1982–83 Leicester City F.C. season
# 1982–83 Leicester City F.C. season

During the 1982–83 English football season, Leicester City F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division.

## Season summary

In August 1982, Gordon Milne left Coventry City to join Leicester as their new boss. The 1982–83 season didn't start well for the Foxes with just 6 wins in their first 16 league games which saw Leicester in 15th and looked like their promotion challenge was over. Then from December onwards until the end of the season, Leicester lost only 4 league games during their impressive league form and finished the season unbeaten in 15 league matches. Heading to the final league game, Leicester were ahead of Fulham on goal difference knowing a slip up would see the Cottagers leapfrog them to automatic promotion. With Leicester only holding relegated Burnley to a 0–0 draw at home, it gave Fulham a chance to do so at Derby County but with only a win required. An incident involving a spectator and a Fulham player led to the game being abandoned 2 minutes away from the 90 minute mark with Fulham losing 1–0 at the Baseball Ground. An enquiry from the Football League was held for a few days and they decided eventually the result from the Derby-Fulham game would stand which meant the Foxes were promoted after 2 seasons in the second tier.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Queens Park Rangers (C, P) | 42 | 26 | 7 | 9 | 77 | 36 | +41 | 85 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers (P) | 42 | 20 | 15 | 7 | 68 | 44 | +24 | 75 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 3 | Leicester City (P) | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 72 | 44 | +28 | 70 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 4 | Fulham | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 64 | 47 | +17 | 69 | |
| 5 | Newcastle United | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 75 | 53 | +22 | 67 | |

## Results

Leicester City's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |
| - | - | - |

### Football League Second Division

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 28 August 1982 | Charlton Athletic | H | 1–2 | 11,038 | B Smith |
| 31 August 1982 | Rotherham United | A | 3–1 | 9,254 | Melrose, A Smith, Lineker |
| 4 September 1982 | Chelsea | A | 1–1 | 14,127 | Lineker |
| 8 September 1982 | Leeds United | H | 0–1 | 12,963 | |
| 11 September 1982 | Carlisle United | H | 6–0 | 8,440 | Lynex (3, 2 pens), Lineker (3, 1 pen) |
| 18 September 1982 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–3 | 4,963 | A Smith |
| 25 September 1982 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 0–1 | 10,647 | |
| 2 October 1982 | Shrewsbury Town | A | 2–0 | 5,223 | MacDonald, O'Neill |
| 9 October 1982 | Grimsby Town | H | 2–0 | 9,640 | Lynex, Lineker |
| 16 October 1982 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 3–0 | 15,782 | Wilson, Lineker, English |
| 23 October 1982 | Derby County | A | 4–0 | 13,191 | Lineker (3), A Smith |
| 30 October 1982 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 0–2 | 17,341 | |
| 6 November 1982 | Cambridge United | A | 1–3 | 5,011 | Lineker |
| 13 November 1982 | Newcastle United | H | 2–2 | 15,044 | English, Lineker |
| 20 November 1982 | Crystal Palace | H | 0–1 | 8,616 | |
| 27 November 1982 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–3 | 5,060 | Wilson |
| 4 December 1982 | Fulham | H | 2–0 | 9,082 | Buchanan, Lineker |
| 11 December 1982 | Burnley | A | 4–2 | 6,503 | Lineker, Lynex (pen), A Smith (2) |
| 18 December 1982 | Oldham Athletic | H | 2–1 | 8,125 | MacDonald (pen), A Smith |
| 27 December 1982 | Middlesbrough | A | 1–1 | 12,665 | Lineker |
| 28 December 1982 | Barnsley | H | 1–0 | 14,838 | A Smith |
| 1 January 1983 | Crystal Palace | A | 0–1 | 8,801 | |
| 3 January 1983 | Chelsea | H | 3–0 | 13,745 | Lineker (2), A Smith |
| 15 January 1983 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1–2 | 5,971 | Wilson |
| 22 January 1983 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 0–1 | 8,361 | |
| 5 February 1983 | Carlisle United | A | 1–0 | 4,402 | MacDonald |
| 19 February 1983 | Grimsby Town | A | 0–2 | 6,963 | |
| 22 February 1983 | Shrewsbury Town | H | 3–2 | 6,155 | Lineker (2), Wilson |
| 26 February 1983 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 5–0 | 13,530 | Lynex (2), A Smith, Lineker, Daly |
| 5 March 1983 | Derby County | H | 1–1 | 15,452 | Lynex |
| 19 March 1983 | Cambridge United | H | 4–0 | 8,305 | A Smith (2), Lynex (pen), Wilson |
| 22 March 1983 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 2–2 | 14,036 | MacDonald, A Smith |
| 26 March 1983 | Newcastle United | A | 2–2 | 22,692 | Lineker (2) |
| 2 April 1983 | Barnsley | A | 2–1 | 13,278 | Wilson, English |
| 5 April 1983 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–0 | 12,025 | O'Neill |
| 9 April 1983 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 2–2 | 16,301 | Lineker (2) |
| 16 April 1983 | Rotherham United | H | 3–1 | 12,978 | Wilson, Lineker (2) |
| 23 April 1983 | Fulham | A | 1–0 | 24,251 | Wilson |
| 30 April 1983 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 0–0 | 13,959 | |
| 2 May 1983 | Leeds United | A | 2–2 | 14,442 | A Smith, May |
| 7 May 1983 | Oldham Athletic | A | 2–1 | 9,088 | Jones, Ramsey |
| 14 May 1983 | Burnley | H | 0–0 | 29,453 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R3 | 8 January 1983 | Notts County | H | 2–3 | 18,384 | A Smith, Wilson |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R2 1st leg | 6 October 1982 | Lincoln City | A | 0–2 | 6,775 | |
| R2 2nd leg | 27 October 1982 | Lincoln City | H | 0–1 (lost 0–3 on agg) | 10,000 | |

## Squad

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 | Mark Wallington |
| - | MF | NIR | Paul Ramsey |
| - | DF | SCO | Paul Friar |
| - | MF | SCO | Kevin MacDonald |
| - | DF | ENG | Larry May |
| - | DF | NIR | John O'Neill |
| - | MF | ENG | Steve Lynex |
| - | FW | ENG | Gary Lineker |
| - | FW | ENG | Alan Smith |
| - | FW | SCO | Jim Melrose |
| - | DF | SCO | Bobby Smith |
| - | MF | SCO | Eddie Kelly |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | FW | ENG | Tommy English |
| - | MF | SCO | Ian Wilson |
| - | DF | IRL | Jimmy Holmes |
| - | FW | ENG | Dave Buchanan |
| - | DF | ENG | Norman Leet |
| - | DF | SCO | Tommy Williams |
| - | DF | ENG | Paul Brown |
| - | FW | ENG | Keith Robson |
| - | MF | IRL | Gerry Daly (on loan from Coventry City) |
| - | MF | ENG | Andy Peake |
| - | FW | ENG | Robbie Jones |
