The 1980–81 Swiss League Cup was the ninth edition of the Swiss League Cup competition since its introduction in 1972. The first round was played in summer 1980 as a pre-season warm-up to the 1980–81 Swiss football season, round two was played in November and the later rounds were played after the winter-break.

Overview The League Cup had been created eight years earlier to allow clubs from the top two tiers to compete in a tournament in advance of the league season, with the semi-finals and final played in the Autumn. However, this planning had been given up and modified. This season the modifications continued, the first round was played in advance of the season, the second was played the first week-end in November and the later rounds were played in the spring. The final was to be played, for the first time, as a two legged affair with both finalists playing a home and an away game.

The matches were played in a single knockout format. In the event of a draw after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. In the event of a draw at the end of extra time, a penalty shoot-out was to decide which team qualified for the next round. No replays were foreseen.

First round Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|16 August 1980

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|17 August 1980

Matches

Second round Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|1 November 1980

Matches

Quarter-finals Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|17 March 1981

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|28 March 1981

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|29 March 1981

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|1 April 1981

Matches

Semi-finals Summary

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|20 May 1981

Matches

Final The final was held with the first leg on 26 May at the Olympique de la Pontaise in Lausanne. The return round was held on 8 September 1981 at the Letzigrund in Zürich.

Summary First leg

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|26 May 1981

Second leg

|colspan="3" style="background-color:#99CCCC"|8 September 1981

Zürich won 2–1 on aggrigate.

Telegram

Zürich won the cup winning the final 2–1 on aggrigate. This was the club's first League Cup title.

Further in Swiss football 1980–81 Nationalliga A 1980–81 Swiss 1. Liga 1980–81 Swiss Cup

References

Swiss League Cup results 1980–81 at RSSSF