# 1982–83 Fulham F.C. season

The 1982–83 season was Fulham's 88th as a professional club in the Football League. They competed in the Second Division and narrowly missed out on a second consecutive promotion following an infamous defeat at Derby County in their final match.

## Season summary

For much of the season, the prospect of back-to-back promotions for Fulham was a serious possibility. At the start of 1983, they were in third place behind Wolverhampton Wanderers and Queens Park Rangers, and were seven points clear of fourth-placed Leicester City with a game in hand by the end of March.
However, successive defeats to Leicester, Sheffield Wednesday and QPR saw Fulham drop out of the promotion places for the first time since November. Going into their final match of the season at relegation-threatened Derby, Fulham’s destiny was now out of their hands as they were level on points with Leicester, but with an inferior goal difference.
While Leicester were being held to a goalless draw at home by Burnley, Fulham fell behind to a 71st-minute goal by Bobby Davison. The final minutes were played out amid chaotic scenes with Derby supporters lining the pitch, many spilling on to the playing area, and a full scale pitch invasion greeted what appeared to be the final whistle. It later transpired referee Ray Chadwick had actually blown for an offside decision and there were still 78 seconds to go, but there was little hope of the match restarting.
Fulham manager Malcolm Macdonald immediately called for the match to be replayed and the club lodged an official appeal the following Monday, which was rejected by the Football League. A further appeal against this decision also failed, ending Fulham's hopes of returning to the First Division for the first time since 1968.

## Squad

    Substitute appearances indicated in brackets
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | Milk Cup | Milk Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | IRE | Gerry Peyton | 42 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 49 | 0 |
| GK | ENG | Jim Stannard | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Roger Brown | 42 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 49 | 5 |
| DF | ENG | Cliff Carr | 4(2) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5(2) | 1 |
| DF | ENG | Clive Day | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Tony Gale | 42 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 49 | 3 |
| DF | WAL | Jeff Hopkins | 41 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 48 | 1 |
| DF | ENG | Kevin Lock | 34 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 2 |
| DF | ENG | Paul Parker | 6(10) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11(10) | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Les Strong | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Steve Tapley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | IRE | Brian Cottington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | IRE | Ray Houghton | 42 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 49 | 7 |
| MF | ENG | Ray Lewington | 42 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 49 | 11 |
| MF | ENG | John Marshall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Brian McDermott (on loan from Arsenal) | 0(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(3) | 0 |
| MF | IRE | Sean O'Driscoll | 42 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 49 | 3 |
| MF | WAL | Peter O'Sullivan | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | John Reeves | 0(2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(2) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Peter Scott | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| MF | IRE | Robert Wilson | 40 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 45 | 11 |
| FW | ENG | Dean Coney | 37 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 44 | 7 |
| FW | WAL | Gordon Davies | 38 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 20 |
| FW | SLE | Leroy Rosenior | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | HKG | Dale Tempest | 3(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(1) | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Andy Thomas (on loan from Oxford United) | 3(1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(1) | 2 |

## Second Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (P) | 42 | 20 | 15 | 7 | 68 | 44 | +24 | 75 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 3 | Leicester City (P) | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 72 | 44 | +28 | 70 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 4 | Fulham | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 64 | 47 | +17 | 69 | |
| 5 | Newcastle United | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 75 | 53 | +22 | 67 | |
| 6 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 60 | 47 | +13 | 63 | |

## Results
### Second Division

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 28 August 1982 | Rotherham United | H | 1–1 | Davies | 7021 |
| 4 September 1982 | Shrewsbury Town | A | 1–0 | Wilson | 3525 |
| 7 September 1982 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1–1 | Lewington | 15,004 |
| 11 September 1982 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 4–0 | Coney 2, Lewington (pen), Houghton | 5688 |
| 18 September 1982 | Middlesbrough | A | 4–1 | Davies 2, Lewington (pen), Houghton | 6445 |
| 25 September 1982 | Leeds United | H | 3–2 | Davies 2, Coney | 12,798 |
| 28 September 1982 | Charlton Athletic | A | 0–3 | | 6790 |
| 2 October 1982 | Barnsley | A | 3–4 | Hopkins, Wilson, Davies | 12,582 |
| 9 October 1982 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 3–1 | Davies, Lewington (pen), Wilson | 5698 |
| 16 October 1982 | Newcastle United | A | 4–1 | Davies 2, Coney, Houghton | 29,490 |
| 23 October 1982 | Burnley | H | 3–1 | Lewington 2 (1 pen), Houghton | 9040 |
| 30 October 1982 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–1 | O'Driscoll | 14,912 |
| 6 November 1982 | Oldham Athletic | H | 0–3 | | 6897 |
| 13 November 1982 | Grimsby Town | A | 4–0 | Davies 2, Wilson, Gale | 6952 |
| 20 November 1982 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 4–2 | Lewington, Davies 2, Wilson | 14,448 |
| 27 November 1982 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 1–0 | Davies | 13,864 |
| 4 December 1982 | Leicester City | A | 0–2 | | 9082 |
| 11 December 1982 | Derby County | H | 2–1 | Thomas, Carr | 7854 |
| 18 December 1982 | Carlisle United | A | 2–3 | Lewington (pen), O'Driscoll | 4859 |
| 27 December 1982 | Cambridge United | H | 1–1 | Brown | 9105 |
| 28 December 1982 | Chelsea | A | 0–0 | | 29,797 |
| 1 January 1983 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–3 | Lewington | 17,196 |
| 3 January 1982 | Shrewsbury Town | H | 2–1 | Davies, Thomas | 7786 |
| 15 January 1982 | Rotherham United | A | 1–0 | Brown | 7667 |
| 22 January 1982 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–0 | Wilson | 8431 |
| 5 February 1982 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–0 | O'Driscoll | 6748 |
| 19 February 1983 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 0–0 | | 6141 |
| 26 February 1983 | Newcastle United | H | 2–2 | Davies, Lock (pen) | 14,277 |
| 5 March 1983 | Burnley | A | 0–1 | | 8828 |
| 12 March 1982 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–0 | Brown | 11,234 |
| 19 March 1983 | Oldham Athletic | A | 0–1 | | 6189 |
| 26 March 1982 | Grimsby Town | H | 4–0 | Wilson 2, Davies, Lewington | 8096 |
| 2 April 1983 | Chelsea | H | 1–1 | Lock | 15,249 |
| 5 April 1983 | Cambridge United | A | 0–1 | | 6249 |
| 9 April 1982 | Charlton Athletic | H | 2–1 | Davies, Brown | 9035 |
| 16 April 1983 | Leeds United | A | 1–1 | Houghton | 24,328 |
| 19 April 1982 | Barnsley | H | 1–0 | Gale | 9003 |
| 23 April 1983 | Leicester City | H | 0–1 | | 24,251 |
| 30 April 1983 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–2 | Wilson | 12,531 |
| 2 May 1983 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 1–3 | Davies | 24,431 |
| 7 May 1982 | Carlisle United | H | 2–0 | Wilson 2 | 10,045 |
| 14 May 1983 | Derby County | A | 0–1 | | 21,124 |

### Milk Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 1 September 1982 | First Round First Leg | Southend United | A | 0–1 | | 2671 |
| 14 September 1982 | First Round Second Leg | Southend United | H | 4–2 | Pennyfather (og), Coney, Houghton, Davies | 4641 |
| 4 October 1982 | Second Round First Leg | Coventry City | H | 2–2 | Gale, Brown | 6237 |
| 26 October 1982 | Second Round Second Leg | Coventry City | A | 0–0 (AET - lost on away goals) | | 8217 |

### FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F – A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 8 January 1983 | Third Round | Oldham Athletic | A | 2–0 | Coney, Houghton | 8087 |
| 29 January 1983 | Fourth Round | Watford | A | 1–1 | Coney | 24,574 |
| 1 February 1983 | Fourth round replay | Watford | H | 1–2 | Lewington | 22,206 |