First Division 1980/81
Aston Villa won the 1980/81 First Division with 60 points, 4 points ahead of Ipswich Town. Norwich City, Leicester City and Crystal Palace were relegated. The season's 462 matches produced 1,228 goals, 2.66 a game.
Aston Villa
Champions
1,228
Goals
2.66
Goals a game
53%
Home wins
Final table
| 1 |  Aston VillaAston Villa | 42 | 26 | 8 | 8 | 72 | 40 | +32 | 60 |
| 2 |  Ipswich TownIpswich Town | 42 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 77 | 43 | +34 | 56 |
| 3 |  ArsenalArsenal | 42 | 19 | 15 | 8 | 61 | 45 | +16 | 53 |
| 4 |  West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 60 | 42 | +18 | 52 |
| 5 |  LiverpoolLiverpool | 42 | 17 | 17 | 8 | 62 | 42 | +20 | 51 |
| 6 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 76 | 56 | +20 | 50 |
| 7 |  Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 62 | 44 | +18 | 50 |
| 8 |  Manchester UnitedMan United | 42 | 15 | 18 | 9 | 51 | 36 | +15 | 48 |
| 9 |  Leeds UnitedLeeds United | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 39 | 47 | -8 | 44 |
| 10 |  Tottenham HotspurTottenham | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 70 | 68 | +2 | 43 |
| 11 |  Stoke CityStoke | 42 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 51 | 60 | -9 | 42 |
| 12 |  Manchester CityMan City | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 56 | 59 | -3 | 39 |
| 13 |  Birmingham CityBirmingham | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 50 | 61 | -11 | 38 |
| 14 |  MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough | 42 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 53 | 61 | -8 | 37 |
| 15 |  EvertonEverton | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 55 | 58 | -3 | 36 |
| 16 |  Coventry CityCoventry City | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 48 | 68 | -20 | 36 |
| 17 |  SunderlandSunderland | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 52 | 53 | -1 | 35 |
| 18 |  Wolverhampton WanderersWolves | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 43 | 55 | -12 | 35 |
| 19 |  Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 54 | 67 | -13 | 35 |
| 20 |  Norwich CityNorwich | 42 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 49 | 73 | -24 | 33 |
| 21 |  Leicester CityLeicester City | 42 | 13 | 6 | 23 | 40 | 67 | -27 | 32 |
| 22 |  Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace | 42 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 47 | 83 | -36 | 19 |
▌ Champions ▌ Relegated. Two points for a win, one for a draw. Sort and filter it on the all-time table →
The 1980/81 title race
The top four's points, match day by match day. Pick other clubs or measures on the race chart →
Points, Tue 19 May 1981
1
Aston Villa
60
2
Ipswich Town
56
3
Arsenal
53
4
West Brom
52
Hover the chart to read any match day, or a club to highlight its line.
1980/81 · Tue 19 May 1981
An MP4 of this race to post on X, TikTok, Instagram or YouTube.
The 1980/81 scoreline grid
Every result of the season, home goals along the bottom and away goals up the side. Each square counts the matches that finished that way. Select a square to see those matches.
Times it's happened
Never
Once
2
3–4
5–9
10–19
20+
First-ever results
Every result in 1980/81 had happened before.
Biggest wins
Highest-scoring matches
Most common results
How 1980/81 compares
At 2.66 goals a game, 1980/81 was the 20th lowest-scoring of the 93 old First Division seasons (the average is 3.07). Home sides won 53% of matches, against 52% across all seasons; 26% were draws and 22% away wins.