| Club: | Swansea City |
| Season: | 1981–82 |
| Manager: | John Toshack (player-manager) |
| Chairman: | Malcolm Struel |
| Stadium: | Vetch Field |
| League: | First Division |
| League Result: | 6th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | Third round |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Second round |
| Cup3: | Welsh Cup |
| Cup3 Result: | Winners |
| Cup4: | Cup Winners' Cup |
| Cup4 Result: | First round |
| League Topscorer: | Robbie James(15) |
| Season Topscorer: | Robbie James(20) |
| Highest Attendance: | 24,115 vs Manchester United (30 January 1982) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 11,811 vs Stoke City (6 March 1982) |
| Average Attendance: | 18,194 |
| Pattern La1: | _bmo1011h |
| Pattern B1: | _bmo1011h |
| Pattern Ra1: | _bmo1011h |
| Pattern So1: | _blackstripe |
| Pattern La2: | _dyf1 |
| Pattern B2: | _whitecollar |
| Pattern Ra2: | _dyf1 |
| Pattern So2: | _whitetop |
| Leftarm2: | E20E0E |
| Body2: | E20E0E |
| Rightarm2: | E20E0E |
| Shorts2: | 000000 |
| Socks2: | 000000 |
| Prevseason: | 1980–81 |
| Nextseason: | 1982–83 |
During the 1981–82 English football season, Swansea City A.F.C. competed in the Football League First Division, following promotion from the Second Division. It was their debut season in the English top flight and the first season in which a Welsh club was part of the top English league since arch-rivals Cardiff City were relegated at the end of 1961–62.
Swansea's rise to the top flight of English football had come only four seasons after competing in the Fourth Division and thus few tipped Swansea to survive in the First Division. Swansea soon proved the naysayers wrong by crushing Leeds United 5–1 in their first match ever in the top flight, with debutant Bob Latchford scoring a hat-trick. The win saw Swansea rise from the basement division to the top of the entire Football League in barely three years. Victories over footballing royalty such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur followed as the club topped the league on several further occasions. However, injuries to key players took their toll, and the lack of depth in the squad meant that the season ended in sixth-place finish.
Last updated: 4 September 2013
Source:[2]
See main article: 1981–82 FA Cup. Last updated: 4 September 2013
Source:[3]
See main article: 1981–82 Football League Cup. Last updated: 4 September 2013
Source:
Last updated: 19 January 2014
Sources:, Welsh Football Data Archive[4]
See main article: 1981–82 European Cup Winners' Cup. Last updated: 4 September 2013
Source:[5]
Swansea's kit was manufactured by Belgian company Patrick. The kit bore no sponsorship.
Squad at end of season[6]
Last updated on 4 September 2013[7]
| Player | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Welsh Cup | Cup Winners' Cup | Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goals | Goals | Goals | Goals | Goals | Goals | ||||||||||
| - | GK | 41 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 53 | 0 | ||
| - | GK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| - | GK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| - | DF | 40 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 1 | ||
| - | DF | 37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 2 | ||
| - | DF | 25(+1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33(+1) | 0 | ||
| - | DF | 22(+1) | 1 | 0(+1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27(+2) | 2 | ||
| - | DF | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0(+1) | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28(+1) | 0 | ||
| - | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| - | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(+2) | 0 | 1(+2) | 0 | ||
| - | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| - | DF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| - | MF | 42 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 20 | ||
| - | MF | 34(+4) | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 46(+4) | 12 | ||
| - | MF | 27(+2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37(+2) | 1 | ||
| - | MF | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3(+2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32(+2) | 0 | ||
| - | MF | 22(+7) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 31(+7) | 5 | ||
| - | MF | 19(+3) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27(+3) | 1 | ||
| - | MF | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 2 | ||
| - | MF | 2(+2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(+1) | 0 | 0(+1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3(+4) | 1 | ||
| - | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| - | MF | 0(+2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(+2) | 0 | 0(+4) | 0 | ||
| - | MF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| - | FW | 40 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 13 | ||
| - | FW | 31 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5(+1) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 41(+1) | 15 | ||
| - | FW | 9(+4) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 14(+4) | 3 | ||
| - | FW | 3(+2) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(+1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(+3) | 2 | ||
| - | FW | 0(+1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(+1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(+2) | 0 | ||
| Place | Position | Nationality | Number | Name | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Welsh Cup | Cup Winners' Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MF | - | Robbie James | 15 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 20 | ||
| 2 | FW | - | Bob Latchford | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | ||
| 3 | FW | - | Alan Curtis | 9 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 13 | ||
| 4 | MF | - | Leighton James | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 5 | MF | - | Gary Stanley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6 | FW | - | Jeremy Charles | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 7 | FW | - | Ian Walsh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 8 | MF | - | Ray Kennedy | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 9 | MF | - | Chris Marustik | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 10 | DF | - | Ante Rajković | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 11 | DF | - | Neil Robinson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 12 | DF | - | Max Thompson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 13 | DF | - | Colin Irwin | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 14 | DF | - | Brian Attley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 15 | - | - | - | Own goal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| TOTALS | 58 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 81 | |||||