| Nextseason: | 1982–83 |
The 1981–82 season was the 83rd completed season (84th overall) of The Football League. This was the first league season with three points for win.
Three points for a win was introduced for the first time in England. Champions Aston Villa finished a disappointing 11th but made up for this by triumphing in the European Cup at the first attempt.
Liverpool made up for the previous season's slip in league form by winning the league championship for the 13th time in their history, fighting off competition from Ipswich Town, Manchester United and Spurs. Liverpool also won the Football League Cup for the second season in succession. The league triumph was made all the more significant by the fact that they had occupied 10th place on Christmas Day.
Their season of triumph was overshadowed, however, by the death of legendary former manager Bill Shankly, 68, following a heart attack in late September.
Middlesbrough and Wolves were relegated as financial problems at both clubs began to mount. They were joined by Leeds United, only seven years after playing in the European cup final.
West Bromwich Albion felt the loss of manager Ron Atkinson and key players Bryan Robson and Remi Moses as they slumped to 19th in the league and narrowly avoided relegation. This was just the beginning of a sharp decline for a club who three seasons earlier had reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals and almost won the league title.
Swansea City were tipped for relegation by most observers as they reached the First Division for the first time in their history, having just completed their third promotion in four seasons. But John Toshack's men had a brilliant first game in the top flight, crushing Leeds United 5-1 and setting the tone for a season which would end with Leeds going down. Swansea, meanwhile, were the most unlikely title contenders, topping the league at several stages of the season before finishing sixth in the final table.
Manchester United paid a British record fee of £1.75million for West Bromwich Albion's 24-year-old England midfielder Bryan Robson. Robson's record-breaking move reflected on how the size of transfer fees had risen dramatically in a relatively short period of time. Less than four years earlier, the British record fee had been the £516,000 that West Bromwich Albion had paid for David Mills. In such a short amount of time, the British record had more than tripled.
Everton, who had struggled in the league for the past few seasons, turned to their former player Howard Kendall and appointed him as manager in hope of restoring the club to its former glory.
| Competition: | First Division |
| Season: | 1981–82 |
| Winners: | Liverpool 13th English title |
| Relegated: | Leeds United Middlesbrough Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| Continentalcup1: | European Cup |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Liverpool Aston Villa |
| Continentalcup2: | Cup Winners' Cup |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Tottenham Hotspur Swansea City |
| Continentalcup3: | UEFA Cup |
| Continentalcup3 Qualifiers: | Ipswich Town Manchester United Arsenal Southampton |
| League Topscorer: | Kevin Keegan (26 goals)[1] |
| Biggest Home Win: | (3 October 1981) (6 February 1982) (27 April 1982) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (10 April 1982) |
| Highest Scoring: | (4 May 1982) |
| Matches: | 462 |
| Total Goals: | 1173 |
| Longest Wins: | 11 matches Liverpool |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 16 matches Liverpool |
| Longest Losses: | 8 matches Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| Prevseason: | 1980–81 |
| Nextseason: | 1982–83 |
The First Division title race saw many teams take the lead throughout the season, including traditional favourites like Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, as well as thriving Ipswich Town and Southampton, and most incredibly a Swansea City side who had never been in the First Division before, and who had been in the Fourth Division just a few seasons previously. In the end, however, it was Liverpool who clinched the title after a surge in the second half of the campaign which took them from mid table at Christmas to clinching the title on the final day of the season. They also retained the League Cup. Defending champions Aston Villa only finished mid-table but finished the season as European Cup winners, three months after Ron Saunders stood down as manager and was succeeded by his assistant Tony Barton.
Wolves went down to the Second Division for the second time in seven seasons, while Middlesbrough went down after eight years in the First Division. Leeds United, who had gradually lost touch with the First Division's elite since Don Revie left in 1974, lost their top flight status after 18 years.
Other memorable events of the season included the early season transfer of Bryan Robson from West Bromwich Albion to Manchester United for a national record £1.5million, and the death of legendary former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everton | Gordon Lee | Sacked | 16 May 1981 | Pre-season | Howard Kendall | 1 June 1981 |
| Coventry City | Gordon Milne | Mutual consent | 30 May 1981 | Dave Sexton | 5 June 1981 | |
| Sunderland | Mick Docherty | End of caretaker spell | 1 June 1981 | Alan Durban | 1 June 1981 | |
| Stoke City | Alan Durban | Signed by Sunderland | 1 June 1981 | Richie Barker | 11 June 1981 | |
| Middlesbrough | John Neal | Signed by Chelsea | 1 June 1981 | Bobby Murdoch | 19 June 1981 | |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Alan Mullery | Resigned | 5 June 1981 | Mike Bailey | 9 June 1981 | |
| Manchester United | Jack Crompton | End of caretaker spell | 9 June 1981 | Ron Atkinson | 9 June 1981 | |
| West Bromwich Albion | Ron Atkinson | Signed by Manchester United | 9 June 1981 | Ronnie Allen | 30 June 1981 | |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | John Barnwell | Sacked | 5 January 1982 | 18th | Ian Greaves | 8 February 1982 |
| Aston Villa | Ron Saunders | Resigned | 9 February 1982 | 15th | Tony Barton | 9 February 1982 |
| Birmingham City | Jim Smith | 15 February 1982 | 19th | Ron Saunders | 22 February 1982 |
| Competition: | Second Division |
| Season: | 1981–82 |
| Winners: | Luton Town |
| Promoted: | Luton Town Watford Norwich City |
| Relegated: | Cardiff City Wrexham Orient |
| League Topscorer: | Ronnie Moore (22 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | (17 October 1981) (31 October 1981) (1 May 1982) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (3 October 1981) (5 May 1982) |
| Highest Scoring: | (20 March 1982) |
| Matches: | 462 |
| Total Goals: | 1171 |
| Prevseason: | 1980–81 |
| Nextseason: | 1982–83 |
Luton Town clinched the Second Division as their cosmopolitan side ended the club's seven-year exile from the First Division, joined by runners-up Watford (in the First Division for the first time under inspirational manager Graham Taylor) and a Norwich City side who had surged from 10th place to the final promotion place during the final quarter of the campaign. Sheffield Wednesday, QPR and Leicester City just missed out on promotion, as did two surprise contenders still yet to play in the First Division - Barnsley and Rotherham United.
Cardiff City, Wrexham and Orient were relegated; the latter two have not returned to this level since.
Joe Royle, the 33-year-old former Everton striker, began his managerial career at Oldham Athletic.
Burnley, Carlisle United and Fulham enjoyed some success after a string of disappointments by winning promotion to the Second Division.
Going down were Wimbledon, Swindon Town, Bristol City and Chester. Bristol had completed a unique succession of three relegations, while Swindon had been League Cup winners little over a decade earlier. Wimbledon, meanwhile, would not be enduring any more disappointing season for many years after 1982.
| Competition: | Football League Third Division |
| Season: | 1981–82 |
| Winners: | Burnley (1st title) |
| Continentalcup1: | Promoted |
| Continentalcup2: | Relegated |
| League Topscorer: | Gordon Davies (Fulham), 24 |
| Matches: | 552 |
| Total Goals: | 1422 |
| Nextseason: | 1982–83 |
| Competition: | Football League Fourth Division |
| Season: | 1981–82 |
| Winners: | Sheffield United (1st title) |
| Continentalcup1: | Promoted |
| Continentalcup2: | Failed re-election |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | None |
| Continentalcup3: | New club in the league |
| League Topscorer: | Keith Edwards (Hull City / Sheffield United) 36 |
| Matches: | 552 |
| Total Goals: | 1512 |
| Nextseason: | 1982–83 |
Sheffield United began the first phase of their revival by winning the Fourth Division championship, which marked a superb start to the management career of Ian Porterfield. Also promoted were Bradford City, Wigan Athletic and Bournemouth.
Crewe Alexandra endured a terrible season and propped up the league with just 27 league points, but the other league members voted in their favour and they maintained their league status.
This year Runcorn, the winners of the Alliance Premier League, could not apply for election because they did not meet Football League requirements. 2nd placed Enfield could not apply either for the same reasons, so 3rd placed Telford United won the right to apply for election to the Football League to replace one of the four bottom sides in the 1981–82 Football League Fourth Division. The vote went as follows:
| width=140 | Club | width=185 | Final Position | width=50 | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22nd (Fourth Division) | 53 | ||||
| 24th (Fourth Division) | 50 | ||||
| 21st (Fourth Division) | 48 | ||||
| 23rd (Fourth Division) | 48 | ||||
| 3rd (Alliance Premier League) | 13 |
As a result of this, all four Football League teams were re-elected, and Telford United were denied membership of the League.