# 1982–83 Kilmarnock F.C. season

The 1982–83 season was Kilmarnock's 81st in Scottish League Competitions. They finished bottom of the table and were relegated at the end of the season to the First Division. They would not return to the top league for 10 years.
The season would go down as one of the worst in the club's history. They recorded just 3 wins in the league which is the lowest in the club's history and the joint worst goals against. 91 goals were conceded during the campaign. 17 of these were conceded against champions Dundee United and runners-up Celtic scored 15 against the club over the course of the season. However, they did come close to beating United, losing a late penalty equaliser in the first match between the clubs and they were narrowly defeated by Celtic the following week conceding 2 goals in the last 10 minutes.
Perhaps the most embarrassing result was the 8–1 hammering at the hands of Hibernian who notched only 27 goals in their other 35 league games.
There was further humiliation in the quarter final of the Scottish League Cup. Opponents Rangers triumphed 12–1 on aggregate in the two legged tie.
Off the field,the club made a financial loss of £191,919 for the year to 31st July 1982. Club chairman Tom Lauchlan stated at the club's Annual General Meeting in December that the future of the club "lies squarely with the people of the town". No mention was made of any positive action taken by the board of directors turn the club's financial situation around.

## Scottish Premier Division
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 6 | Dundee | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 42 | 53 | −11 | 29 | |
| 7 | Hibernian | 36 | 7 | 15 | 14 | 35 | 51 | −16 | 29 | |
| 8 | Motherwell | 36 | 11 | 5 | 20 | 39 | 73 | −34 | 27 | |
| 9 | Morton (R) | 36 | 6 | 8 | 22 | 36 | 81 | −45 | 20 | Relegation to the 1983–84 Scottish First Division |
| 10 | Kilmarnock (R) | 36 | 3 | 11 | 22 | 28 | 91 | −63 | 17 | Relegation to the 1983–84 Scottish First Division |

### Match results

| Match Day | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| 1 | 4 September | Greenock Morton | A | 0–0 | | 2,349 |
| 2 | 11 September | Hibernian | H | 1–1 | Clarke(65) | 2,800 |
| 3 | 18 September | Rangers | A | 0–5 | | 17,350 |
| 4 | 25 September | Dundee | H | 0–0 | | 2,105 |
| 5 | 2 October | St Mirren | A | 2–3 | McLean(21pen), Mauchlen(28) | 3,568 |
| 6 | 9 October | Dundee United | H | 1–1 | Gallacher(28) | 2,446 |
| 7 | 16 October | Celtic | A | 1–2 | Clarke(52) | 11,063 |
| 8 | 23 October | Aberdeen | H | 0–2 | | 3,402 |
| 9 | 30 October | Motherwell | A | 1–4 | McLean(42pen) | 3,016 |
| 10 | 6 November | Greenock Morton | H | 3–1 | J.Clark(23), Gallacher(55), Bourke(78) | 1,854 |
| 11 | 13 November | Hibernian | A | 2–2 | Bryson(14), McDicken(75) | 4,182 |
| 12 | 20 November | Rangers | H | 0–0 | | 9,194 |
| 13 | 27 November | Dundee | A | 2–5 | J.Clark(83), MacLeod(85) | 4,311 |
| 14 | 4 December | St Mirren | H | 2–2 | Clarke(19,68) | 2,209 |
| 15 | 11 December | Dundee United | H | 0–7 | | 7,259 |
| 16 | 18 December | Celtic | H | 0–4 | | 9,024 |
| 17 | 27 December | Aberdeen | A | 0–2 | | 14,411 |
| 18 | 1 January | Motherwell | H | 0–2 | | 3,314 |
| 19 | 3 January | Greenock Morton | A | 0–3 | | 2,015 |
| 20 | 8 January | Hibernian | H | 0–2 | | 2,142 |
| 21 | 15 January | Rangers | A | 1–1 | McGivern(66) | 11,223 |
| 22 | 22 January | Dundee | H | 2–0 | Gallacher(2), R.Clark(52pen) | 1,891 |
| 23 | 5 February | St Mirren | A | 0–2 | | 3,303 |
| 24 | 12 February | Dundee United | H | 0–5 | | 1,834 |
| 25 | 26 February | Celtic | H | 0–4 | | 10,691 |
| 26 | 5 March | Aberdeen | H | 1–2 | Gallacher(64) | 2,349 |
| 27 | 12 March | Motherwell | A | 1–3 | McGivern(62) | 2,895 |
| 28 | 19 March | Greenock Morton | H | 4–0 | McGivern(5), Clarke(44), Gallacher(48,82) | 1,203 |
| 29 | 26 March | Rangers | H | 0–1 | | 6,648 |
| 30 | 2 April | Hibernian | A | 1–8 | Gallacher(12) | 4,065 |
| 31 | 9 April | Dundee | A | 0–0 | | 3,376 |
| 32 | 23 April | Dundee United | A | 0–4 | | 7,516 |
| 33 | 27 April | St Mirren | H | 2–2 | Gallacher(68,86) | 1,049 |
| 34 | 30 April | Celtic | H | 0–5 | | 7,560 |
| 35 | 7 May | Aberdeen | A | 0–5 | | 12,002 |
| 36 | 14 May | Motherwell | H | 1–1 | Simpson(33) | 1,203 |

## Scottish League Cup
### Group stage

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| G8 | 14 August | Berwick Rangers | H | 4–0 | McCann o.g(9), McLean(11pen), Clarke(60), Mauchlen(72) | 1,517 |
| G8 | 18 August | Hamilton Academical | A | 0–0 | | 1,472 |
| G8 | 21 August | Queen's Park | A | 2–0 | McLean(54pen), McGivern(89) | 1,005 |
| G8 | 25 August | Hamilton Academical | H | 1–0 | Bourke(57) | 1,582 |
| G8 | 28 August | Berwick Rangers | A | 1–2 | McLean(77pen) | 672 |
| G8 | 1 September | Queen's Park | H | 5–1 | Bourke(33,51), McLean(60), Gallacher(65), Mauchlen(71) | 1,200 |

### Group 8 final table

| P | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Kilmarnock | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 9 |
| 2 | Berwick Rangers | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 6 |
| 3 | Queen's Park | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 5 |
| 4 | Hamilton Academical | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 4 |

### Knockout stage

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| R2 L1 | 6 September | Cowdenbeath | H | 1–0 | McLean(9pen) | 1,091 |
| R2 L2 | 8 September | Cowdenbeath | A | 0–1(AET, won 4–3 on pens) | | 686 |
| QF L1 | 22 September | Rangers | H | 1–6 | McLean(51) | 7,903 |
| QF L2 | 25 September | Rangers | A | 0–6 | | 5,342 |

## Scottish Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| R3 | 29 January | Partick Thistle | A | 1–1 | Bryson(75) | 4,398 |
| R3,1R | 2 February | Partick Thistle | H | 0–0(AET) | | 3,884 |
| R3,2R | 7 February | Partick Thistle | A | 2–2(AET) | Gallacher(50), McGivern(91) | 4,809 |
| R3,3R | 9 February | Partick Thistle | H | 0–1 | | 3,745 |