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.
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.

Season review

League

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

FA Cup

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.

League Cup

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

Final league table

Key: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Football League First Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
116 August 1980Norwich CityA1–514,616Heath 44'
220 August 1980West Bromwich AlbionH0–014,085
323 August 1980Ipswich TownH2–210,722Ursem 8', Chapman 80'
430 August 1980Nottingham ForestA0–521,739
56 September 1980Leeds UnitedH3–012,739Ursem 4', Magurie 14', Heath 30'
613 September 1980ArsenalA0–227,183
720 September 1980Manchester CityA2–129,507Ursem 53', Chapman 39'
827 September 1980MiddlesbroughH1–011,847Ursem 30'
94 October 1980Tottenham HotspurH2–318,511Hampton 50', O'Callaghan 78'
108 October 1980Leicester CityA1–115,549Chapman 8'
1111 October 1980SouthamptonA2–119,473Munro 50', Hampton 77'
1218 October 1980Brighton & Hove AlbionH0–013,079
1322 October 1980Manchester UnitedH1–224,549O'Callaghan 80'
1425 October 1980Birmingham CityA1–116,535Doyle 80'
151 November 1980LiverpoolH2–222,864Chapman 47', Randall 90'
168 November 1980SunderlandA0–021,483
1715 November 1980Norwich CityH3–111,207Chapman 7', 51', 58'
1822 November 1980Crystal PalaceH1–013,422O'Callaghan 56'
1925 November 1980West Bromwich AlbionA0–015,922
2029 November 1980Wolverhampton WanderersA0–118,786
216 December 1980EvertonH2–215,650Chapman 35', O'Callaghan 68'
2213 December 1980Manchester UnitedA2–239,568Randall 8', Chapman 21'
2320 December 1980Leicester CityH1–013,433Chapman 18'
2426 December 1980Aston VillaA0–134,658
2527 December 1980Coventry CityH2–217,675Doyle 52', Griffiths 69'
2610 January 1981Crystal PalaceA1–114,154Doyle 89'
2731 January 1981Ipswich TownA0–423,843
287 February 1981ArsenalH1–114,406Ursem 12'
2914 February 1981Leeds UnitedA3–116,530Chapman 28', 49', 63'
3018 February 1981Nottingham ForestH1–217,305Heath 50'
3121 February 1981MiddlesbroughA1–315,142Magurie 83'
3211 March 1981Tottenham HotspurA2–228,742O'Callaghan 5', Heath 75'
3314 March 1981SouthamptonH1–214,828Heath 86'
3418 March 1981Manchester CityH2–115,802Doyle 45', O'Callaghan 76'
3521 March 1981Brighton & Hove AlbionA1–113,583Ursem 35'
3628 March 1981Birmingham CityH0–014,624
373 April 1981LiverpoolA0–333,308
3811 April 1981SunderlandH2–011,501Chapman 64', Dodd 85'
3918 April 1981Coventry CityA2–212,766Chapman 50', Magurie 71'
4020 April 1981Aston VillaH1–123,511O'Callaghan 25'
4125 April 1981EvertonA1–015,352Heath 80'
422 May 1981Wolverhampton WanderersH3–214,929Bracewell 25', 68', Ursem 82'

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R33 January 1980Wolverhampton WanderersH2–224,737Chapman 30', Bracewell 52'
R3 Replay6 January 1980Wolverhampton WanderersA1–222,892Heath 34'

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R2 1st Leg27 August 1980Manchester CityH1–113,176Chapman 2'
R2 2nd Leg3 September 1980Manchester CityA0–321,356

Friendlies

Squad statistics