# 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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 9 | Leeds United | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 44 | |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 70 | 68 | +2 | 43 | Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 11 | Stoke City | 42 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 51 | 60 | −9 | 42 | |
| 12 | Manchester City | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 56 | 59 | −3 | 39 | |
| 13 | Birmingham City | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 50 | 61 | −11 | 38 | |
* ↑ Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1980–81 FA Cup winners.

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 16 August 1980 | Norwich City | A | 1–5 | 14,616 | Heath 44' |
| 2 | 20 August 1980 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 0–0 | 14,085 | |
| 3 | 23 August 1980 | Ipswich Town | H | 2–2 | 10,722 | Ursem 8', Chapman 80' |
| 4 | 30 August 1980 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–5 | 21,739 | |
| 5 | 6 September 1980 | Leeds United | H | 3–0 | 12,739 | Ursem 4', Magurie 14', Heath 30' |
| 6 | 13 September 1980 | Arsenal | A | 0–2 | 27,183 | |
| 7 | 20 September 1980 | Manchester City | A | 2–1 | 29,507 | Ursem 53', Chapman 39' |
| 8 | 27 September 1980 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–0 | 11,847 | Ursem 30' |
| 9 | 4 October 1980 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–3 | 18,511 | Hampton 50', O'Callaghan 78' |
| 10 | 8 October 1980 | Leicester City | A | 1–1 | 15,549 | Chapman 8' |
| 11 | 11 October 1980 | Southampton | A | 2–1 | 19,473 | Munro 50', Hampton 77' |
| 12 | 18 October 1980 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 0–0 | 13,079 | |
| 13 | 22 October 1980 | Manchester United | H | 1–2 | 24,549 | O'Callaghan 80' |
| 14 | 25 October 1980 | Birmingham City | A | 1–1 | 16,535 | Doyle 80' |
| 15 | 1 November 1980 | Liverpool | H | 2–2 | 22,864 | Chapman 47', Randall 90' |
| 16 | 8 November 1980 | Sunderland | A | 0–0 | 21,483 | |
| 17 | 15 November 1980 | Norwich City | H | 3–1 | 11,207 | Chapman (3) 7', 51', 58' |
| 18 | 22 November 1980 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–0 | 13,422 | O'Callaghan 56' |
| 19 | 25 November 1980 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 0–0 | 15,922 | |
| 20 | 29 November 1980 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–1 | 18,786 | |
| 21 | 6 December 1980 | Everton | H | 2–2 | 15,650 | Chapman 35', O'Callaghan 68' |
| 22 | 13 December 1980 | Manchester United | A | 2–2 | 39,568 | Randall 8', Chapman 21' |
| 23 | 20 December 1980 | Leicester City | H | 1–0 | 13,433 | Chapman 18' |
| 24 | 26 December 1980 | Aston Villa | A | 0–1 | 34,658 | |
| 25 | 27 December 1980 | Coventry City | H | 2–2 | 17,675 | Doyle 52', Griffiths 69' |
| 26 | 10 January 1981 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–1 | 14,154 | Doyle 89' |
| 27 | 31 January 1981 | Ipswich Town | A | 0–4 | 23,843 | |
| 28 | 7 February 1981 | Arsenal | H | 1–1 | 14,406 | Ursem 12' |
| 29 | 14 February 1981 | Leeds United | A | 3–1 | 16,530 | Chapman (3) 28', 49', 63' |
| 30 | 18 February 1981 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–2 | 17,305 | Heath 50' |
| 31 | 21 February 1981 | Middlesbrough | A | 1–3 | 15,142 | Magurie 83' |
| 32 | 11 March 1981 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2–2 | 28,742 | O'Callaghan 5', Heath 75' |
| 33 | 14 March 1981 | Southampton | H | 1–2 | 14,828 | Heath 86' |
| 34 | 18 March 1981 | Manchester City | H | 2–1 | 15,802 | Doyle 45', O'Callaghan 76' |
| 35 | 21 March 1981 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 1–1 | 13,583 | Ursem 35' |
| 36 | 28 March 1981 | Birmingham City | H | 0–0 | 14,624 | |
| 37 | 3 April 1981 | Liverpool | A | 0–3 | 33,308 | |
| 38 | 11 April 1981 | Sunderland | H | 2–0 | 11,501 | Chapman 64', Dodd 85' |
| 39 | 18 April 1981 | Coventry City | A | 2–2 | 12,766 | Chapman 50', Magurie 71' (pen) |
| 40 | 20 April 1981 | Aston Villa | H | 1–1 | 23,511 | O'Callaghan 25' |
| 41 | 25 April 1981 | Everton | A | 1–0 | 15,352 | Heath 80' |
| 42 | 2 May 1981 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 3–2 | 14,929 | Bracewell (2) 25', 68', Ursem 82' |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 3 January 1980 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–2 | 24,737 | Chapman 30', Bracewell 52' |
| R3 Replay | 6 January 1980 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–2 | 22,892 | Heath 34' |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R2 1st Leg | 27 August 1980 | Manchester City | H | 1–1 | 13,176 | Chapman 2' |
| R2 2nd Leg | 3 September 1980 | Manchester City | A | 0–3 | 21,356 | |

### Friendlies

| Match | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| 1 | Telford United | A | 3–1 |
| 2 | Linfield | A | 4–1 |
| 3 | Cardiff City | A | 1–3 |
| 4 | Newport County | A | 1–1 |
| 5 | Port Vale | A | 1–1 |
| 6 | Derby County | H | 4–3 |
| 7 | AEK Athens | A | 2–2 |
| 8 | Rochdale | A | 4–0 |
| 9 | Rotherham United | A | 0–0 |
| 10 | Bideford | A | 6–0 |
| 11 | Lewes | A | 5–0 |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Peter Fox | 42 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 0 |
| DF | Alan Dodd | 41 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 1 |
| DF | Mike Doyle | 38 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 4 |
| DF | Ray Evans | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| DF | Peter Hampton | 32(1) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36(1) | 2 |
| DF | Paul Anthony Johnson | 11(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13(2) | 0 |
| DF | Paul Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | David McAughtrie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Dennis Thorley | 8(3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10(3) | 0 |
| MF | Paul Bracewell | 36(4) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 40(4) | 3 |
| MF | Jeff Cook | 3(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5(1) | 0 |
| MF | Peter Griffiths | 5(5) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5(5) | 1 |
| MF | Adrian Heath | 38 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 7 |
| MF | Iain Munro | 32 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1 |
| MF | Paul Richardson | 18 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21(1) | 0 |
| MF | Kevin Sheldon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Loek Ursem | 24(4) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25(4) | 7 |
| FW | Lee Chapman | 41 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 45 | 17 |
| FW | Paul Maguire | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 3 |
| FW | Brendan O'Callaghan | 37 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 7 |
| FW | Paul Randall | 6(4) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0(2) | 0 | 6(6) | 2 |