1981–82 Manchester United F.C. season

Manchester United
1981–82 season
Chairman	Martin Edwards
Manager	Ron Atkinson
First Division	3rd
FA Cup	Third Round
League Cup	Second Round
Top goalscorer	League: ; Frank Stapleton (13); All: ; Frank Stapleton (13)
Highest home attendance	57,830 vs Manchester City (27 February 1982)
Lowest home attendance	34,499 vs Coventry City (17 March 1982)
Average home league attendance	42,744
	← 1980–81 1982–83 →

The 1981–82 season was Manchester United's 80th season in the Football League, and their 7th consecutive season in the top division of English football.^[1]

United had finished eighth in the league the previous season, with manager Dave Sexton being sacked after his four-year spell in charge had failed to deliver a major trophy. His successor was West Bromwich Albion manager Ron Atkinson. One of Atkinson's first moves as manager was to bolster the club's attack with the £950,000 signing of Frank Stapleton from Arsenal, while the previous season's top scorer Joe Jordan was sold to AC Milan. Atkinson retained the services of Garry Birtles, who had been a disappointment in his first season with United, scoring just once in his first 28 games. Birtles had a more successful second season at Old Trafford, finding the net 11 times.

In early October, he brought midfielder Bryan Robson to Old Trafford from his former club West Bromwich Albion for a British record fee of £1.5million. He also signed fellow Albion midfielder Remi Moses for £500,000. Long-serving Northern Ireland international, Sammy McIlroy, left the club after 13 years when he signed for Stoke City in February.

After constantly leading the league during the first half of the season, United finished the season third in the league and qualified for the UEFA Cup, while the league title went to Liverpool (who surged in the second half of the season after being mid table at Christmas) and Ipswich Town finished second. Late in the season came the debut of teenage forward Norman Whiteside, who at the age of 17 was selected for the Northern Ireland squad at the FIFA World Cup. He also scored for United on the last day of the league season in only his second senior appearance for the club.^[2]

First Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
29 August 1981	Coventry City	A	1–2	Macari	19,329
31 August 1981	Nottingham Forest	H	0–0		51,496
5 September 1981	Ipswich Town	H	1–2	Stapleton	45,555
12 September 1981	Aston Villa	A	1–1	Stapleton	37,661
19 September 1981	Swansea City	H	1–0	Birtles	47,309
22 September 1981	Middlesbrough	A	2–0	Stapleton, Birtles	19,895
26 September 1981	Arsenal	A	0–0		39,795
30 September 1981	Leeds United	H	1–0	Stapleton	47,019
3 October 1981	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	5–0	Stapleton, McIlroy (3), Birtles	46,837
10 October 1981	Manchester City	A	0–0		52,037
17 October 1981	Birmingham City	H	1–1	Coppell	48,800
21 October 1981	Middlesbrough	H	1–0	Moses	38,342
24 October 1981	Liverpool	A	2–1	Moran, Albiston	41,438
31 October 1981	Notts County	H	2–1	Birtles, Moses	45,928
7 November 1981	Sunderland	A	5–1	Moran, Robson, Stapleton (2), Birtles	27,070
21 November 1981	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–3	Birtles	35,534
28 November 1981	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	2–0	Birtles, Stapleton	41,911
5 December 1981	Southampton	A	2–3	Stapleton, Robson	24,404
6 January 1982	Everton	H	1–1	Stapleton	40,451
23 January 1982	Stoke City	A	3–0	Coppell, Stapleton (pen.), Birtles	19,793
27 January 1982	West Ham United	H	1–0	Macari	41,291
30 January 1982	Swansea City	A	0–2		24,115
6 February 1982	Aston Villa	H	4–1	Moran (2), Robson, Coppell	43,184
13 February 1982	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–0	Birtles	22,481
20 February 1982	Arsenal	H	0–0		43,833
27 February 1982	Manchester City	H	1–1	Moran	57,830
6 March 1982	Birmingham City	A	1–0	Birtles	19,637
17 March 1982	Coventry City	H	0–1		34,499
20 March 1982	Notts County	A	3–1	Coppell (2), Stapleton	17,048
27 March 1982	Sunderland	H	0–0		40,776
3 April 1982	Leeds United	A	0–0		30,953
7 April 1982	Liverpool	H	0–1		48,371
10 April 1982	Everton	A	3–3	Coppell (2), Grimes	29,306
12 April 1982	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–0	Moran	38,717
17 April 1982	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–0	Coppell (pen.), McGarvey	50,724
20 April 1982	Ipswich Town	A	1–2	Gidman	25,744
24 April 1982	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	1–0	Wilkins	20,750
1 May 1982	Southampton	H	1–0	McGarvey	40,038
5 May 1982	Nottingham Forest	A	1–0	Stapleton	18,449
8 May 1982	West Ham United	A	1–1	Moran	26,337
12 May 1982	West Bromwich Albion	A	3–0	Robson, Birtles, Coppell	19,707
15 May 1982	Stoke City	H	2–0	Robson, Whiteside	43,072

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool (C)	42	26	9	7	80	32	+48	87	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Ipswich Town	42	26	5	11	75	53	+22	83	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Manchester United	42	22	12	8	59	29	+30	78	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Tottenham Hotspur	42	20	11	11	67	48	+19	71	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round^[a]
5	Arsenal	42	20	11	11	48	37	+11	71	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:

^ Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1981–82 FA Cup winners.

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
2 January 1982	Round 3	Watford	A	0–1		26,104

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
7 October 1981	Round 2 First leg	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–1		39,333
28 October 1981	Round 2 Second leg	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–1		55,890

Squad statistics

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Milk Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Gary Bailey	39	0	1	0	2	0	42	0
GK	Paddy Roche	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
DF	Arthur Albiston	42	1	1	0	2	0	45	1
DF	Martin Buchan	27	0	1	0	2	0	30	0
DF	Mike Duxbury	19(5)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	19(6)	0
DF	John Gidman	36(1)	1	1	0	2	0	39(1)	1
DF	Gordon McQueen	21	0	0	0	0	0	21	0
DF	Kevin Moran	30	7	1	0	2	0	33	7
DF	Jimmy Nicholl	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0
MF	Steve Coppell	35(1)	9	0	0	2	0	37(1)	9
MF	Alan Davies	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Ashley Grimes	9(1)	1	0	0	0	0	9(1)	1
MF	Lou Macari	10(1)	2	0(1)	0	0	0	10(2)	2
MF	Sammy McIlroy	12	3	1	0	1	0	14	3
MF	Remi Moses	20(1)	2	1	0	1	0	22(1)	2
MF	Bryan Robson	32	5	1	0	2	0	35	5
MF	Ray Wilkins	42	1	1	0	2	0	45	1
FW	Garry Birtles	32(1)	11	1	0	2	0	35(1)	11
FW	Scott McGarvey	10(6)	2	0	0	0	0	10(6)	2
FW	Frank Stapleton	41	13	1	0	2	0	44	13
FW	Norman Whiteside	1(1)	1	0	0	0	0	1(1)	1

References

^ "Manchester United Season 1981/82". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
^ "1982 FIFA World Cup Spain". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 7 August 2011. Archived from the original on 3 June 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2012.

[table_note_res_CWC1R0.76162798132823-3] Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1981–82 FA Cup winners.

[1] "Manchester United Season 1981/82". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.

[2] "1982 FIFA World Cup Spain". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 7 August 2011. Archived from the original on 3 June 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2012.

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