# 1979–80 Newport County A.F.C. season

The 1979–80 season was Newport County's 18th consecutive season in the Football League Fourth Division and their 52nd season overall in the Football League.
It was one of the most successful seasons in County's history. Finishing in third place in the Fourth Division the club attained promotion to the Football League Third Division for the 1980–81 season. After winning the Welsh Cup this season, County also earned a place in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup for the 1980–81 season.

## Season review
### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 46 | 27 | 7 | 12 | 56 | 59 | −3 | 61 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 47 | 22 | +25 | 11 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 37 | −28 |
Source: rsssf.com

### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | A |
| Result | W | W | L | W | L | L | W | W | D | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | W | D | W | D | L | L | W | L | D | D | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | L | W |
| Position | 8 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |

## Fixtures and results
### Fourth Division

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 18 Aug 1979 | Port Vale | H | 2–1 | Vaughan, Goddard | 4,008 |
| 21 Aug 1979 | Aldershot | A | 1–0 | Moore | 3,537 |
| 25 Aug 1979 | Bournemouth | A | 2–3 | Oakes, Goddard | 5,428 |
| 1 Sep 1979 | York City | H | 2–0 | Oakes, Goddard | 3,818 |
| 8 Sep 1979 | Huddersfield Town | A | 1–2 | Oakes | 3,134 |
| 15 Sep 1979 | Bradford City | H | 1–2 | Vaughan | 4,089 |
| 18 Sep 1979 | Northampton Town | H | 2–1 | Tynan, Goddard (P) | 3,185 |
| 22 Sep 1979 | Doncaster Rovers | A | 3–1 | Thompson, Tynan, Goddard (P) | 3,238 |
| 29 Sep 1979 | Lincoln City | H | 1–1 | OG | 4,035 |
| 2 Oct 1979 | Northampton Town | A | 2–3 | Bailey, Warriner | 2,346 |
| 6 Oct 1979 | Halifax Town | A | 1–2 | Goddard | 2,540 |
| 9 Oct 1979 | Aldershot | H | 4–2 | Oakes, OG, Aldridge 2 | 3,782 |
| 13 Oct 1979 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 2–0 | Aldridge, Lowndes | 4,052 |
| 20 Oct 1979 | Scunthorpe United | A | 3–1 | Aldridge 2, Lowndes | 1,875 |
| 23 Oct 1979 | Portsmouth | A | 2–0 | Lowndes, Oakes | 20,755 |
| 27 Oct 1979 | Wigan Athletic | H | 3–2 | Tynan 2, Oakes | 4,914 |
| 3 Nov 1979 | Port Vale | A | 0–2 | | 2,980 |
| 6 Nov 1979 | Portsmouth | H | 4–3 | Oakes, Aldridge, Tynan 2 | 7,115 |
| 10 Nov 1979 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 1–1 | D.Bruton | 4,718 |
| 17 Nov 1979 | Stockport County | A | 5–0 | Oakes, D.Bruton, Aldridge 3 | 3,407 |
| 1 Dec 1979 | Darlington | H | 4–0 | Lowndes 2, Oakes, Relish | 4,127 |
| 8 Dec 1979 | Hartlepool United | A | 0–0 | | 2,587 |
| 15 Dec 1979 | Scunthorpe United | H | 2–1 | Walden, D.Bruton | 4,158 |
| 21 Dec 1979 | Peterborough United | H | 1–1 | Tynan | 4,653 |
| 26 Dec 1979 | Torquay United | A | 0–2 | | 5,236 |
| 29 Dec 1979 | Walsall | H | 0–1 | | 7,452 |
| 1 Jan 1980 | Hereford United | H | 1–0 | Vaughan (P) | 7,213 |
| 12 Jan 1980 | York City | A | 1–2 | Aldridge | 2,248 |
| 18 Jan 1980 | Huddersfield Town | H | 2–2 | Oakes, M.Bruton | 4,851 |
| 26 Jan 1980 | Bournemouth | H | 0–0 | | 4,833 |
| 16 Feb 1980 | Lincoln City | A | 1–2 | Lowndes | 3,346 |
| 22 Feb 1980 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 2–0 | Vaughan 2 (1P) | 2,056 |
| 26 Feb 1980 | Doncaster Rovers | H | 2–1 | Gwyther, Lowndes | 4,652 |
| 8 Mar 1980 | Wigan Athletic | A | 1–0 | Oakes | 6,128 |
| 14 Mar 1980 | Halifax Town | H | 5–2 | Gwyther 2, Vaughan 2 (1P), Aldridge | 4,777 |
| 22 Mar 1980 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 3–0 | Vaughan (P), D.Bruton, Gwyther | 2,595 |
| 29 Mar 1980 | Stockport County | H | 3–1 | Gwyther, Moore, Vaughan (P) | 4,727 |
| 5 Apr 1980 | Torquay United | H | 3–0 | Moore, Gwyther, Vaughan | 6,513 |
| 7 Apr 1980 | Hereford United | A | 2–0 | Vaughan, Gwyther | 7,945 |
| 8 Apr 1980 | Peterborough United | A | 1–0 | Vaughan | 5,033 |
| 12 Apr 1980 | Rochdale | H | 1–0 | Moore | 8,113 |
| 19 Apr 1980 | Darlington | A | 1–1 | Moore | 1,906 |
| 22 Apr 1980 | Bradford City | A | 0–3 | | 8,853 |
| 26 Apr 1980 | Hartlepool United | H | 1–0 | Aldridge | 8,373 |
| 29 Apr 1980 | Rochdale | A | 0–2 | | 1,616 |
| 3 May 1980 | Walsall | A | 4–2 | Aldridge 2, Gwyther, Tynan | 9,251 |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 1 | 24 Nov 1979 | Portsmouth | Fratton Park | 0–1 | | 19,459 |

### Football League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance | Aggregate |
| 1–1 | 11 Aug 1979 | Plymouth Argyle | Somerton Park | 1–0 | T.Tynan | 4,574 | |
| 1–2 | 14 Aug 1979 | Plymouth Argyle | Home Park | 0–2 | | 4,505 | 1–2 |

### Welsh Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Scorers | Attendance |
| 4 | 22 Jan 1980 | Cardiff City | Somerton Park | 2–0 | J.Aldridge, T.Tynan | 7,709 |
| 5 | 4 Mar 1980 | Wrexham | Racecourse Ground | 1–0 | S.Lowndes | 4,468 |
| SF | 25 Mar 1980 | Merthyr Tydfil | Somerton Park | 3–1 | J.Aldridge, D.Gwyther 2 | 6,754 |
Final
First Leg
| Newport County | Shrewsbury Town |
NEWPORT COUNTY: :
| GK | 1 | Gary Plumley |
| DF | 2 | Richard Walden |
| FW | 3 | Tommy Tynan |
| MF | 4 | Grant Davies |
| DF | 5 | Keith Oakes (c) |
| MF | 6 | Neil Bailey |
| MF | 7 | Nigel Vaughan |
| MF | 8 | Steve Lowndes |
| FW | 9 | Dave Gwyther |
| FW | 10 | John Aldridge |
| FW | 11 | Kevin Moore |
| Substitute: ||||
| MF | 12 | Bobby Ward |
| Manager: ||||
| Len Ashurst ||||
SHREWSBURY TOWN: :
| GK | 1 | R Wardle |
| DF | 2 | Jack Keay |
| DF | 3 | C Leonard |
| DF | 4 | Graham Turner |
| DF | 5 | C Griffin |
| MF | 6 | Jake King |
| MF | 7 | David Tong |
| MF | 8 | Ian Atkins |
| FW | 9 | Steve Biggins |
| FW | 10 | John Dungworth |
| DF | 11 | Paul Maguire |
| Substitute: ||||
| DF | 12 | Steve Cross |
| Manager: ||||
| Graham Turner ||||
MATCH RULES
* 90 minutes.
* 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
* Replay if scores still level.
* One named substitute.
* Maximum of one substitution.
Second Leg
| Shrewsbury Town | Newport County |
SHREWSBURY TOWN: :
| GK | 1 | R Wardle |
| DF | 2 | Jake King |
| DF | 3 | C Leonard |
| DF | 4 | Brian Coyne |
| DF | 5 | C Griffin |
| MF | 6 | Jack Keay |
| MF | 7 | David Tong |
| MF | 8 | Ian Atkins |
| FW | 9 | Steve Biggins |
| FW | 10 | John Dungworth |
| DF | 11 | Paul Maguire |
| Substitute: ||||
| DF | 12 | Steve Cross |
| Manager: ||||
| Graham Turner ||||
NEWPORT COUNTY: :
| GK | 1 | Gary Plumley |
| DF | 2 | Richard Walden |
| FW | 3 | Tommy Tynan |
| MF | 4 | Grant Davies |
| DF | 5 | Keith Oakes (c) |
| MF | 6 | Neil Bailey |
| MF | 7 | Nigel Vaughan |
| MF | 8 | Steve Lowndes |
| FW | 9 | Dave Gwyther |
| FW | 10 | John Aldridge |
| FW | 11 | Kevin Moore |
| Substitutes: ||||
| MF | 12 | Bobby Ward |
| Manager: ||||
| Len Ashurst ||||
MATCH RULES
* 90 minutes.
* 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
* Replay if scores still level.
* One named substitute.
* Maximum of one substitution.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Notes |
| 1 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 27 | 12 | 7 | 101 | 48 | +53 | 66 | Champions, promoted |
| 2 | Walsall | 46 | 23 | 18 | 5 | 75 | 47 | +28 | 64 | Promoted |
| 3 | Newport County | 46 | 27 | 7 | 12 | 83 | 50 | +33 | 61 | Qualified for Cup Winners' Cup, promoted |
| 4 | Portsmouth | 46 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 91 | 49 | +42 | 60 | Promoted |
| 5 | Bradford City | 46 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 77 | 50 | +27 | 60 | |
| 6 | Wigan Athletic | 46 | 21 | 13 | 12 | 76 | 61 | +15 | 55 | |
| 7 | Lincoln City | 46 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 64 | 42 | +22 | 53 | |
| 8 | Peterborough United | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 58 | 47 | +11 | 52 | |
| 9 | Torquay United | 46 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 70 | 69 | +1 | 47 | |
| 10 | Aldershot | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 62 | 53 | +9 | 45 | |
| 11 | Bournemouth | 46 | 13 | 18 | 15 | 52 | 51 | +1 | 44 | |
| 12 | Doncaster Rovers | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 62 | 63 | −1 | 44 | |
| 13 | Northampton Town | 46 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 51 | 66 | −15 | 44 | |
| 14 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 58 | 75 | −17 | 43 | |
| 15 | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 14 | 13 | 19 | 50 | 56 | −6 | 41 | |
| 16 | Stockport County | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 48 | 72 | −24 | 40 | |
| 17 | York City | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 65 | 82 | −17 | 39 | |
| 18 | Halifax Town | 46 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 46 | 72 | −26 | 39 | |
| 19 | Hartlepool United | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 59 | 64 | −5 | 38 | |
| 20 | Port Vale | 46 | 12 | 12 | 22 | 56 | 70 | −14 | 36 | |
| 21 | Hereford United | 46 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 38 | 52 | −14 | 36 | |
| 22 | Darlington | 46 | 9 | 17 | 20 | 50 | 74 | −24 | 35 | |
| 23 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 11 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 68 | −33 | 35 | |
| 24 | Rochdale | 46 | 7 | 13 | 26 | 33 | 79 | −46 | 27 | |
* Division Champions
* Promoted
* Welsh Cup winners, qualified for Cup Winners' Cup, promoted
* Re-elected
* Failed re-election (none)
P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points