# 1982–83 Nottingham Forest F.C. season

The 1982–83 season was Nottingham Forest's 118th year in existence and sixth consecutive season in the First Division.

## Summary

In his eight season as manager Brian Clough started to rejuvenate the squad after the transfers out of goalkeeper Peter Shilton central defender Dave Needham and Scottish midfielder John McGovern signed with Bolton Wanderers. Arrivals included forward Birtles from Manchester United, central defender Colin Todd, Dutch Goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen and Kenny Swain from Aston Villa. In League the squad finished in 5th place, only 2 points less than runners-up Watford F.C., clinching a UEFA Cup spot for the next year. After six seasons, assistant Peter Taylor left the club and was appointed by Derby County as its new manager in November 1982.

## 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 | NED | Hans van Breukelen |
| — | GK | ENG | Steve Sutton |
| — | GK | SCO | Ronnie Sinclair |
| — | DF | ENG | Viv Anderson |
| — | DF | SCO | Willie Young |
| — | DF | ENG | Stuart Gray |
| — | DF | ENG | Bryn Gunn |
| — | DF | ENG | Chris Fairclough |
| — | DF | ENG | Colin Todd |
| — | DF | ENG | Mark Smalley |
| — | MF | ENG | Mark Proctor |
| — | MF | ENG | Ian Bowyer (c) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve Wigley |
| — | MF | ENG | Danny Wilson |
| — | MF | SCO | John Robertson |
| — | MF | SCO | Colin Walsh |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve Hodge |
| — | MF | ENG | Steve Kendal |
| — | MF | ENG | Kenny Swain |
| — | FW | SCO | Ian Wallace |
| — | FW | ENG | Peter Davenport |
| — | FW | ENG | Garry Birtles |
| — | FW | ENG | Liam Robinson |

### Transfers

In :
| Pos. | Name | from | Type |
| FW | Garry Birtles | Manchester United | |
| MF | Kenny Swain | Aston Villa | £30,000 |
| DF | Colin Todd | Birmingham City | |
| GK | Hans van Breukelen | FC Utrecht | £200,000 |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| GK | Peter Shilton | Southampton | |
| DF | Dave Needham | Toronto Blizzard | |
| MF | John McGovern | Bolton Wanderers | |
| MF | Jürgen Röber | Bayer Leverkusen | |
| MF | Gary Mills | Seattle Sounders | |
| MF | Calvin Plummer | Chesterfield | |
| MF | Neil Redfearn | Bolton Wanderers | |
| FW | Justin Fashanu | Notts County | £140,000 |
| FW | Peter Ward | Brighton and Hove Albion | loan |

#### Winter

In :
| Pos. | Name |
| FW | Liam Robinson |
| GK | Ronnie Sinclair |
| DF | Mark Smalley |
| MF | Steve Wigley |
| MF | Danny Wilson |
Out :
| Pos. | Name | To | Type |
| MF | Stuart Gray | Bolton Wanderers | loan |
| DF | Einar Jan Aas | Moss FK | |

## Results
### Division One
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Manchester United | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 56 | 38 | +18 | 70 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 65 | 50 | +15 | 69 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 62 | 50 | +12 | 69 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 42 | 21 | 5 | 16 | 62 | 50 | +12 | 68 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Everton | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 66 | 48 | +18 | 64 | |
* ↑ Manchester United qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1982–83 FA Cup winners.

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A |
| Result | W | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | L | D | W | W | W | D | W | W | L | W | W | W | L | D | D | W | L | L | D | D | D | L | L | L | L | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | W |
| Position | 6 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

#### Matches

* .- Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/nottingham-forest/tab/matches/season/1983/

### FA Cup
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Football League Division One | Football League Division One | FA Cup | FA Cup | Football League Cup | Football League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | NED | Hans van Breukelen | 29 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Viv Anderson | 26 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Willie Young | 38 | 5 | 34 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| | DF | ENG | Bryn Gunn | 39 | 1 | 32+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Kenny Swain | 37 | 1 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Ian Bowyer | 46 | 5 | 39+1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4+1 | 1 |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Hodge | 44 | 9 | 38+1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| | MF | SCO | Colin Walsh | 41 | 5 | 32+5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | John Robertson | 40 | 9 | 33+1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| | FW | ENG | Garry Birtles | 30 | 11 | 25 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| | FW | SCO | Ian Wallace | 47 | 17 | 41 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| | GK | ENG | Steve Sutton | 19 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Mark Proctor | 33 | 6 | 25+2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| | DF | ENG | Colin Todd | 28 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Peter Davenport | 20 | 6 | 15+3 | 6 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Chris Fairclough | 17 | 0 | 12+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Danny Wilson | 10 | 1 | 9+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Calvin Plummer | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Stuart Gray | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Wigley | 5 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Peter Ward | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Mark Smalley | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Liam Robinson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | GK | ENG | Ronnie Sinclair | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Source: https://www.11v11.com/teams/nottingham-forest/tab/players/season/1983/