1981–82 Swansea City A.F.C. season

During the 1981–82 English football season, Swansea City A.F.C. competed in the Football League First Division, following promotion from the Second Division. It was their debut season in the English top flight and the first season in which a Welsh club was part of the top English league since arch-rivals Cardiff City were relegated at the end of 1961–62.

Background
Swansea's rise to the top flight of English football had come only four seasons after competing in the Fourth Division and thus few tipped Swansea to survive in the First Division. Swansea soon proved the naysayers wrong by crushing Leeds United 5–1 in their first match ever in the top flight, with debutant Bob Latchford scoring a hat-trick. The win saw Swansea rise from the basement division to the top of the entire Football League in barely three years. Victories over footballing royalty such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur followed as the club topped the league on several further occasions. However, injuries to key players took their toll, and the lack of depth in the squad meant that the season ended in sixth-place finish.

In

 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Dai Davies - 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wrexham, July
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ray Kennedy - 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Liverpool, January, £160,000
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Ian Walsh - 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Crystal Palace, February
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Colin Irwin - 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Liverpool, £338,800

Out

 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Leighton Phillips - 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Charlton Athletic, June, £25,000
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 David Giles - 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Leyton Orient, December, loan

Results
Last updated: 4 September 2013 Source:

FA Cup
Last updated: 4 September 2013 Source:

Football League Cup
Last updated: 4 September 2013 Source:

Welsh Cup
Last updated: 19 January 2014 Sources:, Welsh Football Data Archive

European Cup Winners' Cup
Last updated: 4 September 2013 Source:

Kit
Swansea's kit was manufactured by Belgian company Patrick. The kit bore no sponsorship.

Squad

 * Squad at end of season

Squad statistics

 * Last updated on 4 September 2013