Aston Villa's 1980-81 season

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Season 92 | 1980-81

1981-82->

The Story of 1980-81

16 August 1980, Villa 2-0 Leeds, Elland Road.

Peter Withe creates a goal on debut as Gary Shaw runs the show to set up Villa's opening day win despite conceding a penalty in just the 2' of the game.

20 August 1980, Villa 1-0 Norwich, Villa Park.

Gary Shaw wins it for Villa for the second successive game.

23 August 1980, Villa 2-2 Manchester City, Maine Road.

Manchester's smaller club luck in to a generous refereeing decision as they are gifted a spot kick at two goals behind in the 83' minute before equalising the final minutes. Villa remain 4th in the table and their lucky opponents rock bottom.

27 August 1980, League Cup, Villa 1-0 Leeds, Villa Park.

Villa beat fellow first division side Leeds in the first leg of the second round of the League Cup.

30 August 1980, Villa 1-0 Coventry, Villa Park.

Gary Shaw hits Villa’s winner for the third time in five games as Ron Saunders’ unbeaten side rise to 3rd in the first division table.

3 September 1980, League Cup, Villa 3-1 Leeds, Elland Road.

Leeds take the lead but Villa fight back as Gary Shaw hits a brace to make it five goals in six as Villa progress to the third round of the League Cup at Elland Road.

6 September 1980, Villa 0-1 Ipswich, Portman Road.

Villa lose their unbeaten record as they fall to a hugely unlucky defeat at Portman Road despite being in the ascendancy throughout and fall back to 4th in the early table whilst opponents Ipswich remain top.

13 September 1980, Villa 0-2 Everton, Villa Park.

Villa lose for the second consecutive game and where the Ipswich defeat was hugely unlucky, the reverse to Everton saw a below par Villa concede two on the break and never looked in control of the game and fall back to joint sixth in the table.

20 September 1980, Villa 2-1 Wolves, Villa Park.

Villa bounce back from successive defeats to beat Wolves at Villa Park and climb back to joint fourth in the table.

23 September 1980, League Cup, Villa 1-2 Cambridge, Abbey Stadium.

Villa, the most successful club in the history of the competition, playing their 100th League Cup game are knocked out by a Cambridge side who had not won since knocking out Wolves in the previous round.

27 September 1980, Villa 1-0 Palace, Selhurst Park.

Gary Shaw hits his fifth winner of the season on 86’ despite suffering from suspected food poisoning to send Villa joint second in the table after eight games.

4 October 1980, Villa 4-0 Sunderland, Villa Park.

Villa hammer Sunderland to remain joint second in the table, three points off leaders Ipswich.

8 October 1980, Villa 3-3 Manchester United, Old Trafford.

Villa take the lead before Manchester United are awarded an Old Trafford penalty and Villa find themselves behind at half time, a Gordon Cowans inspired second half comeback delivers a share of the points for Ron Saunders' men.

11 October 1980, Villa 2-1 Birmingham, St Andrew's.

Villa beat neighbours Birmingham to remain joint second but are now just a point behind leaders Ipswich.

18 October 1980, Villa 3-0 Tottenham, Villa Park.

Villa hammer Tottenham in a performance that could have seen double the score as Villa go joint top of the first division alongside Ipswich.

22 October 1980, Villa 4-1 Brighton, Villa Park.

Merciless Villa sweep aside Brighton to take outright top spot in the first division table after thirteen games.

25 October 1980, Villa 2-1 Southampton, The Dell.

Villa record their fourth successive win and seventh in eight unbeaten games to remain first in the table two points clear of the chasing pack.

1 November 1980, Villa 2-0 Leicester, Villa Park.

Villa hit two in four second half minutes to secure their fifth successive League win and open their lead at the top of the table to three points. Meanwhile in a shock move, the board put the entirety of the Villa reserve team up for sale to counter "financial problems" with Brendan Ormsby, Gary Shelton, Terry Bullivant and Pat Heard touted for departure.

1 November 1980, Villa 0-0 Albion, The Hawthorns.

Villa end a run of five consecutive League wins as they are held to a goalless draw at the Hawthorns but retain their three point lead at the top of the table.

12 November 1980, Villa 3-1 Norwich, Carrow Road.

Villa, unbeaten in eleven first division games record their ninth win and extend their lead at the top of the table to five points.

15 November 1980, Villa 1-1 Leeds, Villa Park.

Villa are held at home by Leeds to extend their unbeaten League run to twelve games but their lead at the top of the table is cut to four points.

22 November 1980, Villa 1-2 Liverpool, Anfield.

Lucky Liverpool luck in yet again with a last minute winner at Anfield as their lead at the top of the table is cut to two points.

29 November 1980, Villa 1-1 Arsenal, Villa Park.

Villa are held at home by title pretenders Arsenal as a swashbuckling performance doesn't deliver the two points it deserved but Villa remain two clear at the top of the table after twenty games with Liverpool second.

6 December 1980, Villa 1-2 Middlesbrough, Ayresome Park.

Villa suffer a shock defeat last gasp at Ayresome Park and the long time league leaders are now winless in four and are forced to share top spot on goal difference with Liverpool. Meanwhile the North East press pull no punches about their thoughts on their area's 'other' club.

13 December 1980, Villa 3-0 Birmingham, Villa Park.

Villa hammer neighbours Birmingham to once again make top spot their own as they move one point clear of Liverpool and three clear of Ipswich after 22 games as David Geddis scored a brace as stand in for the suspended Peter Withe.

1/46

Image Credit

Season Summary

Division	Final League Position	FA Cup Progress	EFL Cup Progress	Biggest Win
Division One	1st	3rd Round	3rd Round	4-0 vs. Sunderland (h), Division One

Top Scorer	Most Appearances	Most Starts
21 \| Peter Withe	46 \| Gordon Cowans, Jimmy Rimmer, Kenny Swain, Ken McNaught, Des Bremner, Tony Morley	46 \| Jimmy Rimmer, Gordon Cowans, Kenny Swain, Ken McNaught, Des Bremner, Tony Morley

Manager Summary

P: Games Played; W: Games Won; D: Games Drawn; L: Games Lost; PPG: Points per Game (3 Points for a win, 1 Point for a draw); CS%: Clean Sheet percentage; W%: Win Rate; L%: Loss Rate; U: Games Unbeaten; U% Unbeaten Rate.

From	To	Manager	P	W	D	L	U	W%	L%	U%	CS%	PPG
Ongoing	Ongoing	Ron Saunders	46	28	8	10	36	61%	22%	78%	33%	2.00

Manager	Chairman	Chief Executive
Ron Saunders	Ron Bendall	Steve Stride

Season Statistics

Pos: Final League Position; P: Games Played; W: Games Won; D: Games Drawn; L: Games Lost; F: Goals Scored; A: Goals Conceded; Pts: Final League Points; GD: Goal Difference (A-F); PPG: Points per Game (3 Points for a win, 1 Point for a draw); GR: Goal Ratio (F/A); GPG: Goals Scored per Game; CPG: Goals Conceded per Game; CS: Clean Sheets; CS%: Clean Sheet percentage; W%: Win Rate; L%: Loss Rate; U: Games Unbeaten; U% Unbeaten Rate.

Results - All Competitions

P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	GR	GPG	CPG	CS	CS%	W%	L%	U	U%	PPG
46	28	8	10	76	45	31	1.68	1.65	0.98	15	33%	61%	22%	36	78%	2.00

Results - League

Pos	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD	GPG	CPG	GR	CS	CS%	W%	L%	U%	PPG
1st	42	26	8	8	72	40	60	32	1.71	0.95	1.8	14	32%	62%	19%	81%	2.05

Sequences

Wins in a Row	League Wins in a Row	Games Unbeaten	Games without a Win	Losing Run
7	7	11	4	2

League Table

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Aston Villa	42	26	8	8	72	40	32	60
2	Ipswich Town	42	23	10	9	77	43	34	56
3	Arsenal	42	19	15	8	61	45	16	53
4	West Bromwich Albion	42	20	12	10	60	42	18	52
5	Liverpool	42	17	17	8	62	42	20	51
6	Southampton	42	20	10	12	76	56	20	50
7	Nottingham Forest	42	19	12	11	62	44	18	50
8	Manchester United	42	15	18	9	51	36	15	48
9	Leeds United	42	17	10	15	39	47	-8	44
10	Tottenham Hotspur	42	14	15	13	70	68	2	43
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
14	Middlesbrough	42	16	5	21	53	61	-8	37
15	Everton	42	13	10	19	55	58	-3	36
16	Coventry City	42	13	10	19	48	68	-20	36
17	Sunderland	42	14	7	21	52	53	-1	35
18	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	13	9	20	43	55	-12	35
19	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	14	7	21	54	67	-13	35
20	Norwich City	42	13	7	22	49	73	-24	33
21	Leicester City	42	13	6	23	40	67	-27	32
22	Crystal Palace	42	6	7	29	47	83	-36	19

Matches

Select a row for detailed match reports

Competition	Date	Home		Away	W	D	L	Game
Division One	16 Aug 1980	Leeds United	1-2	Aston Villa	W			3638
Division One	20 Aug 1980	Aston Villa	1-0	Norwich City	W			3639
Division One	23 Aug 1980	Manchester City	2-2	Aston Villa		D		3640
League Cup 2nd Round	27 Aug 1980	Aston Villa	1-0	Leeds United	W			3641
Division One	30 Aug 1980	Aston Villa	1-0	Coventry City	W			3642
League Cup 2nd Round	3 Sep 1980	Leeds United	1-3	Aston Villa	W			3643
Division One	6 Sep 1980	Ipswich Town	1-0	Aston Villa			L	3644
Division One	13 Sep 1980	Aston Villa	0-2	Everton			L	3645
Division One	20 Sep 1980	Aston Villa	2-1	Wolves	W			3646
League Cup 3rd Round	23 Sep 1980	Cambridge United	2-1	Aston Villa			L	3647
Division One	27 Sep 1980	Crystal Palace	0-1	Aston Villa	W			3648
Division One	4 Oct 1980	Aston Villa	4-0	Sunderland	W			3649
Division One	8 Oct 1980	Manchester United	3-3	Aston Villa		D		3650
Division One	11 Oct 1980	Birmingham City	1-2

Season #2 | 1880-81 | Games #3 - #6

AVFC History

134 Seasons, 33 Managers, 983 Players, 5,671 Matches, Only One Aston Villa

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Season 92 | 1980-81