# 1980–81 Partick Thistle F.C. season

The 1980–81 season saw Partick Thistle compete in the Scottish Premier Division, the top tier of Scottish football, where they finished 6th on 30 points. They also competed in the Scottish Cup, where they were eliminated in the fourth round, and the Scottish League Cup, where they were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

## Season summary

After Bertie Auld left to manage Hibernian in November 1980, Peter Cormack was appointed as manager on 5 December 1980.
They finished 6th on 30 points.

## Competitions
### Scottish Premier Division
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 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 | |

#### Matches

| Win | Draw | Loss |
Scottish Premier Division results :
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 9 August 1980 | Heart of Midlothian | Home | 3–2 | Higgins, Gibson, Liddell (o.g.) | 4,000 |
| 16 August 1980 | Rangers | Away | 0–4 | — | 26,000 |
| 23 August 1980 | Kilmarnock | Home | 0–1 | — | 4,000 |
| 6 September 1980 | Celtic | Away | 1–4 | Gibson | 20,000 |
| 13 September 1980 | St Mirren | Home | 1–0 | Clark | 4,000 |
| 20 September 1980 | Aberdeen | Home | 0–1 | — | 6,000 |
| 27 September 1980 | Morton | Away | 2–1 | O'Hara, Watson | 5,000 |
| 4 October 1980 | Airdrieonians | Home | 2–1 | Higgins (2) | 5,000 |
| 11 October 1980 | Dundee United | Away | 0–0 | — | 4,706 |
| 18 October 1980 | Heart of Midlothian | Away | 1–0 | Jardine | 5,905 |
| 25 October 1980 | Rangers | Home | 1–1 | Park | 14,000 |
| 1 November 1980 | Kilmarnock | Away | 1–0 | O'Hara | 2,500 |
| 8 November 1980 | Morton | Home | 0–0 | — | 3,000 |
| 15 November 1980 | Aberdeen | Away | 1–2 | O'Hara | 10,000 |
| 22 November 1980 | Dundee United | Home | 2–3 | Clark, O'Hara | 4,000 |
| 29 November 1980 | Airdrieonians | Away | 0–0 | — | 3,500 |
| 6 December 1980 | Celtic | Home | 0–1 | — | 12,436 |
| 13 December 1980 | St Mirren | Away | 0–1 | — | 5,626 |
| 20 December 1980 | Aberdeen | Home | 1–1 | Watson (pen.) | 4,000 |
| 27 December 1980 | Morton | Away | 0–2 | — | 6,000 |
| 1 January 1981 | Rangers | Away | 1–1 | O'Hara | 17,000 |
| 3 January 1981 | Heart of Midlothian | Home | 1–0 | Watson (pen.) | 3,500 |
| 10 January 1981 | Airdrieonians | Home | 1–0 | Park | 3,000 |
| 31 January 1981 | St Mirren | Home | 0–0 | — | 4,000 |
| 21 February 1981 | Kilmarnock | Home | 1–1 | McDonald | 1,600 |
| 28 February 1981 | Heart of Midlothian | Away | 1–1 | Higgins | 3,491 |
| 7 March 1981 | Airdrieonians | Away | 0–2 | — | 3,000 |
| 14 March 1981 | Dundee United | Home | 0–2 | — | 3,500 |
| 18 March 1981 | Celtic | Away | 1–4 | Park | 15,000 |
| 28 March 1981 | Morton | Home | 3–1 | Watson, Higgins, Rooney (o.g.) | 2,000 |
| 1 April 1981 | Aberdeen | Away | 1–3 | Watson | 9,000 |
| 5 April 1981 | Celtic | Home | 0–1 | — | 17,196 |
| 11 April 1981 | St Mirren | Away | 2–3 | Higgins (2) | 4,445 |
| 18 April 1981 | Kilmarnock | Away | 1–0 | Clark | 1,250 |
| 25 April 1981 | Rangers | Home | 1–1 | Whittaker | 9,000 |
| 2 May 1981 | Dundee United | Away | 2–3 | O'Hara (2) | 4,124 |

### Scottish Cup

| Win | Draw | Loss |
Scottish Cup results :
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Third round | 24 January 1981 | Clyde | Home | 2–2 | Whittaker, Clark | 4,200 |
| Third round replay | 28 January 1981 | Clyde | Away | 4–2 | O'Hara (2), Clark (2) | 4,100 |
| Fourth round | 14 February 1981 | Dundee United | Away | 0–1 | — | 7,758 |

### Scottish League Cup

| Win | Draw | Loss |
Scottish League Cup results :
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| Second round, first leg | 27 August 1980 | Queen's Park | Home | 3–1 | Higgins (2), O'Hara | 2,000 |
| Second round, second leg | 30 August 1980 | Queen's Park | Away | 1–1 | Watson | 1,472 |
| Third round, first leg | 3 September 1980 | St Mirren | Home | 2–0 | Gibson (2) | 4,000 |
| Third round, second leg | 24 September 1980 | St Mirren | Away | 0–0 | — | 5,700 |
| Quarter-finals, first leg | 8 October 1980 | Celtic | Home | 0–1 | — | 18,000 |
| Quarter-finals, second leg | 20 October 1980 | Celtic | Away | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | O'Hara | 12,000 |