1982–83 West Ham United F.C. season
season of football team

The 1982–83 West Ham United F.C. season was West Ham United's second in the First Division, following promotion at the end of the 1980–81 season. The club was managed by John Lyall and the team captain was Billy Bonds.
Season summary
The season started well for West Ham. By the end of the year they sat in 5th place in the league. A slump in form then occurred and they reached a low position of 14th at the end of March 1983. A late surge saw them win four of their final six games to finish in 8th place. Paul Goddard and François Van der Elst were joint top scorers with 12 goals in all competitions. The next highest scorer was penalty-taker Ray Stewart with 11. Phil Parkes made the most appearances – 50 in all competitions. The season also saw the début of Tony Cottee on 1 January 1983 in a 3–0 home win against Tottenham Hotspur, a game in which he scored.
The public source identifies “1982–83 West Ham United F.C. season” as season of football team. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around West, United and season.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “1982–83 West Ham United F.C. season”, the useful work is to connect “season of football team” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16153340. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1982, 1980 and 1983.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “1982–83 West Ham United F.C. season”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 1982–83 West Ham United F.C. season primary sources, 1982–83 West Ham United F.C. season archive and West research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1982–83 West Ham United F.C. season”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “1982–83 West Ham United F.C. season” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.