# 1982–83 Manchester United F.C. season

The 1982–83 season was Manchester United's 81st season in the Football League, and their 8th consecutive season in the top division of English football. They finished the season third in the league and won the FA Cup for the fifth time in their history, beating relegated Brighton 4–0 in the replay after drawing the first game 2–2. It was the breakthrough season for teenage striker Norman Whiteside, who was a regular first team player and scored 14 goals in all competitions, including one in the FA Cup final replay.
Atkinson had also added Dutch winger Arnold Muhren to the club's ranks on a free transfer from Ipswich Town before the start of the season, and the new signing was a success, establishing himself as United's regular left winger and scoring a penalty in the FA Cup final replay.
It was also a good second season at United for Frank Stapleton, who was the club's top scorer with 14 goals in the league and 19 in all competitions.
United reached their first League Cup final, but lost 2-1 to Liverpool.

## First Division

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 28 August 1982 | Birmingham City | H | 3–0 | Coppell, Moran, Stapleton | 48,673 |
| 1 September 1982 | Nottingham Forest | A | 3–0 | Wilkins, Whiteside, Robson | 23,956 |
| 4 September 1982 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–3 | Robson | 24,928 |
| 8 September 1982 | Everton | H | 2–1 | Robson, Whiteside | 43,186 |
| 11 September 1982 | Ipswich Town | H | 3–1 | Whiteside (2), Coppell | 43,140 |
| 18 September 1982 | Southampton | A | 1–0 | Macari | 21,700 |
| 25 September 1982 | Arsenal | H | 0–0 | | 43,198 |
| 2 October 1982 | Luton Town | A | 1–1 | Grimes | 17,009 |
| 9 October 1982 | Stoke City | H | 1–0 | Robson | 43,132 |
| 16 October 1982 | Liverpool | A | 0–0 | | 40,853 |
| 23 October 1982 | Manchester City | H | 2–2 | Stapleton (2) | 57,334 |
| 30 October 1982 | West Ham United | A | 1–3 | Moran | 31,684 |
| 6 November 1982 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 0–1 | | 18,379 |
| 13 November 1982 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–0 | Mühren | 47,869 |
| 20 November 1982 | Aston Villa | A | 1–2 | Stapleton | 35,487 |
| 27 November 1982 | Norwich City | H | 3–0 | Robson (2), Mühren | 34,579 |
| 4 December 1982 | Watford | A | 1–0 | Whiteside | 25,669 |
| 11 December 1982 | Notts County | H | 4–0 | Whiteside, Stapleton, Robson, Duxbury | 33,618 |
| 18 December 1982 | Swansea City | A | 0–0 | | 15,748 |
| 27 December 1982 | Sunderland | H | 0–0 | | 47,783 |
| 28 December 1982 | Coventry City | A | 0–3 | | 18,945 |
| 1 January 1983 | Aston Villa | H | 3–1 | Stapleton (2), Coppell | 41,545 |
| 3 January 1983 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 0–0 | | 39,123 |
| 15 January 1983 | Birmingham City | A | 2–1 | Whiteside, Robson | 19,333 |
| 22 January 1983 | Nottingham Forest | H | 2–0 | Coppell (pen.), Mühren | 38,615 |
| 5 February 1983 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–1 | Stapleton | 23,804 |
| 26 February 1983 | Liverpool | H | 1–1 | Mühren | 57,397 |
| 2 March 1983 | Stoke City | A | 0–1 | | 21,266 |
| 5 March 1983 | Manchester City | A | 2–1 | Stapleton (2) | 45,400 |
| 19 March 1983 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 1–1 | Albiston | 36,264 |
| 22 March 1983 | West Ham United | H | 2–1 | McGarvey, Stapleton | 30,227 |
| 2 April 1983 | Coventry City | H | 3–0 | Stapleton, Gillespie (o.g.), Macari | 36,814 |
| 4 April 1983 | Sunderland | A | 0–0 | | 31,486 |
| 9 April 1983 | Southampton | H | 1–1 | Robson | 37,120 |
| 19 April 1983 | Everton | A | 0–2 | | 21,715 |
| 23 April 1983 | Watford | H | 2–0 | Cunningham, Grimes (pen.) | 43,048 |
| 30 April 1983 | Norwich City | A | 1–1 | Whiteside | 22,233 |
| 2 May 1983 | Arsenal | A | 0–3 | | 23,602 |
| 7 May 1983 | Swansea City | H | 2–1 | Robson, Stapleton | 35,724 |
| 9 May 1983 | Luton Town | H | 3–0 | McGrath (2), Stapleton | 34,213 |
| 11 May 1983 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–2 | | 32,803 |
| 14 May 1983 | Notts County | A | 2–3 | McGrath, Mühren | 14,395 |
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Liverpool (C) | 42 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 87 | 37 | +50 | 82 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Watford | 42 | 22 | 5 | 15 | 74 | 57 | +17 | 71 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 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 |
* ↑ Manchester United qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1982–83 FA Cup winners.

## FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 8 January 1983 | Round 3 | West Ham United | H | 2–0 | Coppell, Stapleton | 44,143 |
| 29 January 1983 | Round 4 | Luton Town | A | 2–0 | Moran, Moses | 20,516 |
| 19 February 1983 | Round 5 | Derby County | A | 1–0 | Whiteside | 33,022 |
| 12 March 1983 | Round 6 | Everton | H | 1–0 | Stapleton | 58,198 |
| 16 April 1983 | Semi-final | Arsenal | N | 2–1 | Robson, Whiteside | 46,535 |
| 21 May 1983 | Final | Brighton & Hove Albion | N | 2–2 | Stapleton, Wilkins | 100,000 |
| 26 May 1983 | Final Replay | Brighton & Hove Albion | N | 4–0 | Robson (2), Whiteside, Mühren (pen.) | 92,000 |

## League Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 6 October 1982 | Round 2 First leg | Bournemouth | H | 2–0 | Redknapp (o.g.), Stapleton | 22,091 |
| 26 October 1982 | Round 2 Second leg | Bournemouth | A | 2–2 | Coppell (pen.), Mühren | 13,226 |
| 10 November 1982 | Round 3 | Bradford City | A | 0–0 | | 15,568 |
| 24 November 1982 | Round 3 Replay | Bradford City | H | 4–1 | Albiston, Coppell, Moran, Moses | 24,507 |
| 1 December 1982 | Round 4 | Southampton | H | 2–0 | McQueen, Whiteside | 28,378 |
| 19 January 1983 | Round 5 | Nottingham Forest | H | 4–0 | McQueen (2), Coppell, Robson | 44,413 |
| 15 February 1983 | Semi-final First leg | Arsenal | A | 4–2 | Whiteside, Stapleton, Coppell (2) | 43,136 |
| 23 February 1983 | Semi-final Second leg | Arsenal | H | 2–1 | Coppell, Moran | 56,635 |
| 26 March 1983 | Final | Liverpool | N | 1–2 | Whiteside | 100,000 |

## UEFA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 15 September 1982 | Round 1 First leg | Valencia | H | 0–0 | | 46,588 |
| 29 September 1982 | Round 1 Second leg | Valencia | A | 1–2 | Robson | 35,000 |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | UEFA Cup | UEFA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Gary Bailey | 37 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 55 | 0 |
| GK | Jeff Wealands | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| DF | Arthur Albiston | 38 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 56 | 2 |
| DF | Martin Buchan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| DF | Mike Duxbury | 42 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 60 | 1 |
| DF | John Gidman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| DF | Paul McGrath | 14 | 3 | 0(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15(1) | 3 |
| DF | Gordon McQueen | 37 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 3 |
| DF | Kevin Moran | 29 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 5 |
| MF | Steve Coppell | 29 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 1(1) | 0 | 42(1) | 11 |
| MF | Laurie Cunningham | 3(2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(2) | 1 |
| MF | Alan Davies | 2(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(1) | 0 |
| MF | Ashley Grimes | 15(1) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20(1) | 2 |
| MF | Remi Moses | 29 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 2 |
| MF | Arnold Mühren | 32 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 7 |
| MF | Bryan Robson | 33 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 49 | 15 |
| MF | Ray Wilkins | 26 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35(1) | 2 |
| FW | Peter Beardsley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Lou Macari | 2(7) | 2 | 0(1) | 0 | 1(2) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 3(11) | 2 |
| FW | Scott McGarvey | 3(4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(4) | 1 |
| FW | Frank Stapleton | 41 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 59 | 19 |
| FW | Norman Whiteside | 39 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 7(2) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 55(2) | 14 |