1979–80 Football League

81st season of the Football League The Football League 1979–80 Liverpool 1978–79 1980–81 The 1979–80 season was the 81st completed season of The Football League. Bob Paisley's Liverpool retained their league championship trophy after fighting off a determined challenge by Dave Sexton's Manchester United. Nottingham Forest failed to make a sustained title challenge but compensated for this by retaining the European Cup. Bristol City and Bolton Wanderers were relegated after brief, uneventful spells in the First Division notable only because Bristol City’s relegation ends the last time South West England had a team in the top tier until Swindon Town's promotion to the Premier League in 1993. On the other hand, Derby County's relegation came just five years after they had been league champions. Kevin Keegan ended his three-year spell with Hamburger SV in Germany and returned to England in a shock £400,000 move to Southampton. Lawrie McMenemy's new signing was the transfer surprise of the season. Keegan was the current European Footballer of the Year and rated as one of the best strikers in the world, while Southampton were still struggling to establish themselves as a First Division side. But this move showed that Southampton had ambition and were determined to compete with the best. Leicester City, Sunderland and Birmingham City ended their relatively short spells in the Second Division and occupied the division's three promotion places. Going down were Fulham, Burnley and Charlton Athletic. Grimsby Town, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday all achieved some long-awaited success by gaining promotion from the Third Division. Bury, Southend United, Mansfield Town and Wimbledon occupied the Third Division's relegation places. Fallen giants Huddersfield Town and Portsmouth finally achieved some success by gaining promotion from the Fourth Division. Newport County achieved their first promotion since 1939 and Walsall were also promoted. Re-election results are given at the end of this article. Final league tables and results The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation websitehttps://www.rsssf.org/engpaul/FLA/1979-80.html England 1979–80 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation 2010-02-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20100127100736/http://www.rsssf.com/engpaul/FLA/1979-80.html 27 January 2010 live with home and away statistics separated. First Division First Division 1979–80 Liverpool12th English title Bristol CityDerby CountyBolton Wanderers European Cup LiverpoolNottingham Forest (as defending champions) UEFA Cup Manchester UnitedIpswich TownWolverhampton Wanderers Phil Boyer(23 goals)https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engtops.html English League Leading Goalscorers RSSSF 2010-10-31 Ipswich Town 6–0 Manchester United(1 March 1980) Brighton & Hove Albion 0–4 Arsenal(18 August 1979)West Bromwich Albion 1–5 Nottingham Forest(1 September 1979)Everton 0–4 Ipswich Town(9 February 1980)Norwich City 0–4 Wolverhampton Wanderers(23 February 1980) Norwich City 3–5 Liverpool(9 February 1980) 462 1159 1978–79 1980–81 Liverpool won the First Division title for the fourth time in five seasons, finishing two points above Manchester United, who had their best league campaign for more than a decade. Ipswich Town, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest completed the top five, with Forest also retaining the European Cup, while Arsenal were on the losing side in the finals of both the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup. Wolves, who finished sixth, won the League Cup. Bolton Wanderers, Derby County and Bristol City were relegated to the Second Division. main WDL First Division World Football LIV, MUN, IPS, ARS, NFO, WOL, AVL, SOU, MID, WBA, LEE, NOR, CRY, TOT, COV, BHA, MCI, STK, EVE, BRC, DER, BOL EC1R UC1R UC1R EC1RC UC1RLC REL REL REL complete 18 16 8 52 36 16 14 12 51 50 5 15 22 38 73 11 15 16 47 57 9 13 20 37 66 16 7 19 56 66 12 16 14 41 50 11 8 23 47 67 9 17 16 43 51 22 9 11 68 39 13 14 15 46 50 25 10 7 81 30 12 13 17 43 66 24 10 8 65 35 16 12 14 50 44 13 14 15 58 66 20 8 14 63 43 18 9 15 65 53 13 10 19 44 58 15 10 17 52 62 11 19 12 54 50 19 9 14 58 47 C R R R Arsenal Aston Villa Bolton Wanderers Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Ipswich Town Leeds United Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Norwich City Nottingham Forest Southampton Stoke City Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers 5 2 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored QR green1 Qualification for the European Cup first round blue1 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round green1 Qualification for the European Cup first round Nottingham Forest qualified for the European Cup first round as the 1979–80 European Cup winners. blue1 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round Wolverhampton Wanderers qualified for the UEFA Cup as the 1979–80 Football League Cup winners. red1 Relegation to the Second Division Results main FBR grey ARS AST BOL BHA BRI COV CRY DER EVE IPS LEE LIV MCI MUN MID NWC NOT SOU STK TOT WBA WOL Arsenal 3–1 2–0 3–0 0–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–2 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 2–3 Aston Villa 0–0 3–1 2–1 0–2 3–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–3 2–2 0–3 0–2 2–0 3–2 3–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–3 Bolton Wanderers 0–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–3 2–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–0 0–0 Brighton & Hove Albion 0–4 1–1 3–1 0–1 1–1 3–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 1–4 4–1 0–0 2–1 2–4 1–0 0–0 0–0 0–2 0–0 3–0 Bristol City 0–1 1–3 2–1 2–2 1–0 0–2 0–2 2–1 0–3 2–2 1–3 1–0 1–1 3–1 2–3 1–1 0–1 0–0 1–3 0–0 2–0 Coventry City 0–1 1–2 3–1 2–1 3–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 4–1 3–0 1–0 0–0 1–2 2–0 2–0 0–3 3–0 1–3 1–1 0–2 1–3 Crystal Palace 1–0 2–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 4–0 1–1 4–1 1–0 0–0 2–0 0–2 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 2–2 1–0 Derby County 3–2 1–3 4–0 3–0 3–3 1–2 1–2 0–1 0–1 2–0 1–3 3–1 1–3 1–0 0–0 4–1 2–2 2–2 2–1 2–1 0–1 Everton 0–1 1–1 3–1 2–0 0–0 1–1 3–1 1–1 0–4 5–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 0–2 2–4 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 2–3 Ipswich Town 1–2 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 3–0 3–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 4–0 6–0 1–0 4–2 0–1 3–1 3–1 3–1 4–0 1–0 Leeds United 1–1 0–0 2–2 1–1 1–3 0–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 1–1 1–2 2–0 2–0 2–2 1–2 2–0 3–0 1–2 1–0 3–0 Liverpool 1–1 4–1 0–0 1–0 4–0 4–0 3–0 3–0 2–2 1–1 3–0 2–0 2–0 4–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 3–1 3–0 Manchester City 0–3 1–1 2–2 3–2 3–1 3–0 0–0 3–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 0–4 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 2–3 Manchester United 3–0 2–1 2–0 2–0 4–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 5–0 3–0 1–0 4–0 4–1 2–0 0–1 Middlesbrough 5–0 0–0 3–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 3–0 2–1 1–1 3–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 0–1 1–3 0–0 2–1 1–0 Norwich City 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–2 2–0 1–0 2–1 4–2 0–0 3–3 2–1 3–5 2–2 0–2 0–0 3–1 2–1 2–2 4–0 1–1 0–4 Nottingham Forest 1–1 2–1 5–2 0–1 0–0 4–1 4–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 4–0 2–0 2–2 2–0 2–0 1–0 4–0 3–1 3–2 Southampton 0–1 2–0 2–0 5–1 5–2 2–3 4–1 4–0 1–0 0–1 1–2 3–2 4–1 1–1 4–1 2–0 4–1 3–1 5–2 1–1 0–3 Stoke City 2–3 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 3–2 1–2 3–2 2–3 0–1 0–2 0–2 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–2 3–1 3–2 0–1 Tottenham Hotspur 1–2 1–2 2–0 2–1 0–0 4–3 0–0 1–0 3–0 0–2 2–1 2–0 2–1 1–2 1–3 3–2 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 2–2 West Bromwich Albion 2–2 1–2 4–4 2–2 3–0 4–1 3–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–2 4–0 2–0 0–0 2–1 1–5 4–0 0–1 2–1 0–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–2 1–1 3–1 1–3 3–0 0–3 1–1 0–0 0–0 3–0 3–1 1–0 1–2 3–1 0–2 1–0 3–1 0–0 3–0 1–2 0–0 Soccerbase Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Derby County SCO Tommy Docherty Resigned 20 May 1979 Pre-season ENG Colin Addison 6 July 1979 Manchester City ENG Tony Book Became general manager 31 May 1979 ENG Malcolm Allison 31 May 1979 Bolton Wanderers ENG Ian Greaves Sacked 28 January 1980 22nd ENG Stan Anderson 28 January 1980 Maps Greater London right 369 Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1979–1980 Greater London 51.558 -0.103 right Greater London 51.398 -0.085 right Greater London 51.603 -0.066 right Arsenal Crystal Palace Tottenham England none 400 Locations of the Football League First Division 1979–1980 teams England 51.56 -0.10 right England 52.54 -1.87 right England 53.59 -2.56 right England 50.83 -0.15 right England 51.42 -2.59 right England 52.41 -1.51 right England 51.40 -0.085 right England 52.92 -1.476 right England 53.47 -2.97 right England 52.06 1.14 right England 53.78 -1.57 right England 53.53 -2.99 right England 53.47 -2.18 right England 53.47 -2.30 right England 54.57 -1.23 right England 52.63 1.30 right England 53.01 -1.137 right England 50.91 -1.39 right England 53.00 -2.18 right England 51.63 -0.063 right England 52.52 -1.97 right England 52.59 -2.13 right Arsenal Aston Villa Bolton Brighton & Hove Bristol City Coventry Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Ipswich Town Leeds United Liverpool Middlesbrough Manchester City Manchester United Norwich City Nottingham Forest Southampton Stoke Tottenham West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers Second Division Second Division 1979–80 Leicester City Leicester CitySunderlandBirmingham City FulhamBurnleyCharlton Athletic Cup Winners' Cup West Ham United Clive Allen(28 goals) Queens Park Rangers 7–0 Burnley(27 October 1979) Orient 0–4 West Ham United(1 January 1980)Charlton Athletic 0–4 Sunderland(15 March 1980) Orient 3–7 Chelsea(10 November 1979) 462 1162 1978–79 1980–81 Leicester City won the Second Division title for a record sixth time to reclaim their First Division status after a two-year exile. Birmingham City achieved an instant return to the elite in third place, while the final promotion place went to Sunderland. Chelsea missed out on promotion on goal difference, while QPR weren't far behind. West Ham United's failure to win promotion at the second attempt was compensated for by victory in the FA Cup. Charlton Athletic, Burnley and Fulham went down to the Third Division. main WDL Second Division LEI, SUN, BIR, CHE, QPR, LUT, WHU, CAM, NEW, PNE, OLD, SWA, SHR, ORI, CAR, WRE, NTC, WAT, BRV, FUL, BUR, CHA PRO PRO PRO CWC1R REL REL REL complete 21 11 10 58 38 11 13 18 50 64 6 15 21 39 73 14 16 12 61 53 16 8 18 41 48 6 10 26 39 78 23 7 12 66 52 11 7 24 42 74 21 13 8 58 38 16 17 9 66 45 15 14 13 53 49 11 15 16 51 52 16 11 15 49 53 12 17 13 48 54 12 19 11 56 52 18 13 11 75 53 18 5 19 60 53 21 12 9 69 42 17 9 16 48 53 12 13 17 39 46 20 7 15 54 43 16 6 20 40 49 C, P P P R R R Birmingham City Bristol Rovers Burnley Cambridge United Cardiff City Charlton Athletic Chelsea Fulham Leicester City Luton Town Newcastle United Notts County Oldham Athletic Orient Preston North End Queens Park Rangers Shrewsbury Town Sunderland Swansea City Watford West Ham United Wrexham 5 2 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored QR green1 Promotion to the First Division yellow1 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round West Ham United qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1979–80 FA Cup winners. red1 Relegation to the Third Division Results main FBR grey BIR BRR BUR CAM CAR CHA CHE FUL LEI LUT NEW NTC OLD ORI PNE QPR SHR SUN SWA WAT WHU WRE Birmingham 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–1 1–0 5–1 3–4 1–2 1–0 0–0 3–3 2–0 3–1 0–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 Bristol Rovers 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 3–0 1–0 1–1 3–2 1–1 2–3 2–0 1–2 3–3 1–3 2–1 4–1 2–2 1–1 0–2 1–0 Burnley 0–0 1–1 5–3 0–2 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–2 0–0 3–2 0–1 1–1 1–2 1–1 0–3 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 Cambridge United 2–1 4–1 3–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 4–0 1–1 1–2 0–0 2–3 3–3 1–1 3–2 2–1 2–0 0–1 3–3 2–2 2–0 2–0 Cardiff City 1–2 0–1 2–1 0–0 3–1 1–2 1–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 3–2 1–0 0–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 Charlton Athletic 0–1 4–0 3–3 1–1 3–2 1–2 0–1 2–0 1–4 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–1 0–3 2–2 2–1 0–4 1–2 0–0 1–0 1–2 Chelsea 1–2 1–0 2-1 1–1 1–0 3–1 0–2 1–0 1–1 4–0 1–0 3–0 1–0 2–0 0–2 2–4 3–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 3–1 Fulham 3–4 1–1 3–1 1–2 2–1 1–0 1–2 0–0 1–3 1–0 1–3 0–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 2–1 1–2 0–1 0–0 1–2 0–2 Leicester City 2–1 3–0 1–1 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–0 3–3 1–3 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–2 1–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–2 2–0 Luton Town 2–3 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 3–0 3–3 4–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 5–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 Newcastle United 0–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 2–0 3–2 2–2 2–2 3–2 2–0 0–0 4–2 1–0 3–1 1-3 0–2 1–1 2–0 Notts County 1–1 0–0 2–3 0–0 4–1 0–0 2–3 1–1 0–1 0–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 5–2 0–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 2–0 Oldham Athletic 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–3 4–3 1–0 0–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 3–2 0–0 0–2 4–1 3–0 1–1 0–0 2–3 Orient 2–2 2–1 2–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–7 1–0 0–1 2–2 1–4 1–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 0–1 0–0 2–1 1–0 0–4 4–0 Preston North End 0–0 3–2 3–2 2–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 2–2 0–3 3–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 0–0 Queens Park Rangers 1–1 2–0 7–0 2–2 3–0 4–0 2–2 3–0 1–4 2–2 2–1 1–3 4–3 0–0 1–1 2–1 3–2 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–2 Shrewsbury Town 1–0 3–1 2–0 1–2 1–2 3–1 3–0 5–2 2–2 1–2 3–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–3 3–0 2–2 1–2 1–0 3–0 3–1 Sunderland 2–0 3–2 5–0 2–0 2–1 4–0 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–0 1–0 3–1 4–2 1–1 1–1 3–0 2–1 1–1 5–0 2–0 1–1 Swansea City 0–1 2–0 2–1 2–4 2–1 1–0 1–1 4–1 0–2 2–0 2–3 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–2 2–0 3–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 Watford 1–0 0–0 4–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–3 4–0 1–3 0–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 0–3 0–0 1–2 0–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 3–1 West Ham United 1–2 2–1 2–1 3–1 3–0 4–1 0–1 2–3 3–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–3 2–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 Wrexham 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 0–1 3–2 2–0 1–1 0–1 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–3 0–1 0–1 1–0 3–0 1–0 Soccerbase Maps Greater London right 369 Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1979–1980 Greater London 51.486 0.036 right Greater London 51.482 -0.191 right Greater London 51.475 -0.222 right Greater London 51.570 -0.058 right Greater London 51.509 -0.232 right Greater London 51.650 -0.401 right Greater London 51.532 0.039 right Charlton Athletic Chelsea Fulham Orient Queens Park Rangers Watford West Ham England none 400 Locations of the Football League Second Division 1979–1980 teams England 52.48 -1.89 right England 51.47 -2.53 right England 53.79 -2.25 right England 52.21 0.12 right England 51.47 -3.20 right England 51.47 0.07 right England 51.50 -0.19 right England 51.45 -0.24 right England 52.62 -1.14 right England 51.57 -0.01 right England 51.9 -0.433 right England 54.98 -1.62 right England 52.94 -1.137 right England 53.54 -2.12 right England 53.75 -2.7 right England 51.54 -0.26 right England 52.71 -2.75 right England 54.91 -1.39 right England 51.62 -3.95 right England 51.65 -0.40 right England 51.54 0.040 right England 53.03 -2.98 right Birmingham Bristol Rovers Burnley Cambridge Utd Cardiff City Charlton Chelsea Fulham Leicester City Orient Luton Town Newcastle Notts County Oldham Preston North End QPR Shrewsbury Sunderland Swansea City Watford West Ham Wrexham Third Division Football LeagueThird Division 1979–80 Grimsby Town (1st title) Promoted Blackburn RoversSheffield Wednesday Relegated BuryMansfield TownSouthend UnitedWimbledon Terry Curran (Sheffield Wednesday), 22 552 1422 1978–79 1980–81 main WDL Third Division 2 PR 5 GRI Grimsby Town BLB Blackburn Rovers SHW Sheffield Wednesday CHF Chesterfield COL Colchester United CRL Carlisle United REA Reading EXE Exeter City CHE Chester SWI Swindon Town BAR Barnsley SHU Sheffield United ROT Rotherham United MIL Millwall PLY Plymouth Argyle GIL Gillingham OXF Oxford United BLP Blackpool BRE Brentford HUL Hull City BRY Bury STD Southend United MAN Mansfield Town WDN Wimbledon 26 10 10 73 42 25 9 12 58 36 21 16 9 81 47 23 11 12 71 46 20 12 14 64 56 18 12 16 66 56 16 16 14 66 65 19 10 17 60 68 17 13 16 49 57 19 8 19 71 63 16 14 16 53 56 18 10 18 60 66 18 10 18 58 66 16 13 17 65 59 16 12 18 59 55 14 14 18 49 51 14 13 19 57 62 15 11 20 62 74 15 11 20 59 73 12 16 18 51 69 16 7 23 45 59 14 10 22 47 58 10 16 20 47 58 10 14 22 52 81 CP P P R R R R green1 Promotion to the Second Division P P P red1 Relegation to the Fourth Division R R R R complete rsssf.com Results main FBR grey BAR BLB BLP BRE BRY CRL CHE CHF COL EXE GIL GRI HUL MAN MIL OXF PLY REA ROT SHU SHW STD SWI WDN Barnsley 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 2–2 2–0 0–1 3–1 1–0 2–1 2–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 0–0 0–3 1–2 1–2 4–0 Blackburn Rovers 0–1 2–0 3–0 1–2 1–2 2–0 1–0 3–0 1–1 3–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 4–2 0–3 1–0 1–2 1–1 2–0 3–0 Blackpool 1–1 2–1 5–4 1–2 2–1 0–0 2–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 0–3 2–2 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–3 5–2 3–2 2–3 1–1 1–0 0–1 3–0 Brentford 3–1 2–0 2–1 0–0 0–3 2–2 3–1 1–0 0–2 0–2 1–0 7–2 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–2 0–1 1–2 2–2 1–4 1–3 0–1 Bury 2–2 1–2 3–0 4–2 0–2 2–0 2–0 0–1 3–0 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–2 3–0 1–2 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–2 Carlisle United 3–1 1–1 2–0 3–1 1–0 2–2 0–2 2–0 4–1 1–2 0–2 3–2 1–1 4–0 2–2 2–1 3–3 3–1 1–0 0–2 4–0 2–1 1–1 Chester 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–3 0–2 3–1 2–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–2 3–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 1–0 3–1 Chesterfield 2–0 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–0 3–2 2–0 3–0 3–0 0–0 2–3 1–1 2–0 3–2 2–2 3–1 7–1 3–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 0–0 Colchester United 0–0 0–1 3–1 6–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 2–2 2–1 1–1 2–1 0–0 3–0 5–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–3 4–0 Exeter City 2–1 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–2 3–1 3–1 1–2 2–2 2–1 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 3–1 1–0 4–2 4–1 0–2 Gillingham 1–1 1–2 1–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–2 0–1 2–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–1 4–0 0–1 1–1 0–1 3–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 Grimsby Town 3–0 1–2 4–3 5–1 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–2 4–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–0 4–0 3–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 Hull City 0–2 0–1 3–1 2–1 0–1 2–0 1–0 2–1 0–2 2–2 0–0 2–2 3–1 1–0 2–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 Mansfield Town 1–4 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 3–2 0–1 0–1 2–0 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 2–2 5–1 3–4 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 Millwall 2–2 1–0 2–0 3–1 0–1 1–0 3–1 2–0 1–2 5–1 2–0 2–0 3–2 2–2 3–0 2–1 2–0 0–0 1–1 3–3 1–2 6–2 2–2 Oxford United 1–0 0–1 0–2 0–2 3–1 1–0 0–1 1–2 0–2 2–0 1–1 0–1 3–0 3–1 1–2 1–1 4–0 5–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 2–2 4–1 Plymouth Argyle 2–1 0–1 2–2 0–1 2–0 4–2 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–2 1–1 5–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 4–1 1–3 0–0 2–0 0–0 Reading 7–0 1–0 0–1 2–2 3–1 2–0 2–1 2–2 2–0 2–1 1–3 1–1 3–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 0–2 1–1 2–1 3–0 Rotherham United 1–1 1–3 0-2 4–2 0–2 4–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–2 3–1 1–1 1–2 1–2 2–1 3–0 0–0 Sheffield United 2–0 2–1 3–1 0–2 0–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–2 3–1 4–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 3–1 3–2 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 Sheffield Wednesday 0–2 0–3 4–1 0–2 5–1 0–0 3–0 3–3 3–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 0–0 2–0 2–2 0–1 1–1 5–0 4–0 2–0 4–2 3–1 Southend 2–1 0–1 0–1 3–2 0–0 1–0 4–1 0–0 0–1 4–0 0–3 1–0 3–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 4–1 2–2 0–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–3 Swindon Town 0–1 2–0 2–1 4–0 8–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 2–3 2–3 3–0 3–0 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 0–0 6–2 3–2 1–2 1–0 2–1 Wimbledon 1–2 1–0 1–2 0–0 0–1 0–0 2–3 1–1 3–3 2–2 1–0 3–6 3–2 3–2 2–2 1–3 3–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 3–4 0–1 2–0 Soccerbase Maps Greater London right 369 Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1979–1980 Greater London 51.486 -0.31 right Greater London 51.481 -0.048 right Greater London 51.43 -0.19 right Brentford Millwall Wimbledon England none 400 Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1979–1980 England 53.55 -1.48 right England 53.75 -2.48 right England 53.81 -3.05 right England 51.486 -0.32 right England 53.58 -2.295 right England 54.90 -2.91 right England 53.19 -2.89 right England 53.24 -1.43 right England 51.89 0.90 right England 50.72 -3.53 right England 51.38 0.55 right England 53.56 -0.068 right England 53.74 -0.33 right England 53.14 -1.20 right England 51.48 -0.048 right England 51.72 -1.21 right England 50.39 -4.15 right England 51.41 -0.97 right England 53.43 -1.36 right England 53.37 -1.47 right England 53.41 -1.50 right England 51.55 0.70 right England 51.56 -1.77 right England 51.43 -0.19 right Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Blackpool Brentford Bury Carlisle United Chester Chesterfield Colchester Exeter City Gillingham Grimsby Town Hull Mansfield Town Millwall Oxford Plymouth Argyle Reading Rotherham Sheffield United Sheffield Wednesday Southend Swindon Wimbledon Fourth Division Football LeagueFourth Division 1979–80 Huddersfield Town (1st title) Promoted Newport CountyPortsmouthWalsall Failed re-election None New club in the league Colin Garwood (Portsmouth / Aldershot), 27 552 1460 1978–79 1980–81 main WDL Fourth Division P 5 2 HUD Huddersfield Town WAL Walsall NPC Newport County POR Portsmouth BRA Bradford City WIG Wigan Athletic LIN Lincoln City PET Peterborough United TOR Torquay United ALD Aldershot BOU Bournemouth DON Doncaster Rovers NOR Northampton Town SCU Scunthorpe United TRA Tranmere Rovers STP Stockport County YOR York City HAL Halifax Town HAR Hartlepool United PTV Port Vale HER Hereford United DAR Darlington CRE Crewe Alexandra ROC Rochdale 27 12 7 101 48 23 18 5 75 47 27 7 12 83 50 24 12 10 91 49 24 12 10 77 50 21 13 12 76 61 18 17 11 64 42 21 10 15 58 47 15 17 14 70 69 16 13 17 62 53 13 18 15 52 51 15 14 17 62 63 16 12 18 51 66 14 15 17 58 75 14 13 19 50 56 14 12 20 48 72 14 11 21 65 82 13 13 20 46 72 14 10 22 59 64 12 12 22 56 70 11 14 21 38 52 9 17 20 50 74 11 13 22 35 68 7 13 26 33 79 CP P P P green1 Promotion to the Third Division P P P green1 Cup Winners' Cup first round and promotion to the Third Division UCWC1 red2 Re-elected REE REE REE REE complete Results main FBR grey ALD BOU BRA CRE DAR DON HAL HAR HER HUD LIN NPC NOR PET POR PTV ROC SCU STP TOR TRA WAL WIG YOR Aldershot 0–1 3–1 3–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 0–2 3–3 0–2 2–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–2 3–1 3–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–3 2–2 Bournemouth 3–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–0 0–1 2–1 2–2 1–3 0–0 3–2 2–2 0–0 0–1 3–1 4–0 3–3 2–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–2 0–0 Bradford City 2–0 2–2 4–0 3–0 3–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 3–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–2 2–0 6–1 1–1 2–0 0–1 2–1 1–2 Crewe Alexandra 1–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 1–2 2–1 2–1 1–0 1–3 0–2 0–3 2–1 1–4 1–1 0–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 2–2 0–0 1–2 2–1 2–0 Darlington 0–0 0–1 3–4 0–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 2–3 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–1 3–1 3–0 2–0 3–1 1–3 2–2 2–1 Doncaster Rovers 1–1 1–0 0–3 1–1 0–1 2–1 0–2 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–3 2–1 2–1 2–0 2–3 2–0 5–0 1–1 5–3 1–1 1–1 3–1 2–0 Halifax Town 1–0 2–0 0–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–2 1–3 3–3 0–0 2–0 0–0 1–1 Hartlepool 1–0 3–1 0–1 3–1 3–1 1–2 1–2 3–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 2–1 1–2 0–3 2–1 1–1 3–2 1–2 2–2 2–1 2–2 1–1 3–1 Hereford United 0–1 2–1 0–2 2–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 2–1 1–3 0–0 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–0 1–2 0–1 2–1 3–1 Huddersfield Town 2–0 2–0 0–0 3–0 2–1 3–0 5–0 2–1 0–1 3–2 2–1 5–0 0–0 1–3 7–1 5–1 2–1 5–0 4–2 1–1 1–1 4–0 2–2 Lincoln City 1–1 1–1 1–0 3–0 2–1 1–1 4–0 3–3 2–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 3–0 0–0 4–0 1–0 2–0 3–0 2–2 4–0 1–1 Newport County 4–2 0–0 1–2 1–1 4–0 2–1 5–2 1–0 1–0 2–2 1–1 2–1 1–1 4–3 2–1 1–0 2–1 3–1 3–0 2–0 0–1 3–2 2–0 Northampton Town 2–1 0–1 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–0 4–2 0–0 3–2 1–0 0–2 3–1 0–0 0–0 2–0 3–0 2–1 1–2 1–1 2–0 Peterborough United 1–3 2–0 1–0 3–0 3–0 3–2 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–3 3–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 3–0 2–0 3–1 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–3 1–2 2–1 Portsmouth 1–3 4–0 4–1 1–1 4–3 2–0 3–1 2–1 0–0 4–1 4–0 0–2 6–1 4–0 2–2 3–0 6–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 1–2 1–1 5–2 Port Vale 0–2 1–1 1–2 2–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 2–0 5–0 0–1 2–3 5–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 0–1 2–2 1–1 1–2 Rochdale 2–1 0–2 0–1 0–0 2–2 3–2 2–2 1–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–0 3–2 0–0 1–2 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 Scunthorpe United 1–1 2–1 3–3 1–1 3–0 0–0 1–0 1–3 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–3 3–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–2 1–3 6–1 Stockport County 0–4 1–1 2–2 2–1 1–1 0–3 4–1 0–0 2–1 1–2 2–1 0–5 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 4–0 2–2 1–0 1–2 1–0 Torquay United 2–1 0–0 2–3 1–0 4–0 2–2 3–0 3–1 1–1 3–1 2–5 2–0 2–2 2–0 2–1 1–1 3–0 3–0 0–0 3–1 0–1 2–2 4–3 Tranmere 1–2 0–5 4–0 2–0 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–2 1–1 3–0 4–1 1–1 5–1 1–2 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–3 1–2 Walsall 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 3–1 2–0 3–1 3–2 1–1 3–0 2–4 5–1 2–3 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 3–1 Wigan Athletic 2–1 2–1 4–1 2–0 4–1 0–0 3–1 2–1 1–1 1–2 2–1 0–1 0–0 2–1 1–2 3–1 1–1 4–1 3–1 0–3 0–0 3–0 2–5 York City 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–2 3–1 1–3 2–2 2–1 0–4 3–1 0–2 2–1 1–2 0–2 1–0 5–1 3–2 2–0 2–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–2 Soccerbase Maps England none 400 Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1979–1980 England 51.25 -0.75 right England 50.73 -1.84 right England 53.82 -1.73 right England 53.10 -2.44 right England 54.53 -1.55 right England 53.52 -1.133 right England 53.72 -1.86 right England 54.69 -1.21 right England 52.06 -2.72 right England 53.64 -1.78 right England 53.23 -0.54 right England 51.59 -3.00 right England 52.24 -0.90 right England 52.58 -0.25 right England 50.80 -1.06 right England 53.06 -2.21 right England 53.61 -2.16 right England 53.58 -0.65 right England 53.41 -2.16 right England 50.48 -3.52 right England 53.37 -3.04 right England 52.58 -1.98 right England 53.55 -2.65 right England 53.96 -1.08 right Aldershot Bournemouth Bradford City Crewe Alexandra Darlington Doncaster Halifax Town Hartlepool Hereford United Huddersfield Lincoln City Newport County Northampton Town Peterborough Portsmouth Port Vale Rochdale Scunthorpe & Lindsey Stockport Torquay Tranmere York City Walsall Wigan Athletic Election/Re-election to the Football League Winners of the Alliance Premier League, Altrincham, won the right to apply for election to the Football League to replace one of the four bottom teams in the 1979–80 Football League Division Four. The vote went as follows: Club Final Position Votes Darlington 22nd (Division Four) 49 Crewe Alexandra 23rd (Division Four) 48 Hereford United 21st (Division Four) 48 Rochdale 24th (Division Four) 26 Altrincham 1st (Alliance Premier League) 25 As a result of this, all four Football League teams were re-elected, and Altrincham were denied membership of the League. Attendances Source:https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/eng/aveeng1980.htm Historical attendances European-football-statistics.co.uk July 8, 2026 Division One No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Manchester United 51,608 58,348 43,329 2 Liverpool FC 44,586 52,201 36,415 3 Manchester City FC 35,272 50,067 27,664 4 Arsenal FC 33,596 55,561 18,869 5 Tottenham Hotspur FC 32,018 51,389 19,843 6 Crystal Palace FC 29,794 45,746 19,453 7 Everton FC 28,711 53,018 20,356 8 Aston Villa FC 27,976 41,160 15,319 9 Nottingham Forest FC 26,350 32,266 21,242 10 Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 25,731 36,693 15,807 11 Brighton & Hove Albion FC 24,745 29,690 18,361 12 Leeds United FC 22,788 39,779 14,967 13 West Bromwich Albion FC 22,418 34,993 11,655 14 Ipswich Town FC 21,620 30,229 16,878 15 Southampton FC 21,335 23,259 16,309 16 Stoke City FC 20,176 32,699 14,422 17 Derby County FC 19,904 27,783 15,381 18 Coventry City FC 19,315 31,644 14,310 19 Bristol City FC 18,932 28,305 12,013 20 Middlesbrough FC 18,739 30,587 11,789 21 Norwich City FC 17,225 25,418 11,657 22 Bolton Wanderers FC 16,353 31,902 8,995 Division Two No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Sunderland AFC 27,119 47,129 19,456 2 Newcastle United FC 23,345 38,784 13,765 3 Chelsea FC 23,266 32,467 16,519 4 West Ham United FC 22,872 37,167 11,721 5 Birmingham City FC 20,427 33,863 13,997 6 Leicester City FC 18,636 26,075 12,877 7 Watford FC 15,462 25,502 11,589 8 Swansea City AFC 14,391 21,306 10,442 9 Queens Park Rangers FC 14,087 26,598 8,372 10 Luton Town FC 11,676 20,040 6,705 11 Wrexham AFC 10,090 15,601 4,357 12 Cardiff City FC 9,926 19,834 6,342 13 Preston North End FC 9,751 13,150 7,407 14 Notts County FC 8,818 14,849 5,505 15 Shrewsbury Town FC 8,782 14,801 5,670 16 Fulham FC 8,419 22,258 3,566 17 Burnley FC 8,118 16,634 5,353 18 Oldham Athletic FC 7,918 11,485 5,198 19 Bristol Rovers FC 7,399 14,176 4,596 20 Leyton Orient FC 7,245 23,883 3,781 21 Charlton Athletic FC 7,175 19,021 3,672 22 Cambridge United FC 6,127 8,863 4,423 Division Three No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Sheffield Wednesday FC 18,289 49,309 10,753 2 Sheffield United FC 16,584 42,526 8,621 3 Barnsley FC 11,890 22,360 8,567 4 Grimsby Town FC 10,618 19,566 6,166 5 Blackburn Rovers FC 10,311 26,130 5,759 6 Swindon Town FC 8,902 16,658 6,318 7 Brentford FC 7,818 13,764 4,992 8 Chesterfield FC 7,760 14,950 4,126 9 Reading FC 6,713 10,194 5,166 10 Gillingham FC 6,131 8,769 3,479 11 Rotherham United FC 5,993 20,355 3,061 12 Hull City AFC 5,986 14,176 3,297 13 Millwall FC 5,918 7,940 3,997 14 Blackpool FC 5,818 10,392 3,302 15 Plymouth Argyle FC 5,776 10,214 4,095 16 Mansfield Town FC 5,467 16,019 2,973 17 Oxford United FC 4,832 9,645 2,848 18 Southend United FC 4,758 7,756 2,966 19 Exeter City FC 4,574 10,589 2,648 20 Carlisle United FC 4,406 6,297 3,267 21 Bury FC 4,239 13,360 2,443 22 Colchester United FC 3,816 6,135 2,346 23 Chester City FC 3,726 6,638 2,187 24 Wimbledon FC 3,426 6,009 1,759 Division Four No. Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Portsmouth FC 15,850 23,691 11,430 2 Huddersfield Town AFC 8,714 17,233 3,134 3 Wigan Athletic FC 5,905 8,198 4,316 4 Bradford City AFC 5,744 10,509 3,668 5 Walsall FC 5,549 9,251 3,786 6 Newport County AFC 5,139 8,383 3,185 7 Doncaster Rovers FC 4,321 9,801 2,327 8 Peterborough United FC 4,135 5,371 2,641 9 AFC Bournemouth 3,924 14,114 2,335 10 Aldershot Town FC 3,859 11,989 2,057 11 Lincoln City FC 3,713 5,011 2,440 12 Port Vale FC 3,462 6,756 2,338 13 Hereford United FC 3,355 7,945 1,995 14 Torquay United FC 3,184 5,729 1,581 15 Northampton Town FC 3,024 10,713 1,852 16 Hartlepool United FC 2,915 5,959 1,706 17 Stockport County FC 2,911 5,369 1,789 18 Crewe Alexandra FC 2,745 5,632 1,909 19 York City FC 2,716 5,742 1,791 20 Halifax Town AFC 2,582 10,061 1,022 21 Scunthorpe United FC 2,266 4,640 1,586 22 Tranmere Rovers 2,246 3,550 1,214 23 Darlington FC 1,972 4,628 1,238 24 Rochdale AFC 1,926 4,979 958 See also 1979-80 in English football References Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980. 1979–80 1–4