1981–82 Chelsea F.C. season

The 1981–82 season was Chelsea Football Club's sixty-eighth competitive season.

Chelsea

1981–82 season
Chairman	Viscount Chelsea Ken Bates
Manager	John Neal
Stadium	Stamford Bridge
Second Division	12th
FA Cup	Quarter-finals
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Clive Walker (16) All: Clive Walker (17)
Highest home attendance	42,557 vs Tottenham Hotspur (6 March 1982)
Lowest home attendance	6,009 vs Orient (5 May 1982)
Average home league attendance	13,133
Biggest win	4–1 (two matches)
Biggest defeat	0–6 v Rotherham United (31 October 1981)
Home colours Away colours

Season summary

Chelsea began the season with a new manager, John Neal, Geoff Hurst having been sacked at the end of the previous season. Neal's arrival brought no immediate upturn in the club's fortunes, and they finished 12th in the Second Division for the second successive year. The highlight of the season was a run to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup (the club's first appearance in a cup quarter-final since 1973), which included a 2–0 win over reigning European champions Liverpool.

Off the pitch, the club were purchased by businessman Ken Bates for £1 in April 1982.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
10	Blackburn Rovers	42	16	11	15	47	43	+4	59
11	Oldham Athletic	42	15	14	13	50	51	−1	59
12	Chelsea	42	15	12	15	60	60	0	57
13	Charlton Athletic	42	13	12	17	50	65	−15	51
14	Cambridge United	42	13	9	20	48	53	−5	48

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored

References

• Glanvill, Rick (2006). Chelsea FC: The Official Biography – The Definitive Story of the First 100 Years. Headline Book Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7553-1466-2.
• Hockings, Ron. 100 Years of The Blues – A Statistical History of Chelsea FC 1905–2006.

External links

• 1981–82 season at stamford-bridge.com