Season 1980-81

The 1980–1981 season was the 81st completed season of The Football League.

Ron Saunders completed Aston Villa's revival, as they ended their 71-year wait for the league championship trophy. They competed in a two-horse race with Ipswich Town during the final stages of the season before pipping the Suffolk side at the post. Liverpool slipped into fifth place but compensated for this downfall by lifting the European Cup and their first-ever League Cup. But Manchester United failed to make the top five and this shortcoming cost Dave Sexton his manager's job. He was succeeded by Ron Atkinson, who had just finished fourth in the league and reached the UEFA Cup quarterfinals 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. They were joined in the Second Division by also-doomed Norwich City and Leicester City.

FA Cup holders West Ham United regained their First Division status by lifting the Second Division championship trophy. They were joined by Notts County and Swansea City, completing a meteoric rise under John Toshack, from the Fourth Division to the First in just four years.

Both Bristol clubs were relegated from the Second Division in 1980–81. They were joined in the drop zone by Preston North End.

Rotherham United, Barnsley and Charlton Athletic occupied the promotion places in the Third Division. Hull City, Blackpool and Colchester United were joined in the Third Division drop zone by Sheffield United - who just seven years earlier had finished sixth in the First Division.

Southend United, Lincoln City, Doncaster Rovers and Wimbledon occupied the four promotion places in the Fourth Division. 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.

Source: Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia

Season 1980-81 matches (grid view)

	Aston Villa		1:2	1:1	1:0	2:0	2:1	2:0	3:3	1:1	3:0	1:0	1:0	3:0	3:0	0:2	1:0	4:0	2:1	4:1	1:0	2:0	2:1
	Ipswich Town	1:0		0:2	0:0	1:1	2:3	2:0	1:1	1:1	3:0	4:0	1:0	5:1	1:0	4:0	2:0	4:1	3:1	2:0	2:0	3:1	3:2
	Arsenal	2:0	1:1		2:2	1:0	1:1	1:0	2:1	0:0	2:0	2:0	2:0	2:1	2:2	2:1	2:2	2:2	1:1	2:0	3:1	1:0	3:2
	WBA	0:0	3:1	0:1		2:0	2:1	2:1	3:1	1:2	4:2	0:0	3:1	2:2	3:0	2:0	1:0	2:1	1:1	2:0	3:0	3:1	1:0
	Liverpool	2:1	1:1	1:1	4:0		2:0	0:0	0:1	0:0	2:1	3:0	1:0	2:2	4:2	1:0	2:1	0:1	1:0	4:1	4:1	1:2	3:0
	Southampton	1:2	3:3	3:1	2:2	2:2		2:0	1:0	2:1	1:1	1:2	2:0	3:1	1:0	3:0	1:0	2:1	4:2	3:1	2:1	4:0	4:2
	Nottingham Forest	2:2	1:2	3:1	2:1	0:0	2:1		1:2	2:1	0:3	5:0	3:2	2:1	1:0	1:0	1:1	3:1	1:0	4:1	2:1	5:0	3:0
	Manchester United	3:3	2:1	0:0	2:1	0:0	1:1	1:1		0:1	0:0	2:2	2:2	2:0	3:0	2:0	0:0	1:1	0:0	2:1	1:0	5:0	1:0
	Leeds United	1:2	3:0	0:5	0:0	0:0	0:3	1:0	0:0		0:0	1:3	1:0	0:0	2:1	1:0	3:0	1:0	1:3	1:0	1:0	1:2	1:0
	Tottenham Hotspur	2:0	5:3	2:0	2:3	1:1	4:4	2:0	0:0	1:1		2:2	2:1	1:0	3:2	2:2	4:1	0:0	2:2	2:2	2:3	1:2	4:2
	Stoke City	1:1	2:2	1:1	0:0	2:2	1:2	1:2	1:2	3:0	2:3		2:1	0:0	1:0	2:2	2:2	2:0	3:2	0:0	3:1	1:0	1:0
	Manchester City	2:2	1:1	1:1	2:1	0:3	3:0	1:1	1:0	1:0	3:1	1:2		0:1	3:2	3:1	3:0	0:4	4:0	1:1	1:0	3:3	1:1
	Birmingham City	1:2	1:3	3:1	1:1	1:1	0:3	2:0	0:0	0:2	2:1	1:1	2:0		2:1	1:1	3:1	3:2	1:0	2:1	4:0	1:2	1:0
	Middlesbrough	2:1	2:1	2:1	2:1	1:2	1:1	0:0	1:1	3:0	4:1	3:1	2:2	1:2		1:0	0:1	1:0	2:0	1:0	6:1	1:0	2:0
	Everton	1:3	0:0	1:2	1:1	2:2	2:1	0:0	0:1	1:2	2:2	0:1	0:2	1:1	4:1		3:0	2:1	2:0	4:3	0:2	1:0	5:0
	Coventry City	1:2	0:4	3:1	3:0	0:0	1:0	1:1	0:2	2:1	0:1	2:2	1:1	2:1	1:0	0:5		2:1	2:2	3:3	0:1	4:1	3:1
	Sunderland	1:2	0:2	2:0	0:0	2:4	1:2	2:2	2:0	4:1	1:1	0:0	2:0	3:0	0:1	3:1	3:0		0:1	1:2	3:0	1:0	1:0
	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0:1	0:2	1:2	2:0	4:1	1:1	1:4	1:0	2:1	1:0	1:0	1:3	1:0	3:0	0:0	0:1	2:1		0:2	3:0	0:1	2:0
	Brighton	1:0	1:0	0:1	1:2	2:2	2:0	0:1	1:4	2:0	0:2	1:1	1:2	2:2	0:1	1:3	4:1	2:1	2:0		2:0	2:1	3:2
	Norwich City	1:3	1:0	1:1	0:2	0:1	1:0	1:1	2:2	2:3	2:2	5:1	2:0	2:2	2:0	2:1	2:0	1:0	1:1	3:1		2:3	1:1
	Leicester City	2:4	0:1	1:0	0:2	2:0	2:2	1:1	1:0	0:1	2:1	1:1	1:1	1:0	1:0	0:1	1:3	0:1	2:0	0:1	1:2		1:1
	Crystal Palace	0:1	1:2	2:2	0:1	2:2	3:2	1:3	1:0	0:1	3:4	1:1	2:3	3:1	5:2	2:3	0:3	0:1	0:0	0:3	4:1	2:1

Season matches ordered by date

1.		Aston Villa
2.		Ipswich Town
3.		Arsenal
4.		WBA
5.		Liverpool
6.		Southampton
7.		Nottingham Forest
8.		Manchester United
9.		Leeds United
10.		Tottenham Hotspur
11.		Stoke City
12.		Manchester City
13.		Birmingham City
14.		Middlesbrough
15.		Everton
16.		Coventry City
17.		Sunderland
18.		Wolverhampton Wanderers
19.		Brighton
20.		Norwich City
21.		Leicester City
22.		Crystal Palace

Full standing - Home, Away, Total

			Home						Away						Total
#	Club		T	W	D	L	GD	P	T	W	D	L	GD	P	T	W	D	L	GD	P
1.		Aston Villa	21	16	3	2	40:13	0	21	10	5	6	32:27	0	42	26	8	8	72:40	60
2.		Ipswich Town	21	15	4	2	45:14	0	21	8	6	7	32:29	0	42	23	10	9	77:43	56
3.		Arsenal	21	13	8	0	36:17	0	21	6	7	8	25:28	0	42	19	15	8	61:45	53
4.		WBA	21	15	4	2	40:15	0	21	5	8	8	20:27	0	42	20	12	10	60:42	52
5.		Liverpool	21	13	5	3	38:15	0	21	4	12	5	24:27	0	42	17	17	8	62:42	51
6.		Southampton	21	15	4	2	47:22	0	21	5	6	10	29:34	0	42	20	10	12	76:56	50
7.		Nottingham Forest	21	15	3	3	44:20	0	21	4	9	8	18:24	0	42	19	12	11	62:44	50
8.		Manchester United	21	9	11	1	30:14	0	21	6	7	8	21:22	0	42	15	18	9	51:36	48
9.		Leeds United	21	10	5	6	19:19	0	21	7	5	9	20:28	0	42	17	10	15	39:47	44
10.		Tottenham Hotspur	21	9	9	3	44:31	0	21	5	6	10	26:37	0	42	14	15	13	70:68	43
11.		Stoke City	21	8	9	4	31:23	0	21	4	9	8	20:37	0	42	12	18	12	51:60	42
12.		Manchester City	21	10	7	4	35:25	0	21	4	4	13	21:34	0	42	14	11	17	56:59	39
13.		Birmingham City	21	11	5	5	32:23	0	21	2	7	12	18:38	0	42	13	12	17	50:61	38
14.		Middlesbrough	21	14	4	3	38:16	0	21	2	1	18	15:45	0	42	16	5	21	53:61	37
15.		Everton	21	8	6	7	32:25	0	21	5	4	12	23:33	0	42	13	10	19	55:58	36
16.		Coventry City	21	9	6	6	31:30	0	21	4	4	13	17:38	0	42	13	10	19	48:68	36
17.		Sunderland	21	10	4	7	32:19	0	21	4	3	14	20:34	0	42	14	7	21	52:53	35
18.		Wolverhampton Wanderers	21	11	2	8	26:20	0	21	2	7	12	17:35	0	42	13	9	20	43:55	35
19.		Brighton	21	10	3	8	30:26	0	21	4	4	13	24:41	0	42	14	7	21	54:67	35
20.		Norwich City	21	9	7	5	34:25	0	21	4	0	17	15:48	0	42	13	7	22	49:73	33
21.		Leicester City	21	7	5	9	20:23	0	21	6	1	14	20:44	0	42	13	6	23	40:67	32
22.		Crystal Palace	21	6	4	11	32:37	0	21	0	3	18	15:46	0	42	6	7	29	47:83	19