1980–81 Scottish Premier Division

The 1980–81 Scottish Premier Division title was won by Celtic, with 2 matches still to play on 22 April 1981, after defeating Dundee United 3–2 at Tannadice Park. They finished seven points ahead of closest challengers Aberdeen. Kilmarnock and Heart of Midlothian were relegated.

Scottish Premier Division

Season	1980–81
Champions	Celtic 3rd Premier Division title 32nd Scottish title
Relegated	Kilmarnock Heart of Midlothian
European Cup	Celtic
UEFA Cup	Aberdeen Dundee United
Cup Winners' Cup	Rangers
Matches played	180
Goals scored	481 (2.67 per match)
Top goalscorer	Frank McGarvey (23)
Biggest home win	Dundee United 7–0 Kilmarnock
Biggest away win	Kilmarnock 1–8 Rangers
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Celtic (C)	36	26	4	6	84	37	+47	56	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Aberdeen	36	19	11	6	61	26	+35	49	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Rangers	36	16	12	8	60	32	+28	44	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
4	St Mirren	36	18	8	10	56	47	+9	44
5	Dundee United	36	17	9	10	66	42	+24	43	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
6	Partick Thistle	36	10	10	16	32	48	−16	30
7	Airdrieonians	36	10	9	17	36	55	−19	29
8	Morton	36	10	8	18	36	58	−22	28
9	Kilmarnock (R)	36	5	9	22	23	65	−42	19	Relegation to the 1981–82 Scottish First Division
10	Heart of Midlothian (R)	36	6	6	24	27	71	−44	18

Source: Statto
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Matches 1–18

During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away	ABE	AIR	CEL	DNU	HEA	KIL	MOR	PAR	RAN	STM
Aberdeen		4–1	2–2	1–1	4–1	2–0	6–0	2–1	2–0	3–2
Airdrieonians	0–4		1–4	0–0	3–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	1–2
Celtic	0–2	1–1		2–0	3–2	4–1	2–1	4–1	1–2	1–2
Dundee United	1–3	1–0	0–3		1–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	2–4	2–0
Heart of Midlothian	0–1	0–2	0–2	0–3		2–0	0–1	0–1	0–0	1–1
Kilmarnock	1–1	1–1	0–3	0–1	0–1		3–3	0–1	1–8	1–6
Morton	1–0	3–1	2–3	0–2	2–2	2–0		1–2	2–2	1–4
Partick Thistle	0–1	2–1	0–1	2–3	3–2	0–1	0–0		1–1	1–0
Rangers	1–1	0–0	3–0	1–4	3–1	2–0	0–1	4–0		2–0
St Mirren	0–1	2–2	0–2	2–0	1–3	2–0	1–1	1–0	0–0

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–36

During matches 19–36 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away	ABE	AIR	CEL	DNU	HEA	KIL	MOR	PAR	RAN	STM
Aberdeen		3–0	4–1	1–1	1–0	0–2	0–1	3–1	0–0	1–2
Airdrieonians	0–0		1–2	0–5	1–2	3–0	3–2	2–0	1–1	0–2
Celtic	1–1	2–1		2–1	6–0	1–1	3–0	4–1	3–1	7–0
Dundee United	0–0	4–1	2–3		4–1	7–0	1–0	3–2	2–1	1–2
Heart of Midlothian	0–2	2–3	0–3	0–4		1–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–2
Kilmarnock	1–0	0–1	1–2	0–1	2–0		0–0	0–1	1–1	2–0
Morton	1–3	0–1	0–3	2–0	3–0	1–0		2–0	0–2	1–3
Partick Thistle	1–1	1–0	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–1	3–1		1–1	0–0
Rangers	1–0	2–0	0–1	2–1	4–0	2–0	4–0	1–1		1–0
St Mirren	1–1	2–1	3–1	3–3	2–1	1–1	2–0	3–2	2–1

Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

• 1980–81 Scottish Premier Division – Statto