1981–82 Football League Group Cup

Football tournament season

1981–82 Football League Group Cup
Tournament details
Country	England Wales
Dates	15 August 1981 – 6 April 1982
Teams	32
Final positions
Champions	Grimsby Town (1st title)
Runner-up	Wimbledon
Tournament statistics
Matches played	55
Goals scored	131 (2.38 per match)
All statistics correct as of 6 April 1982.
1982–83 →

The 1981–82 Football League Group Cup was the first edition of the tournament that replaced the Anglo-Scottish Cup. It was won by Grimsby Town, who beat Wimbledon 3–2 in the final at Blundell Park.

First round

Group A

Home team	Result	Away team	Date
Burnley	4–2	Carlisle United	15 August 1981
Preston North End	2–1	Blackpool	15 August 1981
Carlisle United	1–0	Blackpool	18 August 1981
Preston North End	0–1	Burnley	18 August 1981
Blackpool	0–0	Burnley	22 August 1981
Carlisle United	3–0	Preston North End	22 August 1981

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
Burnley	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	1	8
Carlisle United	3	2	0	1	6	4	+2	1	7
Preston North End	3	1	0	2	2	5	-3	0	3
Blackpool	3	0	1	2	1	3	-2	0	1

Group B

Home team	Result	Away team	Date
Bradford City	2–1	Hull City	15 August 1981
Hartlepool United	0–1	Rotherham United	15 August 1981
Hull City	0–1	Rotherham United	18 August 1981
Hartlepool United	0–1	Bradford City	19 August 1981
Bradford City	3–0	Rotherham United	22 August 1981
Hull City	1–0	Hartlepool United	22 August 1981

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
Bradford City	3	3	0	6	1	+5	1	10
Rotherham United	3	2	1	2	3	-1	0	6
Hull City	3	1	2	2	3	-1	0	3
Hartlepool United	3	0	3	0	3	-3	0	0

Group C

Home team	Result	Away team	Date
Grimsby Town	1–0	Chesterfield	15 August 1981
Sheffield United	2–1	Doncaster Rovers	15 August 1981
Doncaster Rovers	2–0	Chesterfield	18 August 1981
Grimsby Town	2–0	Sheffield United	18 August 1981
Chesterfield	1–1	Sheffield United	21 August 1981
Doncaster Rovers	0–2	Grimsby Town	22 August 1981

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Grimsby Town	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9
Doncaster Rovers	3	1	0	2	3	4	-1	3
Sheffield United	3	1	1	1	3	4	-1	3
Chesterfield	3	0	1	2	1	4	-3	1

Group D

Home team	Result	Away team	Date
Lincoln City	1–1	Notts County	15 August 1981
Norwich City	2–2	Peterborough United	15 August 1981
Lincoln City	0–1	Norwich City	18 August 1981
Peterborough United	3–1	Notts County	19 August 1981
Norwich City	3–0	Notts County	22 August 1981
Peterborough United	3–1	Lincoln City	22 August 1981

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
Peterborough United	3	2	1	0	8	4	+4	2	9
Norwich City	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	1	8
Lincoln City	3	0	1	2	2	5	-3	0	3
Notts County	3	0	1	2	2	7	-5	0	1

Group E

Home team	Result	Away team	Date
Bolton Wanderers	0–2	Shrewsbury Town	15 August 1981
Bury	1–2	Chester	15 August 1981
Bury	2–2	Bolton Wanderers	18 August 1981
Shrewsbury Town	1–0	Chester	18 August 1981
Bury	3–2	Shrewsbury Town	22 August 1981
Chester	1–2	Bolton Wanderers	22 August 1981

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
Shrewsbury Town	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	0	6
Bury	3	1	1	1	6	6	0	1	5
Bolton Wanderers	3	1	1	1	4	5	-1	0	4
Chester	3	1	0	2	3	4	-1	0	3

Group F

Home team	Result	Away team	Date
Newport County	0–0	Torquay United	15 August 1981
Plymouth Argyle	0–0	Bournemouth	15 August 1981
Bournemouth	1–1	Torquay United	18 August 1981
Newport County	2–1	Plymouth Argyle	18 August 1981
Torquay United	1–1	Plymouth Argyle	21 August 1981
Bournemouth	0–0	Newport County	22 August 1981

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Newport County	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
Bournemouth	3	0	3	0	1	1	0	3
Torquay United	3	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
Plymouth Argyle	3	0	2	1	2	3	-1	2

Group G

Home team	Result	Away team	Date
Oxford United	0–1	Aldershot	15 August 1981
Watford	4–1	Reading	15 August 1981
Oxford United	2–4	Watford	19 August 1981
Reading	4–0	Aldershot	19 August 1981
Aldershot	1–1	Watford	22 August 1981
Reading	2–0	Oxford United	22 August 1981

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
Watford	3	2	1	0	9	4	+5	2	9
Reading	3	2	0	1	7	4	+2	1	7
Aldershot	3	1	1	1	2	5	-3	0	4
Oxford United	3	0	0	3	2	7	-5	0	0

Group H

Home team	Result	Away team	Date
Orient	2–0	Southend United	15 August 1981
Wimbledon	4–0	Gillingham	15 August 1981
Orient	0–1	Wimbledon	18 August 1981
Gillingham	0–0	Southend United	19 August 1981
Gillingham	1–1	Orient	22 August 1981
Southend United	1–2	Wimbledon	24 August 1981

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts
Wimbledon	3	3	0	0	7	1	+6	1	10
Orient	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	0	4
Gillingham	3	0	2	1	1	5	-4	0	2
Southend United	3	0	1	2	1	4	-3	0	1

Quarter-finals

Home team	Result	Away team	Date
Burnley	2–1	Watford	8 December 1981
Newport County	0–2	Grimsby Town	8 December 1981
Bradford City	1–1^{[note 1]}	Shrewsbury Town	9 December 1981
Peterborough United	0–1	Wimbledon	3 February 1982

Semi-finals

Home team	Result	Away team	Date
Grimsby Town	2–1	Shrewsbury Town	19 January 1982
Wimbledon	5–0	Burnley	16 February 1982

Final

6 April 1982

19:30 BST

Grimsby Town	3 – 2	Wimbledon

Blundell Park, Cleethorpes

Attendance: 3,423

Notes

^ Shrewsbury Town won 4-3 on penalties

References

"Football League Group Cup 1981/1982". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 5 September 2017.

1981–82 in English football

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National teams

League competitions

Levels 1–4	Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division, Fourth Division)
Level 5	Alliance Premier League
Levels 6–7	Isthmian League (Premier, One) Northern Premier League (level 6 only) Southern League (Midland, Southern) (level 6 only)
Levels 8–9	Isthmian League (Two) Athenian League (level 8 only) Cheshire County League (One, Two) Combined Counties League (Eastern, Western) (level 8 only) Town & Country League (level 8 only) Essex Senior League (level 8 only) Hellenic League (Premier, One) Kent League (level 8 only) Lancashire Combination (level 8 only) London Spartan League (Premier, Senior) Midland Football Combination (level 8 only) Midland League (Premier, One) Northern League (level 8 only) South Midlands League (Premier, One) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (Premier, One) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 8 only) Western League (Premier, One) Yorkshire League (One, Two)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) Charity Shield FA Trophy (Final)
Football League cups	League Cup (Final) Football League Group Cup (Final)

European competitions

Club seasons
First Division	Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Brighton & Hove Albion Coventry City Everton Ipswich Town Leeds United Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Nottingham Forest Notts County Southampton Stoke City Sunderland Swansea City Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Cambridge United Cardiff City Charlton Athletic Chelsea Crystal Palace Derby County Grimsby Town Leicester City Luton Town Newcastle United Norwich City Oldham Athletic Orient Queens Park Rangers Rotherham United Sheffield Wednesday Shrewsbury Town Watford Wrexham
Third Division	Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Burnley Carlisle United Chester Chesterfield Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Fulham Gillingham Huddersfield Town Lincoln City Millwall Newport County Oxford United Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth Preston North End Reading Southend United Swindon Town Walsall Wimbledon
Fourth Division	Aldershot Blackpool Bournemouth Bradford City Bury Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Darlington Halifax Town Hartlepool United Hereford United Hull City Mansfield Town Northampton Town Peterborough United Port Vale Rochdale Scunthorpe United Sheffield United Southport Stockport County Torquay United Tranmere Rovers York City

Football League Group Cup, Associate Members' Cup, Football League Trophy and EFL Trophy

Football League Group Cup/Football League Trophy (1981–1983)
Seasons	1981–82 1982–83
Finals	1982 1983

Associate Members' Cup (1983–1992)
Seasons	1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92
Finals	1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992

Football League Trophy (1992–2016)
Seasons	1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16
Finals	1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

EFL Trophy (2016–present)
Seasons	2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Finals	2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024