# 1982–83 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1982–83 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 80th in the Football League and their 48th in the First Division. After five wins and a draw from the last six league games, and needing to win their last game, away at Southampton, to ensure safety, they finished in 17th position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1982–83 FA Cup in the third round proper and lost to Crystal Palace in the fourth, and were eliminated by Burnley in the fourth round of the League Cup.
Thirty players appeared in at least one first-team game, and Noel Blake made most appearances, with 44 of the possible 49. There were 19 different goalscorers; Mick Ferguson was the club's leading scorer with eight goals, all scored in the league.

## Football League First Division

| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 28 August 1982 | 22nd | Manchester United | A | L | 0–3 | | 48,673 |
| 31 August 1982 | 19th | Liverpool | H | D | 0–0 | | 20,976 |
| 4 September 1982 | 20th | Stoke City | H | L | 1–4 | Curbishley | 14,392 |
| 8 September 1982 | 22nd | Norwich City | A | L | 1–5 | Broadhurst | 13,007 |
| 11 September 1982 | 22nd | West Ham United | A | L | 0–5 | | 18,754 |
| 18 September 1982 | 21st | Coventry City | H | W | 1–0 | Evans | 11,681 |
| 25 September 1982 | 21st | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | L | 0–1 | | 9,846 |
| 2 October 1982 | 22nd | Watford | H | D | 1–1 | Summerfield | 13,870 |
| 9 October 1982 | 22nd | Luton Town | H | L | 2–3 | Langan pen, Brazier | 13,772 |
| 16 October 1982 | 22nd | Nottingham Forest | A | D | 1–1 | Bremner | 14,528 |
| 23 October 1982 | 22nd | Ipswich Town | H | D | 0–0 | | 12,051 |
| 30 October 1982 | 22nd | Arsenal | A | D | 0–0 | | 20,699 |
| 6 November 1982 | 22nd | West Bromwich Albion | H | W | 2–1 | Dillon pen, Blake | 18,520 |
| 13 November 1982 | 21st | Notts County | A | D | 0–0 | | 9,118 |
| 20 November 1982 | 22nd | Manchester City | A | D | 0–0 | | 23,174 |
| 27 November 1982 | 20th | Sunderland | H | W | 2–1 | Ferguson, Evans | 12,375 |
| 4 December 1982 | 21st | Everton | A | D | 0–0 | | 13,702 |
| 11 December 1982 | 22nd | Southampton | H | L | 0–2 | | 11,199 |
| 18 December 1982 | 21st | Tottenham Hotspur | A | L | 1–2 | Langan | 20,946 |
| 27 December 1982 | 21st | Aston Villa | H | W | 3–0 | Blake, Handysides, Ferguson | 43,864 |
| 29 December 1982 | 21st | Swansea City | A | D | 0–0 | | 11,840 |
| 1 January 1983 | 21st | Manchester City | H | D | 2–2 | Ferguson 2 | 16,362 |
| 3 January 1983 | 22nd | Stoke City | A | D | 1–1 | Phillips | 15,416 |
| 15 January 1983 | 22nd | Manchester United | H | L | 1–2 | Dillon pen | 19,333 |
| 22 January 1983 | 22nd | Liverpool | A | L | 0–1 | | 30,986 |
| 5 February 1983 | 20th | West Ham United | H | W | 3–0 | Harford, Ferguson, Gayle | 12,539 |
| 26 February 1983 | 20th | Nottingham Forest | H | D | 1–1 | Harford | 12,987 |
| 5 March 1983 | 22nd | Ipswich Town | A | L | 1–3 | Dennis | 16,450 |
| 15 March 1983 | 20th | Arsenal | H | W | 2–1 | Van Den Hauwe, Dillon | 11,276 |
| 19 March 1983 | 21st | West Bromwich Albion | A | L | 0–2 | | 20,682 |
| 22 March 1983 | 21st | Watford | A | L | 1–2 | Ferguson | 14,229 |
| 26 March 1983 | 20th | Notts County | H | W | 3–0 | Ferguson 2 (1 pen), Harford | 11,744 |
| 2 April 1983 | 20th | Swansea City | H | D | 1–1 | Stevenson pen | 13,591 |
| 4 April 1983 | 20th | Aston Villa | A | L | 0–1 | | 40,897 |
| 9 April 1983 | 22nd | Norwich City | H | L | 0–4 | | 11,733 |
| 12 April 1983 | 22nd | Luton Town | A | L | 1–3 | Hopkins | 12,868 |
| 16 April 1983 | 21st | Coventry City | A | W | 1–0 | Phillips | 10,221 |
| 23 April 1983 | 20th | Everton | H | W | 1–0 | Hopkins | 11,045 |
| 30 April 1983 | 20th | Sunderland | A | W | 2–1 | Blake pen, Harford | 14,818 |
| 2 May 1983 | 19th | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | D | 1–1 | Handysides | 15,136 |
| 7 May 1983 | 18th | Tottenham Hotspur | H | W | 2–0 | Halsall,Harford | 18,947 |
| 14 May 1983 | 17th | Southampton | A | W | 1–0 | Harford | 20,327 |

### League table (part)

Final First Division table (part) :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 15th | Notts County | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 55 | 71 | −16 | 52 |
| 16th | Sunderland | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 48 | 61 | −13 | 50 |
| 17th | Birmingham City | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 40 | 55 | −15 | 50 |
| 18th | Luton Town | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 65 | 84 | −19 | 49 |
| 19th | Coventry City | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 48 | 59 | −11 | 48 |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source:

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Third round | 8 January 1983 | Walsall | A | D | 0–0 | | 12,697 |
| Third round replay | 11 January 1983 | Walsall | H | W | 1–0 aet | Summerfield | 14,774 |
| Fourth round | 29 January 1983 | Crystal Palace | A | L | 0–1 | | 12,327 |

## League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Second round 1st leg | 5 October 1982 | Shrewsbury Town | A | D | 1–1 | Handysides | 5,003 |
| Second round 2nd leg | 26 October 1982 | Shrewsbury Town | H | W | 4–1 | Evans, Curbishley 2, Dillon | 7,861 |
| Third round | 9 November 1982 | Derby County | H | W | 3–1 | Handysides, Dillon pen, Curbishley | 12,475 |
| Fourth round | 30 November 1982 | Burnley | A | L | 2–3 | Evans, Handysides | 10,405 |

## Appearances and goals

    Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.
    Players with name in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham.
    Players marked † left the club during the playing season.
    Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
Players' appearances and goals by competition :
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | SCO | Jim Blyth | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| GK | ENG | Tony Coton | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Noel Blake | 37 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 44 | 3 |
| DF | ENG | Kevan Broadhurst | 28 (1) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 35 (1) | 1 |
| DF | ENG | Mark Dennis | 23 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 |
| DF | NIR | Jim Hagan | 30 (2) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 (2) | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Phil Hawker † | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | IRL | Dave Langan | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 2 |
| DF | ENG | Wayne Mumford | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| DF | ENG | Geoff Scott † | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | WAL | Pat Van Den Hauwe | 30 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 33 (1) | 1 |
| MF | ENG | Frank Carrodus | 7 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 7 (2) | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Alan Curbishley † | 30 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 37 | 4 |
| MF | ENG | Kevin Dillon † | 27 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 34 | 5 |
| MF | ENG | Mick Halsall | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| MF | ENG | Ian Handysides | 26 (3) | 2 | 2 (1) | 0 | 4 | 3 | 32 (3) | 5 |
| MF | ENG | Robert Hopkins | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| MF | ENG | Martin Kuhl | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | NED | Toine van Mierlo † | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| MF | ENG | Les Phillips | 11 (2) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 12 (3) | 2 |
| MF | WAL | Byron Stevenson | 30 (1) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 36 (1) | 1 |
| MF | ENG | Kevin Summerfield † | 2 (3) | 1 | 1 (1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 (4) | 2 |
| FW | ENG | Colin Brazier † | 10 (1) | 1 | 2 (1) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 16 (2) | 1 |
| FW | SCO | Kevin Bremner * | 3 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (1) | 1 |
| FW | ENG | Tony Evans | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 4 |
| FW | ENG | Mick Ferguson * | 20 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 8 |
| FW | ENG | Carl Francis | 2 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (3) | 0 |
| FW | ENG | Howard Gayle | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| FW | ENG | Mick Harford | 29 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 6 |
| FW | ENG | Neil Whatmore † | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |