The new season is almost upon us, and I thought it would be a good idea to give us all some context as we enter the 1983/84 season. To do this I have used the Milestones Diary from the Rothmans Football Yearbook 1984/85 with thanks and appreciation to the authors, who were edited by Peter Dunk.
I will be updating this milestone diary every month as season 1983/84 progresses.
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June 1983
21 Watford refuse Sheffield Wednesday permission to approach their manager, Graham Taylor, in search for someone to replace Jack Charlton.
22 Charlie Nicholas, Celtic’s leading goalscorer, signs for Arsenal in £750,000 deal. Nicholas had also been sought by Liverpool and Manchester United.
24 Howard Wilkinson, England U-21 manager and assistant manager of Notts County is appointed manager of Sheffield Wednesday.
28 Spurs sign Gary Stevens from Brighton and Danny Thomas from Coventry for a total of £600,000. Stoke midfield player, Paul Bracewell, is transferred to Sunderland for £225,000.
30 Watford striker Luther Blissett, who scored 30 First Division goals last season, joins AC Milan in a £980,000 deal. Billy McNeill leaves Celtic to become manager of Manchester City with a three-year contract and double his Celtic salary.
July 1983
3 Liverpool sign Gary Gillespie for £325,000 from Coventry while Arsenal are disappointed by their failure to secure the Scottish defender.
4 David Fairclough, released by Liverpool, joins Swiss club Lucerne.
5 Everton complete the transfer of Trevor Steven, Burnley midfield player, for £300,000. Kevin Reeves goes from Manchester City to Burnley in a deal valued at £125,000. Three years ago City paid Norwich £1m for this player.
6 Draw for the First Round of the three principal European cup competitions is made. Liverpool are to meet Danish club, Odense, in European Champions Cup. Dundee United appear to have easy victims in Maltese champions – Hamrun Spartans. In the Cup-Winners Cup Manchester United have tough opponents in Dukla Prague.
7 There is a mass exodus at Coventry. Steve Whitton is the fifth to leave recently – joining West Ham United. Larry Lloyd, sacked by Wigan Athletic in April, is appointed manager of Notts County.
9 International F.A. Board meeting in London makes alterations to the Laws of the Game. Limits of air pressure in the ball are broadened, and more importantly, the wording of the Law covering a goalkeeper in possession of the ball is altered to to make it clear that he must release it into play after retaining possession while taking more than four steps.
13 Manchester City agree terms with former Scottish international, Derek Parlane, released by Leeds United. Coventry seek signature of Cardiff winger Dave Bennett. Celtic forward George McCluskey, joins Leeds. fee will be decided by International Tribunal as Leeds cannot agree on Celtic’s price of £175,000.
20 Swansea’s experienced Welsh international forward Robbie James moves to Stoke for £160,000.
21 National Dairy Council, sponsors of Milk Cup, announce that next season’s winners will receive £64,000, runners-up £48,000.
22 Spurs will stage first live TV Football League game – v Nottingham Forest. This is first of 10 such games in agreement between League and ITV.
27 Glenn Hoddle at last re-signs for Spurs.
August 1983
5 Oldham defender, John Ryan, is transferred to Newcastle United in £225,000 deal. Bobby Gould (Coventry City), one of the busiest managers in the transfer market this summer, signs two players he discovered while in charge of Bristol Rovers – Graham Withey and Nicky Platnauer – joint fee £35,000.
14 Coventry part company with another of their players – forward Jimmy Melrose returns to Scotland with Celtic in £100,000 transfer.
15 Michael Robinson, Brighton’s top scorer last season, is transferred to Liverpool for £250,000. He was reported to have cost Brighton £400,000 when secured from Manchester City in July 1980.
16 Coventry make their eight close season signing – Spurs forward Terry Gibson for £70,000. Chelsea secure Reading’s top scorer Kerry Dixon for £175,000. He netted 32 League and Cup goals last season.
17 League tribunal decide that Leeds must pay Celtic £140,000 plus VAT for George McCluskey.
18 Aston Villa suffer setback as their England midfield star Gordon Cowans suffers double fracture of his right leg in friendly tournament in Spain.
20 Ashley Grimes, Manchester United’s Eire international, agrees terms with Coventry in a £200,000 transfer.
