1980–81 Football League

The 1980–81 season was the 82nd completed season of The Football League. This was the final league season with two points for win.

The Football League

Season	1980–81
Champions	Aston Villa
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

Ron Saunders completed the revival of Birmingham club Aston Villa, as they won the First Division for the first time in 71 years. Villa competed in a two-horse race with Ipswich Town during the final stages of the season, eventually finishing four points ahead of the Suffolk side. Defending champions Liverpool slipped to fifth place, but compensated for this by winning the European Cup and their first League Cup. Manchester United failed to finish in the top five, a shortcoming that cost Dave Sexton his job as manager; he was succeeded by Ron Atkinson, who had finished fourth in the league and reached the UEFA Cup quarter-finals with an impressive West Bromwich Albion side – who would suffer a rapid decline after Atkinson's departure.

Crystal Palace endured a dreadful season with just six wins, all at home. They were joined in relegation to the Second Division by Norwich City and Leicester City.

FA Cup holders West Ham United returned to the First Division by becoming Second Division champions. Also promoted were Notts County and Swansea City, the Welsh club completing a meteoric rise under John Toshack by going from the Fourth Division to the First in just four years. Both Bristol clubs were relegated, along with Preston North End.

In the Third Division, Rotherham United were champions, with Barnsley and Charlton Athletic also promoted. Hull City, Blackpool and Colchester United were relegated, as were Sheffield United, who just seven years earlier had finished sixth in the First Division.

The Fourth Division saw Southend United finish as champions, with Lincoln City, Doncaster Rovers and Wimbledon occupying the other promotion places. There were no movements between the Fourth Division and the Alliance Premier League as the re-election system went in favour of the league's bottom four clubs.

First Division

First Division

Season	1980–81
Champions	Aston Villa 7th English title
Relegated	Norwich City Leicester City Crystal Palace
European Cup	Aston Villa Liverpool (as defending champions)
European Cup Winners' Cup	Tottenham Hotspur
UEFA Cup	Ipswich Town Arsenal West Bromwich Albion Southampton
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,228 (2.66 per match)
Top goalscorer	Peter Withe Steve Archibald (20 goals each)
Biggest home win	Nottingham Forest 5–0 Stoke City (30 August 1980) Manchester United 5–0 Leicester City (13 September 1980) Nottingham Forest 5–0 Leicester City (20 September 1980) Everton 5–0 Crystal Palace (20 September 1980) Middlesbrough 6–1 Norwich City (4 October 1980)
Biggest away win	Coventry City 0–5 Everton (27 September 1980) Leeds United 0–5 Arsenal (8 November 1980)
Highest scoring	Tottenham Hotspur 5–3 Ipswich Town (17 December 1980) Tottenham Hotspur 4–4 Southampton (26 December 1980)
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

Aston Villa came top of a hotly contested title race to clinch their first top division title since 1910, using only 14 players throughout the season, with only eight scorers. Runners-up Ipswich Town had compensation for their failed title challenge in the shape of a UEFA Cup triumph, and were also semi-finalists in the FA Cup, their relatively small squad struggling in the final weeks of the season as a challenge for three major trophies took its toll. Arsenal finished third, while West Bromwich Albion enjoyed another strong season and finished fourth. Liverpool finished fifth but won their third European Cup and their first League Cup.

Manchester United's failure to finish higher than eighth in the league cost manager Dave Sexton his job after four trophyless seasons in charge, and a lengthy search for a new manager saw West Bromwich Albion's Ron Atkinson named as his successor. Everton appointed their former player Howard Kendall as manager after a disappointing 15th-place finish. Tottenham, meanwhile, only finished 10th in the league but achieved a sixth triumph in the FA Cup at the expense of Manchester City, who climbed up to 12th place in the league after an upturn in fortunes brought about the October change of manager from Malcolm Allison to John Bond.

Bond's former club Norwich City went down to the Second Division along with Leicester City and Crystal Palace.

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Aston Villa (C)	42	26	8	8	72	40	+32	60	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Ipswich Town	42	23	10	9	77	43	+34	56	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Arsenal	42	19	15	8	61	45	+16	53
4	West Bromwich Albion	42	20	12	10	60	42	+18	52
5	Liverpool	42	17	17	8	62	42	+20	51	Qualification for the European Cup first round
6	Southampton	42	20	10	12	76	56	+20	50	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
7	Nottingham Forest	42	19	12	11	62	44	+18	50
8	Manchester United	42	15	18	9	51	36	+15	48
9	Leeds United	42	17	10	15	39	47	−8	44
10	Tottenham Hotspur	42	14	15	13	70	68	+2	43	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round
11	Stoke City	42	12	18	12	51	60	−9	42
12	Manchester City	42	14	11	17	56	59	−3	39
13	Birmingham City	42	13	12	17	50	61	−11	38
14	Middlesbrough	42	16	5	21	53	61	−8	37
15	Everton	42	13	10	19	55	58	−3	36
16	Coventry City	42	13	10	19	48	68	−20	36
17	Sunderland	42	14	7	21	52	53	−1	35
18	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	13	9	20	43	55	−12	35
19	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	14	7	21	54	67	−13	35
20	Norwich City (R)	42	13	7	22	49	73	−24	33	Relegation to the Second Division
21	Leicester City (R)	42	13	6	23	40	67	−27	32
22	Crystal Palace (R)	42	6	7	29	47	83	−36	19

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	AST	BIR	BHA	COV	CRY	EVE	IPS	LEE	LEI	LIV	MCI	MUN	MID	NWC	NOT	SOU	STK	SUN	TOT	WBA	WOL
Arsenal		2–0	2–1	2–0	2–2	3–2	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–2	3–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–0	2–2	1–1
Aston Villa	1–1		3–0	4–1	1–0	2–1	0–2	1–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	3–3	3–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	4–0	3–0	1–0	2–1
Birmingham City	3–1	1–2		2–1	3–1	1–0	1–1	1–3	0–2	1–2	1–1	2–0	0–0	2–1	4–0	2–0	0–3	1–1	3–2	2–1	1–1	1–0
Brighton & Hove Albion	0–1	1–0	2–2		4–1	3–2	1–3	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–2	1–2	1–4	0–1	2–0	0–1	2–0	1–1	2–1	0–2	1–2	2–0
Coventry City	3–1	1–2	2–1	3–3		3–1	0–5	0–4	2–1	4–1	0–0	1–1	0–2	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–2	2–1	0–1	3–0	2–2
Crystal Palace	2–2	0–1	3–1	0–3	0–3		2–3	1–2	0–1	2–1	2–2	2–3	1–0	5–2	4–1	1–3	3–2	1–1	0–1	3–4	0–1	0–0
Everton	1–2	1–3	1–1	4–3	3–0	5–0		0–0	1–2	1–0	2–2	0–2	0–1	4–1	0–2	0–0	2–1	0–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	2–0
Ipswich Town	0–2	1–0	5–1	2–0	2–0	3–2	4–0		1–1	3–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–3	4–0	4–1	3–0	0–0	3–1
Leeds United	0–5	1–2	0–0	1–0	3–0	1–0	1–0	3–0		1–2	0–0	1–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–3	1–3	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–3
Leicester City	1–0	2–4	1–0	0–1	1–3	1–1	0–1	0–1	0–1		2–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–1	2–1	0–2	2–0
Liverpool	1–1	2–1	2–2	4–1	2–1	3–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–2		1–0	0–1	4–2	4–1	0–0	2–0	3–0	0–1	2–1	4–0	1–0
Manchester City	1–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	3–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–0	3–3	0–3		1–0	3–2	1–0	1–1	3–0	1–2	0–4	3–1	2–1	4–0
Manchester United	0–0	3–3	2–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	0–1	5–0	0–0	2–2		3–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–0
Middlesbrough	2–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	1–0	1–2	2–2	1–1		6–1	0–0	1–1	3–1	1–0	4–1	2–1	2–0
Norwich City	1–1	1–3	2–2	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	2–3	2–3	0–1	2–0	2–2	2–0		1–1	1–0	5–1	1–0	2–2	0–2	1–1
Nottingham Forest	3–1	2–2	2–1	4–1	1–1	3–0	1–0	1–2	2–1	5–0	0–0	3–2	1–2	1–0	2–1		2–1	5–0	3–1	0–3	2–1	1–0
Southampton	3–1	1–2	3–1	3–1	1–0	4–2	3–0	3–3	2–1	4–0	2–2	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–0		1–2	2–1	1–1	2–2	4–2
Stoke City	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	2–2	1–0	2–2	2–2	3–0	1–0	2–2	2–1	1–2	1–0	3–1	1–2	1–2		2–0	2–3	0–0	3–2
Sunderland	2–0	1–2	3–0	1–2	3–0	1–0	3–1	0–2	4–1	1–0	2–4	2–0	2–0	0–1	3–0	2–2	1–2	0–0		1–1	0–0	0–1
Tottenham Hotspur	2–0	2–0	1–0	2–2	4–1	4–2	2–2	5–3	1–1	1–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	3–2	2–3	2–0	4–4	2–2	0–0		2–3	2–2
West Bromwich Albion	0–1	0–0	2–2	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	3–1	1–2	3–1	2–0	3–1	3–1	3–0	3–0	2–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	4–2		1–1
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–2	0–1	1–0	0–2	0–1	2–0	0–0	0–2	2–1	0–1	4–1	1–3	1–0	3–0	3–0	1–4	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–0

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [1] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Leeds United	Jimmy Adamson	Resigned	7 September 1980	21st	Maurice Lindley (caretaker)	7 September 1980
Leeds United	Maurice Lindley	End of caretaker spell	16 September 1980	21st	Allan Clarke	16 September 1980
Crystal Palace	Terry Venables	Signed by Queens Park Rangers	3 October 1980	22nd	Ernie Walley (caretaker)	3 October 1980
Manchester City	Malcolm Allison	Sacked	8 October 1980	21st	John Bond	17 October 1980
Norwich City	John Bond	Signed by Manchester City	17 October 1980	20th	Ken Brown	17 October 1980
Crystal Palace	Ernie Walley	End of caretaker spell	5 December 1980	21st	Malcolm Allison	5 December 1980
Crystal Palace	Malcolm Allison	Sacked	1 February 1981	22nd	Dario Gradi	3 February 1981
Sunderland	Ken Knighton		1 April 1981	15th	Mick Docherty (caretaker)	1 April 1981
Manchester United	Dave Sexton		30 April 1981	8th	Jack Crompton (caretaker)	30 April 1981

Maps

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Birmingham

Brighton & Hove

Coventry

Crystal Palace

Everton

Ipswich Town

Leeds United

Leicester City

Liverpool

Middlesbrough

Manchester City

Manchester United

Norwich City

Nottingham Forest

Southampton

Stoke

Sunderland

Tottenham

West Bromwich Albion

Wolverhampton Wanderers

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Locations of the Football League First Division 1980–1981 teams

Arsenal

Crystal Palace

Tottenham

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Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1980–1981

Second Division

Second Division

Season	1980–81
Champions	West Ham United
Promoted	West Ham United Notts County Swansea City
Relegated	Preston North End Bristol City Bristol Rovers
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,073 (2.32 per match)
Top goalscorer	David Cross (22 goals)
Biggest home win	Chelsea 6–0 Newcastle United (25 October 1980)
Biggest away win	Wrexham 0–4 Chelsea (15 November 1980) Grimsby Town 1–5 West Ham United (11 April 1981)
Highest scoring	Bolton Wanderers 6–1 Cambridge United (1 November 1980)
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

A year after winning the FA Cup, West Ham ended their three-year exile from the First Division by clinching the Second Division title. Notts County, who finished second, went up after 55 years away from the First Division. Third placed Swansea City completed an unprecedented four-season climb from the Fourth Division to the First Division, where they had never previously played. Blackburn Rovers missed out on promotion on goal difference, and then lost their promising young player-manager Howard Kendall to Everton.

Both Bristol clubs went down along with Preston North End.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	West Ham United (C, P)	42	28	10	4	79	29	+50	66	Promotion to the First Division
2	Notts County (P)	42	18	17	7	49	38	+11	53
3	Swansea City (P)	42	18	14	10	64	44	+20	50	Cup Winners' Cup first round and promotion to the First Division
4	Blackburn Rovers	42	16	18	8	42	29	+13	50
5	Luton Town	42	18	12	12	61	46	+15	48
6	Derby County	42	15	15	12	57	52	+5	45
7	Grimsby Town	42	15	15	12	44	42	+2	45
8	Queens Park Rangers	42	15	13	14	56	46	+10	43
9	Watford	42	16	11	15	50	45	+5	43
10	Sheffield Wednesday	42	17	8	17	53	51	+2	42
11	Newcastle United	42	14	14	14	30	45	−15	42
12	Chelsea	42	14	12	16	46	41	+5	40
13	Cambridge United	42	17	6	19	53	65	−12	40
14	Shrewsbury Town	42	11	17	14	46	47	−1	39
15	Oldham Athletic	42	12	15	15	39	48	−9	39
16	Wrexham	42	12	14	16	43	45	−2	38
17	Orient	42	13	12	17	52	56	−4	38
18	Bolton Wanderers	42	14	10	18	61	66	−5	38
19	Cardiff City	42	12	12	18	44	60	−16	36
20	Preston North End (R)	42	11	14	17	41	62	−21	36	Relegation to the Third Division
21	Bristol City (R)	42	7	16	19	29	51	−22	30
22	Bristol Rovers (R)	42	5	13	24	34	65	−31	23

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	BLB	BOL	BRI	BRR	CAM	CAR	CHE	DER	GRI	LUT	NEW	NTC	OLD	ORI	PNE	QPR	SHW	SHR	SWA	WAT	WHU	WRE
Blackburn Rovers		0–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–3	1–1	1–0	2–0	3–0	3–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	2–1	3–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–1
Bolton Wanderers	1–2		1–1	2–0	6–1	4–2	2–3	3–1	1–1	0–3	4–0	3–0	2–0	3–1	2–1	1–2	0–0	0–2	1–4	2–1	1–1	1–1
Bristol City	2–0	3–1		0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	2–2	1–1	2–1	2–0	0–1	1–1	3–1	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	0–2
Bristol Rovers	0–1	2–1	0–0		0–1	0–1	1–0	1–1	2–2	2–4	0–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–2	3–3	1–1	1–2	3–1	0–1	0–1
Cambridge United	0–0	2–3	2–1	1–3		2–0	0–1	3–0	5–1	1–3	2–1	1–2	3–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	1–2	1–0
Cardiff City	1–2	1–1	2–3	2–1	1–2		0–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–2	4–2	1–3	1–0	0–0	2–2	3–3	1–0	0–0	1–0
Chelsea	0–0	2–0	0–0	2–0	3–0	0–1		1–3	3–0	0–2	6–0	0–2	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–0	0–0	0–1	0–1	2–2
Derby County	2–2	1–0	1–0	2–1	0–3	1–1	3–2		2–1	2–2	2–0	2–2	4–1	1–1	1–2	3–3	3–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–0	0–1
Grimsby Town	0–0	4–0	1–0	2–0	3–1	0–1	2–0	0–1		0–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–5	1–0
Luton Town	3–1	2–2	3–1	1–0	0–0	2–2	2–0	1–2	0–2		0–1	0–1	1–2	2–1	4–2	3–0	3–0	1–1	2–2	1–0	3–2	1–1
Newcastle United	0–0	2–1	0–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	0–2	1–1	2–1		1–1	0–0	3–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–2	2–1	0–0	0–1
Notts County	2–0	2–1	2–1	3–1	2–0	4–2	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0		0–2	1–0	0–0	2–1	2–0	0–0	2–1	1–2	1–1	1–1
Oldham Athletic	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–2	2–0	0–0	0–2	1–2	0–0	0–0	0–1		0–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	2–2	2–1	0–0	1–3
Orient	1–1	2–2	3–1	2–2	3–0	2–2	0–1	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	0–2	2–3		4–0	4–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–1
Preston North End	0–0	1–2	1–1	0–0	2–0	3–1	1–0	0–3	2–4	1–0	2–3	2–2	1–2	3–0		3–2	2–1	0–0	1–3	2–1	0–0	1–1
Queens Park Rangers	1–1	3–1	4–0	4–0	5–0	2–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	3–2	1–2	1–1	2–0	0–0	1–1		1–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	3–0	0–1
Sheffield Wednesday	2–1	2–0	2–1	4–1	4–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–2	3–1	2–0	1–2	3–0	2–2	3–0	1–0		1–1	2–0	1–0	0–1	2–1
Shrewsbury Town	1–1	1–2	4–0	3–1	2–1	2–0	2–2	1–0	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–1	2–2	1–2	3–0	3–3	2–0		0–0	2–1	0–2	1–2
Swansea City	2–0	3–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	3–1	1–0	2–2	4–0	1–1	3–0	0–2	3–0	1–2	2–3	2–1		1–0	1–3	3–1
Watford	1–1	3–1	1–0	3–1	0–0	4–2	2–3	1–1	3–1	0–1	0–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	2–1		1–2	1–0
West Ham United	2–0	2–1	5–0	2–0	4–2	1–0	4–0	3–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	4–0	1–1	2–1	5–0	3–0	2–1	3–0	2–0	3–2		1–0
Wrexham	0–1	0–1	1–0	3–1	0–0	0–1	0–4	2–2	0–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	3–2	3–1	0–1	1–1	4–0	1–2	1–1	0–1	2–2

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [2] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Chelsea

Orient

Queens Park Rangers

Watford

West Ham

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Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1980–1981

Blackburn Rovers

Bolton

Bristol City

Bristol Rovers

Cambridge Utd

Cardiff City

Chelsea

Derby County

Grimsby Town

Orient

Luton Town

Newcastle

Notts County

Oldham

Preston North End

QPR

Sheffield Wednesday

Shrewsbury

Swansea City

Watford

West Ham

Wrexham

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Locations of the Football League Second Division 1980–1981 teams

Third Division

Football League
Third Division

Season	1980–81
Champions	Rotherham United (1st title)
Promoted	Barnsley, Charlton Athletic
Relegated	Blackpool, Colchester United, Hull City, Sheffield United
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,337 (2.42 per match)
Top goalscorer	Tony Kellow (Exeter City), 25
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Rotherham United	46	17	6	0	43	8	7	7	9	19	24	+30	61	Division Champions, promoted
2	Barnsley	46	15	5	3	46	19	6	12	5	26	26	+27	59	Promoted
3	Charlton Athletic	46	14	6	3	36	17	11	3	9	27	27	+19	59
4	Huddersfield Town	46	14	6	3	40	11	7	8	8	31	29	+31	56
5	Chesterfield	46	17	4	2	42	16	6	6	11	30	32	+24	56
6	Portsmouth	46	14	5	4	35	19	8	4	11	20	28	+8	53
7	Plymouth Argyle	46	14	5	4	35	18	5	9	9	21	26	+12	52
8	Burnley	46	13	5	5	37	21	5	9	9	23	27	+12	50
9	Brentford	46	7	9	7	30	25	7	10	6	22	24	+3	47
10	Reading	46	13	5	5	39	22	5	5	13	23	40	0	46
11	Exeter City	46	9	9	5	36	30	7	4	12	26	36	−4	45
12	Newport County	46	11	6	6	38	22	4	7	12	26	39	+3	43
13	Fulham	46	8	7	8	28	29	7	6	10	29	35	−7	43
14	Oxford United	46	7	8	8	20	24	6	9	8	19	23	−8	43
15	Gillingham	46	9	8	6	23	19	3	10	10	25	39	−10	42
16	Millwall	46	10	9	4	30	21	4	5	14	13	39	−17	42
17	Swindon Town	46	10	6	7	35	27	3	9	11	16	29	−5	41
18	Chester	46	11	5	7	25	17	4	6	13	13	31	−10	41
19	Carlisle United	46	8	9	6	32	29	6	4	13	24	41	−14	41
20	Walsall	46	8	9	6	43	43	5	6	12	16	31	−15	41
21	Sheffield United	46	12	6	5	38	20	2	6	15	27	43	+2	40	Relegated
22	Colchester United	46	12	7	4	35	22	2	4	17	10	43	−20	39
23	Blackpool	46	5	9	9	19	28	4	5	14	26	47	−30	32
24	Hull City	46	7	8	8	23	22	1	8	14	17	49	−31	32

Source: rsssf.com

Results

Home \ Away	BAR	BLP	BRE	BUR	CRL	CHA	CHE	CHF	COL	EXE	FUL	GIL	HUD	HUL	MIL	NPC	OXF	PLY	POR	REA	ROT	SHU	SWI	WAL
Barnsley		2–0	0–1	3–2	3–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	3–0	1–0	2–2	3–3	1–0	5–0	2–0	4–1	1–1	2–1	1–2	2–3	1–0	2–1	2–0	3–0
Blackpool	1–0		0–3	0–0	0–1	0–2	2–3	0–3	1–1	0–0	0–2	4–0	1–2	2–2	0–0	2–4	1–1	1–0	0–2	0–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–0
Brentford	1–1	2–0		0–0	1–1	0–1	0–1	3–2	2–1	0–1	1–3	3–3	0–0	2–2	1–0	0–1	3–0	0–1	2–2	1–2	2–1	1–1	1–1	4–0
Burnley	0–1	4–1	2–0		0–3	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	3–0	3–2	4–2	2–0	5–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–3	1–2	1–1	3–2	0–0	0–0
Carlisle United	2–2	2–0	1–2	3–2		1–2	3–0	2–6	4–0	1–1	2–2	0–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–4	0–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–3	2–1	1–1
Charlton Athletic	1–1	2–1	3–1	2–0	2–1		1–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–2	3–2	0–0	3–0	0–0	1–1	1–2	4–2	2–0	2–0	0–0	2–0
Chester	2–2	2–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	4–0		2–1	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–2	0–2	4–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	0–1	3–2	1–0	1–0
Chesterfield	0–0	3–2	2–1	3–0	1–0	0–1	2–0		3–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	3–0	3–2	2–1	2–2	3–0	3–2	2–0	1–0	2–2	1–2
Colchester United	2–2	3–2	0–2	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–1		1–2	3–2	2–1	1–2	2–0	3–0	1–0	3–0	2–2	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–1
Exeter City	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–0	4–3	2–2	2–2	4–0		1–0	2–1	1–4	1–3	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	2–1	1–1	3–4	0–3
Fulham	2–3	1–2	1–1	0–2	2–3	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–1		3–2	2–2	0–0	1–1	2–1	0–4	0–0	3–0	1–2	1–1	2–1	2–0	2–1
Gillingham	1–1	3–1	2–0	0–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	1–0	0–0	1–5	1–0		0–0	2–0	1–2	3–2	1–1	0–1	0–1	2–0	0–0	2–2	0–0	1–0
Huddersfield Town	1–0	1–1	3–0	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	2–0	2–0	5–0	4–2	1–0		5–0	0–1	1–4	2–0	2–0	0–0	4–1	1–0	1–0	0–2	1–1
Hull City	1–2	2–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	0–0	0–1	3–3	0–1	2–2	2–1		3–1	3–1	0–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–1
Millwall	1–1	0–0	2–2	2–2	3–0	2–0	1–0	0–2	3–1	1–0	3–1	0–0	2–1	1–1		0–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–4	3–1	0–1
Newport County	0–0	3–1	1–1	1–2	4–0	1–2	1–1	5–1	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–1	3–2	4–0	2–1		0–1	0–2	2–1	0–0	0–1	4–0	0–2	1–1
Oxford United	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	1–2	1–0	1–0	0–3	2–1	1–2	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–0	0–1		0–0	1–2	2–1	1–1	2–0	0–0	1–1
Plymouth Argyle	1–3	0–2	0–1	2–1	4–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–2	2–1	4–1	0–0	0–0	2–0	3–2	3–0		1–0	2–1	3–1	1–0	0–0	2–0
Portsmouth	0–1	3–3	0–2	4–2	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	5–0	1–0	0–0	1–2	2–1	2–1	0–0	1–1	1–3		0–0	3–1	1–0	1–0	2–0
Reading	3–2	3–0	0–0	1–3	3–1	1–3	3–0	2–3	1–0	2–1	0–0	0–1	2–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–1		1–1	1–0	4–1	2–0
Rotherham United	2–0	4–0	4–1	1–0	3–0	3–0	0–0	0–0	2–0	3–1	2–2	2–0	0–0	1–1	3–0	1–0	0–0	2–1	3–0	2–0		2–1	1–0	2–1
Sheffield United	1–1	4–2	0–0	0–0	2–2	3–2	2–0	2–0	3–0	3–1	1–2	0–1	2–2	3–1	2–3	2–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–2		3–0	0–1
Swindon Town	2–0	1–2	0–0	0–3	1–1	0–3	1–2	0–1	3–0	2–2	3–4	0–0	1–0	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	3–0	0–2	3–1	2–1	5–2		3–1
Walsall	1–1	2–2	2–3	3–1	4–3	2–2	2–1	4–3	3–1	1–3	1–2	3–3	2–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–3	1–3	2–0	2–2	0–2	4–4	2–1

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [3] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Brentford

Charlton Athletic

Fulham

Millwall

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Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1980–1981

Barnsley

Blackpool

Brentford

Burnley

Carlisle United

Charlton

Chester

Chesterfield

Colchester

Exeter City

Gillingham

Fulham

Huddersfield

Hull

Millwall

Oxford

Newport County

Plymouth Argyle

Portsmouth

Reading

Rotherham

Sheffield United

Swindon

Walsall

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Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1980–1981

Fourth Division

Football League
Fourth Division

Season	1980–81
Champions	Southend United (1st title)
Promoted	Doncaster Rovers, Lincoln City, Wimbledon
Failed re-election	None
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,364 (2.47 per match)
Top goalscorer	Alan Cork (Wimbledon), 23
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Southend United	46	19	4	0	47	6	11	3	9	32	25	+48	67	Division Champions, promoted
2	Lincoln City	46	15	7	1	44	11	10	8	5	22	14	+41	65	Promoted
3	Doncaster Rovers	46	15	4	4	36	20	7	8	8	23	29	+10	56
4	Wimbledon	46	15	4	4	42	17	8	5	10	22	29	+18	55
5	Peterborough United	46	11	8	4	37	21	6	10	7	31	33	+14	52
6	Aldershot	46	12	9	2	28	11	6	5	12	15	30	+2	50
7	Mansfield Town	46	13	5	5	36	15	7	4	12	22	29	+14	49
8	Darlington	46	13	6	4	43	23	6	5	12	22	36	+6	49
9	Hartlepool United	46	14	3	6	42	22	6	6	11	22	39	+3	49
10	Northampton Town	46	11	7	5	42	26	7	6	10	23	41	−2	49
11	Wigan Athletic	46	13	4	6	29	16	5	7	11	22	39	−4	47
12	Bury	46	10	8	5	38	21	7	3	13	32	41	+8	45
13	Bournemouth	46	9	8	6	30	21	7	5	11	17	27	−1	45
14	Bradford City	46	9	9	5	30	24	5	7	11	23	36	−7	44
15	Rochdale	46	11	6	6	33	25	3	9	11	27	45	−10	43
16	Scunthorpe United	46	8	12	3	40	31	3	8	12	20	38	−9	42
17	Torquay United	46	13	2	8	38	26	5	3	15	17	37	−8	41
18	Crewe Alexandra	46	10	7	6	28	20	3	7	13	20	41	−13	40
19	Port Vale	46	10	8	5	40	23	2	7	14	17	47	−13	39
20	Stockport County	46	10	5	8	29	25	6	2	15	15	32	−13	39
21	Tranmere Rovers	46	12	5	6	41	24	1	5	17	18	49	−14	36	Re-elected
22	Hereford United	46	8	8	7	29	20	3	5	15	9	42	−24	35
23	Halifax Town	46	9	3	11	28	32	2	9	12	16	39	−27	34
24	York City	46	10	2	11	31	23	2	7	14	16	43	−19	33

Source:

Results

Home \ Away	ALD	BOU	BRA	BRY	CRE	DAR	DON	HAL	HAR	HER	LIN	MAN	NOR	PET	PTV	ROC	SCU	STD	STP	TOR	TRA	WIG	WDN	YOR
Aldershot		0–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–1	4–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–2	3–0	2–1	3–2	0–1	2–0	1–1
Bournemouth	0–2		4–0	2–2	0–0	3–3	1–2	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	0–0	4–1	0–0	2–1	2–2	2–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	3–0	0–1	1–1
Bradford City	1–0	1–1		0–2	2–2	3–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	0–1	1–2	0–2	3–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	0–3	3–3	2–0	1–1
Bury	0–0	3–0	2–2		1–3	1–2	2–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	4–1	1–2	1–1	2–1	3–1	6–1	1–2	0–1	3–0	2–2	0–0	1–0	2–0
Crewe Alexandra	0–0	0–2	1–0	2–2		1–1	0–0	2–1	2–0	5–0	0–3	1–2	3–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	0–1	3–0	1–2	0–3	1–1
Darlington	1–2	1–2	2–1	2–1	2–1		5–0	3–1	3–0	2–1	0–0	2–2	1–0	2–0	1–1	4–4	0–1	0–2	2–2	1–0	2–0	3–1	4–1	0–0
Doncaster Rovers	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–0		0–0	1–2	5–1	0–1	2–1	1–1	0–4	2–0	1–2	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	3–2
Halifax Town	1–0	1–2	2–0	4–2	1–0	1–2	0–3		1–2	0–0	1–3	0–2	0–1	2–3	2–2	2–0	1–0	1–5	2–0	2–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	3–1
Hartlepool	1–0	1–0	2–2	1–2	6–2	2–0	1–0	3–0		2–0	2–0	0–1	2–3	1–1	3–0	2–2	2–0	1–3	1–0	0–2	3–0	3–1	2–3	1–0
Hereford United	0–0	1–0	4–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	1–3	0–1	3–0		0–2	2–1	4–1	1–1	2–3	3–0	2–1	0–0	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1
Lincoln City	0–1	2–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	3–0	2–0	1–0		1–1	8–0	1–1	1–0	3–0	2–2	2–1	1–0	5–0	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–1
Mansfield Town	1–2	1–1	1–0	2–0	4–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	0–1	4–0	2–0		2–0	2–1	5–0	2–2	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–0	0–1
Northampton Town	2–0	0–1	0–1	5–3	4–1	2–2	0–2	2–1	3–1	0–0	1–1	0–1		2–2	5–1	3–2	3–3	2–0	0–1	1–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–0
Peterborough United	0–0	1–0	2–2	2–0	2–1	1–0	0–1	2–2	1–1	3–0	1–0	1–0	3–0		1–1	2–2	0–2	5–2	1–2	1–3	4–1	0–0	1–1	3–0
Port Vale	0–1	0–2	2–1	1–3	2–2	4–2	3–0	0–0	1–1	4–0	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–1		1–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	3–1	5–1	3–0	2–3	2–0
Rochdale	2–0	0–0	0–2	2–1	2–0	0–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–4	0–1	2–3	2–1		4–0	0–2	2–1	2–1	3–1	3–0	2–0	3–2
Scunthorpe United	2–2	1–1	1–0	2–2	1–1	3–0	1–1	2–2	3–3	3–1	2–2	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–1		2–1	2–0	0–2	2–0	4–4	1–2	3–2
Southend United	3–0	2–1	3–1	1–0	3–0	1–0	0–0	5–1	4–0	2–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	1–0	5–1	1–1	2–0		2–0	3–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	3–0
Stockport County	1–0	2–1	1–2	1–2	1–3	0–1	2–1	1–1	0–2	0–0	0–0	2–1	1–2	3–4	2–1	2–2	2–0	1–0		4–1	1–0	0–1	0–0	2–0
Torquay United	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–1	1–0	0–2	2–3	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–2	1–1	3–3	2–0	4–0	2–0	2–1	0–3	1–2		2–1	2–0	2–3	1–2
Tranmere	3–1	0–1	1–1	3–1	0–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–1	0–0	1–0	3–2	1–2	1–2	3–1	1–2	2–2	1–0	1–0		2–3	3–0	5–0
Wigan Athletic	1–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	0–0	3–1	3–0	4–1	0–3	1–0	0–2	2–0	3–0	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–0	1–1		1–0	1–0
Wimbledon	4–0	2–0	2–2	2–4	2–0	1–1	1–0	3–0	5–0	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	4–1	2–2	0–1	1–2	1–0	2–1	1–0		3–0
York City	4–1	4–0	0–3	0–1	2–0	1–2	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–2	1–0	2–0	1–2	1–2	4–1	1–2	1–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	4–1	2–1	0–1

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [4] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Aldershot

Bournemouth

Bradford City

Bury

Crewe Alexandra

Darlington

Doncaster

Halifax T.

Hartlepool

Hereford United

Lincoln City

Mansfield Town

Northampton Town

Peterborough

Port Vale

Rochdale

Scunthorpe & Lindsey

Southend

Stockport

Torquay

Tranmere

Wigan Athletic

Wimbledon

York City

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Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1980–1981

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Locations of the Football League Fourth Division London teams 1980–1981

Election/Re-election to the Football League

Altrincham won the Alliance Premier League for the second season running and earned the right to apply for election to the Football League to replace one of the four bottom sides in the 1980–81 Football League Fourth Division. The vote went as follows:

Club	Final Position	Votes
Tranmere Rovers	21st (Fourth Division)	48
Hereford United	22nd (Fourth Division)	46
York City	24th (Fourth Division)	46
Halifax Town	23rd (Fourth Division)	41
Altrincham	1st (Alliance Premier League)	15

As a result of this, all four Football League teams were re-elected, and Altrincham were denied membership of the League.

See also

• 1980-81 in English football

References

• Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane's, London & Sydney, 1980.