1980–81 Iraqi National League

Iraqi Premier League
Season	1980–81
Champions	Al-Talaba (1st title)
Relegated	Al-Adhamiya
Top goalscorer	Hussein Saeed (11 goals)
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

The 1980–81 Iraqi National League was the 7th season of the competition since its foundation in 1974. Al-Talaba won the league title for the first time in their history, but in very controversial circumstances. Reigning champions Al-Shorta, unbeaten in the league for almost two straight years, played against Al-Zawraa in the last game of the season; an unlikely 3–0 win for Al-Shorta against the three-time champions would put Al-Shorta on equal points and equal goal difference to Al-Talaba but with two more goals scored, so Al-Shorta believed a 3–0 win would win them the title.

They managed to surprise the country by achieving the 3–0 win they needed thanks to an Ali Hussein Mahmoud hattrick. However, the Iraq Football Association did not officially announce the champions until the next day when they announced that Al-Talaba had won the league due to having won more matches than Al-Shorta. This rule had never been used before and in fact was never used again, leading to many people believing there had been some sort of corruption involved in the IFA's decision.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Al-Talaba¹ (C)	11	8	1	2	19	5	+14	17
2	Al-Shorta¹	11	6	5	0	21	7	+14	17
3	Al-Tayaran	11	6	4	1	17	7	+10	16
4	Al-Shabab	11	5	3	3	13	9	+4	13
5	Al-Tijara	11	5	3	3	13	10	+3	13
6	Al-Jaish	11	3	6	2	10	8	+2	12
7	Al-Zawraa	11	3	4	4	14	16	–2	10
8	Al-Minaa	11	3	4	4	8	14	–6	10
9	Al-Sinaa	11	1	6	4	8	12	–4	8
9	Salahaddin	11	1	6	4	8	12	–4	8
11	Al-Amana	11	1	5	5	13	15	–2	7
12	Al-Adhamiya	11	0	1	10	4	29	–25	1

Relegated to Iraq Division 1

¹Al-Talaba ranked ahead of Al-Shorta by number of wins, due to equal points and goal difference.

Top goalscorers

Pos	Scorer	Goals	Team
1	Hussein Saeed	11	Al-Talaba
2	Ali Hussein Mahmoud	9	Al-Shorta
3	Faisal Aziz	5	Al-Shorta
3	Karim Mousa	5	Al-Shabab

References

Iraq - List of final tables (RSSSF)

External links

Iraqi Football Website

Iraqi Premier League

2016–17 clubs

Seasons

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
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17

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