# 1981–82 Kilmarnock F.C. season

The 1981–82 season was Kilmarnock's 80th in Scottish League Competitions. They finished in 2nd place after a very impressive run of only 1 defeat in the last 20 league matches(to eventual champions Motherwell) and were promoted at the end of the season to the Premier Division.

## Scottish First Division
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Motherwell (C, P) | 39 | 26 | 9 | 4 | 92 | 36 | +56 | 61 | Promotion to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Kilmarnock (P) | 39 | 17 | 17 | 5 | 60 | 29 | +31 | 51 | Promotion to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 39 | 21 | 8 | 10 | 65 | 37 | +28 | 50 | |
| 4 | Clydebank | 39 | 19 | 8 | 12 | 61 | 53 | +8 | 46 | |
| 5 | St Johnstone | 39 | 17 | 8 | 14 | 69 | 60 | +9 | 42 | |

### Match results

| Match Day | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| 1 | 29 August | Motherwell | H | 2–0 | Carson o.g.(10), Gallacher(86) | 2,694 |
| 2 | 5 September | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–0 | Robertson(6) | 4,796 |
| 3 | 8 September | Clydebank | A | 0–0 | | 1,012 |
| 4 | 12 September | Ayr United | H | 1–1 | Gallacher(76) | 5,477 |
| 5 | 16 September | Queen of the South | A | 1–1 | Clarke(37) | 1,722 |
| 6 | 19 September | Queen's Park | H | 0–0 | | 2,337 |
| 7 | 23 September | St Johnstone | A | 2–0 | Bourke(35), Clark(45) | 1,734 |
| 8 | 29 September | East Stirlingshire | A | 1–2 | McCready(19) | 707 |
| 9 | 3 October | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 0–1 | | 2,137 |
| 10 | 10 October | Falkirk | H | 2–2 | Eadie(33,54) | 1,423 |
| 11 | 17 October | Hamilton Academical | A | 2–1 | Gallacher(68), Bourke(87) | 1,747 |
| 12 | 24 October | Dumbarton | A | 2–0 | Mauchlen(67), Clark(77) | 799 |
| 13 | 31 October | Raith Rovers | H | 1–1 | Gallacher(27) | 1,859 |
| 14 | 7 November | Heart of Midlothian | H | 0–0 | | 3,348 |
| 15 | 14 November | Motherwell | A | 0–2 | | 5,068 |
| 16 | 21 November | Queen of the South | H | 0–0 | | 1,591 |
| 17 | 28 November | East Stirlingshire | H | 2–0 | Eadie(25), Gallacher(59) | 1,391 |
| 18 | 5 December | Dunfermline Athletic | A | 2–1 | McBride(14), McDicken(23) | 1,665 |
| 19 | 12 December | St Johnstone | H | 0–2 | | 1,811 |
| 20 | 16 January | Hamilton Academical | H | 2–2 | Mauchlen(13), Bryson(32pen) | 1,480 |
| 21 | 30 January | Dumbarton | H | 0–0 | | 1,346 |
| 22 | 17 February | Falkirk | A | 2–2 | Bourke(7,19) | 1,115 |
| 23 | 20 February | Queen's Park | A | 2–0 | Clarke(44), Gallacher(71) | 1,253 |
| 24 | 27 February | Ayr United | H | 1–1 | McGivern(49) | 4,041 |
| 25 | 10 March | Dunfermline Athletic | H | 2–0 | Bryson(77pen), Bourke(89) | 1,356 |
| 26 | 13 March | Raith Rovers | A | 3–0 | Mauchlen(25), Bourke(61), McDicken(89) | 1,220 |
| 27 | 17 March | Ayr United | A | 1–1 | McDicken(90) | 3,663 |
| 28 | 20 March | Falkirk | H | 4–1 | MacLeod(34), Bourke(52), Armstrong(54), McDicken(80) | 1,905 |
| 29 | 27 March | Motherwell | A | 0–1 | | 4,816 |
| 30 | 30 March | Queen's Park | A | 3–2 | McDicken(33), Gallacher(67,85) | 1,197 |
| 31 | 3 April | Clydebank | H | 0–0 | | 2,087 |
| 32 | 6 April | Raith Rovers | A | 3–3 | Bryson(1), Clarke(45), Bourke(76) | 1,401 |
| 33 | 10 April | St Johnstone | A | 3–1 | Mauchlen(75), Clarke(76), Bourke(82) | 2,209 |
| 34 | 17 April | Hamilton Academical | H | 0–0 | | 1,878 |
| 35 | 21 April | Clydebank | H | 2–0 | Bourke(23,52) | 1,308 |
| 36 | 24 April | Dumbarton | A | 2–0 | McDicken(62,82) | 715 |
| 37 | 1 May | East Stirlingshire | A | 5–1 | Bourke(8,88), Robertson(14), McLean(18pen), McGivern(28) | 482 |
| 38 | 8 May | Heart of Midlothian | H | 0–0 | | 9,997 |
| 39 | 15 May | Queen of the South | H | 6–0 | Gallacher(6,8), Robertson o.g(26), Armstrong(38), McDicken(44), Bourke(60) | 2,363 |

## Scottish League Cup
### Group stage

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| G3 | 8 August | Aberdeen | A | 0–3 | | 8,094 |
| G3 | 12 August | Airdrieonians | H | 1–1 | Bourke(80) | 1,901 |
| G3 | 15 August | Heart of Midlothian | A | 1–1 | Wilson(81pen) | 7,746 |
| G3 | 19 August | Airdrieonians | A | 1–0 | Bourke(11) | 1,380 |
| G3 | 22 August | Aberdeen | H | 0–3 | | 3,118 |
| G3 | 26 August | Heart of Midlothian | H | 2–0 | Clark(3), McLean(16pen) | 1,388 |

### Group 3 final table

| P | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Aberdeen | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 9 |
| 2 | Kilmarnock | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 6 |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 5 |
| 4 | Airdrieonians | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 4 |

## Scottish Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| R3 | 6 February | Montrose | H | 1–0 | Bourke(85) | 1,441 |
| R4 | 13 February | St Johnstone | H | 3–1 | McGivern(25), Bourke(59,87) | 2,693 |
| QF | 6 March | Aberdeen | A | 2–4 | McGivern(1), Gallacher(36) | 9,000 |