The 1982–83 FA Cup was the 102nd season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup for short. The competition was won by Manchester United, who drew the first final 2–2, but won the replay 4–0.
Qualifying rounds
Most participating clubs that were not members of the Football League competed in the qualifying rounds to secure one of 28 places available in the first round.
The winners from the fourth qualifying round were Scarborough, North Shields, Mossley, Workington, Northwich Victoria, Horwich RMI, Macclesfield Town, Telford United, Boston United, Kettering Town, Worcester City, Holbeach United, Shepshed Charterhouse, Bishop's Stortford, Wokingham Town, Chesham United, Dagenham, Wealdstone, Dartford, Carshalton Athletic, Maidstone United, Worthing, Folkestone, Windsor & Eton, Slough Town, Wimborne Town, Yeovil Town and Weymouth.
Appearing in the competition proper for the first time were Holbeach United, Shepshed Charterhouse, Wokingham Town and Wimborne Town. Of the others, Telford United had last featured at this stage in 1973–74 while North Shields and Carshalton Athletic had last done so in 1969-70, Worthing had not done so since 1936-37 and Horwich RMI had not done so since 1928-29.
In returning to the competition proper after a 46-year absence, Worthing participated in seven rounds of the tournament and defeated Fleet Town, Crawley Town, Eastleigh, Farnborough Town, Minehead and Dartford before going out to Oxford United at the Manor Ground.
First round proper
The 48 teams from the Football League Third and Fourth Divisions entered in this round along with the 28 non-league clubs from the qualifying rounds and Enfield, Altrincham, Barnet and Wycombe Wanderers who were given byes. The first round of games were played over the weekend 20–21 November 1982. Replays were played on the 22nd-24th. Wimborne Town, from the Western League First Division at Step 9 of English Football, was the lowest-ranked team in the round.
Second round proper
The second round of games were played on 11 December 1982. Replays were played on the 14th–15th, or the 20th. This round featured one team from Step 8 of the football pyramid: North Shields from the Northern League.
Third round proper
Teams from the Football League First and Second Division entered in this round. The third round of games in the FA Cup were played on 8 January 1983. Replays took place over 11–12 January, with a second replay on the 24th. Bishop's Stortford, from the Isthmian League Premier Division (Step 6), was the lowest-ranked team in the round while Worcester City, Weymouth and Bishop's Stortford were the last non-league clubs left in the competition.
Fourth round proper
The fourth round of games were mainly played over the weekend 29 –30 January 1983. Some games were replayed on 1–2 February, with a second replay on the 9th. Swindon Town and Torquay United from the Fourth Division were the lowest-ranked teams in the round and the last clubs from the First Round left in the competition.
Fifth round proper
The fifth set of games were all played on 19 –20 February 1983. Two replays were played on the 28th. Holders Tottenham Hotspur were eliminated by Everton – their first defeat in the competition since March 1980. However because both Everton and Liverpool were drawn to play at home in this round there was one game played on Sunday 20th February Liverpool v Brighton with Everton v Tottenham on the same day as the other R5 ties
Sixth round proper
The sixth round of FA Cup games were played on 12 March 1983 with a replay on the 15th.
Semi finals
Final
Replay
TV Coverage
The right to show FA Cup games were, as with Football League matches, shared between the BBC and ITV network. All games were shown in a highlights format, except the Final, which was shown live both on BBC1 & ITV. The BBC football highlights programme Match of the Day would show up to three games and the various ITV regional network stations would cover up to one game and show highlights from other games covered elsewhere on the ITV network. The BBC showed brief highlights of two FA Cup games from rounds One & Two after League highlights games. For the first time since the 1970–71 season, an ITV Region (TVS) showed highlights of one Second Round tie, Portsmouth v Aldershot. Highlights of replays would be shown on either the BBC or ITV.
This Season ITV Highlights with the regional highlights programmes were back on Saturday nights while BBC1 Highlights under Match Of The Day were back on Sunday afternoons in the final season of the 4 year alternation deal and also the final season of ITV regional highlights
- First Round Blackpool v Horwich RMI BBC1
- Second Round BBC1 Boston United v Sheffield United, ITV Portsmouth v Aldershot (TVS)
- Third Round BBC1 Manchester United v West Ham United, Northampton Town v Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton, Newcastle United v Brighton & Hove Albion (Midweek replay),Manchester City v Sunderland (Midweek replay) ITV Derby County v Nottingham Forest (Central), Charlton Athletic v Ipswich Town (LWT & Anglia), Blackburn Rovers v Liverpool (Granada), Sunderland v Manchester City (Tyne-Tees)
- Fourth Round BBC1 Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Watford v Fulham, Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester City ITV Tottenham Hotspur v West Bromwich Albion (LWT & Central),Luton Town v Manchester United (Anglia), Middlesbrough v Notts County (Tyne-Tees), Liverpool v Stoke City (Granada), Leeds United v Arsenal (Midweek replay All regions), Norwich City v Coventry City (Midweek replay All regions)
- Fifth Round BBC1 Norwich City v Ipswich Town, Crystal Palace v Burnley, Derby County v Manchester United ITV Aston Villa v Watford (Central & LWT), Everton v Tottenham Hotspur (Granada), Middlesbrough v Arsenal (Tyne-Tees), Cambridge United v Sheffield Wednesday (Anglia & Yorkshire)
- Sixth Round BBC1 Arsenal v Aston Villa, Burnley v Sheffield Wednesday ITV Manchester United v Everton (Granada & LWT), Brighton & Hove Albion v Norwich City (TVS & Anglia) All regions showed those two games
- FA Cup Semi-Finals BBC1 Arsenal v Manchester United ITV Brighton & Hove Albion v Sheffield Wednesday (All regions) (had either Semi Final been drawn ITV would have shown the replay)
- FA Cup Final Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester United Live on BBC1 and ITV (All Regions) (Both games)
References
External links
- The FA Cup at TheFA.com
- FA Cup at BBC.co.uk
- FA Cup news at Reuters.co.uk
