The 1983–84 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 81st in the Football League and their 49th in the First Division. They finished in 20th position in the 22-team division, so were relegated to the Second Division for 1984–85. They entered the 1983–84 FA Cup in the third round proper and lost to Watford in the quarter-final. In the League Cup, after defeating Notts County in the third round only after three replays, they lost to Liverpool in the fourth round after a replay.
Mick Harford was the club's top scorer with 15 goals in all competitions; if only league games are counted, Harford and Howard Gayle were joint leaders with 8. The highest attendance, of 40,220 against Watford in the FA Cup sixth round, was the last 40,000 crowd seen at St Andrew's, as of 2012; the ground capacity was reduced to around 30,000 when the stadium was converted to all-seater in the 1990s.Matthews (2010), Complete Record, p. 402.
Football League First Division
DateLeaguepositionOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendance27 August 198321stWest Ham UnitedAL0–419,72930 August 198322ndNotts CountyAL1–2Harford11,0313 September 198317thWatfordHW2–0Hopkins, Halsall11,9316 September 198311thStoke CityHW1–0Blake pen13,72810 September 198310thWolverhampton WanderersAD1–1Wright pen15,93317 September 198310thIpswich TownHW1–0Gayle13,15924 September 198312thEvertonAD1–1Gayle15,2541 October 19838thLeicester CityHW2–1Rees, Harford15,21215 October 198312thAston VillaAL0–139,31822 October 198315thTottenham HotspurHL0–118,93729 October 198313thWest Bromwich AlbionAW2–1Gayle, Harford20,1095 November 198314thCoventry CityHL1–2Blake16,16912 November 198314thLuton TownAD1–1Hopkins11,11119 November 198315thQueens Park RangersAL1–2Harford10,82426 November 198316thSunderlandHL0–111,9483 December 198317thLiverpoolAL0–124,79110 December 198317thNorwich CityHL0–19,97117 December 198317thSouthamptonAL1–2Stevenson15,24826 December 198319thNottingham ForestHL1–2Rogers14,48227 December 198319thArsenalAD1–1Hopkins25,64231 December 198319thWatfordAL0–114,4032 January 198419thEvertonHL0–210,00414 January 198419thWest Ham UnitedHW3–0Hopkins, Halsall, Harford10,33421 January 198419thIpswich TownAW2–1Harford, Butcher og12,8844 February 198419thLeicester CityAW3–2Peake og, Gayle, Wright pen13,7767 February 198419thManchester UnitedHD2–2Hopkins, Wright pen19,95711 February 198418thWolverhampton WanderersHD0–014,31925 February 198415thTottenham HotspurAW1–0Harford23,56428 February 198414thWest Bromwich AlbionHW2–1Rees, Broadhurst16,7803 March 198414thCoventry CityAW1–0Gayle13,69617 March 198415thStoke CityAL1–2Gayle13,50620 March 198415thLuton TownHD1–1Wright pen9,59224 March 198413thNotts CountyHD0–09,04031 March 198412thAston VillaHW2–1Stevenson, Gayle23,9937 April 198415thManchester UnitedAL0–139,89614 April 198415thQueens Park RangersHL0–210,25521 April 198417thNottingham ForestAL1–5Harford15,32323 April 198417thArsenalHD1–1Kuhl11,16428 April 198418thSunderlandAL1–2Wright pen13,0615 May 198419thLiverpoolHD0–018,8177 May 198418thNorwich CityAD1–1Gayle12,11112 May 198420thSouthamptonHD0–016,445
League table (part)
+Final First Division table (part)Team18thStoke City421311184463−195019thCoventry City421311185777−205020thBirmingham City421212183950−114821stNotts County421011215072−224122ndWolverhampton Wanderers42611252780−5329
Results summary
FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceThird round7 January 1984Sheffield UnitedAD1–1Wright pen 17,202Third round replay10 January 1984Sheffield UnitedHW2–0Harford, Wright pen10,888Fourth round28 January 1984SunderlandAW2–1Kuhl, Harford21,226Fifth round18 February 1984West Ham UnitedHW3–0Hopkins, Rees, Wright pen29,570Sixth round10 March 1984WatfordHL1–3Terry og40,220
League Cup
RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScoreF–AScorersAttendanceSecond round 1st leg5 October 1983Derby CountyAW3–0Watson og, Rees, Gayle13,114Second round 2nd leg25 October 1983Derby CountyHW4–0Harford 3, Gayle7,786Third round8 November 1983Notts CountyHD2–2Handysides, Phillips 10,484Third round replay22 November 1983Notts CountyAD0–0aet8,268Third round 2nd replay29 November 1983Notts CountyHD0–0aet9,678Third round 3rd replay5 December 1983Notts CountyAW3–1Hopkins 2, Harford7,361Fourth round20 December 1983LiverpoolHD1–1Harford17,405Fourth round replay22 December 1983LiverpoolAL0–311,638
Appearances and goals
Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute. Players with name in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Birmingham. Players marked left the club during the playing season. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
+ Players' appearances and goals by competitionNameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalGoalsGoalsGoalsGoalsGK Tony Coton4105080540GK Mark Kendall10000010DF Noel Blake3925080522DF Kevan Broadhurst22 (1)1500027 (1)1DF Jim Hagan30 (3)0008039 (3)0DF Mark McCarrick12 (3)0300 (1)015 (4)0DF Wayne Mumford3 (2)000003 (2)0DF Brian Roberts1100000110DF Pat Van Den Hauwe4205080550DF Billy Wright4055380538MF Mick Halsall212304 (1)028 (1)2MF Ian Handysides 4 (1)000115 (1)1MF Robert Hopkins3255172448MF Martin Kuhl20 (2)1513024 (2)2MF Ivor Linton 3 (1)000003 (1)0MF Les Phillips 18 (2)0008126 (3)1MF Kevin Rogers8 (1)100008 (1)1MF Byron Stevenson21 (4)2406 (1)031 (5)2FW Howard Gayle *32 (1)8408244 (1)10FW Mick Harford39852755115FW Ian Muir 10001010FW Tony Rees22 (3)2113125 (3)4
See also Birmingham City F.C. seasons
Sources
For match dates, league positions and results: For lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 402–03.
References