82/83 Comparisons | Vital Football

82/83 Comparisons

Norfolk Imp

Norfolk Imp

Vital 1st Team Regular
Boxing Day 38 years ago, Imps drew 1-1 with Walsall from memory, then lost our 100% home record v Huddersfield in front of nearly 12k inside Sinny Bank.

Fast forward almost 4 decades, and we are watching the best Imps side since then in my opinion ... can we go one step further and reach the promised land though?


7BA7D64D-DCBE-4D86-B435-CFED8FFA55E4.jpeg
 
Still trying to keep my feet on the ground but as we all know there were very specific reasons for our collapse back then with the thinnest of thin squads. That wont happen this time and other than Pompey, we can more than match anything else league 1 has to offer on our day even if we did have an off day v Sunderland. Im already having nightmares about getting tickets for next season. Certainly the best team since the early eighties but still think Murph's team holds pole position, but in answer to your question... yes we can :yes:
 
Got a bigger squad for a start and even more importantly a much better, progressive board.
If we can get Morton back and Palmer and Johnson stay .
A couple more additions and you never know!
 
For me the 82/83 team was better. However,there is considerably more strength in depth now- we only had a 1st team squad of 15 for the majority of the season. And The Board is far better now (not to mention the stadium ).
 
The 82/83 season had some excellent players under a excellent manager.

I still feel we are punching way above our weight with the depth of our current squad, I am constantly amazed by the team work ethic and constant discipline within our current side also at such a average young age, it would be nice if we could do it with this squad, and would be such an achievement for the management and the board.

Having had club survival and division survival as the two goals at the start of the season.
 
bbh 11 said:
The 82/83 season had some excellent players under a excellent manager.

I still feel we are punching way above our weight with the depth of our current squad, I am constantly amazed by the team work ethic and constant discipline within our current side also at such a average young age, it would be nice if we could do it with this squad, and would be such an achievement for the management and the board.

Having had club survival and division survival as the two goals at the start of the season.
Click to expand...
Youngest squad in the division apparently, even younger than Gillingham 😉
 
January this time will be a massive month considering all the games. If we are in a similar position, then we have a real opportunity playing Championship football.

We have to be careful in the window given the current Covid situation, however I sense the board will do all they can to give MAPP the tools to succeed.
 
At least this season I wont be standing on Crave Cottage terracing after the final whistle, down-hearted and completely gutted, praying for a positive result elsewhere. then huddled up freezing cold after 3 of the coach windows had been bricked on the way home.
 
1982-83 has passed into legend as a season we didn't go up because the squad was too small. But Colin Murphy made that an issue and to a large degree it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

7 years previously Taylor's side made history using 14 players (+ 2 very short term loans in Bowery and Woodcock).

And in 1982-83 Liverpool won the Football League and League Cup using 16 players, two of whom (Steve Nicol and Terry McDermott) barely played a game.

9 of Liverpool's side played over 50 matches - Grobbelaar, Kennedy and Neal played 60. And that doesn't include international games.

The 1982-83 team had some very good players for its time - though many of those who went on to play in the 1st Division wouldn't have made the top flight in today's worldwide player market.

The Huddersfield home game, as mentioned by Norfolk Imp, remains the best football match I have seen involving Lincoln City (despite the defeat). However, when they put it together, the current team is more fun.
 
I always find it difficult to compare sides from different eras. I am not sure the current side would have coped with what seemed like a more physical era, and am pretty sure 1 through 11 the current squad would be fitter and faster than their 82/83 counterparts.
As for can we? Of course we can we are not currently top by accident. Will we? I don't have a crystal ball. I don't foresee a collapse like last season will what we do be enough? I am excited to find out.
 
The 82-83 side was the result of several years of gradual squad growth, some pre- Murphy, others astute acquisitions. The squad promoted in 80-81 was the core of the side which nearly achieved back to back promotions and looked set for achieving 2 in 3. I can recall a side of talented footballers, some great football though a winning side always lives in the memory that way.

The remarkable thing about this squad is the speed at which the old squad has been dismantled and rebuilt to MA's requirements. What would normally then take a season or two to gel has come together immediately and in the quality of football being played to get to the top.

That is a huge credit to the recruitment and coaching teams, and the players particularly given the unprecedented constraints of this season.

We go into the New Year in a similar position to 82-83. Burn out in a thin squad was the issue then, and with the intensity of style of play now has to be a concern. But the squad is deeper, and fringe players all on method when needed. Some younger players are visibly improving match by match.

Management and board are all pulling in the same direction this time. Its encouraging that MA has already indicated a recruit is likely early in the window, he doesn't do BS and knows where the squad is thin so we can all happily speculate on which of a striker or specialist left back will be coming in.

Just keep enjoying the ride and hope some of us can eventually see first hand that off the ball movement which Hone was drooling over yesterday.
 
Better individual players for me in 82/3, but as a team, the current side looks superior. Workrate, board backing and squad depth will see us last the season much better, unlike 82/3 when differences between Murphy and the board cost us dearly.
 
Agree that comparisons between eras is always difficult. This side are already overachieving on where I thought we'd be at this stage, and I suppose position in the league table at the end of the season will be the final arbiter

However, I'd watched the 82/3 team (largely) and manager over a few seasons, building to that position at the top of the table - it was "our" squad, of "our" players. This squad is made up of a number of (extremely good) loanees, and despite seeing the last home game of last season, had I been at SB yesterday, it would have been the first time I'd seen a number of the team play. Does that make it better or worse? No, just different. The face of football (Premier League, Bosman ruling etc) has changed, and we've been part of that change and enjoyed the benefits of it ie we have international owners - unheard of in 82/3. But I have to say that not being able to go to matches this season hasn't helped the feeling of "us" - the team and supporters building together - and that is something very different from 82/3

As I say, though, lets see where we are at the end of the season, and where we'll be playing next season - maybe I'll be watching in the second tier again!! In 82/3 I was disappointed at how the season finished. This season, if we don't make promotion I won't be, simply because of my own expectations. I think one big difference now is that we know the plan/project/strategy for going forward, and I look forward to that journey, with whatever ups and downs we meet along the way
 
Maintaining the away wins will be the key. In 82/83 we won 6 away all season. That is the figure we have achieved already this. Winning away from home is the key to all promotions.
Also consider that 82/83 we finished 6th which would be an incredible achievement if replicated this season, and we are due a good play-off ending for a change
 
sedgleyimp said:
Maintaining the away wins will be the key. In 82/83 we won 6 away all season. That is the figure we have achieved already this. Winning away from home is the key to all promotions.
Also consider that 82/83 we finished 6th which would be an incredible achievement if replicated this season, and we are due a good play-off ending for a change
Click to expand...

Five away wins up to and including New Year’s Day, when things were going well. The sixth was a memorable last away match of the season at Sheffield United, but nothing left to play for by then.
 
Gratzimp said:
At least this season I wont be standing on Crave Cottage terracing after the final whistle, down-hearted and completely gutted, praying for a positive result elsewhere. then huddled up freezing cold after 3 of the coach windows had been bricked on the way home.
Click to expand...


Wasn't that the previous season?
 
Norfolk Imp said:
Boxing Day 38 years ago, Imps drew 1-1 with Walsall from memory, then lost our 100% home record v Huddersfield in front of nearly 12k inside Sinny Bank.

Fast forward almost 4 decades, and we are watching the best Imps side since then in my opinion ... can we go one step further and reach the promised land though?


View attachment 44553
Click to expand...


I attended both those matches- on one hand its a life time ago and on the other its seared into my memory and seems like yesterday!

Hopefully the club can learn from history. The Imps are now looking at a once in a lifetime opportunity, I hope they do everything within the power of the club to grab it!
 
Last edited:
sedgleyimp said:
Maintaining the away wins will be the key. In 82/83 we won 6 away all season. That is the figure we have achieved already this. Winning away from home is the key to all promotions.
Also consider that 82/83 we finished 6th which would be an incredible achievement if replicated this season, and we are due a good play-off ending for a change
Click to expand...
It does depend a bit on how the home and away fixtures are split In the two halves of the season.
we have still to play portsmouth posh hull Charlton ipswich and Sunderland away
already played Charlton ipswich Portsmouth and Sunderland at home.
based on that you might expect our home record to improve in comparison to our away record.

other factors to weigh in. our young team are likely to improve over the course of the second half - against how much the heavyweights improve, plus who uses their financial clout best in the transfer window.

What happens in the transfer window will be fascinating
 
You must log in or register to reply here.