Having narrowly lost out to Aston Villa in the race for the 1980-81 Division One title – losing their last two games, though the club did win the UEFA Cup as compensation – Ipswich Town were once again in the running to be champions in 1981-82, sitting at the top of the table after this win over Leeds United with seventeen points from their opening seven games.
The visitors, then managed by playing legend Allan Clarke, had gone ahead on 27 minutes through Peter Barnes, with the former Manchester City starlet scoring his first goal for Leeds since his £930,000 move from West Brom.
Missing the injured trio of Frans Thijssen, Russell Osman and Alan Brazil, the home side were poor in the first half but improved in the second period, mainly thanks to Man of the Match Terry Butcher, who levelled the scores in the 64th minute then set-up Eric Gates for the winner on 76 minutes.
After the match, Town boss Bobby Robson said: “We’re top of the First Division but we’re only playing about 70 percent as well as last season. Apart from a couple of occasions, we haven’t played that well and there’s still room for improvement.”
The East Anglian side enjoyed another superb League campaign but once again found one team better – in 1981-82 it was Liverpool, finishing five points behind Bob Paisley’s European champions.