1983–84 Liverpool F.C. season

Liverpool F.C.

1983–84 season
Chairman	John W Smith
Manager	Joe Fagan
First Division	Champions
European Cup	Winners
FA Cup	4th Round
League Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Ian Rush (32) All: Ian Rush (47)
Home colours Away colours
← 1982–83 1984–85 →

The 1983–84 season was the 92nd season in Liverpool F.C.'s existence, and their 21st consecutive year in the top-flight.

It was Liverpool's first season under the management of Joe Fagan, who was promoted from the coaching staff after the retirement of Bob Paisley, their manager of the last nine seasons who had won at least one major trophy in all but the first of his seasons as manager (including six league titles and three European Cups). Fagan's first season as manager ended with Liverpool becoming the first team in England to win three major trophies in the same season as they won the league title, European Cup and League Cup. They beat Roma on penalties to win the European Cup for the fourth time (their sixth European trophy win overall), and defeated Merseyside rivals Everton in the League Cup final replay, and fought off a challenge from the likes of Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Queen's Park Rangers to win their 15th league title, and their third consecutive title.

The undoubted star of the season was striker Ian Rush, who scored 32 goals in the league and 47 in all competitions.^[1]

It was the last season at the club for midfielder Graeme Souness, who was sold to Italian side Sampdoria at the end of the campaign.^[2]

Events of the season

August Bob Paisley, the most successful manager in English football, retired as Liverpool's manager at the end of the 1982-83 season after nine glorious years at the helm. His successor was 62-year-old "boot room" veteran Joe Fagan.

The Fagan era began with the FA Charity Shield at Wembley Stadium on 20 August 1983. Liverpool, defending league champions, lost 2-0 in front of a 92,000 crowd, with Bryan Robson scoring both of the goals for FA Cup winners Manchester United. The league campaign began unspectacularly seven days later with a 1-1 draw at newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers.

September Liverpool's bid for a fourth European Cup triumph began on 14 September with a 1-0 away win in the first round first leg over Danish champions Odense. Qualification for the next stage was confirmed two weeks later when the Reds won 5-0 in the return leg at Anfield.

They had a decent month in the league as well, finishing the month in fourth place behind West Ham United, Manchester United and Southampton.^[3]

October October saw Liverpool's League Cup quest begin in the second round, where they eliminated Third Division Brentford by a comfortable margin. Their European Cup campaign thrown into question with a goalless home draw with Atletico Bilbao of Spain in the second round first leg, leaving them to need at least a score draw in the return leg in order to progress to the quarter-finals. In the league, however, excellent wins over West Ham United and Luton Town helped them to attain second place as the month drew to a close, two points short of leaders Manchester United. As well as the surprise challenge from West Ham United, they also had a race for the title mounting from fellow London side QPR, who like West Ham had never won the title before, but were also playing their first top division season since promotion the previous campaign.^[4]

November November was a rocky month for the Reds. They did manage to dispose of Atletico Bilbao in the European Cup, but were held to two draws by Fulham in the League Cup third round, finally winning the second replay. They did, however, climb to the top of the First Division, though the challenge from West Ham United and Manchester United remained intense, while a surprise challenge was springing from Tottenham Hostpur and unfashionable Luton Town - the latter who had been on the receiving end of a 6-0 demolition (and five goals by Ian Rush) by the Reds a month earlier. ^[5]

December 10 December 1983 brought one of the most embarrassing defeats ever inflicted on Liverpool Football Club. They travelled to Highfield Road for a First Division clash with a Coventry City side who were emerging as surprise title challengers under young manager Bobby Gould, and found themselves on the receiving end of a 4-0 defeat. However, they pulled together the following weekend to demolish Notts County 5-0 at Anfield, and entered 1984 still in pole position and three points ahead of their nearest rivals Manchester United.^[6]

The League Cup quest continued with a replay win over Birmingham City in the fourth round.

January The first Liverpool game of 1984 was a 1-1 home draw with Manchester United in the league, billed by many as a championship decider - the outcome of which left the top two unchanged. The FA Cup quest began with a 4-0 home win over a Newcastle United led by former Liverpool striker Kevin Keegan, but ended later in the month with a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of the previous season's losing finalists Brighton & Hove Albion. They also achieved a League Cup quarter-final replay win over Sheffield Wednesday, like Keegan's Newcastle on the way to promotion to the First Division. There was a real chance of a treble this season.

February Liverpool maintained top place in the First Division throughout February.^[7] In the League Cup semi-finals, they were held to a surprise 2-2 draw by Third Division minnows Walsall in the first leg at Anfield before winning the return leg 2-0 at Fellows Park, to secure a place in the League Cup final a month later against Merseyside rivals Everton, who were on a run in the cup competitions despite dismal league form which had seen repeated calls from fans for manager Howard Kendall to be sacked.

March March saw Liverpool seal their first trophy of the season when they won 1-0 in the final replay at Maine Road on 28 March 1984, three days after the first game saw them draw 0-0 with Everton at Wembley Stadium. The European adventure resumed with an excellent 5-1 aggregate win over Portuguese champions Benfica. They were still going strong in the league as well, and by the end of March only Manchester United (two points behind them) were looking able to catch them.^[8]

April A succession of wins could have wrapped up Liverpool's 15th league title before the end of April, but a shock defeat to relegation threatened Stoke City and a 3-3 draw with Leicester City meant that April ended with Liverpool still just two points ahead of Manchester United with four games remaining. And a late surge from QPR and Southampton suggested that the title might not end up at Anfield or Old Trafford.^[9]

Liverpool reached their fourth European Cup final by eliminated Dinamo Bucharest in the semi-finals.^[10]

May May 1984 was one of the most glorious months ever experienced by Liverpool Football Club, but it began with a result that suggested the month could turn out to be one of the most disappointing. A goalless draw at relegation threatened Birmingham City (who soon went down thanks to a late escape act by Stoke City) could have been enough for Liverpool to lose their lead to Manchester United on goal difference, but Ron Atkinson's side also managed only a draw that weekend, and there was still a mathematical chance of either QPR or Southampton winning the title.^[11]

Two days after the scare in the midlands, another midland side - Coventry City - took on Liverpool, this time at Anfield. Any talk of a repeat of the December humiliation at Highfield Road was quickly silenced as the Reds crushed the Sky Blues 5-0 (with Ian Rush scoring four goals and pushing them to the edge of the relegation zone just five months after they had been pushing for the title) and opened up a five-point lead to a Manchester United side who were beaten by Nottingham Forest on the same day. Southampton were now the only side other than Manchester United who could catch Liverpool, but the Reds only needed two points from their final two games to be sure of the title.^[12]

Liverpool drew their penultimate league game of the season with doomed Notts County at Meadow Lane, but Manchester United and Southampton were only able to draw their games as well - meaning that Liverpool had become only the third English club to win three successive league titles.^[13][14]

The championship trophy was presented to the club on 15 May 1984 after the final league game of the season - a 1-1 draw with Norwich City at Anfield.

The European Cup final was played on 30 May 1984. Veteran defender Phil Neal put the Reds ahead against AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, but the Italians later equalised to force a 1-1 draw which remained the score as full-time and then extra time loomed. The match went to a penalty shoot-out, which the Reds won 4-2, becoming the first English club to win three major trophies in the same season. It was their fourth European Cup triumph - a record only bettered by Real Madrid who won it six times between 1956 and 1966.

Squad

Goalkeepers

• Bob Bolder
• Bruce Grobbelaar

Defenders

• Jim Beglin
• Gary Gillespie
• Alan Hansen
• Alan Kennedy
• Mark Lawrenson
• John McGregor
• Phil Neal
• Steve Nicol
• Phil Thompson

Midfielders

• Craig Johnston
• Sammy Lee
• Ray Kennedy
• Graeme Souness
• John Wark
• Ronnie Whelan

Attackers

• Kenny Dalglish
• David Hodgson
• Michael Robinson
• Ian Rush

Table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	42	22	14	6	73	32	+41	80
2	Southampton	42	22	11	9	66	38	+28	77
3	Nottingham Forest	42	22	8	12	76	45	+31	74
4	Manchester United	42	20	14	8	71	41	+30	74
5	Queens Park Rangers	42	22	7	13	67	37	+30	73
6	Arsenal	42	18	9	15	74	60	+14	63
7	Everton	42	16	14	12	44	42	+2	62
8	Tottenham Hotspur	42	17	10	15	64	65	−1	61
9	West Ham United	42	17	9	16	60	55	+5	60
10	Aston Villa	42	17	9	16	59	61	−2	60
11	Watford	42	16	9	17	68	77	−9	57
12	Ipswich Town	42	15	8	19	55	57	−2	53
13	Sunderland	42	13	13	16	42	53	−11	52
14	Norwich City	42	12	15	15	48	49	−1	51
15	Leicester City	42	13	12	17	65	68	−3	51
16	Luton Town	42	14	9	19	53	66	−13	51
17	West Bromwich Albion	42	14	9	19	48	62	−14	51
18	Stoke City	42	13	11	18	44	63	−19	50
19	Coventry City	42	13	11	18	57	77	−20	50
20	Birmingham City	42	12	12	18	39	50	−11	48
21	Notts County	42	10	11	21	50	72	−22	41
22	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	6	11	25	27	80	−53	29

Results

First Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
27-Aug-83	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–1	Rush  46'	26,249	Report	Report
31-Aug-83	Norwich City	A	1–0	Souness  29'	23,859	Report	Report
03-Sep-83	Nottingham Forest	H	1–0	Rush  84'	31,376	Report	Report
06-Sep-83	Southampton	H	1–1	Rush  60'	26,331	Report	Report
10-Sep-83	Arsenal	A	2–0	Johnston  17' Dalglish  67'	47,896	Report	Report
17-Sep-83	Aston Villa	H	2–1	Dalglish  73' Rush  79'	34,246	Report	Report
24-Sep-83	Manchester United	A	0–1		56,121	Report	Report
01-Oct-83	Sunderland	H	0–1		29,534	Report	Report
15-Oct-83	West Ham United	A	3–1	Robinson  15', 24', 74'	32,555	Report	Report
22-Oct-83	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–0	Nicol  83'	27,140	Report	Report
29-Oct-83	Luton Town	H	6–0	Rush  2', 5', 36', 55', 88' Dalglish  38'	31,940	Report	Report
06-Nov-83	Everton	H	3–0	Rush  16' Robinson  60' Nicol  85'	40,875	Report	Report
12-Nov-83	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–2	Robinson  6' Rush  65'	45,032	Report	Report
19-Nov-83	Stoke City	H	1–0	Rush  67'	26,529	Report	Report
26-Nov-83	Ipswich Town	A	1–1	Dalglish  62'	23,826	Report	Report
03-Dec-83	Birmingham City	H	1–0	Rush  86'	24,791	Report	Report
10-Dec-83	Coventry City	A	0–4		20,586	Report	Report
17-Dec-83	Notts County	H	5–0	Nicol  12' Souness  pen 22', 83' Own Goal  35' Rush  50'	22,436	Report	Report
26-Dec-83	West Bromwich Albion	A	2–1	Nicol  16' Souness  62'	25,139	Report	Report
27-Dec-83	Leicester City	H	2–2	Lee  74' Rush  83'	33,664	Report	Report
31-Dec-83	Nottingham Forest	A	1–0	Rush  28'	29,692	Report	Report
02-Jan-84	Manchester United	H	1–1	Johnston  32'	45,122	Report	Report
14-Jan-84	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–1		23,325	Report	Report
20-Jan-84	Aston Villa	A	3–1	Rush  46', 70', 80'	19,566	Report	Report
01-Feb-84	Watford	H	3–0	Rush  10' Nicol  41' Whelan  45'	20,746	Report	Report
04-Feb-84	Sunderland	A	0–0		25,646	Report	Report
11-Feb-84	Arsenal	H	2–1	Kennedy  12' Neal  78'	34,642	Report	Report
18-Feb-84	Luton Town	A	0–0		14,877	Report	Report
25-Feb-84	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–0	Rush  80' Robinson  55'	32,206	Report	Report
03-Mar-84	Everton	A	1–1	Rush  17'	51,245	Report	Report
10-Mar-84	Tottenham Hotspur	H	3–1	Dalglish  41' Whelan  43' Lee  88'	36,718	Report	Report
16-Mar-84	Southampton	A	0–2		19,698	Report	Report
31-Mar-84	Watford	A	2–0	Wark  58' Rush  80'	21,293	Report	Report
07-Apr-84	West Ham United	H	6–0	Rush  6', 18' Dalglish  12' Whelan  28' Souness  62', 70'	38,359	Report	Report
14-Apr-84	Stoke City	A	0–2		24,372	Report	Report
18-Apr-84	Leicester City	A	3–3	Whelan  14' Rush  59' Wark  81'	26,553	Report	Report
21-Apr-84	West Bromwich Albion	H	3–0	Own Goal  20' Souness  25' Dalglish  29'	35,320	Report	Report
28-Apr-84	Ipswich Town	H	2–2	Kennedy  31' Rush  37'	32,069	Report	Report
05-May-84	Birmingham City	A	0–0		18,809	Report	Report
07-May-84	Coventry City	H	5–0	Rush  43', 45', 57 pen', 81' Hansen  71'	33,393	Report	Report
12-May-84	Notts County	A	0–0		18,745	Report	Report
15-May-84	Norwich City	H	1–1	Rush  30'	38,837	Report	Report

FA Charity Shield

GK 1 Gary Bailey DF 2 Mike Duxbury DF 3 Arthur Albiston MF 4 Ray Wilkins DF 5 Kevin Moran DF 6 Gordon McQueen MF 7 Bryan Robson (c) MF 8 Arnold Mühren FW 9 Frank Stapleton FW 10 Norman Whiteside MF 11 Arthur Graham Substitutes: DF 12 John Gidman MF 13 Lou Macari GK 14 Jeff Wealands MF 15 Remi Moses Manager: Ron Atkinson

GK 1 Bruce Grobbelaar RB 2 Phil Neal LB 3 Alan Kennedy (c) CM 4 Mark Lawrenson CB 5 Phil Thompson  61' CB 6 Alan Hansen CF 7 Kenny Dalglish RM 8 Sammy Lee CF 9 Ian Rush LM 10 Michael Robinson  61' CM 11 Graeme Souness Substitutes: MF 12 Craig Johnston  61' FW 13 David Hodgson  61' GK 14 Bob Bolder Manager: Joe Fagan

Match rules 90 minutes, no extra time Four named substitutes Maximum of two substitutions

FA Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
06-Jan-84	Newcastle United	H	4–0	Robinson  8' Rush 2  28', 86' Johnston  63'	33,566	Report	Report
29-Jan-84	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0–2		19,057	Report	Report

League Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
05-Oct-83	Brentford	A	4–1	Rush  23', 70' Robinson  51' Souness  57'	17,859	Report	Report
25-Oct-83	Brentford	H	4–0	Souness  pen 38' Hodgson  65' Dalglish  69' Robinson  87'	9,902	Report	Report
08-Nov-83	Fulham	A	1–1	Rush  64'	20,142	Report	Report
22-Nov-83	Fulham	H	1–1	Dalglish  50'	15,783	Report	Report
29-Nov-83	Fulham	A	1–0	Souness  114'	20,905	Report	Report
20-Dec-83	Birmingham City	A	1–1	Souness  26'	17,405	Report	Report
22-Dec-83	Birmingham City	H	3–0	Nicol  39' Rush  53', pen 74'	11,638	Report	Report
17-Jan-84	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2–2	Nicol  20' Neal  pen 60'	49,357	Report	Report
25-Jan-84	Sheffield Wednesday	H	3–0	Rush  37', 85' Robinson  74'	40,485	Report	Report
07-Feb-84	Walsall	H	2–2	Whelan  14', 73'	31,073	Report	Report
14-Feb-84	Walsall	A	2–0	Rush  13' Whelan  52'	19,591	Report	Report

Final

GK 1 Bruce Grobbelaar RB 2 Phil Neal LB 3 Alan Kennedy CB 4 Mark Lawrenson LM 5 Ronnie Whelan CB 6 Alan Hansen CF 7 Kenny Dalglish RM 8 Sammy Lee CF 9 Ian Rush CM 10 Craig Johnston  91' CM 11 Graeme Souness (c) Substitute: FW 12 Michael Robinson  91' Manager: Joe Fagan

GK 1 Neville Southall DF 2 Gary Stevens DF 3 John Bailey DF 4 Kevin Ratcliffe (c) DF 5 Derek Mountfield MF 6 Peter Reid MF 7 Alan Irvine FW 8 Adrian Heath FW 9 Graeme Sharp FW 10 Kevin Richardson MF 11 Kevin Sheedy Substitute: DF 12 Alan Harper Manager: Howard Kendall

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Replay if scores still level. One named substitute. Maximum of one substitution.

Replay

GK 1 Bruce Grobbelaar RB 2 Phil Neal LB 3 Alan Kennedy CB 4 Mark Lawrenson LM 5 Ronnie Whelan CB 6 Alan Hansen CF 7 Kenny Dalglish RM 8 Sammy Lee CF 9 Ian Rush CM 10 Craig Johnston CM 11 Graeme Souness (c) Substitute: FW 12 Michael Robinson Manager: Joe Fagan

GK 1 Neville Southall DF 2 Gary Stevens DF 3 John Bailey DF 4 Kevin Ratcliffe (c) DF 5 Derek Mountfield MF 6 Peter Reid MF 7 Alan Irvine FW 8 Adrian Heath FW 9 Graeme Sharp FW 10 Kevin Richardson MF 11 Alan Harper Substitute: MF 12 Andy King Manager: Howard Kendall

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. One named substitute. Maximum of one substitution.

European Cup

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
14-Sep-83	Odense BK	A	1–0	Dalglish  14'	30,000	Report	Report
28-Sep-83	Odense BK	H	5–0	Robinson  14', 72' Dalglish  32', 40' Own Goal  65'	14,985	Report	Report
19-Oct-83	Athletic Bilbao	H	0–0		33,063	Report	Report
02-Nov-83	Athletic Bilbao	A	1–0	Rush  66'	47,500	Report	Report
07-Mar-84	Benfica	H	1–0	Rush  66'	39,096	Report	Report
21-Mar-84	Benfica	A	4–1	Whelan  9', 87' Johnston  33' Rush  79'	70,000	Report	Report
11-Apr-84	Dinamo Bucharest	H	1–0	Lee  25'	36,941	Report	Report
25-Apr-84	Dinamo Bucharest	A	2–1	Rush  11', 84'	60,000	Report	Report

Final

Liverpool

Roma

GK 1 Bruce Grobbelaar RB 2 Phil Neal  32' LB 3 Alan Kennedy CB 4 Mark Lawrenson LM 5 Ronnie Whelan CB 6 Alan Hansen SS 7 Kenny Dalglish  94' RM 8 Sammy Lee CF 9 Ian Rush CM 10 Craig Johnston  72' CM 11 Graeme Souness (c) Substitutes: FW 12 Michael Robinson  94' GK 13 Bob Bolder DF 14 Steve Nicol  72' FW 15 David Hodgson DF 16 Gary Gillespie Manager: Joe Fagan

GK 1 Franco Tancredi RB 2 Michele Nappi CB 3 Sebastiano Nela CB 4 Ubaldo Righetti CM 5 Paulo Roberto Falcão LB 6 Dario Bonetti SS 7 Bruno Conti  15' CM 8 Toninho Cerezo  115' CF 9 Roberto Pruzzo  64' DM 10 Agostino Di Bartolomei (c) CF 11 Francesco Graziani Substitutions: GK 12 Astutillo Malgioglio DF 13 Emidio Oddi MF 14 Mark Tullio Strukelj  115' FW 15 Odoacre Chierico  64' FW 16 Francesco Vincenzi Manager: Nils Liedholm

References

• LFC History.net – Games for the 1983–84 season
• Liverweb - Games for the 1983–84 season