1981–82 Liverpool F.C. season

After ending fifth the previous season Liverpool F.C. came back and won their thirteenth league title, after being twelfth in the league table at Christmas. They also won for the second successive season the Football League Cup beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at Wembley Stadium.

Liverpool F.C.

1981–82 season
Manager	Bob Paisley
First Division	Champions
European Cup	Quarter-finals
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Ian Rush (17) All: Ian Rush (30)
Home colours Away colours

However Liverpool were decisively beaten by Flamengo at the 1981 Intercontinental Cup final. Neither did they regain the European Cup, having been knocked out by CSKA Sofia in the Quarter Finals and surprisingly being knocked out by 2nd Division Chelsea in the 5th Round of the FA Cup.

It was also a season when there would be major changes in the team, with many of the players who won all the trophies over the previous few season, and replaced by players who would go on to be part of the team that remained successful for the rest of the decade. Players such as Bruce Grobbelaar, Mark Lawrenson, Ian Rush, Ronnie Whelan and Craig Johnston came into the team during the season and would make their mark on changing the side, that would go forward into the decade.

Squad

Goalkeepers

• Steve Ogrizovic
• Bruce Grobbelaar

Defenders

• Phil Neal
• Alan Hansen
• Phil Thompson
• Alan Kennedy
• Richard Money
• Mark Lawrenson

Midfielders

• Craig Johnston
• Sammy Lee
• Ray Kennedy
• Terry McDermott
• Kevin Sheedy
• Graeme Souness
• Ronnie Whelan
• Steve Nicol

Attackers

• David Fairclough
• Kenny Dalglish
• Howard Gayle
• David Johnson
• Ian Rush

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool	42	26	9	7	80	32	+48	87	European Cup 1982–83 First round[lower-alpha 1]
2	Ipswich Town	42	26	5	11	75	53	+22	83	UEFA Cup 1982–83 First round
3	Manchester United	42	22	12	8	59	29	+30	78
4	Tottenham Hotspur	42	20	11	11	67	48	+19	71	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1982–83 First round[lower-alpha 2]
5	Arsenal	42	20	11	11	48	37	+11	71	UEFA Cup 1982–83 First round

Source:
Notes:

1. Liverpool were also this season's League Cup Winners.
2. FA Cup winners

Results

First Division

Main article: 1981–82 Football League § First Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
29-Aug-81	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–1		28,001	Report	Report
01-Sep-81	Middlesbrough	H	1–1	Neal  53 Pen'	31,963	Report	Report
05-Sep-81	Arsenal	H	2–0	McDermott  44' Johnson  89'	35,269	Report	Report
12-Sep-81	Ipswich Town	A	0–2		26,703	Report	Report
19-Sep-81	Aston Villa	H	0–0		37,474	Report	Report
22-Sep-81	Coventry City	A	2–1	A Kennedy  2' McDermott  26 Pen'	16,731	Report	Report
26-Sep-81	West Ham United	A	1–1	Johnson  77'	30,802	Report	Report
03-Oct-81	Swansea City	H	2–2	McDermott  59 Pen', 64 Pen'	48,645	Report	Report
10-Oct-81	Leeds United	H	3–0	Rush  17', 89' Own Goal  26'	35,840	Report	Report
17-Oct-81	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	3–3	Dalglish  12' R Kennedy  39' McDermott  73'	26,321	Report	Report
24-Oct-81	Manchester United	H	1–2	McDermott  74 Pen'	41,438	Report	Report
31-Oct-81	Sunderland	A	2–0	Souness  61' McDermott  77'	27,854	Report	Report
07-Nov-81	Everton	H	3–1	Dalglish  47', 52' Rush  75'	48,861	Report	Report
21-Nov-81	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–1	Dalglish  90'	20,871	Report	Report
28-Nov-81	Southampton	H	0–1		37,189	Report	Report
05-Dec-81	Nottingham Forest	A	2–0	Lawrenson  57' R Kennedy  59'	24,521	Report	Report
26-Dec-81	Manchester City	H	1–3	Whelan  85'	37,929	Report	Report
05-Jan-82	West Ham United	H	3–0	McDermott  25' Whelan  27' Dalglish  68'	28,427	Report	Report
16-Jan-82	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–1	Whelan  74' Dalglish  82'	26,438	Report	Report
26-Jan-82	Notts County	A	4–0	Whelan  44' Rush  67', 75', 84'	14,407	Report	Report
30-Jan-82	Aston Villa	A	3–0	Rush  3' McDermott  23', 73'	35,947	Report	Report
06-Feb-82	Ipswich Town	H	4–0	McDermott  14' Rush  17' Dalglish  44' Whelan  57'	41,316	Report	Report
16-Feb-82	Swansea City	A	0–2		22,604	Report	Report
20-Feb-82	Coventry City	H	4–0	Souness  5' Lee  13' Rush  34' McDermott  64 Pen'	28,286	Report	Report
27-Feb-82	Leeds United	A	2–0	Souness  40' Rush  76'	33,689	Report	Report
06-Mar-82	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	0–1		28,574	Report	Report
09-Mar-82	Stoke City	A	5–1	McDermott  15' Dalglish  29' Souness  48' Lee  80' Whelan  87'	16,758	Report	Report
20-Mar-82	Sunderland	H	1–0	Rush  14'	30,344	Report	Report
27-Mar-82	Everton	A	3–1	Whelan  21' Souness  57' Johnston  81'	51,847	Report	Report
30-Mar-82	Birmingham City	H	3–1	Rush  10', 74' McDermott  78'	24,224	Report	Report
02-Apr-82	Notts County	H	1–0	Dalglish  61'	30,126	Report	Report
07-Apr-82	Manchester United	A	1–0	Johnston  63'	50,969	Report	Report
10-Apr-82	Manchester City	A	5–0	Lee  8' Neal  42 Pen' Johnston  58' A Kennedy  59' Rush  73'	40,112	Report	Report
13-Apr-82	Stoke City	H	2–0	A Kennedy  4' Johnston  34'	30,419	Report	Report
17-Apr-82	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–0	Dalglish  71'	34,286	Report	Report
24-Apr-82	Southampton	A	3–2	Rush  12' Whelan  57', 88'	24,704	Report	Report
01-May-82	Nottingham Forest	H	2–0	Johnston  55', 68'	34,321	Report	Report
03-May-82	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–2	Dalglish  50', 61'	38,091	Report	Report
08-May-82	Birmingham City	A	1–0	Rush  49'	26,381	Report	Report
11-May-82	Arsenal	A	1–1	Rush  31'	30,932	Report	Report
15-May-82	Tottenham Hotspur	H	3–1	Lawrenson  51' Dalglish  55' Whelan  87'	48,122	Report	Report
18-May-82	Middlesbrough	A	0–0		17,431	Report	Report

FA Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
02-Jan-82	Swansea City	A	4–0	Hansen  35' Rush  45', 88' Lawrenson  73'	24,179	Report	Report
23-Jan-82	Sunderland	A	3–0	Dalglish  6', 15' Rush  79'	28,582	Report	Report
13-Feb-82	Chelsea	A	0–2		41,42	Report	Report

Football League Cup

Main article: 1981–82 Football League Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
07-Oct-81	Exeter City	H	5–0	Rush  15', 67' McDermott  27' Dalglish  37' Whelan  68'	11,478	Report	Report
28-Oct-81	Exeter City	A	6–0	Rush  15', 89' Dalglish  23' Neal  44' Sheedy  53' Own Goal  80'	11,740	Report	Report
10-Nov-81	Middlesbrough	H	4–1	Sheedy  29' Rush  64' Johnson  74', 80'	16,145	Report	Report
01-Dec-81	Arsenal	A	0–0		37,917	Report	Report
08-Dec-81	Arsenal	H	3–0	Johnston  95' McDermott  101 Pen' Dalglish  108'	21,375	Report	Report
12-Jan-82	Barnsley	H	0–0		33,707	Report	Report
19-Jan-82	Barnsley	A	3–1	Souness  37' Johnson  81' Dalglish  89'	29,639	Report	Report
02-Feb-82	Ipswich Town	A	2–0	McDermott  47' Rush  49'	26,690	Report	Report
09-Feb-82	Ipswich Town	H	2–2	Rush  26' Dalglish  47'	34,933	Report	Report

League Cup Final

Main article: 1982 Football League Cup Final

13 March 1982

15:00 GMT

Liverpool	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Tottenham Hotspur
Whelan  87', 111' Rush  119'	Report	Archibald  11'

Wembley Stadium, London

GK 1 Bruce Grobbelaar RB 2 Phil Neal LB 3 Alan Kennedy CB 4 Phil Thompson LM 5 Ronnie Whelan CB 6 Mark Lawrenson CF 7 Kenny Dalglish RM 8 Sammy Lee CF 9 Ian Rush CM 10 Terry McDermott CM 11 Graeme Souness (c) Substitute: 12 David Johnson Manager: Bob Paisley

GK 1 Ray Clemence LB 2 Chris Hughton CB 3 Paul Miller CB 4 Paul Price RM 5 Mickey Hazard RB 6 Steve Perryman (c) CM 7 Osvaldo Ardiles CF 8 Steve Archibald LM 9 Tony Galvin CM 10 Glenn Hoddle CF 11 Garth Crooks Substitute: MF 12 Ricardo Villa Manager: Keith Burkinshaw

European Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
16-Sep-81	Oulu Palloseura	A	1–0	Dalglish  84'	8,400	Report	Report
30-Sep-81	Oulu Palloseura	H	7–0	Dalglish  26' McDermott  40', 75' R Kennedy  46' Johnson  60' Rush  67' Lawrenson  72'	20,789	Report	Report
21-Oct-81	AZ 67 Alkmaar	A	2–2	Johnson  26' Lee  49'	15,000	Report	Report
04-Nov-81	AZ 67 Alkmaar	H	3–2	McDermott  42 Pen' Rush  68' Hansen  85'	29,703	Report	Report
03-Mar-82	CSKA Sofia	H	1–0	Whelan  65'	27,388	Report	Report
17-Mar-82	CSKA Sofia	A	0–2		60,000	Report	Report

Intercontinental Cup

Main article: 1981 Intercontinental Cup

13 December 1981

12:00 JST

Liverpool	0–3 [1]	Flamengo
	Report	Nunes  12'  41' Adílio  34'

National Stadium, Tokyo

Attendance: 62,000

Referee: Rubio Vásquez (Mexico)

Liverpool

Flamengo

GK 1 Bruce Grobbelaar RB 2 Phil Neal CB 4 Phil Thompson (c) CB 6 Alan Hansen LB 3 Mark Lawrenson RM 14 Sammy Lee CM 10 Terry McDermott  51' CM 11 Graeme Souness LM 5 Ray Kennedy SS 7 Kenny Dalglish CF 16 Craig Johnston Substitutes: GK 13 Steve Ogrizovic DF 15 Alan Kennedy MF 17 Kevin Sheedy MF 8 Ronnie Whelan FW 12 David Johnson  51' Manager: Bob Paisley

GK 1 Raul RB 2 Leandro CB 13 Marinho CB 4 Mozer LB 5 Júnior DM 6 Andrade MF 8 Adílio AM 10 Zico (c) FW 7 Tita CF 9 Nunes FW 11 Lico Substitutes: GK 12 Cantarele DF 3 Figueiredo FW 15 Peu FW 16 Baroninho DF 17 Nei Dias Manager: Paulo Carpegiani

References

• LFC History.net – Games for the 1981–82 season
• Liverweb - Games for the 1981-82 season

1. "Liverpool in Europe – 1981/82 European / South American Cup Final". Liverpool in Europe. Retrieved 1 December 2010.