The 1980–81 season was Stoke City's 74th season in the Football League and 48th in the First Division.
The 1980–81 campaign was a transitional one for Stoke with a number of players coming and going. The team made a poor start and in their first four matches conceded twelve goals. They slowly recovered and were easily able to pull themselves away from any fears of being involved in a relegation battle and finished in a mid-table position of 11th. It was a pretty uneventful season, and with 18 draws often a boring one, for the supporters.
Season review
League In the Summer of 1980 there were some more comings and goings. Firstly Mr Percy Axon became chairman while striker Garth Crooks moved to Tottenham Hotspur for a club record £650,000 and goalkeeper Roger Jones joined Derby County. With cash in the bank, Durban signed left back Peter Hampton from Leeds United for £170,000 and Paul Maguire joined from Shrewsbury Town for £262,000. Iain Munro and Peter Griffiths also joined the club. The team made an awful start to the 1980–81 season losing 5–1 at Norwich City and then 5–0 at Nottingham Forest.
Stoke soon started to grind out results and Alan Durban's well drilled side picked up the points they needed to pull away from any danger and they finished the season in 11th place with 42 points.
FA Cup Stoke drew Staffordshire rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round and after a 2–2 draw at home Wolves won 2–1 in the replay.
League Cup Stoke lost to Manchester City 4–1 over two legs, drawing 1–1 at home but suffering a 3–0 defeat at Maine Road.
Final league table
Results
Stoke's score comes first
Legend WinDrawLoss
Football League First Division
MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 16 August 1980 Norwich CityA1–514,616Heath 44'2 20 August 1980 West Bromwich AlbionH0–014,0853 23 August 1980 Ipswich TownH2–210,722Ursem 8', Chapman 80'4 30 August 1980 Nottingham ForestA0–521,7395 6 September 1980 Leeds UnitedH3–012,739Ursem 4', Maguire 14', Heath 30'6 13 September 1980 ArsenalA0–227,1837 20 September 1980 Manchester CityA2–129,507Ursem 53', Chapman 39'8 27 September 1980 MiddlesbroughH1–011,847Ursem 30'9 4 October 1980 Tottenham HotspurH2–318,511Hampton 50', O'Callaghan 78'10 8 October 1980 Leicester CityA1–115,549Chapman 8'11 11 October 1980 SouthamptonA2–119,473Munro 50', Hampton 77'12 18 October 1980 Brighton & Hove AlbionH0–013,07913 22 October 1980 Manchester UnitedH1–224,549O'Callaghan 80'14 25 October 1980 Birmingham CityA1–116,535Doyle 80'15 1 November 1980 LiverpoolH2–222,864Chapman 47', Randall 90'16 8 November 1980 SunderlandA0–021,48317 15 November 1980 Norwich CityH3–111,207Chapman (3) 7', 51', 58'18 22 November 1980 Crystal PalaceH1–013,422O'Callaghan 56'19 25 November 1980 West Bromwich AlbionA0–015,92220 29 November 1980 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–118,78621 6 December 1980 EvertonH2–215,650Chapman 35', O'Callaghan 68'22 13 December 1980 Manchester UnitedA2–239,568Randall 8', Chapman 21'23 20 December 1980 Leicester CityH1–013,433Chapman 18'24 26 December 1980 Aston VillaA0–134,65825 27 December 1980 Coventry CityH2–217,675Doyle 52', Griffiths 69'26 10 January 1981 Crystal PalaceA1–114,154Doyle 89'27 31 January 1981 Ipswich TownA0–423,84328 7 February 1981 ArsenalH1–114,406Ursem 12'29 14 February 1981 Leeds UnitedA3–116,530Chapman (3) 28', 49', 63'30 18 February 1981 Nottingham ForestH1–217,305Heath 50'31 21 February 1981 MiddlesbroughA1–315,142Maguire 83'32 11 March 1981 Tottenham HotspurA2–228,742O'Callaghan 5', Heath 75'33 14 March 1981 SouthamptonH1–214,828Heath 86'34 18 March 1981 Manchester CityH2–115,802Doyle 45', O'Callaghan 76'35 21 March 1981 Brighton & Hove AlbionA1–113,583Ursem 35'36 28 March 1981 Birmingham CityH0–014,62437 3 April 1981 LiverpoolA0–333,30838 11 April 1981 SunderlandH2–011,501Chapman 64', Dodd 85'39 18 April 1981 Coventry CityA2–212,766Chapman 50', Maguire 71' (pen)40 20 April 1981 Aston VillaH1–123,511O'Callaghan 25'41 25 April 1981 EvertonA1–015,352Heath 80'42 2 May 1981 Wolverhampton WanderersH3–214,929Bracewell (2) 25', 68', Ursem 82'
FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR33 January 1980 Wolverhampton WanderersH2–224,737Chapman 30', Bracewell 52'R3 Replay 6 January 1980 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–222,892Heath 34'
League Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR2 1st Leg27 August 1980 Manchester CityH1–113,176Chapman 2'R2 2nd Leg3 September 1980 Manchester CityA0–321,356
Friendlies MatchOpponentVenueResult1Telford UnitedA3–12LinfieldA4–13Cardiff CityA1–34Newport CountyA1–15Port ValeA1–16Derby CountyH4–37AEK AthensA2–28RochdaleA4–09Rotherham UnitedA0–010BidefordA6–011LewesA5–0
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Peter Fox4202020460DF Alan Dodd4112020451DF Mike Doyle3842000404DF Ray Evans3202020360DF Peter Hampton32(1)2202036(1)2DF Paul Anthony Johnson11(2)0002013(2)0DF Paul Johnson10000010DF David McAughtrie10000010DF Dennis Thorley8(3)0002010(3)0MF Paul Bracewell36(4)2212040(4)3MF Jeff Cook3(1)010105(1)0MF Peter Griffiths5(5)100005(5)1MF Adrian Heath3862110417MF Iain Munro3212000341MF Paul Richardson1801(1)02021(1)0MF Kevin Sheldon10000010MF Loek Ursem24(4)7001025(4)7FW Lee Chapman411521214517FW Paul Maguire1531010173FW Brendan O'Callaghan3771000387FW Paul Randall6(4)2000(2)06(6)2
References