1983 FA Cup final

1983 FA Cup Final
Event	1982–83 FA Cup
Date	21 May 1983
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	Alf Grey (Norfolk)
Attendance	99,059
Replay
Date	26 May 1983
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	Alf Grey (Norfolk)
Attendance	91,534
	← 1982 1984 →

The 1983 FA Cup Final was contested by Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion at Wembley Stadium.

Manchester United were the favourites, as Brighton had been relegated from the First Division that season, and had never reached a cup final before. United had finished third in the league that season and already had four FA Cup victories to their name.

The final ended in a 2–2 draw, forcing a replay at Wembley five days later, which Manchester United won 4–0.

The first match

The first match finished 2–2 after extra time. Gordon Smith and Gary Stevens scored for Brighton; Frank Stapleton and Ray Wilkins for United. The first game is famous for the radio commentary by Peter Jones "...and Smith must score" talking about a shot by Gordon Smith, which was then saved by the Manchester United goalkeeper Gary Bailey; the quote was subsequently used as a title for a Brighton fanzine. Bailey's save forced a replay and prevented Brighton from winning the first major trophy in their history.

The replay

The second game, on the Thursday night, started the same way as the first game had, with Brighton taking the game to Manchester United. Although their chances were limited to long-range drives from Jimmy Case, United goalkeeper Gary Bailey had a couple of important saves to make. This all changed on 25 minutes, with United's first real attack. Alan Davies, who had made his FA Cup debut in the first game, set up captain Bryan Robson for a left-footed drive past Moseley into the corner of the net. Suddenly the atmosphere changed and it was the Manchester United fans who were singing loudest. This was compounded in the 30th minute, when United went 2–0 up, giving the team a two-goal cushion for the first time over the two matches. Brighton failed to clear a corner, and Davies crossed for Norman Whiteside to score with a header. This capped an incredible 12 months for the teenager, who had played in the 1982 FIFA World Cup Finals for Northern Ireland, and who had scored in the League Cup Final defeat to Liverpool earlier in the season.

Brighton were rocked but continued to press, yet went further behind just before half time. Gordon McQueen headed on a free-kick and the ball fell to Robson to tap in at the far post, for his second goal of the game. The scoring was completed in the second half when the Dutch midfielder Arnold Mühren scored a penalty after Robson had been brought down by Stevens in the penalty area. It was the third consecutive year that a penalty had been awarded (and scored) in the Cup Final replay.

This was the first of three times that Bryan Robson captained Manchester United to FA Cup glory; he also achieved the feat in 1985 and 1990.

Match details

21 May 1983

Brighton & Hove Albion	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Manchester United
Smith 14' Stevens 87'	Report	Stapleton 55' Wilkins 72'

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 99,059

Referee: Alf Grey (Norfolk)

Brighton & Hove Albion

Manchester United


GK	1	Graham Moseley
RB	2	Chris Ramsey
CB	6	Gary Stevens
CB	5	Steve Gatting
LB	3	Graham Pearce
RM	8	Gary Howlett
CM	4	Tony Grealish (c)
CM	7	Jimmy Case
LM	11	Neil Smillie
CF	9	Michael Robinson
CF	10	Gordon Smith
Substitute:
MF	12	Gerry Ryan
Manager:
Jimmy Melia


GK	1	Gary Bailey
RB	2	Mike Duxbury
CB	5	Kevin Moran
CB	6	Gordon McQueen
LB	3	Arthur Albiston
RM	8	Arnold Mühren
CM	4	Ray Wilkins
CM	7	Bryan Robson (c)
LM	11	Alan Davies
CF	9	Frank Stapleton
CF	10	Norman Whiteside
Substitute:
MF	12	Ashley Grimes
Manager:
Ron Atkinson

Match rules

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

Replay

26 May 1983

Brighton & Hove Albion	0–4	Manchester United
		Robson 25', 44' Whiteside 30' Mühren 62' (pen.)

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 91,534

Referee: Alf Grey (Norfolk)

Brighton & Hove Albion

Manchester United


GK	1	Graham Moseley
CB	5	Steve Foster (c)
CB	2	Steve Gatting
RB	6	Gary Stevens
LB	3	Graham Pearce
RM	8	Gary Howlett
CM	4	Tony Grealish
CM	7	Jimmy Case
LM	11	Neil Smillie
CF	9	Michael Robinson
CF	10	Gordon Smith
Substitute:
MF	12	Gerry Ryan
Manager:
Jimmy Melia



GK	1	Gary Bailey
RB	2	Mike Duxbury
CB	5	Kevin Moran
CB	6	Gordon McQueen
LB	3	Arthur Albiston
RM	8	Arnold Mühren
CM	4	Ray Wilkins
CM	7	Bryan Robson (c)
LM	11	Alan Davies
CF	9	Frank Stapleton
CF	10	Norman Whiteside
Substitute:
MF	12	Ashley Grimes
Manager:
Ron Atkinson

Match rules

90 minutes.
30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
One named substitute.
Maximum of one substitution.

External links

Line-ups

v t e FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
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Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
History List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award

v t e Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. matches
FA Cup Final	1983
FA Charity Shield	1910
Football League play-off Final	1991 Second Division 2004 Second Division