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1980–81 Manchester United F.C. season

{{Short description|99th season in existence of Manchester United}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}

{{Infobox football club season

| club = Manchester United

| season = 1980–81

| manager = Dave Sexton

| chairman = Martin Edwards

| league = First Division

| league result = 8th

| cup1 = FA Cup

| cup1 result = Fourth Round

| cup2 = League Cup

| cup2 result = Second Round

| cup3 = UEFA Cup

| cup3 result = First Round

| league topscorer =
Joe Jordan (15)

| season topscorer =
Joe Jordan (15)

| highest attendance = 57,049 vs Liverpool (26 December 1980)

| lowest attendance = 31,656 vs Coventry City (27 August 1980)

| average attendance = 44,099

| pattern_la1 = _3_stripes_border_white |pattern_b1 = _3_stripes_collar_white |pattern_ra1 = _3_stripes_border_white |pattern_sh1 = _adidas_red |pattern_so1 = _red_top_3_white_stripes

| leftarm1 = E20E0E |body1 = E20E0E |rightarm1 = E20E0E |shorts1 = FFFFFF |socks1 = 000000

| pattern_la2 = _manutda8082 |pattern_b2 = _manutda8082 |pattern_ra2 = _manutda8082 |pattern_sh2 = _adidaswhite |pattern_so2 = _red_top_3_white_stripes

| leftarm2 = FFFFFF |body2 = FFFFFF |rightarm2 = FFFFFF |shorts2 = 000000 |socks2 = 000000

| pattern_la3 = _whiteborder |pattern_b3 = _white_collar |pattern_ra3 = _whiteborder |pattern_sh3 = _adidas_blue |pattern_so3 = _bluetop_whitestripe

| leftarm3 = 0000C0 |body3 = 0000C0 |rightarm3 = 0000C0 |shorts3 = FFFFFF |socks3 = 000000

| prevseason = 1979–80

| nextseason = 1981–82

}}

The 1980–81 season was Manchester United's 79th season in the Football League, and their 6th consecutive season in the top division of English football.{{cite web |url=http://www.stretfordend.co.uk/seasons/season1981.html |title=Manchester United Season 1980/81 |access-date=21 December 2011|publisher=StretfordEnd.co.uk }} It was the last of their four seasons under the management of Dave Sexton, who was sacked after the end of the season after failing to win the club a major trophy. The likes of Lawrie McMenemy, Brian Clough, Bobby Robson and Ron Saunders were all linked with the job, before Sexton was succeeded by West Bromwich Albion manager Ron Atkinson.

The club also paid a club record of more than £1 million for Nottingham Forest striker Garry Birtles, but the player was a huge disappointment and ended the season with just one goal from 28 appearances. The club's top scorer was Joe Jordan, who found the back of the net 15 times.

United were indeed one of the hardest teams to beat in the First Division this season, losing just nine out of 42 games and winning their final seven, but they were also held to a draw on 18 occasions. This restricted them to eighth-place finish - not even enough for a UEFA Cup place.

First Division

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
Date

!Opponents

!H / A

!Result
F–A

!Scorers

!Attendance

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|16 August 1980

|Middlesbrough

|H

|3–0

|Macari, Grimes, Thomas

|54,394

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|19 August 1980

|Wolverhampton Wanderers

|A

|0–1

|

|31,955

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|23 August 1980

|Birmingham City

|A

|0–0

|

|28,661

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|30 August 1980

|Sunderland

|H

|1–1

|Jovanović

|51,498

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|6 September 1980

|Tottenham Hotspur

|A

|0–0

|

|40,995

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|13 September 1980

|Leicester City

|H

|5–0

|Coppell, Grimes, Jovanović (2), Macari

|43,229

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|20 September 1980

|Leeds United

|A

|0–0

|

|32,539

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|27 September 1980

|Manchester City

|H

|2–2

|Coppell, Albiston

|55,918

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|4 October 1980

|Nottingham Forest

|A

|2–1

|Macari, Coppell

|29,801

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|8 October 1980

|Aston Villa

|H

|3–3

|McIlroy (2; 1 pen.), Coppell

|38,831

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|11 October 1980

|Arsenal

|H

|0–0

|

|49,036

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|18 October 1980

|Ipswich Town

|A

|1–1

|McIlroy (pen.)

|28,572

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|22 October 1980

|Stoke City

|A

|2–1

|Jordan, Macari

|24,534

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|25 October 1980

|Everton

|H

|2–0

|Jordan, Coppell

|54,260

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|1 November 1980

|Crystal Palace

|A

|0–1

|

|31,449

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|8 November 1980

|Coventry City

|H

|0–0

|

|42,794

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|12 November 1980

|Wolverhampton Wanderers

|H

|0–0

|

|37,959

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|15 November 1980

|Middlesbrough

|A

|1–1

|Jordan

|20,606

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|22 November 1980

|Brighton & Hove Albion

|A

|4–1

|Jordan (2), McIlroy, Duxbury

|23,923

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|29 November 1980

|Southampton

|H

|1–1

|Jordan

|47,783

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|6 December 1980

|Norwich City

|A

|2–2

|Bond (o.g.), Coppell

|18,780

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|13 December 1980

|Stoke City

|H

|2–2

|Macari, Jordan

|39,568

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|20 December 1980

|Arsenal

|A

|1–2

|Macari

|33,730

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|26 December 1980

|Liverpool

|H

|0–0

|

|57,049

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|27 December 1980

|West Bromwich Albion

|A

|1–3

|Jovanović

|38,615

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|10 January 1981

|Brighton & Hove Albion

|H

|2–1

|McQueen, Macari

|42,208

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|28 January 1981

|Sunderland

|A

|0–2

|

|31,910

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|31 January 1981

|Birmingham City

|H

|2–0

|Jordan, Macari

|39,081

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|7 February 1981

|Leicester City

|A

|0–1

|

|26,085

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|17 February 1981

|Tottenham Hotspur

|H

|0–0

|

|40,642

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|21 February 1981

|Manchester City

|A

|0–1

|

|50,114

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|28 February 1981

|Leeds United

|H

|0–1

|

|45,733

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|7 March 1981

|Southampton

|A

|0–1

|

|22,698

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|14 March 1981

|Aston Villa

|A

|3–3

|Jordan (2), McIlroy (pen.)

|42,182

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|18 March 1981

|Nottingham Forest

|H

|1–1

|Burns (o.g.)

|38,205

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|21 March 1981

|Ipswich Town

|H

|2–1

|Thomas, Nicholl

|46,685

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|28 March 1981

|Everton

|A

|1–0

|Jordan

|25,856

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|4 April 1981

|Crystal Palace

|H

|1–0

|Duxbury

|37,954

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|11 April 1981

|Coventry City

|A

|2–0

|Jordan (2)

|20,201

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|14 April 1981

|Liverpool

|A

|1–0

|McQueen

|31,276

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|18 April 1981

|West Bromwich Albion

|H

|2–1

|Jordan, Macari

|44,442

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|25 April 1981

|Norwich City

|H

|1–0

|Jordan

|40,165

{{:1980–81 Football League|transcludesection=First Division|showteam=MUN|only_totals=y}}

FA Cup

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
Date

!Round

!Opponents

!H / A

!Result
F–A

!Scorers

!Attendance

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|3 January 1981

|Round 3

|Brighton & Hove Albion

|H

|2–2

|Duxbury, Thomas

|42,199

bgcolor="#ddffdd"

|7 January 1981

|Round 3
Replay

|Brighton & Hove Albion

|A

|2–0

|Nicholl, Birtles

|26,915

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|24 January 1981

|Round 4

|Nottingham Forest

|A

|0–1

|

|34,110

League Cup

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
Date

!Round

!Opponents

!H / A

!Result
F–A

!Scorers

!Attendance

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|27 August 1980

|Round 2
First leg

|Coventry City

|H

|0–1

|

|31,656

bgcolor="#ffdddd"

|2 September 1980

|Round 2
Second leg

|Coventry City

|A

|0–1

|

|18,946

UEFA Cup

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
Date

!Round

!Opponents

!H / A

!Result
F–A

!Scorers

!Attendance

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|17 September 1980

|Round 1
First leg

|Widzew Łódź

|H

|1–1

|McIlroy

|38,037

bgcolor="#ffffdd"

|1 October 1980

|Round 1
Second leg

|Widzew Łódź

|A

|0–0

|

|40,000

Squad statistics

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
rowspan="2" valign="bottom"|Pos.

!rowspan="2"|Name

!colspan="2" width="85"|League

!colspan="2" width="85"|FA Cup

!colspan="2" width="85"|League Cup

!colspan="2" width="85"|UEFA Cup

!colspan="2" width="85"|Total

Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

align="left"|GKalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Gary Bailey

|40

0302020470
align="left"|GKalign="left"|{{flagicon|IRL}} Paddy Roche

|2

000000020
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|SCO}} Arthur Albiston

|42

1302020491
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|SCO}} Martin Buchan

|26

0202020320
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Mike Duxbury

|27(6)

20(2)1001(1)028(9)3
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|YUG}} Nikola Jovanović

|19

4102020244
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|SCO}} Gordon McQueen

|11

2200000132
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|IRL}} Kevin Moran

|32

010000(1)033(1)0
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|NIR}} Jimmy Nicholl

|36

1312020432
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|IRL}} Anthony Whelan

|0(1)

00000000(1)0
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Steve Coppell

|42

6302020496
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|IRL}} Ashley Grimes

|6(2)

20000208(2)2
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|SCO}} Lou Macari

|37(1)

930201043(1)9
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|NIR}} Chris McGrath

|1

000000010
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|NIR}} Sammy McIlroy

|31(1)

510202136(1)6
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|NIR}} Tom Sloan

|0(2)

0000(1)0000(3)0
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|WAL}} Mickey Thomas

|30

2312020373
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Ray Wilkins

|11(2)

020000013(2)0
align="left"|FWalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Garry Birtles

|25

0310000281
align="left"|FWalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Jimmy Greenhoff

|8(1)

000201011(1)0
align="left"|FWalign="left"|{{flagicon|SCO}} Joe Jordan

|33

153000103715
align="left"|FWalign="left"|{{flagicon|SCO}} Scott McGarvey

|0(2)

00000000(2)0
align="left"|FWalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Andy Ritchie

|3(1)

00020005(1)0

References

{{reflist}}

{{Manchester United F.C. seasons}}

{{1980–81 in English football}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1980-81 Manchester United F.C. season}}

Category:Manchester United F.C. seasons

Manchester United