The 1981–82 season was

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

's 80th season in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, and their 7th consecutive season in the top division of English football. United had finished eighth in the league the previous season, with manager

Dave Sexton David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first European trophy. Playing career Son of former professional boxer Archie Sexton, he st ...

being sacked after his four-year spell in charge had failed to deliver a major trophy. His successor was

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

manager

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939) is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nicknamed "The Tank" during his ...

. One of Atkinson's first moves as manager was to bolster the club's attack with the £950,000 signing of Frank Stapleton from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, while the previous season's top scorer Joe Jordan was sold to

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

. Atkinson retained the services of Garry Birtles, who had been a disappointment in his first season with United, scoring just once in his first 28 games. Birtles had a more successful second season at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

, finding the net 11 times. In early October, he brought midfielder Bryan Robson to

from his former club West Bromwich Albion for a British record fee of £1.5million. He also signed fellow Albion midfielder Remi Moses for £500,000. Long-serving Northern Ireland international, Sammy McIlroy, left the club after 13 years when he signed for Stoke City in February. After constantly leading the league during the first half of the season, United finished the season third in the league and qualified for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, while the league title went to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

(who surged in the second half of the season after being mid table at Christmas) and Ipswich Town finished second. Late in the season came the debut of teenage forward

Norman Whiteside Norman Whiteside (born 7 May 1965) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Whiteside began his career at Manchester United, signing professional forms in 1982 at the age of 17 and quickly be ...

, who at the age of 17 was selected for the Northern Ireland squad at the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

. He also scored for United on the last day of the league season in only his second senior appearance for the club.

First Division

FA Cup

League Cup

Squad statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1981-82 Manchester United F.C. season Manchester United F.C. seasons