Gillingham F.C.
1982–83 season
ChairmanClifford Grossmark[1]
ManagerKeith Peacock
Third Division13th
FA CupSecond round
League CupThird round
Top goalscorerLeague: Tony Cascarino (15)
All: Tony Cascarino (19)
Highest home attendancetbc
Lowest home attendancetbc

During the 1982–83 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Third Division, the third tier of the English football league system. It was the 51st season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 33rd since the club was voted back into the league in 1950.

Background and pre-season

The 1982–83 season was Gillingham's 51st season playing in the Football League and the 33rd since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. It was the club's ninth consecutive season in the Football League Third Division, the third tier of the English football league system, since the team gained promotion from the Fourth Division in 1974.[2] In the eight seasons since then, Gillingham had achieved a best finish of fourth place, one position away from promotion to the Second Division, in the 1978–79 season.[3] The club had never reached the second level of English football in its history.[2][4]

Keith Peacock was the club's manager for a second season, having been appointed in July 1981.[5] Paul Taylor served as assistant manager and Bill Collins, who had been with the club in a variety of roles since the early 1960s,[6] held the posts of first-team trainer and manager of the youth team.[7][8] Dick Tydeman was the team captain.[8]

The team's kit for the season consisted of Gillingham's usual blue shirts, white shorts and white socks. The second-choice kit, to be worn in the event of a clash of colours with the opposition, was all-red.[9] The team prepared for the new season with a number of friendlies. Steve Butler, a 20-year-old forward, played during the pre-season on a trial basis and scored five goals,[10] but he was serving in the army at the time and the club could not afford to pay for his release.[11] After leaving the armed forces and playing for several other clubs, he would eventually sign for Gillingham in 1995.[11] Writing in the matchday programme for the first game of the season, Peacock expressed disappointment that he had not been able to add any new players to the squad ahead of the new season.[7]

Third Division

August–December

Priestfield Stadium, home ground of Gillingham Football Club
Gillingham began the season with a game at their own ground, Priestfield Stadium.

Gillingham began the season with a game at their own ground, Priestfield Stadium, against Oxford United on 28 August; Oxford won 1–0.[12] A week later, Ken Price scored Gillingham's first league goal of the season away to Exeter City but the team were held to a 2–2 draw after conceding a goal with two minutes of the game remaining,[12][13] and their winless league run continued with a 2–1 defeat away to Bristol Rovers.[14] A goal from Tony Cascarino gave Gillingham their first league win of the season at the fourth attempt on 11 September as the team beat Millwall 1–0 at Priestfield.[12] Gillingham lost 1–0 away to Wrexham on 18 September but then won their next four league games. Cascarino took his league goalscoring tally to four in seven games with the second goal in a 3–0 win against Walsall and the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Reading. Jeff Johnson, a midfielder newly signed from Newport County, made his debut in the latter game.[15]

At the end of 1982, Gillingham were 12th in the Third Division league table.[16]

January–May

Gillingham finished the season 13th out of 24 teams in the Third Division league table.[17]

League match results

Key

Results[12]
Date Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
28 August 1982 Oxford United (H) 0–14,079
4 September 1982Exeter City (A)2–2Price, Cascarino2409
7 September 1982Bristol Rovers (A)1–2Parkin (o.g.)3688
11 September 1982Millwall (H)1–0Cascarino4663
18 September 1982Wrexham (A)0–12122
25 September 1982Walsall (H)3–0Sinnott (o.g.), Cascarino, Weatherly3229
28 September 1982Reading (H)1–0Cascarino3621
2 October 1982Sheffield United (A)2–0Weatherly, Bruce12319
9 October 1982Preston North End (H)2–1Grewcock, Cascarino4390
16 October 1982Cardiff City (A)0–14828
19 October 1982Orient (H)4–0Grewcock (2), Weatherly, Tydeman3849
23 October 1982AFC Bournemouth (A)1–0Bruce (pen.)5528
30 October 1982Huddersfield Town (H)1–3Bruce5919
2 November 1982Chesterfield (A)2–1Weatherly, o.g.2322
6 November 1982Portsmouth (A)0–112212
13 November 1982Doncaster Rovers (H)1–1Miller4451
27 November 1982Wigan Athletic (H)0–23952
4 December 1982Newport County (A)1–2Weatherly3727
18 December 1982Plymouth Argyle (A)0–24179
27 December 1982Southend United (H)1–0Weatherly5035
28 December 1982Brentford (A)1–1Bruce7796
1 January 1983Lincoln City (H)0–25535
3 January 1983Bradford City (A)1–1Weatherly4294
8 January 1983Exeter City (H)4–4Weatherly, White (3, 1 pen.)2970
15 January 1983Oxford United (A)1–1Weatherly4755
22 January 1983Wrexham (H)1–1Adams3798
30 January 1983Millwall (A)1–4Cascarino3813
5 February 1983Walsall (A)0–02608
15 February 1983Chesterfield (H)3–1Handford, Bruce, Cascarino3187
19 February 1983Preston North End (A)0–03479
26 February 1983Cardiff City (H)2–3Johnson, Lansdowne4587
1 March 1983Orient (A)0–22241
5 March 1983AFC Bournemouth (H)2–5Bruce (pen.), Lansdowne3485
12 March 1983Huddersfield Town (A)2–3Duncan, Mehmet8264
15 March 1983Sheffield United (H)0–23385
19 March 1983Portsmouth (H)1–0Duncan6489
25 March 1983Doncaster Rovers (A)2–0Bowman, Cascarino2528
1 April 1983Southend United (A)1–1Cascarino4234
2 April 1983Brentford (H)2–2o.g.,Cascarino4168
9 April 1983Newport County (H)2–0Weatherly, Bruce (pen.)4265
16 April 1983Reading (A)0–02566
23 April 1983Plymouth Argyle (H)2–1Cascarino (2)3356
30 April 1983Wigan Athletic (A)2–2Adams, Mehmet3610
3 May 1983Bradford City (H)3–0Mehmet, Cascarino, Johnson2716
7 May 1983Bristol Rovers (H)1–0Cascarino4024
14 May 1983Lincoln City (A)1–3Cascarino2241

FA Cup

As a Third Division team, Gillingham entered the 1982–83 FA Cup at the first round stage and were paired with Dagenham of the Alliance Premier League, the highest level of non-League football.[18]

FA Cup match results

Key

Results[19]
Date Round Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
20 November 1982 First Dagenham (H) 1–0 Cascarino 3,884
11 December 1982 Second Northampton Town (H) 1–1 Johnson 4,054
14 December 1982 Second (replay) Northampton Town (A) 2–3 Weatherly (2) 4,290

Football League Cup

As a Third Division team, Gillingham entered the 1982–83 Football League Cup at the first round stage; their opponents were fellow Third Division side Orient.[20]

In the second round, Gillingham beat Oldham Athletic to reach the third round (last 32) of the competition for the first time since the 1971–72 season.[2]

In the third round, Gillingham played Tottenham Hotspur of the First Division,[21] who had reached the final of the competition in the previous season.[22] After conceding a goal in the first 15 minutes, Gillingham equalised when Jeff Johnson scored. Tottenham scored a further goal each side of the half-time break to make the score 3–1, but Price reduced the deficit with just over 20 minutes remaining. Tottenham scored a fourth goal in the final minute to win 4–2 and eliminate Gillingham from the competition.[12][21]

Football League Cup match results

Key

Results[23]
Date Round Opponents Result Goalscorers Attendance
31 August 1982 First (first leg) Orient (H) 3–0 Cascarino (2), Bruce 2,894
14 September 1982 First (second leg) Orient (A) 0–2 2,003
5 October 1982 Second (first leg) Oldham Athletic (H) 2–0 Shaw, Cascarino 4,070
26 October 1982 Second (second leg) Oldham Athletic (A) 0–1 3,302
9 November 1982 Third Tottenham Hotspur (H) 2–4 Johnson, Price 14,446

Players

Head and shoulders shot of footballer Tony Cascarino
Tony Cascarino was the team's leading goalscorer.

During the season, 28 players made at least one appearance for Gillingham. Micky Adams and Mark Weatherly made the most, both playing 51 times. Five other players took part in more than 45 of the team's 54 competitive games. Five players made fewer than five appearance but none played only once. Ron Hillyard's 47 appearances took him past the milestone of having played 400 games for Gillingham. Tony Cascarino was the team's leading goalscorer; he scored 15 goals in the league and a total of 19 in all competitions. Weatherly was the only other player to reach double figures, scoring a total of 12 goals.[24]

Player statistics[24]
Player Position Third Division FA Cup Football League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Micky Adams DF4423040512
Richie Bowman 81000081
Steve Bruce DF3972051468
Tony Cascarino FW381531534619
Colin Duncan 82000082
Peter Foley 50000050
Neil Grewcock 2132040273
Phil Handford 1210000121
Ron Hillyard GK4201040470
Martin Hodge GK40000040
Dean Horrix 1400000140
Jeff Johnson 3123131374
Billy Lansdowne 62000062
Trevor Lee 20001030
Dave Mehmet MF1330000133
Mark Miller 41100051
Colin Powell 2102050280
Ken Price FW2013041272
Mel Sage DF90000090
John Sharpe 3903050470
Peter Shaw 2901051351
John Sitton DF3002030350
Wayne Stokes 20000020
Gary Sutton GK00201030
Dick Tydeman 4113040481
Phil Walker 20000020
Mark Weatherly DF/FW431032505112
Dean White 1432000163

Aftermath

Steve Bruce and Micky Adams were both voted into the Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year for the Third Division by his fellow professionals.[25][26] Weatherly won the club's own Player of the Year award.[8] At the end of the season, Adams was transferred to Coventry City of the First Division for a fee of £85,000, a new record for the highest transfer fee received by Gillingham.[27][28]

References

  1. ↑ Elligate 2009, p. 173.
  2. 1 2 3 Soar & Tyler 1983, p. 110.
  3. ↑ Brown 2003, pp. 82–91.
  4. ↑ "Second Time Lucky for Gills". BBC Sport. 28 May 2000. Archived from the original on 3 March 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  5. ↑ Bateson 1986, p. 252.
  6. ↑ Triggs 2001, p. 93.
  7. 1 2 Peacock, Keith (28 August 1982). "Management Talk". Gillingham Vs Oxford United Matchday Programme.
  8. 1 2 3 Williams 1983, p. 174.
  9. ↑ Williams 1983, p. 173.
  10. ↑ "Pre-season action". Gillingham Vs Oxford United Matchday Programme. 28 August 1982.
  11. 1 2 Triggs 2001, p. 76.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Williams 1983, p. 172.
  13. ↑ "Goal times". The Sunday People. 5 September 1982. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Ellis, Ralph (8 September 1982). "Curle is the star after a lecture". Western Daily Press. Retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Triggs 2001, p. 174.
  16. ↑ "League Division 3 table after close of play on 31 December 1982". 11v11. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  17. ↑ Williams 1983, p. 408.
  18. ↑ Williams 1983, p. 537.
  19. ↑ Williams 1983, p. 537, 540, 542.
  20. ↑ Williams 1983, p. 503.
  21. 1 2 Lacey, David (10 November 1982). "Nervous Spurs go through". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ Williams 1983, p. 501.
  23. ↑ Williams 1983, pp. 503, 505, 506, 509, 511.
  24. 1 2 Brown 2003, p. 92.
  25. ↑ Triggs 2001, p. 352.
  26. ↑ Williams 1983, p. 467.
  27. ↑ Triggs 2001, p. 38.
  28. ↑ "Coventry move to boost squad". Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 12 July 1983. Retrieved 9 November 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

Works cited

  • Bateson, Bill; Sewell, Albert, eds. (1986). News Of The World Football Annual 1986–87. London: Invincible Press. ISBN 978-0-85543-076-4.
  • Brown, Tony (2003). The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. Soccerdata. ISBN 1-89946-820-X.
  • Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1983). Encyclopedia of British Football. CollinsWillow. ISBN 978-0-0021-8049-8.
  • Elligate, David (2009). Gillingham FC On This Day. Durrington: Pitch Publishing. ISBN 978-1-9054-1145-0.
  • Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 978-0-75242-243-5.
  • Williams, Tony, ed. (1983). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1983–84. London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 978-0-356-09727-5.

{{1982–83 in English football}}

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