–1	2–3	1–1	0–0	0–0	1–1
Chesterfield	0–2	1–0	2–0	1–2	1–0	3–5		3–1	2–1	3–0	1–3	1–0	0–2	0–1	1–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–0	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–0	2–0
Doncaster Rovers	1–0	2–2	4–2	0–1	1–1	4–3	0–0		3–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	4–1	1–0	0–2	1–1	2–2	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–3
Exeter City	3–1	4–0	1–3	2–1	2–1	3–0	0–3	2–1		1–0	1–1	1–0	1–2	5–4	1–0	1–2	1–1	3–3	4–3	4–3	1–1	1–2	2–0	2–1
Fulham	1–2	2–1	4–2	1–1	4–1	2–0	1–0	3–1	4–1		0–0	2–2	1–1	0–0	3–1	0–0	1–3	1–1	3–0	2–2	2–1	2–0	1–1	4–1
Gillingham	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	0–0	0–1	3–2	3–0	2–3	2–0		3–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	3–2	4–2	0–2	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–4	6–1
Huddersfield Town	1–1	5–0	0–2	1–2	2–1	1–2	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	2–0		0–2	1–2	2–0	2–0	0–0	0–1	2–3	6–1	3–2	3–0	2–1	1–1
Lincoln City	1–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	0–0	3–0	2–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0		0–1	2–2	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–2	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	5–1
Millwall	0–1	2–0	0–0	4–3	1–2	2–1	3–2	0–2	5–1	4–3	1–2	1–3	1–1		1–0	1–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–1
Newport County	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–3	4–2	1–0	0–0	1–1		3–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	3–2	1–0	2–2	0–0
Oxford United	1–2	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	3–1	1–1	3–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–1		1–0	0–2	3–0	1–0	0–2	5–0	0–1	0–3
Plymouth Argyle	1–0	2–1	4–0	1–1	1–0	5–1	0–2	4–2	2–1	3–1	1–2	1–1	0–2	2–1	1–2	0–1		0–0	0–3	1–1	0–0	2–1	4–1	2–0
Portsmouth	2–2	2–0	0–0	1–2	1–2	2–0	5–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–2	0–0	1–1	1–0		1–1	3–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	1–0
Preston North End	1–3	1–3	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	2–0	3–1	1–0	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	2–2	1–0	1–0		0–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	3–2
Reading	4–1	3–1	0–3	1–1	2–2	4–1	0–2	3–3	4–0	0–3	3–2	1–2	3–2	4–0	2–1	0–3	2–2	2–1	2–1		0–2	1–1	0–0	2–1
Southend	1–1	3–0	1–0	1–4	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	3–0	4–0	0–2	2–2	0–4	0–1	3–0	2–0	2–2	2–0		0–0	3–2	2–0
Swindon Town	0–3	0–0	5–2	1–2	2–1	3–0	1–2	2–2	3–2	1–4	0–1	1–5	1–0	1–2	1–1	3–2	0–2	2–0	4–0	0–2	0–0		2–2	4–1
Walsall	3–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	3–1	1–3	0–1	3–1	0–3	1–2	0–1	5–0		1–0
Wimbledon	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–0	3–1	1–0	3–1	0–1	1–1	1–3	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–3	2–3	2–3	2–1	3–2	3–2	0–0	3–0	1–1	2–0

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Brentford

Fulham

Millwall

Wimbledon

Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1981–1982

Brentford

Bristol City

Bristol Rovers

Burnley

Carlisle United

Chester

Chesterfield

Doncaster

Exeter City

Gillingham

Fulham

Huddersfield

Lincoln City

Millwall

Oxford

Newport County

Plymouth Argyle

Portsmouth

Preston North End

Reading

Southend

Swindon

Walsall

Wimbledon

Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1981–1982

Fourth Division

Football League
Fourth Division

Season	1981–82
Champions	Sheffield United (1st title)
Promoted	Bournemouth, Bradford City, Wigan Athletic
Failed re-election	None
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,512 (2.74 per match)
Top goalscorer	Keith Edwards (Hull City / Sheffield United) 36 [3]
← 1980–81 1982–83 →

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.

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Sheffield United	46	15	8	0	53	15	12	7	4	41	26	+53	96	Division Champions, promoted
2	Bradford City	46	14	7	2	52	23	12	6	5	36	22	+43	91	Promoted
3	Wigan Athletic	46	17	5	1	47	18	9	8	6	33	28	+34	91
4	Bournemouth	46	12	10	1	37	15	11	9	3	25	15	+32	88
5	Peterborough United	46	16	3	4	46	22	8	7	8	25	35	+14	82
6	Colchester United	46	12	6	5	47	23	8	6	9	35	34	+25	72
7	Port Vale	46	9	12	2	26	17	9	4	10	30	32	+7	70
8	Hull City	46	14	3	6	36	23	5	9	9	34	38	+9	69
9	Bury	46	13	7	3	53	26	4	10	9	27	33	+21	68
10	Hereford United	46	10	9	4	36	25	6	10	7	28	33	+6	67
11	Tranmere Rovers	46	7	9	7	27	25	7	9	7	24	31	−5	60
12	Blackpool	46	11	5	7	40	26	4	8	11	26	34	+6	58
13	Darlington	46	10	5	8	36	28	5	8	10	25	34	−1	58
14	Hartlepool United	46	9	8	6	39	34	4	8	11	34	50	−11	55
15	Torquay United	46	9	8	6	30	25	5	5	13	17	34	−12	55
16	Aldershot	46	8	7	8	34	29	5	8	10	23	39	−11	54
17	York City	46	9	5	9	45	37	5	3	15	24	54	−22	50
18	Stockport County	46	10	5	8	34	28	2	8	13	14	39	−19	49
19	Halifax Town	46	6	11	6	28	30	3	11	9	23	42	−21	49
20	Mansfield Town	46	8	6	9	39	39	5	4	14	24	42	−18	49
21	Rochdale	46	7	9	7	26	22	3	7	13	24	40	−12	46	Re-elected
22	Northampton Town	46	9	5	9	32	27	2	4	17	25	57	−27	42
23	Scunthorpe United	46	7	9	7	26	35	2	6	15	17	44	−36	42
24	Crewe Alexandra	46	3	6	14	19	32	3	3	17	10	52	−55	27

Source:

Results

Home \ Away	ALD	BLP	BOU	BRA	BRY	COL	CRE	DAR	HAL	HAR	HER	HUL	MAN	NOR	PET	PTV	ROC	SCU	SHU	STP	TOR	TRA	WIG	YOR
Aldershot		3–2	2–0	0–2	1–2	1–1	3–0	0–0	3–1	1–2	2–2	0–3	2–3	2–1	0–1	1–2	2–2	4–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–0	0–1
Blackpool	0–2		0–3	1–0	1–1	0–0	5–0	1–0	7–1	2–2	1–0	3–1	2–3	1–0	2–2	2–3	1–1	2–0	0–1	2–0	2–1	1–2	1–2	3–1
Bournemouth	2–2	1–0		0–2	3–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	5–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–0	4–0	1–1	0–0	5–1
Bradford City	4–1	1–0	2–2		1–1	2–1	4–1	3–0	5–2	1–0	0–0	1–1	3–4	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	0–2	5–1	3–0	1–1	3–3	6–2
Bury	1–1	0–1	2–2	1–1		4–3	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–2	7–1	3–1	3–2	3–0	4–0	1–1	2–0	0–1	4–0	5–3	3–1
Colchester United	1–1	2–1	1–2	1–2	1–1		1–1	1–0	1–1	3–3	4–0	2–0	0–1	5–1	1–1	1–0	3–2	2–1	5–2	0–1	3–0	4–0	1–2	4–0
Crewe Alexandra	2–3	1–1	0–0	0–1	1–2	1–3		1–0	0–1	1–2	1–0	1–1	0–2	2–2	0–1	0–2	1–2	3–0	2–3	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–1
Darlington	0–1	2–2	0–1	1–5	2–3	1–2	1–0		1–1	5–2	0–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	4–1	0–2	2–0	1–1	1–2	3–1	3–1
Halifax Town	2–2	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–2	2–1	3–3		2–0	1–2	2–2	2–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	1–5	4–1	1–2	0–2	0–0	0–0
Hartlepool	2–2	2–2	1–1	0–2	1–0	1–3	1–2	1–2	3–2		2–1	3–2	3–0	3–1	0–1	3–1	1–1	3–3	2–3	2–2	0–0	0–0	2–1	3–2
Hereford United	0–1	2–1	1–2	1–2	3–0	2–2	4–1	1–1	2–2	1–1		2–2	3–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	0–3	1–1	3–0	2–1
Hull City	1–2	1–0	0–0	2–1	3–2	2–3	1–0	1–3	2–0	5–2	2–1		2–0	0–1	1–1	3–1	2–1	2–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–2	0–2	2–0
Mansfield Town	1–0	2–2	0–1	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–1	2–3	3–2	3–2	2–1	3–3		4–1	1–2	1–3	4–3	1–1	1–1	2–2	3–1	3–0	1–2	0–2
Northampton Town	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–2	1–0	1–2	3–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	2–3	1–1	1–1		1–0	3–5	2–1	1–1	1–2	0–0	2–0	3–2	2–3	5–0
Peterborough United	7–1	3–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–2	3–0	3–1	0–0	4–4	3–1	3–0	1–0	1–0		1–0	5–1	2–1	0–4	2–0	1–0	1–2	0–3	0–1
Port Vale	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–0	2–2	0–0	5–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–3		1–1	2–1	0–2	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	0–0
Rochdale	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–0	3–2	0–1	2–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	5–3	1–1	1–2		1–1	0–1	4–1	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–0
Scunthorpe United	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–3	2–2	2–1	0–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–2	4–4	1–0	2–1	0–1	0–0	1–0		2–1	0–0	0–2	2–1	2–7	0–3
Sheffield United	2–0	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	4–0	0–0	2–2	1–1	2–2	0–0	4–1	7–3	4–0	2–1	3–1	1–0		4–0	4–1	2–0	1–0	4–0
Stockport County	4–2	2–3	1–2	2–3	2–1	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	0–2	1–1	1–2	3–0	0–0	3–0	1–2	0–4	1–1	1–0		2–1	1–1	0–1	4–1
Torquay United	2–1	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–2	2–2	1–1	1–2	2–1	2–0	2–2	1–2	0–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–0		1–2	0–0	3–2
Tranmere	1–0	3–1	0–1	1–1	1–3	2–1	3–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	2–2	2–2	0–2	1–2	1–2	2–0	0–1	2–2	2–0	1–1		0–0	0–2
Wigan Athletic	1–0	2–1	0–0	4–1	3–2	3–2	3–0	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	3–1	3–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	0–1	2–1	1–0	0–0		4–2
York City	4–0	0–4	0–1	0–3	0–0	3–0	6–0	2–2	4–0	1–2	3–4	1–3	2–1	2–1	4–3	2–0	1–2	3–1	3–4	2–2	1–1	1–3	0–0

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Aldershot

Blackpool

Bournemouth

Bradford C.

Bury

Colchester

Crewe Alexandra

Darlington

Halifax T.

Hartlepool

Hereford United

Hull

Mansfield Town

Northampton Town

Peterborough

Port Vale

Rochdale

Scunthorpe & Lindsey

Sheffield United

Stockport

Torquay

Tranmere

Wigan Athletic

York City

Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1981–1982

Election/Re-election to the Football League

This year Runcorn, the winners of the Alliance Premier League, could not apply for election because they did not meet Football League requirements. 2nd placed Enfield could not apply either for the same reasons, so 3rd placed Telford United won the right to apply for election to the Football League to replace one of the four bottom sides in the 1981–82 Football League Fourth Division. The vote went as follows:

Club	Final Position	Votes
Northampton Town	22nd (Fourth Division)	53
Crewe Alexandra	24th (Fourth Division)	50
Rochdale	21st (Fourth Division)	48
Hartlepool United	23rd (Fourth Division)	48
Telford United	3rd (Alliance Premier League)	13

As a result of this, all four Football League teams were re-elected, and Telford United were denied membership of the League.

See also

• 1981-82 in English football

References

1. "England 1981–82". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
2. Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
3. "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2010-10-31.

• Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.