1980–81 Birmingham City F.C. season

The 1980–81 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 78th in the Football League and their 46th in the First Division, to which they were promoted in 1979–80. They finished in 13th position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1980–81 FA Cup in the third round proper and lost to Coventry City in the fourth, and were eliminated in the quarter-final of the League Cup by Liverpool.

Birmingham City F.C.
1980–81 season
ChairmanKeith Coombs
ManagerJim Smith
GroundSt Andrew's
Football League First Division13th of 22
FA CupFourth round
(eliminated by Coventry City)
League CupFifth round
(eliminated by Liverpool)
Top goalscorerLeague: Frank Worthington (16)
All: Frank Worthington (18)
Highest home attendance33,879 vs Aston Villa, 11 October 1980
Lowest home attendance12,163 vs Bristol City, League Cup 2nd round, 26 August 1980
Average home league attendance19,248

Twenty-three players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were eleven different goalscorers. Defenders Joe Gallagher and Dave Langan and midfielder Archie Gemmill each played in every game but one over the season, and Frank Worthington was the club's top scorer with 18 goals, of which 16 were scored in the league.

Football League First Division

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Date League
position
Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance
16 August 1980 4th Coventry City H W 3–1 Curbishley 2, Dillon 21,877
20 August 1980 10th Nottingham Forest A L 1–2 Worthington 26,561
23 August 1980 7th Manchester United H D 0–0 28,661
30 August 1980 13th Southampton A L 1–3 Worthington 21,683
6 September 1980 15th Liverpool H D 1–1 Worthington 27,042
13 September 1980 14th Brighton & Hove Albion A D 2–2 Curbishley, Bertschin 15,767
20 September 1980 15th West Bromwich Albion H D 1–1 Givens 22,016
27 September 1980 14th Norwich City A D 2–2 Ainscow, Worthington 13,561
4 October 1980 15th Wolverhampton Wanderers A L 0–1 22,777
7 October 1980 13th Arsenal H W 3–1 Lynex, Worthington, Dillon 15,511
11 October 1980 15th Aston Villa H L 1–2 Worthington pen 33,879
18 October 1980 14th Manchester City A W 1–0 Gemmill pen 30,041
25 October 1980 14th Stoke City H D 1–1 Bertschin 16,535
1 November 1980 11th Middlesbrough A W 2–1 Worthington 2 13,292
8 November 1980 9th Crystal Palace H W 1–0 Bertschin 16,910
11 November 1980 9th Nottingham Forest H W 2–0 Worthington 2 22,433
15 November 1980 10th Coventry City A L 1–2 Curbishley 18,429
22 November 1980 10th Tottenham Hotspur H W 2–1 Curbishley, Ainscow 24,817
29 November 1980 9th Everton A D 1–1 Ainscow 22,274
6 December 1980 10th Leicester City H L 1–2 Scott og 18,479
13 December 1980 12th Aston Villa A L 0–3 41,101
20 December 1980 13th Ipswich Town H L 1–3 Ainscow 16,161
26 December 1980 13th Leeds United A D 0–0 19,214
27 December 1980 14th Sunderland H W 3–2 Gemmill, Bertschin, Worthington 19,005
10 January 1981 14th Tottenham Hotspur A L 0–1 24,909
13 January 1981 14th Ipswich Town A L 1–5 Worthington 21,148
17 January 1981 14th Southampton H L 0–3 16,491
31 January 1981 18th Manchester United A L 0–2 39,081
7 February 1981 17th Brighton & Hove Albion H W 2–1 Evans, Curbishley 13,691
14 February 1981 14th Liverpool A D 2–2 Evans, Ainscow 32,199
20 February 1981 10th Norwich City H W 4–0 Ainscow, Evans 2, Gemmill 14,686
28 February 1981 14th West Bromwich Albion A D 2–2 Worthington, Ainscow 24,848
17 March 1981 12th Wolverhampton Wanderers H W 1–0 Worthington 20,005
21 March 1981 10th Manchester City H W 2–0 Worthington, Evans 16,160
28 March 1981 10th Stoke City A D 0–0 14,624
31 March 1981 11th Arsenal A L 1–2 Worthington 17,431
4 April 1981 11th Middlesbrough H W 2–1 Evans, Broadhurst 12,472
11 April 1981 11th Crystal Palace A L 1–3 Ainscow 11,122
18 April 1981 11th Sunderland A L 0–3 20,158
21 April 1981 13th Leeds United H L 0–2 14,505
25 April 1981 13th Leicester City A L 0–1 13,686
2 May 1981 13th Everton H D 1–1 Evans 12,863

League table (part)

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Final First Division table (part)[1]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
11th Stoke City 42 12 18 12 51 60 −9 42
12th Manchester City 42 14 11 17 56 59 −3 39
13th Birmingham City 42 13 12 17 50 61 −11 38
14th Middlesbrough 42 16 5 21 53 61 −8 37
15th Everton 42 13 10 19 55 58 −3 36

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance
Third round 3 January 1981 Sunderland H D 1–1 Bertschin 23,098
Third round replay 7 January 1981 Sunderland A W 2–1 Bertschin, Evans 27,793
Fourth round 24 January 1981 Coventry City A L 2–3 Worthington pen, Ainscow 29,492

League Cup

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Round Date Opponents Venue Result Score
F–A
Scorers Attendance
Second round 1st leg 26 August 1980 Bristol City H W 2–1 Ainscow, Gemmill pen 12,163
Second round 2nd leg 2 September 1980 Bristol City A D 0–0 6,958
Third round 23 September 1980 Blackburn Rovers H W 1–0 Gallagher 14,580
Fourth round 28 October 1980 Ipswich Town H W 2–1 Worthington pen, Ainscow 18,968
Fifth round 2 December 1980 Liverpool A L 1–3 Bertschin 30,236

Appearances and goals

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Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.
Players marked † left the club during the playing season.
Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
Players' appearances and goals by competition
Pos. Nat. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   ENG Tony Coton 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 0
GK   ENG Jeff Wealands 39 0 2 0 5 0 46 0
DF   ENG Kevan Broadhurst 15 1 0 0 0 0 15 1
DF   ENG Mark Dennis 19 0 4 0 0 0 23 0
DF   ENG Joe Gallagher 41 0 3 0 5 1 49 1
DF   ENG Phil Hawker 11 0 0 0 1 0 12 0
DF   IRL Dave Langan 42 0 3 0 4 0 49 0
DF   ENG Terry Lees 2 0 3 0 0 0 5 0
DF   WAL Malcolm Page 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
DF   ENG Colin Todd 40 0 3 0 5 0 48 0
DF   WAL Pat Van Den Hauwe 3 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 3 (1) 0
MF   ENG Alan Ainscow 40 8 3 1 5 2 48 11
MF   ENG Alan Curbishley 29 6 3 0 4 0 36 6
MF   ENG Kevin Dillon 38 (1) 2 2 0 4 0 44 (1) 2
MF   SCO Archie Gemmill 41 3 3 0 5 1 49 4
MF   ENG Terry Goode 0 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 (2) 0
MF   ENG Ian Handysides 6 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 6 (2) 0
FW   ENG Keith Bertschin 28 (2) 4 3 2 4 1 34 (2) 7
FW   ENG Tony Evans 16 (1) 7 0 (1) 1 0 0 16 (2) 8
FW   IRL Don Givens 4 (6) 1 0 0 2 (1) 0 6 (7) 1
FW   ENG Paul Ivey 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 1 (1) 0
FW   ENG Steve Lynex 6 (8) 1 1 0 1 0 8 (8) 1
FW   ENG Frank Worthington 36 16 3 1 4 1 43 18

See also

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Sources

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  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: DB Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  • For match dates, league positions and results: "Birmingham City 1980–1981: Results". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  • For lineups, appearances, goalscorers and attendances: Matthews (2010), Complete Record, pp. 396–97.

References

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  1. ^ "Birmingham City 1980–1981 : English Division One (old) Table". Statto Organisation. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2012.