1980–81 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1980–81 season was Stoke City's 74th season in the Football League and 48th in the First Division.

Stoke City
1980–81 season
ChairmanPercy Axon
ManagerAlan Durban
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League First Division11th (42 Points)
FA CupThird Round
League CupSecond Rpund
Top goalscorerLeague: Lee Chapman
(15)

All: Lee Chapman
(17)
Highest home attendance24,549 vs Manchester United
(4 October 1980)
Lowest home attendance10,722 vs Ipswich Town
(23 August 1980)
Average home league attendance15,580

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.[1]

Season review

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League

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In the Summer of 1980 there were some more comings and goings.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1] Iain Munro and Peter Griffiths also joined the club.[1] The team made an awful start to the 1980–81 season losing 5–1 at Norwich City and then 5–0 at Nottingham Forest.[1]

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.[1]

FA Cup

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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.[1]

League Cup

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Stoke lost to Manchester City 4–1 over two legs, drawing 1–1 at home but suffering a 3–0 defeat at Maine Road.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
9 Leeds United 42 17 10 15 39 47 −8 44
10 Tottenham Hotspur 42 14 15 13 70 68 +2 43 Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round[a]
11 Stoke City 42 12 18 12 51 60 −9 42
12 Manchester City 42 14 11 17 56 59 −3 39
13 Birmingham City 42 13 12 17 50 61 −11 38
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:
  1. ^ Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1980–81 FA Cup winners.

Results

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Stoke's score comes first

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

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Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 16 August 1980 Norwich City A 1–5 14,616 Heath 44'
2 20 August 1980 West Bromwich Albion H 0–0 14,085
3 23 August 1980 Ipswich Town H 2–2 10,722 Ursem 8', Chapman 80'
4 30 August 1980 Nottingham Forest A 0–5 21,739
5 6 September 1980 Leeds United H 3–0 12,739 Ursem 4', Magurie 14', Heath 30'
6 13 September 1980 Arsenal A 0–2 27,183
7 20 September 1980 Manchester City A 2–1 29,507 Ursem 53', Chapman 39'
8 27 September 1980 Middlesbrough H 1–0 11,847 Ursem 30'
9 4 October 1980 Tottenham Hotspur H 2–3 18,511 Hampton 50', O'Callaghan 78'
10 8 October 1980 Leicester City A 1–1 15,549 Chapman 8'
11 11 October 1980 Southampton A 2–1 19,473 Munro 50', Hampton 77'
12 18 October 1980 Brighton & Hove Albion H 0–0 13,079
13 22 October 1980 Manchester United H 1–2 24,549 O'Callaghan 80'
14 25 October 1980 Birmingham City A 1–1 16,535 Doyle 80'
15 1 November 1980 Liverpool H 2–2 22,864 Chapman 47', Randall 90'
16 8 November 1980 Sunderland A 0–0 21,483
17 15 November 1980 Norwich City H 3–1 11,207 Chapman (3) 7', 51', 58'
18 22 November 1980 Crystal Palace H 1–0 13,422 O'Callaghan 56'
19 25 November 1980 West Bromwich Albion A 0–0 15,922
20 29 November 1980 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0–1 18,786
21 6 December 1980 Everton H 2–2 15,650 Chapman 35', O'Callaghan 68'
22 13 December 1980 Manchester United A 2–2 39,568 Randall 8', Chapman 21'
23 20 December 1980 Leicester City H 1–0 13,433 Chapman 18'
24 26 December 1980 Aston Villa A 0–1 34,658
25 27 December 1980 Coventry City H 2–2 17,675 Doyle 52', Griffiths 69'
26 10 January 1981 Crystal Palace A 1–1 14,154 Doyle 89'
27 31 January 1981 Ipswich Town A 0–4 23,843
28 7 February 1981 Arsenal H 1–1 14,406 Ursem 12'
29 14 February 1981 Leeds United A 3–1 16,530 Chapman (3) 28', 49', 63'
30 18 February 1981 Nottingham Forest H 1–2 17,305 Heath 50'
31 21 February 1981 Middlesbrough A 1–3 15,142 Magurie 83'
32 11 March 1981 Tottenham Hotspur A 2–2 28,742 O'Callaghan 5', Heath 75'
33 14 March 1981 Southampton H 1–2 14,828 Heath 86'
34 18 March 1981 Manchester City H 2–1 15,802 Doyle 45', O'Callaghan 76'
35 21 March 1981 Brighton & Hove Albion A 1–1 13,583 Ursem 35'
36 28 March 1981 Birmingham City H 0–0 14,624
37 3 April 1981 Liverpool A 0–3 33,308
38 11 April 1981 Sunderland H 2–0 11,501 Chapman 64', Dodd 85'
39 18 April 1981 Coventry City A 2–2 12,766 Chapman 50', Magurie 71' (pen)
40 20 April 1981 Aston Villa H 1–1 23,511 O'Callaghan 25'
41 25 April 1981 Everton A 1–0 15,352 Heath 80'
42 2 May 1981 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 3–2 14,929 Bracewell (2) 25', 68', Ursem 82'

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 3 January 1980 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 2–2 24,737 Chapman 30', Bracewell 52'
R3 Replay 6 January 1980 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–2 22,892 Heath 34'

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 1st Leg 27 August 1980 Manchester City H 1–1 13,176 Chapman 2'
R2 2nd Leg 3 September 1980 Manchester City A 0–3 21,356

Friendlies

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Match Opponent Venue Result
1 Telford United A 3–1
2 Linfield A 4–1
3 Cardiff City A 1–3
4 Newport County A 1–1
5 Port Vale A 1–1
6 Derby County H 4–3
7 AEK Athens A 2–2
8 Rochdale A 4–0
9 Rotherham United A 0–0
10 Bideford A 6–0
11 Lewes A 5–0

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Peter Fox 42 0 2 0 2 0 46 0
DF   Alan Dodd 41 1 2 0 2 0 45 1
DF   Mike Doyle 38 4 2 0 0 0 40 4
DF   Ray Evans 32 0 2 0 2 0 36 0
DF   Peter Hampton 32(1) 2 2 0 2 0 36(1) 2
DF   Paul Anthony Johnson 11(2) 0 0 0 2 0 13(2) 0
DF   Paul Johnson 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DF   David McAughtrie 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DF   Dennis Thorley 8(3) 0 0 0 2 0 10(3) 0
MF   Paul Bracewell 36(4) 2 2 1 2 0 40(4) 3
MF   Jeff Cook 3(1) 0 1 0 1 0 5(1) 0
MF   Peter Griffiths 5(5) 1 0 0 0 0 5(5) 1
MF   Adrian Heath 38 6 2 1 1 0 41 7
MF   Iain Munro 32 1 2 0 0 0 34 1
MF   Paul Richardson 18 0 1(1) 0 2 0 21(1) 0
MF   Kevin Sheldon 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
MF   Loek Ursem 24(4) 7 0 0 1 0 25(4) 7
FW   Lee Chapman 41 15 2 1 2 1 45 17
FW   Paul Maguire 15 3 1 0 1 0 17 3
FW   Brendan O'Callaghan 37 7 1 0 0 0 38 7
FW   Paul Randall 6(4) 2 0 0 0(2) 0 6(6) 2

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.