1981–82 Cardiff City F.C. season

Cardiff City
1981–82 season
Chairman	Bob Grogan
Manager	Graham Williams/Len Ashurst
Football League Second Division	20th
FA Cup	3rd round
League Cup	1st round
Welsh Cup	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: Gary Stevens (13); All: Gary Stevens (18)
Highest home attendance	10,277 (v Luton, 17 May 1982)
Lowest home attendance	3,243 (v Cambridge United, 20 March 1982)
Average home league attendance	5,498
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1980–81 1982–83 →

The 1981–82 season was Cardiff City F.C.'s 55th season in the Football League. They competed in the 22-team Division Two, then the second tier of English football, finishing twentieth.

The season saw a two-tier management system at the club with former Wales international Graham Williams as team manager with Richie Morgan, who had been in charge of the team for the last three years, acting as general manager. However the system failed to produce results and, after just eleven league games, the pair were sacked and replaced by Len Ashurst.

Players

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
--	GK	WAL	Andy Dibble
--	GK	ENG	Peter Grotier
--	GK	ENG	Ron Healey
--	DF	ENG	Gary Bennett
--	DF	WAL	Phil Dwyer
--	DF	WAL	Peter Francombe
--	DF	ENG	Tim Gilbert
--	DF	ENG	Mick Henderson
--	DF	WAL	Dean Holtham
--	DF	WAL	Linden Jones
--	DF	ENG	Jimmy Mullen
--	DF	WAL	Keith Pontin
--	DF	ENG	Colin Sullivan
--	DF	WAL	Rod Thomas
--	MF	ENG	Dave Bennett


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
--	MF	SCO	John Buchanan
--	MF	WAL	Paul Giles
--	MF	ENG	Steve Grapes
--	MF	WAL	Doug Hatcher
--	MF	WAL	Wayne Hughes
--	MF	WAL	John Lewis
--	MF	WAL	Paul Maddy
--	MF	WAL	Tarki Micallef
--	MF	ENG	Andy Polycarpou
--	MF	ENG	Billy Ronson
--	MF	WAL	Alan Sanders
--	MF	WAL	Peter Sayer
--	FW	ENG	Peter Kitchen
--	FW	ENG	Gary Stevens
--	FW	ENG	Paul Sugrue

Source ^[1]

League standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
18	Shrewsbury Town	42	11	13	18	37	57	−20	46
19	Bolton Wanderers	42	13	7	22	39	61	−22	46
20	Cardiff City (R)	42	12	8	22	45	61	−16	44	Relegation to the Third Division
21	Wrexham (R)	42	11	11	20	40	56	−16	44
22	Orient (R)	42	10	9	23	36	61	−25	39

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(R) Relegated

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	D	L	L	L	W	W	L	L	W	D	L	W	W	D	W	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	D	W	L	W	W	W	D	L	L	D	D	L	W	L
Position		19	20	20	18	17	20		19	19	19	19	12	16	11	12		11	12		17	20	20	20	20	20	20	21	21	21	21	18	17	14	15	16	19	19	19	20	20	20

Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Fixtures and results

Second Division

29 August 1981 (1981-08-29) 1	Oldham Athletic	2–2	Cardiff City	Oldham
15:00	Kenny Clements 2' Roger Palmer 6'		12' Gary Stevens 72' Phil Dwyer	Stadium: Boundary Park Attendance: 4,393

5 September 1981 (1981-09-05) 2	Cardiff City	1–2	Chelsea	Cardiff
15:00	Peter Kitchen 7'		27' Alan Mayes 60' Alan Mayes	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 8,898 Referee: Derek Lloyd (Worcester)

12 September 1981 (1981-09-12) 3	Rotherham United	1–0	Cardiff City	Rotherham
15:00	Ronnie Moore 89'			Stadium: Millmoor Attendance: 7,197 Referee: Joe Worrall (Workington)

19 September 1981 (1981-09-19) 4	Cardiff City	1–3	Blackburn Rovers	Cardiff
15:00	Billy Ronson 39'		11' Kevin Stonehouse 29' (o.g.) Keith Pontin 66' Kevin Stonehouse	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,253 Referee: Tony Glasson (Salisbury)

22 September 1981 (1981-09-22) 5	Luton Town	2–3	Cardiff City	Luton
	Mick Saxby 44' Raddy Antic 76'		8' (pen.) Peter Kitchen 31' Peter Sayer 63' Gary Stevens	Stadium: Kenilworth Road Attendance: 9,015

26 September 1981 (1981-09-26) 6	Barnsley	0–1	Cardiff City	Barnsley
			65' Gary Stevens	Stadium: Oakwell Attendance: 12,114

3 October 1981 (1981-10-03) 7	Cardiff City	0–4	Newcastle United	Cardiff
15:00			9' Imre Varadi 36' (pen.) Ian Davies 56' Imre Varadi 64' Imre Varadi	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 5,764 Referee: Ken Baker (Rugby)

10 October 1981 (1981-10-10) 8	Sheffield Wednesday	2–1	Cardiff City	Sheffield
15:00	Kevin Taylor 65' Andy McCulloch 84'		38' Dave Bennett	Stadium: Hillsborough Attendance: 15,621

17 October 1981 (1981-10-17) 9	Cardiff City	2–1	Bolton Wanderers	Cardiff
15:00	Gary Stevens 51' Dave Bennett 54'		76' Len Cantello	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 3,879 Referee: Bert Newsome (Broseley Salop)

24 October 1981 (1981-10-24) 10	Cardiff City	1–1	Shrewsbury Town	Cardiff
15:00	Gary Stevens 52'		81' (o.g.) Tim Gilbert	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,357 Referee: Brian Stevens (Stonehouse)

31 October 1981 (1981-10-31) 11	Cambridge United	2–1	Cardiff City	Cambridge
15:00	Steve Spriggs 17' Roger Gibbins 76'		52' Tarki Micallef	Stadium: Abbey Stadium Attendance: 4,041 Referee: Colin Downey (Hounslow)

4 November 1981 (1981-11-04) 12	Cardiff City	3–2	Wrexham	Cardiff
19:30	Tarki Micallef 41' John Lewis 66' Gary Stevens 68'		37' (o.g.) Paul Maddy 64' Frank Carrodus	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,625 Referee: Trevor Spencer (Wootton Bassett)

7 November 1981 (1981-11-07) 13	Cardiff City	1–0	Norwich City	Cardiff
15:00	Dave Bennett 67'			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 5,704 Referee: Dennis Hedges (Oxford)

14 November 1981 (1981-11-14) 14	Watford	0–0	Cardiff City	London
15:00				Stadium: Vicarage Road Attendance: 13,907 Referee: BH Daniels (Rainham)

21 November 1981 (1981-11-21) 15	Cardiff City	3–1	Leicester City	Cardiff
15:00	Tarki Micallef 72' Dave Bennett 85' Gary Stevens 88'		86' Peter Welsh	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 6,878 Referee: Alan Robinson (Fareham)

24 November 1981 (1981-11-24) 16	Wrexham	3–1	Cardiff City	Wrexham
19:30	Simon Hunt 53' Steve Buxton 65' Steve Buxton 87'		77' Phil Dwyer	Stadium: Racecourse Attendance: 3,625

28 November 1981 (1981-11-28) 17	Queens Park Rangers	2–0	Cardiff City	London
15:00	Simon Stainrod 53' Simon Stainrod 65'			Stadium: Loftus Road Attendance: 10,225 Referee: Allan Gunn (Burgess Hill)

4 December 1981 (1981-12-04) 18	Cardiff City	1–0	Derby County	Cardiff
19:30	Tarki Micallef 32'			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 5,515

28 December 1981 (1981-12-28) 19	Cardiff City	0–1	Charlton Athletic	Cardiff
15:00			37' Derek Hales	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 7,887 Referee: Malcolm Heath (Stoke)

20 January 1982 (1982-01-20) 20	Cardiff City	0–1	Oldham Athletic	Cardiff
19:30			74' Roger Palmer	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,112 Referee: David Letts (Basingstoke)

30 January 1982 (1982-01-30) 21	Blackburn Rovers	1–0	Cardiff City	Blackburn
15:00	Simon Garner 89'			Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 7,001 Referee: Ron Bridges (Deeside)

6 February 1982 (1982-02-06) 22	Cardiff City	1–2	Rotherham United	Cardiff
15:00	Peter Kitchen		43' Gerry Gow 52' Rodney Fern	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 3,800 Referee: Tom Bune (Sussex)

13 February 1982 (1982-02-13) 23	Newcastle United	2–1	Cardiff City	Newcastle
	John Trewick 8' Imre Varadi 36'		30' Gary Stevens	Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 15,409

17 February 1982 (1982-02-17) 24	Chelsea	1–0	Cardiff City	London
15:00	Clive Walker 63'			Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 9,710 Referee: Martin Bodenham (East Looe)

20 February 1982 (1982-02-20) 25	Cardiff City	0–0	Barnsley	Cardiff
15:00				Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,503 Referee: Alex Hamil (Wolverhampton)

27 February 1982 (1982-02-27) 26	Cardiff City	0–2	Sheffield Wednesday	Cardiff
15:00			18' (pen.) Gary Bannister 44' Kevin Taylor	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 5,674

6 March 1982 (1982-03-06) 27	Bolton Wanderers	1–0	Cardiff City	Bolton
15:00	Paul Jones 85' (pen.)			Stadium: Burnden Park Attendance: 6,269

9 March 1982 (1982-03-09) 28	Crystal Palace	1–0	Cardiff City	London
15:00	Tommy Langley 60'			Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 6,526

13 March 1982 (1982-03-13) 29	Shrewsbury Town	1–1	Cardiff City	Shrewsbury
	John Dungworth 61'		81' Gary Bennett	Stadium: Gay Meadow Attendance: 4,089

20 March 1982 (1982-03-20) 30	Cardiff City	5–4	Cambridge United	Cardiff
11:00	Gary Stevens 24' Peter Kitchen 26' Gary Stevens 29' Gary Stevens 39' Peter Kitchen 43'		15' George Reilly 38' Roger Gibbins 68' Steve Fallon 89' Floyd Streete	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 3,243

27 March 1982 (1982-03-27) 31	Norwich City	2–1	Cardiff City	Norwich
15:00	Ross Jack 60' Keith Bertschin 80'		79' Tim Gilbert	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 12,720 Referee: Darryl Reeves (Uxbridge)

30 March 1982 (1982-03-30) 32	Cardiff City	2–1	Grimsby Town	Cardiff
19:30	Gary Stevens 5' Trevor Whymark 15' (pen.)		43' (o.g.) David Moore	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 3,924 Referee: Derek Civil (Birmingham)

3 April 1982 (1982-04-03) 33	Cardiff City	2–0	Watford	Cardiff
15:00	Dave Bennett 62' Tarki Micallef 85'			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 6,734 Referee: Keren Barratt

10 April 1982 (1982-04-10) 34	Cardiff City	2–1	Orient	Cardiff
15:00	Dave Bennett 3' Peter Kitchen 75'		38' Colin Foster	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 5,689 Referee: LM Robinson

13 April 1982 (1982-04-13) 35	Charlton Athletic	2–2	Cardiff City	London
19:45	Kevin Smith 18' Billy Lansdowne 40'		46' Gary Stevens 89' Jimmy Mullen	Stadium: The Valley Attendance: 4,186 Referee: John Deakin (Bedford)

17 April 1982 (1982-04-17) 36	Leicester City	3–1	Cardiff City	Leicester
15:00	Gary Lineker 1' Steve Lynex 50' Gary Lineker 78'		40' Peter Kitchen	Stadium: Filbert Street Attendance: 13,650

24 April 1982 (1982-04-24) 37	Cardiff City	1–2	Queens Park Rangers	Cardiff
15:00	Tarki Micallef 39'		3' Clive Allen 24' John Gregory	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 3,979 Referee: V Bellow

28 April 1982 (1982-04-28) 38	Orient	1–1	Cardiff City	London
20:00	Colin Foster		46' Paul Maddy	Stadium: Brisbane Road Attendance: 2,527

1 May 1982 (1982-05-01) 39	Derby County	0–0	Cardiff City	Derby
15:00				Attendance: 10,111 Referee: Bob Nixon (West Kirby)

8 May 1982 (1982-05-08) 40	Cardiff City	0–1	Crystal Palace	Cardiff
15:00			Kevin Mabbutt	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 5,762 Referee: Brian Hill

15 May 1982 (1982-05-15) 41	Grimsby Town	0–1	Cardiff City	Grimsby
15:00			82' Tarki Micallef	Stadium: Blundell Park Attendance: 8,748

17 May 1982 (1982-05-17) 42	Cardiff City	2–3	Luton Town	Cardiff
19:30	Tarki Micallef Peter Kitchen		Brian Stein Mal Donaghy Brian Stein	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 10,277 Referee: Alan Robinson (Fareham)

Source ^[2] ^[3]

League Cup

2 September 1981 (1981-09-02) Round 1 (First Leg)	Cardiff City	2–1	Exeter City	Cardiff
19:30	Gary Stevens 43', 74'		73' Joe Cooke	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 2,608 Referee: R Baker (Wolverhampton)

15 September 1981 (1981-09-15) Round 1 (Second Leg)	Exeter City	3 – 1 (a.e.t.)	Cardiff City	Exeter
19:30	Tony Kellow 16' (pen.) Phil Fisher 59' Joe Cooke		13' Paul Sugrue	Stadium: St James Park Attendance: 4,449 Referee: John Martin

FA Cup

2 January 1982 (1982-01-02) Round 3	Manchester City	3–1	Cardiff City	Manchester
15:00	Trevor Francis 22' Bobby McDonald 44' Trevor Francis 70'		40' Paul Maddy	Stadium: Maine Road Attendance: 31,547 Referee: Brian Hill (Kettering)

Welsh Cup

6 December 1981 (1981-12-06) Round 3	Bridgend Town	1–4	Cardiff City	Bridgend
	Gary Bennett (o.g.)		37', 43' Tarki Micallef John Lewis 90' Paul Sugrue	Stadium: Coychurch Road Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Keith Cooper (Pontypridd)

15 December 1981 (1981-12-15) Round 4	Cardiff City	3–1	Newport County	Cardiff
19:30	Dave Bennett 43' Phil Dwyer 63' Gary Stevens 90'		27' Keith Oakes	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 3,915

9 February 1982 (1982-02-09) Round 5	Cardiff City	4–1	Wrexham	Cardiff
19:30	Gary Stevens 13' Peter Kitchen 24', 48', 67'		Billy Ronson	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 2,767

8 April 1982 (1982-04-08) Semi Final (First leg)	Hereford United	0–0	Cardiff City	Hereford
				Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 4,832 Referee: Howard King (Merthyr Tydfil)

19 April 1982 (1982-04-19) Semi Final (Second leg)	Cardiff City	2–1 (2–1 agg.)	Hereford United	Cardiff
19:30	Tarki Micallef Gary Stevens 44'		Stewart Phillips	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 3,635

11 May 1982 (1982-05-11) Final (First leg)	Cardiff City	0–0	Swansea City	Cardiff
19:45				Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 11,960 Referee: Gwyn Owen (Anglesey)

19 May 1982 (1982-05-19) Final (Second leg)	Swansea City	2–1 (2–1 agg.)	Cardiff City	Swansea
	Bob Latchford 7', 19' Ante Rajković 69'		3' Gary Bennett	Stadium: Vetch Field Attendance: 15,828 Referee: Gwyn Owen (Anglesey)

References

^ "All Cardiff City football club players: 1982". 11v11. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
^ "Cardiff City football club match record: 1982". 11v11. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
^ "Cardiff City 1981-82 results". Cardiff City Forum. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

Bibliography

Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-462-0.
Crooks, John (1986). Cardiff City Chronology 1920-86. John Crooks. ISBN 0-9511984-0-8.
Shepherd, Richard (2002). The Definitive Cardiff City F.C. Tony Brown. ISBN 1-899-46817-X.
Crooks, John (1992). Cardiff City Football Club: Official History of the Bluebirds. Yore Publications. ISBN 0-9513321-8-X.
"Football Club History Database – Cardiff City". Archived from the original on 30 December 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
Welsh Football Data Archive

[1] "All Cardiff City football club players: 1982". 11v11. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

[11v11results-2] "Cardiff City football club match record: 1982". 11v11. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

[results-3] "Cardiff City 1981-82 results". Cardiff City Forum. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]