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.

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

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

Results

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

Second Division

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.

Results

Maps

Third Division

Results

Maps

Fourth Division

Results

Maps

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.

Attendances Source:

Division One No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Manchester United 45,071 57,049 37,954 2 Liverpool FC 37,547 48,114 24,462 3 Manchester City FC 33,587 50,114 26,141 4 Aston Villa FC 34,117 47,998 25,673 5 Arsenal FC 32,480 57,472 17,431 6 Tottenham Hotspur FC 30,724 43,398 22,741 7 Sunderland AFC 26,477 41,141 17,749 8 Everton FC 26,105 52,607 15,355 9 Ipswich Town FC 24,619 32,363 19,515 10 Nottingham Forest FC 24,483 33,930 19,690 11 Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 21,551 34,693 15,160 12 Southampton FC 21,482 24,083 18,824 13 Leeds United FC 21,377 39,206 14,333 14 West Bromwich Albion FC 20,331 34,195 14,861 15 Leicester City FC 19,476 28,455 13,666 16 Birmingham City FC 19,248 33,879 12,472 17 Brighton & Hove Albion FC 18,984 27,560 12,117 18 Crystal Palace FC 19,280 31,652 11,122 19 Norwich City FC 17,140 25,636 11,528 20 Coventry City FC 16,904 27,094 11,521 21 Middlesbrough FC 16,432 35,065 11,076 22 Stoke City FC 15,580 24,534 10,722

Division Two

No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 West Ham United FC 27,140 36,032 20,402 2 Sheffield Wednesday FC 18,624 28,518 14,230 3 Chelsea FC 17,897 32,669 11,569 4 Derby County FC 16,682 20,353 13,846 5 Newcastle United FC 16,001 24,866 11,013 6 Swansea City AFC 13,143 22,160 8,788 7 Watford FC 13,108 23,547 10,044 8 Blackburn Rovers FC 11,684 19,222 7,855 9 Grimsby Town FC 10,961 17,924 7,377 10 Queens Park Rangers FC 10,936 23,811 6,668 11 Luton Town FC 10,291 17,031 7,874 12 Bolton Wanderers FC 9,847 18,184 6,315 13 Bristol City FC 9,765 16,612 6,042 14 Notts County FC 9,551 16,560 6,565 15 Preston North End FC 7,631 19,023 4,748 16 Cardiff City FC 6,767 21,198 4,140 17 Oldham Athletic FC 6,510 12,005 4,730 18 Wrexham AFC 6,495 10,913 3,220 19 Leyton Orient FC 6,076 14,592 3,824 20 Bristol Rovers FC 5,929 10,087 3,552 21 Cambridge United FC 5,796 9,558 3,719 22 Shrewsbury Town FC 5,616 9,303 4,196

Division Three

No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Portsmouth FC 13,514 17,412 9,172 2 Barnsley FC 12,800 25,935 8,693 3 Sheffield United FC 12,772 20,369 8,601 4 Huddersfield Town AFC 11,548 28,901 6,965 5 Rotherham United FC 7,985 13,515 4,436 6 Chesterfield FC 7,331 17,169 3,059 7 Charlton Athletic FC 7,206 12,700 3,359 8 Swindon Town FC 6,933 9,966 4,761 9 Plymouth Argyle FC 6,766 14,792 4,315 10 Brentford FC 6,752 11,610 4,883 11 Burnley FC 6,469 11,075 3,947 12 Blackpool FC 5,863 10,427 3,188 13 Newport County AFC 5,683 8,062 3,748 14 Reading FC 5,439 7,561 3,399 15 Fulham FC 5,060 9,921 3,387 16 Gillingham FC 4,676 8,775 3,228 17 Exeter City FC 4,559 8,491 3,056 18 Millwall FC 4,494 8,311 2,780 19 Hull City AFC 4,319 8,618 2,059 20 Walsall FC 4,265 6,026 3,185 21 Oxford United FC 4,132 6,477 2,741 22 Carlisle United FC 4,064 7,136 2,828 23 Chester City FC 2,892 4,863 1,778 24 Colchester United FC 2,645 4,952 1,430

Division Four

No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Southend United FC 6,095 12,391 4,190 2 Doncaster Rovers FC 5,412 11,373 2,186 3 Lincoln City FC 4,715 8,832 3,458 4 Wigan Athletic FC 4,434 6,029 3,370 5 Peterborough United FC 4,137 6,265 2,772 6 Mansfield Town FC 3,400 4,883 1,925 7 AFC Bournemouth 3,380 5,200 2,203 8 Hartlepool United FC 3,115 5,578 1,579 9 Aldershot Town FC 2,989 4,970 1,813 10 Crewe Alexandra FC 2,909 4,634 1,881 11 Bradford City AFC 2,858 4,356 1,249 12 Bury FC 2,748 4,700 1,779 13 Port Vale FC 2,738 4,239 2,091 14 Rochdale AFC 2,565 5,230 1,474 15 Darlington FC 2,537 7,155 1,304 16 Wimbledon FC 2,484 3,898 1,775 17 Hereford United FC 2,444 3,412 1,476 18 Scunthorpe United FC 2,357 5,032 1,498 19 Stockport County FC 2,335 3,536 1,431 20 Northampton Town FC 2,196 3,800 1,380 21 York City FC 2,163 4,641 1,167 22 Torquay United FC 2,050 3,683 1,227 23 Halifax Town AFC 1,924 4,444 922 24 Tranmere Rovers 1,901 3,439 1,073

1980–81 Football League

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