Port Online > Season Summary: 1983/1984

1983/1984

The season of 1983-84 was similarly undistinguished yet the side, latterly under the control of full-time Manager Bob Murphy, at last collected a piece of silverware in the shape of the Dairycrest Lancashire Floodlit Cup; the final of this competition was held at Deepdale, Preston where Horwich R.M.I. suffered a resounding 4�o defeat, thanks largely to an inspired performance by an emerging young striker called Andy Mutch who netted a hat-trick. Local products Mutch, Shaun Teale and Rob Sturgeon had all made their debuts during the latter part of the season and were to play crucial roles over the next couple of years. Mutch and Teale were eventually to achieve wider fame in the Premier League.
One more boardroom reshuffle was to come. During the 1984 close season, while he was away on holiday, Gary Culshaw was ousted as Chairman by the other board members and Charles Clapham was installed in his place. This led more or less directly to his resigning from the board, though, as the major shareholder, he kept a continuing interest in the club's affairs from a distance. It was an unpopular move at the time as Culshaw with his quiet ways had endeared himself to many supporters as a genuine person who had brought much stability to the club's affairs and the manner of his removal was resented. By contrast the brash, confident Clapham took quite a while to convince the Southport public of his bona fides, enduring a long spell of latent hostility whilst all the time keeping the promise that there would be no further financial crises during his term of office.
Bob Murphy was the next subject of controversy. He had arrived with an impressive track record at Mossley and, despite an initial hiccough in December 1983 when he changed his mind within two days of his appointment, he had assumed command officially on February 5th 1984. In the April he became the first Southport manager to win a 'Manager of the Month' award and by June he had been offered a two-year contract.

Sources: The Sandgrounders: The Complete League History of Southport F. C., by Michael Braham and Geoff Wilde (Palatine Books, 1995). ISBN 978-1-874181-14-9

	1983/84	P	W	D	L	F	A	PTS
1	Barrow	42	29	10	3	92	38	97
2	Matlock Town	42	23	8	11	72	48	77
3	South Liverpool	42	22	11	9	55	44	77
4	Grantham	42	20	8	14	64	51	68
5	Burton Albion	42	17	13	12	61	47	64
6	Macclesfield	42	18	10	14	65	55	64
7	Rhyl	42	19	6	17	64	55	63
8	Horwich RMI	42	18	9	15	64	59	63
9	Gainsborough	42	17	11	14	82	66	62
10	Stafford Rgrs	42	15	17	10	65	52	62
11	Hyde Utd	42	17	8	17	61	63	59
12	Marine	42	16	10	16	63	68	58
13	Witton Albion	42	14	14	14	64	57	56
14	Chorley	42	14	11	17	68	65	53
15	Workington	42	14	9	19	53	57	51
16	Southport	42	14	8	20	57	74	50
17	Worksop Town	42	13	8	21	57	74	47
18	Goole Town	42	12	10	20	59	80	46
19	Morecambe	42	11	12	19	59	75	45
20	Oswestry Town	42	11	8	23	66	97	41
21	Buxton	42	11	6	25	52	91	39
22	Mossley	42	9	9	24	47	74	36

Lancashire Floodlit Trophy
NB: 2 points for a home win, 3 points for an away win
		        Pts	GD
1	Southport	14	5
2	S Liverpool	12	4
3	Leyland M	9	-2
4	Marine	        8	2
5	Skelmersdale	5	-9

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