CS Knowledge Base

The 1981–82 John Player Cup was the 11th edition of England's premier rugby union club competition at the time. Gloucester and Moseley shared the title after playing out a 12-12 draw in the final.^[1] The event was sponsored by John Player cigarettes and the final was held at Twickenham Stadium.^[2]

Draw and results

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Liverpool	Morpeth	19-3
Birkenhead Park	Hartlepool Rovers	6-7
Aspatria	Roundhay	0-19
Northampton	Kettering
Bournemouth	St Ives	10-18
Dartfordians	Hertford	4-11
Dudley Kingswinford	Nuneaton	9-27
Exeter University	Lydney	12-13
High Wycombe	Newbury	13-0
Saracens	US Portsmouth	10-4
Woodford	Old Gaytonians	19-6
Weston-super-Mare	Oxford	6-9
Walsall	Westleigh	24-15
Lewes	Streatham-Croydon	19-0

Second round

Team one	Team two	Score
Blackheath	Woodford	13-0
Hertford	Lydney	10-13
Lewes	St Ives	0-10
Nuneaton	Roundhay	10-7
Matson	Thurrock	12-12*
Oxford	High Wycombe	9-10
Stamford	Liverpool	3-15
Stourbridge	Hartlepool Rovers	9-19
Walsall	Northampton	9-32
London Irish	Saracens	19-3

Away team progress*

Third round

Team one	Team two	Score
Exeter	Thurrock	7-0
Bath	Rosslyn Park	9-11
London Welsh	Lydney	16-3
Northampton	Morley	12-7
Waterloo	Nuneaton	3-0
St Ives	Bristol	6-16
Richmond	Metropolitan Police	10-20
Blackheath	London Scottish	3-16
Gloucester	High Wycombe	40-6
Nottingham	Sale	9-15
Moseley	Harrogate	17-4
Leicester	Hartlepool Rovers	53-19
London Irish	Coventry	7-10
Orrell	Liverpool	12-15
Harlequins	Wasps	19-10
Bedford	Gosforth	3-14

Fourth round

Team one	Team two	Score
Gloucester	Exeter	34-3
Sale	Rosslyn Park	19-3
Moseley	London Welsh	25-9
Leicester	Northampton	23-10
Coventry	Waterloo	29-9
Liverpool	Bristol	12-10
Harlequins	Metropolitan Police	28-6
Gosforth	London Scottish	26-19

Quarter-finals

Team one	Team two	Score
Gloucester	Sale	13-6
Moseley	Liverpool	15-13
Coventry	Harlequins	24-12
Leicester	Gosforth	18-9

Semi-finals

Team one	Team two	Score
Moseley	Leicester	12-4
Coventry	Gloucester	9-18

Final

1 May 1982

Gloucester	12–12	Moseley
Pen: Ford 4		Pen: Perry 3 Drop: Perry

Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Roger Quittenton (Sussex)

Gloucester

Moseley


	15	Paul Ford
	14	Philip Pritchard
	13	Paul Taylor
	12	Steven Parsloe
	11	Richard Mogg
	10	Leslie Jones
	9	Steve Baker
	1	Malcolm Preedy
	2	Steve Mills (c)
	3	Phil Blakeway
	4	Steve Boyle
	5	John Orwin
	6	John Gadd
	8	Mike Teague
	7	Mike Longstaff
Replacements:
	16	Nick Price
	17	Gary Thomas
	18	Paul Wood for Longstaff (65m)
	19	John Fidler
	20	Gordon Sargent for Preedy (41m)
	21	Kevin White
Coach:
Dick Smith


	15	Martin Cooper
	14	John Goodwin
	13	Jon Desborough
	12	Dave Shorrock
	11	Richard Lawson
	10	Mike Perry
	9	Steve Sutherland
	1	Trevor Corless
	2	Gary Cox
	3	Steve Acaster
	4	John Davidson
	5	Al Recardo
	6	Dave Warren
	8	Derek Nutt (c)
	7	Nick Jeavons
Replacements:
	16	Phil Millington
	17	Steve Morley
	18	Ian Metcalfe
	19	Bob Barr
	20	Kevin Astley
	21	Alan Thomas
Coach:

References

↑ Jenkins, Vivian (1981). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook. Rothmans Publications Ltd. ISBN 0-907574-05-X.
↑ "Times Archives". Oxfordshire Libraries.

[1] Jenkins, Vivian (1981). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook. Rothmans Publications Ltd. ISBN 0-907574-05-X.

[2] "Times Archives". Oxfordshire Libraries.

[1]

[2]

Top-level English club rugby union cup competitions
RFU Knockout Cup	1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05
Anglo-Welsh Cup	2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2016–17 2017–18
Premiership Rugby Cup	2018–19 2019–20 ~~2020–21~~ 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26