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1983–84 Manchester United F.C. season

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Manchester United
1983–84 season
ChairmanMartin Edwards
ManagerRon Atkinson
First Division4th
FA CupThird round
League CupFourth round
Cup Winners' CupSemi-finals
Charity ShieldWinners
Top goalscorerLeague:
Frank Stapleton (13)
All:
Frank Stapleton (19)
Highest home attendance58,547 vs Barcelona (21 March 1984)
Lowest home attendance23,589 vs Port Vale (26 October 1983)
Average home league attendance42,215

The 1983–84 season was Manchester United's 82nd season in the Football League, and their 9th consecutive season in the top division of English football.[1] As FA Cup holders they suffered a shock exit at the hands of Third Division underdogs Bournemouth in the third round, but did reach the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup and were narrowly defeated by Juventus. They frequently led the league during the season but eventually finish fourth, having been held to a draw in 14 out of 42 games despite losing just eight times. Perhaps the most memorable game of the season was the European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final clash with Barcelona of Spain, a side featuring Diego Maradona. After going 2–0 down in the first leg, United achieved a remarkable 3–0 win in the return leg at Old Trafford.[2]

It was the breakthrough season at the club for young striker Mark Hughes, who scored four times late in the season, and the final season at the club for midfielder Ray Wilkins who exited Old Trafford at the end of the campaign to sign for Milan. Captain Bryan Robson stayed at the club despite an attempt to sign him by Italian side Juventus.

The close season saw the arrival of wingers Gordon Strachan and Jesper Olsen and the departure of Lou Macari to Swindon Town.

Pre-season

[edit]
Action from the preseason game against Feyenoord; Johan Cruyff at centre.

United competed in the 1983 Amsterdam Tournament.

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
12 August 1983 Semi-final Feyenoord N 1–2 Stapleton 44'
14 August 1983 Third-place playoff Ajax A 0–1

FA Charity Shield

[edit]
Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
20 August 1983 Liverpool N 2–0 Robson (2) 92,000

First Division

[edit]
Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
27 August 1983 Queens Park Rangers H 3–1 Mühren (2), Stapleton 48,742
29 August 1983 Nottingham Forest H 1–2 Moran 43,005
3 September 1983 Stoke City A 1–0 Mühren 23,704
6 September 1983 Arsenal A 3–2 Moran, Robson, Stapleton 42,703
10 September 1983 Luton Town H 2–0 Albiston, Mühren 41,013
17 September 1983 Southampton A 0–3 20,674
24 September 1983 Liverpool H 1–0 Stapleton 56,121
1 October 1983 Norwich City A 3–3 Whiteside (2), Stapleton 19,290
15 October 1983 West Bromwich Albion H 3–0 Albiston, Graham, Whiteside 42,221
22 October 1983 Sunderland A 1–0 Wilkins 26,826
29 October 1983 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 3–0 Stapleton (2), Robson 41,880
5 November 1983 Aston Villa H 1–2 Robson 45,077
12 November 1983 Leicester City A 1–1 Robson 24,409
19 November 1983 Watford H 4–1 Stapleton (3), Robson 43,111
27 November 1983 West Ham United A 1–1 Wilkins 23,355
3 December 1983 Everton H 0–1 43,664
10 December 1983 Ipswich Town A 2–0 Crooks, Graham 19,779
16 December 1983 Tottenham Hotspur H 4–2 Graham (2), Moran (2) 33,616
26 December 1983 Coventry City A 1–1 Mühren 21,553
27 December 1983 Notts County H 3–3 Crooks, McQueen, Moran 41,544
31 December 1983 Stoke City H 1–0 Graham 40,164
2 January 1984 Liverpool A 1–1 Whiteside 44,622
13 January 1984 Queens Park Rangers A 1–1 Robson 16,308
21 January 1984 Southampton H 3–2 Mühren, Robson, Stapleton 40,371
4 February 1984 Norwich City H 0–0 36,851
7 February 1984 Birmingham City A 2–2 Hogg, Whiteside 19,957
12 February 1984 Luton Town A 5–0 Robson (2), Whiteside (2), Stapleton 11,265
18 February 1984 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–1 Whiteside 20,676
25 February 1984 Sunderland H 2–1 Moran (2) 40,615
3 March 1984 Aston Villa A 3–0 Moses, Robson, Whiteside 32,874
10 March 1984 Leicester City H 2–0 Hughes, Moses 39,473
17 March 1984 Arsenal H 4–0 Mühren (2), Robson, Stapleton 48,942
31 March 1984 West Bromwich Albion A 0–2 28,104
7 April 1984 Birmingham City H 1–0 Robson 39,896
14 April 1984 Notts County A 0–1 13,911
17 April 1984 Watford A 0–0 20,764
21 April 1984 Coventry City H 4–1 Hughes (2), McGrath, Wilkins 38,524
28 April 1984 West Ham United H 0–0 44,124
5 May 1984 Everton A 1–1 Stapleton 28,802
7 May 1984 Ipswich Town H 1–2 Hughes 44,257
12 May 1984 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–1 Whiteside 39,790
16 May 1984 Nottingham Forest A 0–2 23,651

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
2 Southampton 42 22 11 9 66 38 +28 77 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Nottingham Forest 42 22 8 12 76 45 +31 74
4 Manchester United 42 20 14 8 71 41 +30 74
5 Queens Park Rangers 42 22 7 13 67 37 +30 73
6 Arsenal 42 18 9 15 74 60 +14 63
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored

FA Cup

[edit]
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
7 January 1984 Round 3 Bournemouth A 0–2 14,782

League Cup

[edit]
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
3 October 1983 Round 2
First leg 		Port Vale A 1–0 Stapleton 19,885
26 October 1983 Round 2
Second leg 		Port Vale H 2–0 Whiteside, Wilkins 23,589
8 November 1983 Round 3 Colchester United A 2–0 McQueen, Moses 13,031
30 November 1983 Round 4 Oxford United A 1–1 Hughes 13,739
7 December 1983 Round 4
Replay 		Oxford United H 1–1 Stapleton 27,459
19 December 1983 Round 4
2nd Replay 		Oxford United A 1–2 Graham 13,912

Cup Winners' Cup

[edit]
Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A 		Scorers Attendance
14 September 1983 Round 1
First leg 		Dukla Prague H 1–1 Wilkins 39,745
27 September 1983 Round 1
Second leg 		Dukla Prague A 2–2 Robson, Stapleton 28,850
19 October 1983 Round 2
First leg 		Spartak Varna A 2–1 Graham, Robson 40,000
2 November 1983 Round 2
Second leg 		Spartak Varna H 2–0 Stapleton (2) 39,079
7 March 1984 Round 3
First leg 		Barcelona A 0–2 70,000
21 March 1984 Round 3
Second leg 		Barcelona H 3–0 Robson (2), Stapleton 58,547
11 April 1984 Semi-final
First leg 		Juventus H 1–1 Davies 58,171
25 April 1984 Semi-final
Second leg 		Juventus A 1–2 Whiteside 64,655

Squad statistics

[edit]
Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup UEFA Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Gary Bailey 40 0 1 0 5 0 8 0 1 0 55 0
GK England Jeff Wealands 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
DF Scotland Arthur Albiston 40 2 1 0 6 0 8 0 1 0 56 2
DF Wales Clayton Blackmore 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DF England Mike Duxbury 39 0 1 0 6 0 8 0 1 0 55 0
DF England John Gidman 4 0 0 0 1 0 1(1) 0 0(1) 0 6(2) 0
DF Scotland Graeme Hogg 16 1 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 21 1
DF Republic of Ireland Paul McGrath 9 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 12 1
DF Scotland Gordon McQueen 20 1 0 0 4 1 4 0 1 0 29 2
DF Republic of Ireland Kevin Moran 38 7 0 0 5 0 8 0 1 0 52 7
MF Wales Alan Davies 3 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 1 0 0 3(1) 1
MF England Mark Dempsey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0 0(1) 0
MF Scotland Arthur Graham 33(4) 5 1 0 5 1 6(1) 1 1 0 46(5) 7
MF Scotland Lou Macari 0(5) 0 0(1) 0 0(2) 0 2 0 0 0 2(8) 0
MF England Remi Moses 31(4) 2 1 0 5(1) 1 5(1) 0 0 0 42(6) 3
MF Netherlands Arnold Mühren 26 8 1 0 2 0 5 0 1 0 35 8
MF England Bryan Robson 33 12 1 0 6 0 6 4 1 2 47 18
MF England Ray Wilkins 42 3 1 0 6 1 6 1 1 0 56 5
FW England Garth Crooks 6(1) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6(1) 2
FW Wales Mark Hughes 7(4) 4 0 0 1(1) 1 2(2) 0 0 0 10(7) 5
FW Republic of Ireland Frank Stapleton 42 13 1 0 6 2 8 4 1 0 58 19
FW Northern Ireland Norman Whiteside 30(7) 10 1 0 6 1 5(1) 1 1 0 43(8) 12

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Manchester United Season 1983/84". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Managers–Ron Atkinson". AboutManUtd.com. About ManUtd. Retrieved 9 March 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
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