1982–83 Huddersfield Town A.F.C. season

Huddersfield Town's 1982–83 campaign was one of Town's most successful seasons in their recent history. Under the leadership of Mick Buxton, Town managed to secure their second promotion in 4 seasons, following their promotion from the Fourth Division in the 1979-80 season. This is also the only season in Town's history to date, in which they were unbeaten at home all season. They finished 3rd, behind Portsmouth and Cardiff City.

Huddersfield Town
1982–83 season
ChairmanEngland Keith Longbottom
ManagerEngland Mick Buxton
Football League Third Division3rd (promoted)
FA CupThird round
(knocked out by Chelsea)
League CupFourth round
(knocked out by Arsenal)
Top goalscorerLeague: Mark Lillis (20)
All: Mark Lillis (20)
Highest home attendance18,438 vs Bradford City (1 January 1983)
Lowest home attendance4,282 vs Walsall (11 September 1982)
Biggest win6–0 vs Orient (28 September 1982)
Biggest defeat0–3 vs Millwall (2 October 1982)

Squad at the start of the season

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK   ENG Brian Cox
-- GK   ENG Keith Mason
-- DF   ENG Malcolm Brown
-- DF   ENG David Burke
-- DF   ENG Keith Hanvey
-- DF   ENG Dave Sutton
-- DF   ENG Peter Valentine
-- MF   ENG David Cowling
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF   ENG Brian Stanton
-- MF   ENG Phil Wilson
-- FW   ENG Terry Austin
-- FW   ENG Maurice Cox
-- FW   ENG Roy Greenwood
-- FW   ENG Tim Hotte
-- FW   ENG Mark Lillis

Review

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Town had failed to get the good start to the season that they wanted by failing to win any of their first 5 league games. Following that start Mick Buxton made an inspired signing, the Liverpool striker Colin Russell. He scored two goals on his debut in Town's 2-0 win over Oxford United, which was followed by a 6-0 thrashing of Orient. Then, following a 3-game mini-blip, Town went on a run of 7 wins in a row. During that run, Mark Lillis scored 9 goals in 4 games, including 4 against Cardiff City.

As that run was winding down, Town also managed a sensational 1-0 win at Leeds United in the League Cup third round, in which David Cowling scored the famous header that knocked Town's rivals. They also gave a good thrashing to their other rivals Bradford City on New Year's Day, by beating them 6-3, in which Brian Stanton scored 4 times. Town's home form along with the goalscoring abilities of Mark Lillis, Colin Russell and Brian Stanton gave Town their only season in their history in which they didn't lose a single home game in any competition.

Town continued their run of good form for most of the remainder of the season and promotion was secured by beating promotion rivals Newport County at Leeds Road, which saw Town get promoted to Division 2 along with Portsmouth & Cardiff City.

Squad at the end of the season

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
-- GK   ENG Brian Cox
-- GK   ENG Keith Mason
-- DF   ENG Malcolm Brown
-- DF   ENG David Burke
-- DF   WAL Steve Doyle
-- DF   ENG Keith Hanvey
-- DF   ENG Dave Sutton
-- DF   ENG Peter Valentine
-- MF   ENG David Cowling
No. Pos. Nation Player
-- MF   WAL Daral Pugh
-- MF   ENG Brian Stanton
-- MF   ENG Phil Wilson
-- FW   ENG Roy Greenwood
-- FW   ENG Tim Hotte
-- FW   ENG Mark Lillis
-- FW   ENG Colin Russell
-- FW   ENG Kevin Stonehouse

Results

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Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance Position
28 August 1982 Exeter City H 1 - 1 M. Cox 5,168 11th
4 September 1982 Wrexham A 1 - 1 Bater (og) 3,925 18th
7 September 1982 Sheffield United A 0 - 2 16,641 20th
11 September 1982 Walsall H 2 - 2 Lillis, Doyle 4,282 21st
18 September 1982 Newport County A 1 - 2 Stanton 3,536 22nd
25 September 1982 Oxford United H 2 - 0 Russell (2) 4,958 17th
28 September 1982 Orient H 6 - 0 Russell, Lillis, Pugh, Sutton, Stanton (2) 6,671 14th
2 October 1982 Millwall A 0 - 3 3,004 18th
9 October 1982 Portsmouth H 1 - 1 Brown 6,243 15th
16 October 1982 Preston North End A 0 - 0 5,570 15th
19 October 1982 Southend United H 2 - 1 Russell, Brown (pen) 4,750 14th
23 October 1982 Cardiff City H 4 - 0 Lillis (4) 6,121 12th
30 October 1982 Gillingham A 3 - 1 Lillis (2), Cowling 5,919 8th
2 November 1982 Doncaster Rovers H 3 - 0 Lillis (2), Russell 6,848 7th
6 November 1982 Bournemouth A 1 - 0 Lillis 5,194 6th
13 November 1982 Brentford H 2 - 0 Russell (2) 10,034 5th
27 November 1982 Bristol Rovers H 3 - 1 Pugh, Russell (2) 8,251 2nd
4 December 1982 Plymouth Argyle A 1 - 2 Wilson 4,227 4th
18 December 1982 Reading A 1 - 1 Stanton 2,468 6th
27 December 1982 Chesterfield H 3 - 1 Brown (pen), Lillis, Russell 11,603 5th
28 December 1982 Lincoln City A 2 - 1 Lillis, Hanvey 11,829 3rd
1 January 1983 Bradford City H 6 - 3 Brown (pen), Stanton (4), Wilson 18,438 3rd
3 January 1983 Wigan Athletic A 0 - 2 7,724 4th
15 January 1983 Exeter City A 4 - 3 Lillis, Wilson, Stanton, Cowling 2,882 3rd
22 January 1983 Sheffield United H 0 - 0 15,769 3rd
29 January 1983 Walsall A 0 - 2 3,922 5th
5 February 1983 Oxford United A 1 - 1 Brown 4,975 5th
12 February 1983 Millwall H 5 - 1 Lillis, Russell (2), Hanvey, Wilson 8,111 5th
14 February 1983 Southend United A 1 - 0 Lillis 2,262 4th
22 February 1983 Portsmouth A 2 - 3 Russell, Brown (pen) 18,615 4th
26 February 1983 Preston North End H 1 - 1 Cowling 8,562 4th
1 March 1983 Doncaster Rovers A 4 - 0 Cowling, Lillis, Russell, Stanton 6,078 3rd
12 March 1983 Gillingham H 3 - 2 Doyle, Brown (pen), Burke 8,264 3rd
15 March 1983 Cardiff City A 1 - 1 Cowling 10,379 3rd
19 March 1983 Bournemouth H 0 - 0 8,630 3rd
26 March 1983 Brentford A 0 - 1 6,277 4th
29 March 1983 Wrexham H 4 - 1 Lillis, Cowling, Hanvey, Stanton 9,519 4th
2 April 1983 Lincoln City H 1 - 1 Sutton 13,028 5th
4 April 1983 Chesterfield A 1 - 0 Lillis 6,729 3rd
9 April 1983 Plymouth Argyle H 2 - 0 Hanvey, Brown (pen) 9,277 2nd
16 April 1983 Orient A 3 - 1 Wilson, Stanton, Lillis 3,498 1st
23 April 1983 Reading H 3 - 1 Stanton, Russell, Brown (pen) 10,885 1st
30 April 1983 Bristol Rovers A 0 - 1 8,919 3rd
7 May 1983 Newport County H 1 - 0 Cowling 16,509 3rd
10 May 1983 Wigan Athletic H 1 - 1 Russell 11,093 3rd
14 May 1983 Bradford City A 1 - 3 Wilson 10,375 3rd

FA Cup

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Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
20 November 1982 Round 1 Mossley H 1–0 Brown 7,599
11 December 1982 Round 2 Altrincham A 1–0 Stanton 5,800
8 January 1983 Round 3 Chelsea H 1–1 Stanton 17,064
12 January 1983 Round 3 Replay Chelsea A 0–2 14,417

League Cup

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Date Round Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F - A
Scorers Attendance
30 August 1982 Round 1 1st Leg Doncaster Rovers H 1–1 Brown 4,430
14 September 1982 Round 1 2nd Leg Doncaster Rovers A 1–0 Brown 4,690
  • Huddersfield won 2-1 on aggregate.
5 October 1982 Round 2 1st Leg Oxford United H 2–0 Russell, Stanton 4,362
27 October 1982 Round 2 2nd Leg Oxford United A 0–1 4,982
  • Huddersfield won 2-1 on aggregate.
10 November 1982 Round 3 Leeds United A 1–0 Cowling 24,215
30 November 1982 Round 4 Arsenal A 0–1 17,742

Appearances and goals

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Name Nation Position League Apps League Goals FA Cup Apps FA Cup Goals League Cup Apps League Cup Goals Total Apps Total Goals
Terry Austin   England FW 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 0
Malcolm Brown   England DF 46 9 4 1 6 1 56 11
David Burke   England DF 44 1 4 0 5 0 53 1
David Cowling   England MF 41 7 4 0 5 1 56 8
Brian Cox   England GK 45 0 4 0 6 0 55 0
Maurice Cox   England MF 3 (1) 1 0 0 1 0 4 (1) 1
Steve Doyle   Wales MF 41 (1) 2 4 0 5 0 50 (1) 2
Roy Greenwood   England DF 4 0 0 (1) 0 2 0 6 (1) 0
Keith Hanvey   England DF 43 4 3 0 5 0 51 4
Tim Hotte   England FW 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (1) 0
Mick Laverick   England MF 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Mark Lillis   England MF 46 20 4 0 6 0 56 20
Keith Mason   England GK 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Daral Pugh   Wales MF 9 (18) 2 0 (1) 0 0 0 9 (19) 2
Colin Russell   England FW 41 16 4 0 4 1 49 17
Brian Stanton   England MF 40 (4) 13 4 2 6 2 50 (4) 17
Kevin Stonehouse   England FW 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Dave Sutton   England DF 41 2 4 0 6 0 51 2
Peter Valentine   England DF 5 0 1 0 2 0 8 0
Phil Wilson   England MF 45 6 4 0 6 0 55 6