# 1980–81 League of Ireland

Statistics of League of Ireland in the 1980–81 season.

## Overview

It was contested by 16 teams, and Athlone Town won the championship.

## Final classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Athlone Town A.F.C. (C) | 30 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 67 | 22 | +45 | 51 | Qualification to European Cup first round |
| 2 | Dundalk F.C. | 30 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 63 | 28 | +35 | 45 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Limerick United | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 47 | 25 | +22 | 41 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Bohemian F.C. | 30 | 10 | 16 | 4 | 38 | 25 | +13 | 36 | |
| 5 | Shamrock Rovers F.C. | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 37 | 29 | +8 | 36 | |
| 6 | Finn Harps F.C. | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 30 | |
| 7 | Waterford | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 32 | 35 | −3 | 30 | |
| 8 | St Patrick's Athletic F.C. | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 45 | 48 | −3 | 28 | |
| 9 | Cork United | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 37 | 42 | −5 | 28 | |
| 10 | Drogheda United F.C. | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 47 | 55 | −8 | 27 | |
| 11 | Sligo Rovers F.C. | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 45 | 57 | −12 | 26 | |
| 12 | University College Dublin A.F.C. | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 37 | 49 | −12 | 25 | |
| 13 | Galway Rovers | 30 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 26 | 39 | −13 | 21 | |
| 14 | Home Farm F.C. | 30 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 34 | 55 | −21 | 20 | |
| 15 | Shelbourne F.C. | 30 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 31 | 52 | −21 | 18 | |
| 16 | Thurles Town F.C. | 30 | 7 | 4 | 19 | 38 | 65 | −27 | 18 | |
* ↑ Galway Rovers changed their club name to Galway United for next season.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ATH | BOH | CUF | DRO | DUN | FHA | GAL | HOM | LIM | SHM | SHE | SLI | StP | THU | UCD | WAT |
| Athlone Town | — | 1–1 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 |
| Bohemians | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Cork United | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Drogheda United | 2–3 | 2–2 | 4–1 | — | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–5 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–3 |
| Dundalk | 0–3 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 5–2 | — | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 6–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| Finn Harps | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 3–2 | 6–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Galway Rovers | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Home Farm | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 2–3 | — | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–4 |
| Limerick United | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 |
| Shamrock Rovers | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Shelbourne | 1–4 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–5 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | — | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Sligo Rovers | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | — | 1–3 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 0–1 | 3–3 | 2–6 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 2–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Thurles Town | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–5 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–5 | 5–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| UCD | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–3 | — | 0–1 |
| Waterford | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Eugene Davis | Athlone Town | 23 |
| 2 | Brendan Bradley | Sligo Rovers | 18 |
| 3 | Mick Fairclough | Dundalk | 16 |
| 3 | Michael O'Connor | Athlone Town | 16 |
| 5 | Gary Hulmes | Limerick United | 13 |
| 6 | Derek Carthy | St Patrick's Athletic | 12 |
| 6 | Paul Nugent | Shelbourne (5) Drogheda United (7) | 12 |
| 8 | Liam Buckley | Shamrock Rovers | 11 |
| 8 | Leo Flanagan | Dundalk | 11 |
| 8 | Jim Mahon | St Patrick's Athletic | 11 |