Today's results - Saturday 14th May 1983

[Billy Casper]

For the first time ever, instead of going to watch Barnsley play a meaningless game at Carlisle, I went somewhere else...

Sorry GO, I had never seen a team be relegated before so I went to Elland Road. I'm surprised to see it finished as a draw as I remember it as a home win.

[Arturo]

What on earth is going on with Exeter's goals for and against? That's an average of four goals a game, but it did look like a high scoring season in Division Three (Doncaster beating Reading 7-5 sticks in the mind).

Luton were the big entertainers in Division One. They were regularly on 'Match of the Week' in my area and it was always an enjoyable goal fest with Walsh, Hill and Stein in full flow.

[My Name Is Ian]

I wrote about this particular day just last week, including an embed of the complete Match Of The Day for that week.

https://twohundredpercent.net/match-...ty-luton-1983/

This was, as mentioned above, also the day of the Derby vs Fulham pich invasion(s). The complete The Big Match for that day used to be on YouTube, but ITV have been on a spree of getting those taken down recently. (I've got it on a hard drive here, or at least the TVS equivalent, and can upload it somewhere if anyone does want to see it - just drop me a DM.)

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Looks like Watford were a more deserving second. and a good way to get it. You don't want big fat ron getting too imbedded in there. I turns out that he's not the future.

[Satchmo Distel]

Do these results show the effects of their being more dead games in the pre-play-off era?

[Simon G]

A year before I was born and no game for Cheltenham on 14th May. Our last game of a Southern League Midland Division winning season had been on 9th May, which I'm guessing was a bank holiday (?). That was a 0-0 draw at home to Wellingborough Town. Oddly, we played in a 17 team division that season so only played 32 games.

Some great names in the division:

Pl W D L F A Pts
1 Cheltenham Town 32 22 5 5 65 29 71
2 Sutton Coldfield Town 32 21 7 4 62 24 70
3 Forest Green Rovers 32 21 3 8 68 32 66
4 Merthyr Tydfil 32 17 7 8 64 45 58
5 Willenhall Town 32 17 6 9 74 49 57
6 Oldbury United 32 16 6 10 52 49 54
7 Banbury United 32 15 3 14 59 55 48
8 Bridgend Town 32 12 11 9 46 37 47
9 Wellingborough Town 32 13 7 12 49 37 46
10 Bromsgrove Rovers 32 13 5 14 47 47 44
11 Dudley Town 32 12 7 13 40 45 43
12 Bridgwater Town 32 12 6 14 42 43 42
13 Aylesbury United 32 12 5 15 37 51 41
14 Redditch United 32 8 6 18 51 73 30
15 Taunton Town 32 5 7 20 30 64 22
16 Minehead 32 5 7 20 24 62 22
17 Milton Keynes City 32 0 4 28 22 90 4

[My Name Is Ian]

Redditch United were in the founding season of the Alliance Premier League. That's quite a descent.

Minehead have glided down through the divisions, from the Southern League Premier Division in 1978. They were relegated by one point that year, with four relegation places in a 22 team division,and just before its biggest teams pissed off to co-form the APL. Wimbledon played their second last home game as a non-league club (until 2003) against Minehead in the league in 1977. Actually, I've just spotted that they were runners-up to Wimbledon in 1977.

They were in the Premier Division of the Somerset County League by 2010 and they're still there, where their opponents this season contained, amongst others, Shirehampton (Saturday), Clutton, Mendip Broadwalk and Middlezoy Rovers.

Their name change to Minhead Town seemed to curse them:

http://www.fchd.info/MINEHEAT.HTM

As for Milton Keynes City, they struggled on for two years and folded mid-season during 1984/5. Furtho will know more abiout them than me. Historic non-league football in MK/Bletchley/Wolverton is really fucking complicated.

http://fchd.info/MILTONKC.HTM

[My Name Is Ian]

There's a good article about Minehead by friend of WSC David Bauckham.

https://dbauckham.exposure.co/past-glories

[DPDPDPDP]

WE! WON! The league at Dens! Fly the flag, fly the flag!
who put the ba’ in the Dundee net? Ralphie! Ralphie!
Who put the ba’ in the Dundee net? Ralphie Ralphie Milne

Well done. I’m an Aberdeen fan and if we couldn’t win it, I’m glad United did as opposed to either of the gruesome twosome. United finished the league on 56 points, Aberdeen had 55. The crucial game came when Aberdeen lost to United at home 2-1 3 days after beating Bayern in the ECWC quarter final. I think if this game had been played any other time, the result may have been different and Aberdeen would have won the league. At least we had the consolation of being ECWC winners as well as Scottish Cup winners.

What great days they were. A competitive league, our teams doing well in Europe and Scotland qualifying regularly for World Cups. Sadly those days will never return. Well done on getting promotion.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Thanks- I only realised with hindsight how your 83 fixture pile-up must’ve affected the late season, as ours did in 87, with sadly less fruitful outcome

[Jah Womble]

What on earth is going on with Exeter's goals for and against? That's an average of four goals a game, but it did look like a high scoring season in Division Three (Doncaster beating Reading 7-5 sticks in the mind).

Doncaster had a remarkable run of league results in September/October of 1982: Exeter (h) W 6-1; Southend (a) L 3-2; Reading (h) W 7-5; Wigan (h) L 3-6; Lincoln (a) L 5-1; Brentford (h) D 4-4. There was one 1-0 defeat at Orient in among those - to bring a brief air of normality to events - giving an overall goal difference of F23 A25, or forty-eight goals in just seven matches.

As an aside, has Kerry Dixon's four-goal haul for Reading in that 7-5 defeat been matched (or bettered??) since by a losing player in the professional leagues here? (Long question, but I'm sure you get it.)

[Gangster Octopus]

It was my first official trip with the London Millers. We arrived knowing that a win was vital, and went in at half-time one up. Leeds didn't seem to be trying too hard. Blew it in the second half; went 2-1 down before equalising and then not being able to get the necessary goal.

Went drinking with a couple of my friends from Rotherham (actually, York and Halifax) after the game. One of the them said "I hope it doesn't take us another 13 years to get back." It didn't, it took us 18 years, as I pointed out to the same guy all those years later.

I'd lost the London Millers, but I managed to get the last train back from Leeds to Kings Cross; where the tubes had stopped so I had to walk back to Notting Hill.

The following month the Tories walked the General Election, I got sacked from my job as a printer and I moved in with my girlfriend...

[Giggler]

Grimsby v QPR is a fabulous watch if you can find it anywhere. It tips it down to the extent that the pitch ends up basically underwater and players end up sliding all over the place and hoofing the ball because it's essentially the only way to move it. Quite aside from the fact that drainage has much improved there is no way a game would take place in such conditions nowadays.

I’ve just spent the last half hour going through my Twitter feed. I knew I’d seen it.

http://twitter.com/onthisGTFCday/status/1218927422923583488

[Arturo]

This was, as mentioned above, also the day of the Derby vs Fulham pich invasion(s). The complete The Big Match for that day used to be on YouTube, but ITV have been on a spree of getting those taken down recently. (I've got it on a hard drive here, or at least the TVS equivalent, and can upload it somewhere if anyone does want to see it - just drop me a DM.)

There are also separate highlights online of the respective matches if anyone has never seen them.

To this day, I don't really know how Derby got away with what happened and how Fulham's appeal was dismissed so readily. Yes, Fulham probably wouldn't have scored the two goals needed for victory in that final minute when the game finished early, but the mayhem began when Derby scored with twenty minutes to go. It was impossible to play a proper match from that point on with pitch invasions, fans all standing on the touchline, and a Fulham player getting kicked in the process. To me, it looks as if they were absolutely shafted.

[Viktor Boskovic]

I was at the Chester v Scunthorpe match, and watched Scunthorpe get promoted. It was a close game and at one point we were holding on for a draw which would have rather helped Bury, as discussed earlier. However, the heavens opened (not quite as bad as at Grimsby) and Scunthorpe's winner squirmed under the veteran Chester goalkeeper, Grenville Millington who was only playing because the usual goalie was carried off against Torquay the week before. I remember the subsequent Scunthorpe pitch invasion involved someone dressed as a clown. My first season as a regular match attender, and I can recall this match better than some I witnessed this season!

[Arturo]

Doncaster had a remarkable run of league results in September/October of 1982: Exeter (h) W 6-1; Southend (a) L 3-2; Reading (h) W 7-5; Wigan (h) L 3-6; Lincoln (a) L 5-1; Brentford (h) D 4-4. There was one 1-0 defeat at Orient in among those - to bring a brief air of normality to events - giving an overall goal difference of F23 A25, or forty-eight goals in just seven matches.

I also remember the first few months of the Division One season being a serious goal fest before things settled down after Christmas. September 25th 1982 always sticks in the mind with fifty goals in eleven games. In my area we had the highlights of the insanely brilliant Stoke City v Luton Town match, plus Colchester United's 4-1 victory over Blackpool from Division Four.

Aston Villa 2-0 Swansea City
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Birmingham City
Coventry City 4-2 Everton
Liverpool 5-0 Southampton
Man Utd 0-0 Arsenal
Norwich City 1-3 WBA
Notts County 0-6 Ipswich Town
Stoke City 4-4 Luton Town
Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 Nottingham Forest
Watford 8-0 Sunderland
West Ham 4-1 Man City

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

I’ve just spent the last half hour going through my Twitter feed. I knew I’d seen it.

http://twitter.com/onthisGTFCday/status/1218927422923583488

I like the way that the goalkeeper completely vanishes for the second goal.