1980-81 in English football

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The 1980-81 season was the 101st season of competitive football in England.

1 Overview
2 Star players
3 Star managers
4 Honours
5 League table

[edit] Overview

The Football League introduced a three points for a win system in place of the two points for a win system which had operated since the league's formation in 1889.

[edit] First Division

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 fourth 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 quarter finals with an impressive West Bromwich Albion side - who would suffer a rapid declne 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.

[edit] Second Division

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.

[edit] Third Division

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.

[edit] Fourth 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.

[edit] FA Cup

Inspired by Ricardo Villa and Osvaldo Ardiles, World Cup winners with Argentina in 1978, Tottenham Hotspur overcame Manchester City in the FA Cup final replay to lift their first major trophy under the management of Keith Burkinshaw.

[edit] League Cup

Liverpool added to their European Cup triumph with their first-ever League Cup.

[edit] European football

English clubs continued their dominance of European football. Liverpool won the European Cup, ensuring that the European Cup remained in English hands for the fifth year running. Bobby Robson proved his managerial credentials by bringing UEFA Cup glory to Ipswich Town, who had narrowly missed out on the league title.

[edit] Star players

High scoring defensive midfielder John Wark was credited for his achievements at UEFA Cup Winners Ipswich Town by the PFA, who elected him Player of the Year.
Aston Villa's promising young forward Gary Shaw added the PFA Young Player of the Year award to his league championship medal.
The FWA voted Ipswich's Dutch winger Frans Thijssen as their Player of the Year.
West Bromwich Albion midfielders Bryan Robson and Remi Moses became two of the most feared players in the league and would soon follow their manager Ron Atkinson to Manchester United.

[edit] Star managers

Ron Saunders ended Aston Villa's 71-year wait for the league championship trophy by pipping Ipswich Town at the post.
Bob Paisley made up for Liverpool's disappointing league form with success in the European Cup and League Cup.
Bobby Robson couldn't quite bring the league championship trophy to Ipswich Town but compensated by bringing them the UEFA Cup.
Keith Burkinshaw completed his rebuilding programme at Tottenham Hotspur by yielding an FA Cup triumph.
John Lyall had another successful season with West Ham United as they won promotion to the First Division.
John Toshack completed the quickest rise through the Football League with Swansea City, who climbed from the Fourth Division to the First Division with three promotions in four seasons.
Ron Atkinson took West Bromwich Albion to fourth place in the league to attain their second UEFA Cup place in three seasons.
Terry Neill guided Arsenal to third place in the league to ensure UEFA Cup qualification.
Jimmy Sirrel took Notts County into the First Division for the first time in nearly 60 years.
Norman Hunter attained promotion to the Second Division with Barnsley.

[edit] Honours

Competition	Winner	Runner-up
First Division	Aston Villa	Ipswich Town
Second Division	West Ham United	Notts County
Third Division	Rotherham United	Barnsley
Fourth Division	Southend United	Lincoln City
FA Cup	Tottenham Hotspur	Manchester City
League Cup	Liverpool	West Ham United
Charity Shield	Liverpool	West Ham United

[edit] League table

[edit] First Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Aston Villa	42	26	8	8	72	40	+32	60
2	Ipswich Town	42	23	10	9	77	43	+34	56
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
6	Southampton	42	20	10	12	76	56	+20	50
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
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	42	13	7	22	49	73	-24	33
21	Leicester City	42	13	6	23	40	67	-27	32
22	Crystal Palace	42	6	7	29	47	83	-36	19

[edit] Second Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	West Ham United	42	28	10	4	79	29	+50	66
2	Notts County	42	18	17	7	49	38	+11	53
3	Swansea City	42	18	14	10	64	44	+20	50
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	Queen's 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	Leyton 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	42	11	14	17	41	62	-21	36
21	Bristol City	42	7	16	19	29	51	-22	30
22	Bristol Rovers	42	5	13	24	34	65	-31	23

[edit] Third Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Rotherham United	46	24	13	9	62	32	+30	61
2	Barnsley	46	21	17	8	72	45	+27	59
3	Charlton Athletic	46	25	9	12	63	44	+19	59
4	Huddersfield Town	46	21	14	11	71	40	+31	56
5	Chesterfield	46	23	10	13	72	48	+24	56
6	Portsmouth	46	22	9	15	55	47	+8	53
7	Plymouth Argyle	46	19	14	13	56	44	+12	52
8	Burnley	46	18	14	14	60	48	+12	50
9	Brentford	46	14	19	13	52	49	+3	47
10	Reading	46	18	10	18	62	62	+0	46
11	Exeter City	46	16	13	17	62	66	-4	45
12	Newport County	46	15	13	18	64	61	+3	43
13	Fulham	46	15	13	18	57	64	-7	43
14	Oxford United	46	13	17	16	39	47	-8	43
15	Gillingham	46	12	18	16	48	58	-10	42
16	Millwall	46	14	14	18	43	60	-17	42
17	Swindon Town	46	13	15	18	51	56	-5	41
18	Chester City	46	15	11	20	38	48	-10	41
19	Carlisle United	46	14	13	19	56	70	-14	41
20	Walsall	46	13	15	18	59	74	-15	41
21	Sheffield United	46	14	12	20	65	63	+2	40
22	Colchester United	46	14	11	21	45	65	-20	39
23	Blackpool	46	9	14	23	45	75	-30	32
24	Hull City	46	8	16	22	40	71	-31	32

[edit] Fourth Division

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Southend United	46	30	7	9	79	31	+48	67
2	Lincoln City	46	25	15	6	66	25	+41	65
3	Doncaster Rovers	46	22	12	12	59	49	+10	56
4	Wimbledon	46	23	9	14	64	46	+18	55
5	Peterborough United	46	17	18	11	68	54	+14	52
6	Aldershot	46	18	14	14	43	41	+2	50
7	Mansfield Town	46	20	9	17	58	44	+14	49
8	Darlington	46	19	11	16	65	59	+6	49
9	Hartlepool United	46	20	9	17	64	61	+3	49
10	Northampton Town	46	18	13	15	65	67	-2	49
11	Wigan Athletic	46	18	11	17	51	55	-4	47
12	Bury	46	17	11	18	70	62	+8	45
13	Bournemouth	46	16	13	17	47	48	-1	45
14	Bradford City	46	14	16	16	53	60	-7	44
15	Rochdale	46	14	15	17	60	70	-10	43
16	Scunthorpe United	46	11	20	15	60	69	-9	42
17	Torquay United	46	18	5	23	55	63	-8	41
18	Crewe Alexandra	46	13	14	19	48	61	-13	40
19	Port Vale	46	12	15	19	57	70	-13	39
20	Stockport County	46	16	7	23	44	57	-13	39
21	Tranmere Rovers	46	13	10	23	59	73	-14	36
22	Hereford United	46	11	13	22	38	62	-24	35
23	Halifax Town	46	11	12	23	44	71	-27	34
24	York City	46	12	9	25	47	66	-19	33

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Seasons in English football
1976-77 \| 1977-78 \| 1978-79 \| 1979-80 \| 1980-81 \| 1981-82 \| 1982-83 \| 1983-84 \| 1984-85

Football in England

v • d • e

League competitions	The FA	Cup competitions
FA Premier League	England	FA Cup
The Football League (Champ, 1, 2)	(U-21) (B)	Carling Cup
Football Conference (Nat, N, S)	List of clubs	Community Shield
Northern Premier League (Prem, 1)	List of venues	Johnstone's Paint Trophy
Southern League (Prem, Mid, S&W)	(by capacity)	FA Trophy
Isthmian League (Prem, 1N, 1S)	List of leagues	FA Vase
English football league system	Records	FA NLS Cup