# 1981 African Cup of Champions Clubs

The African Cup of Champions Clubs 1981 was the 17th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CAF region (Africa), the African Cup of Champions Clubs. It determined that years club champion of association football in Africa.
The tournament was played by 31 teams and was used a playoff scheme with home and away matches. JE Tizi Ouzou from Algeria won that final, and became for the first time CAF club champion.

## First round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| AS Kaloum Star | 3–1 | Starlight Banjul | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| OC Agaza | w/o$^1$ | Benfica de Bissau | — | — |
| Al Ahly | 4–2 | Abaluhya FC | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Al Ahli Tripoli | 1–2 | JE Tizi Ouzou | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Asante Kotoko | 4–1 | Invincible Eleven | 3–0 | 1–1 |
| Dynamos FC | 6–1 | Linare FC | 5–0 | 1–1 |
| East End Lions | 1–2 | Silures Bobo-Dioulasso | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Horseed FC | w/o$^2$ | Simba SC | — | — |
| MMM Tamatave | 2–6 | Costa do Sol | 2–4 | 0–2 |
| USM Nziami | 1–1 (4–2 p) | Real Bamako | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Nchanga Rangers | 5–0 | Mbabane Highlanders | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Nile Breweries | 4–1 | TP USCA Bangui | 2–1 | w/o$^3$ |
| Primeiro de Agosto | 2–3 | AS Vita Club | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| SEIB Diourbel | 3–3 (3–4 p) | ASEC Mimosas | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Shooting Stars | 7–3 | Township Rollers | 7–1 | 0–2 |
$^1$ Benfica de Bissau withdrew. $^2$ Simba SC withdrew. $^3$ TP USCA Bangui failed to appear for the 2nd leg.

## Second round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Asante Kotoko | 2–4 | AS Kaloum Star | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Canon Yaoundé | 1–3 | ASEC Mimosas | 0–0 | 1–3 |
| Costa do Sol | 2–6 | Nchanga Rangers | 1–3 | 1–3 |
| Horseed FC | 1–4 | JE Tizi Ouzou | 1–2 | w/o$^1$ |
| USM Nziami | 2-1 | OC Agaza | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Nile Breweries | 2–5 | Al Ahly | 2–0 | 0–5 |
| Shooting Stars | 1–5 | Dynamos FC | 1–2 | 0–3 |
| Silures Bobo-Dioulasso | 3–4 | AS Vita Club | 0–1 | 3–3 |
$^1$ Horseed FC withdrew after the 1st leg.

## Quarter-finals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| AS Kaloum Star | 4–2 | ASEC Mimosas | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| JE Tizi Ouzou | 5–2 | Dynamos FC | 3–0 | 2–2 |
| USM Nziami | 1–4 | Al Ahly | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| AS Vita Club | 4–3 | Nchanga Rangers | 4–1 | 0–2 |

## Semi-finals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| JE Tizi Ouzou | w/o$^1$ | Al Ahly | — | — |
| AS Vita Club | 1–0 | AS Kaloum Star | 1–0 | 0–0 |
$^1$ Al Ahly were forced to withdraw due to the political and security situation in Egypt following the assassination of Anwar Sadat.

## Champion

* 1981 African Cup of Champions Clubs winners
* JE Tizi Ouzou First title

## Top scorers

The top scorers from the 1981 African Cup of Champions Clubs are as follows:
| Rank | Name | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Mahmoud El Khatib | Al Ahly | 6 |
| 2 | Ali Belahcène | JE Tizi Ouzou | 5 |
| 3 | Mohamed Abbas | Al Ahly | 4 |
| 4 | Lyès Bahbouh | JE Tizi Ouzou | 3 |
| 5 | Bobo | AS Vita Club | 2 |
| 5 | Mostafa Younis | Al Ahly | 2 |
| 5 | Lucien Kassi-Kouadio | ASEC Mimosas | 2 |

## Notification

JE Tizi Ouzou (Jeunesse Eléctronique de Tizi Ouzou) are now called JS Kabylie (Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie).