1982–83 Arsenal F.C. season

The 1982–83 season was Arsenal Football Club's 57th consecutive season in the top flight of English Football, the Football League First Division. The club ended the season tenth, down from the fifth of the previous season, which had qualified them for the UEFA Cup. However, they went out first-round of the UEFA Cup and lost to Manchester United in the semifinals of both the FA Cup and League Cup.

New signing Tony Woodcock was the top scorer in both league and all competitions.

Pat Jennings became the first player in English football to appear in 1,000 first team matches.

Arsenal F.C.

1982–83 season
Chairman	Peter Hill-Wood
Manager	Terry Neill
First Division	10th
FA Cup	Semi-Final
League Cup	Semi-Final
UEFA Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Tony Woodcock (14) All: Tony Woodcock (21)
Home colours Away colours
← 1981–82 1983–84 →

Season summary

Arsenal had earned a place in the UEFA Cup with a fifth-place finish despite having recently lost some key players. Manchester United had snapped-up Frank Stapleton in 1981, while Liam Brady had moved to Juventus a year earlier.^[1] Manager Terry Neill once again attempted to boost Arsenal's scoring potential, signing Tony Woodcock for £500,000 from FC. Koln after the 1982 World Cup and Stoke City top scorer Lee Chapman for the same price. While Woodcock went on to be Arsenal's top scorer in the league with 14 goals in 34 games,^[2] Chapman scored only 4 goals in 23 appearances and was sold to Sunderland for £100,000.^[3]

Arsenal finished in mid table at 10th after being in the lower reaches of the league for much of the season. Arsenal reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and League Cup but on both occasions were beaten by Manchester United.^[1]

Arsenal’s foray into the 1982-83 UEFA Cup was short as they lost 8-4 on aggregate to Spartak Moscow, including a 5-2 drubbing at Highbury. Arsenal fans demonstrated that they could appreciate fine football for what it was. As the final whistle sounded, the Arsenal fans were applauding the Russians off the pitch, the show of admiration was so remarkable that the Spartak players reappeared on the centre circle to acknowledge the crowd.^[4]

37 year old Pat Jennings became the first player in English football to appear in 1,000 first team matches. He reached this milestone against West Bromwich Albion on 26 February 1983. Jennings found himself out of favour at Arsenal in 1982 as Scottish keeper George Wood assumed the No 1 spot in half of the games of the season. ^[5][6]

Arsenal Chairman Denis Hill-Wood passed away at age 76. His son Peter Hill-Wood succeeded him in the position.^[1]

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  SCO George Wood — DF  ENG John Hollins — DF  ENG Kenny Sansom — MF  ENG Brian Talbot — DF  IRL David O'Leary — DF  ENG Chris Whyte — MF  ENG Stewart Robson — MF  ENG Paul Davis — FW  ENG Alan Sunderland — FW  ENG Tony Woodcock — MF  ENG Graham Rix

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  NIR Pat Jennings — MF  WAL Peter Nicholas — FW  ENG Lee Chapman — MF  YUG Vladimir Petrovic — DF  IRL John Devine — MF  ENG Brian McDermott — DF  NIR Colin Hill — DF  ENG John Kay — MF  ENG Danny O'Shea — FW  ENG John Hawley — FW  ENG Raphael Meade — MF  IRL Paul Gorman

^[7]

Results

First Division

Football League Cup

FA Cup

Arsenal entered the FA Cup in the third round proper, in which they were drawn to face Bolton Wanderers.

Arsenal v Aston Villa

12 March 1983 Sixth round	Arsenal	2–0	Aston Villa	London
	Woodcock Petrović			Stadium: Highbury

Manchester United v Arsenal

16 April 1983 Semi-final	Manchester United	2–1	Arsenal	Birmingham
	B. Robson 49' Whiteside 70'		Woodcock 36'	Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 46,535

UEFA Cup

Spartak Moscow v Arsenal

15 September 1982 First round (1st Leg)	Spartak Moscow	3–2	Arsenal	Moscow
				Stadium: Central Lenin Stadium

Arsenal v Spartak Moscow

29 September 1982 First round (2nd Leg)	Arsenal	2–5 (4–8 agg.)	Spartak Moscow	London
				Stadium: Highbury

Top scorers

First Division

• Tony Woodcock 14
• Brian Talbot 9
• Graham Rix 6
• Alan Sunderland 6

References

External links

• Arsenal 1982–83 on statto.com