1980–81 Cardiff City F.C. season

Cardiff City
1980–81 season
Chairman	Bob Grogan
Manager	Richie Morgan
Football League Second Division	19th
FA Cup	3rd round
League Cup	3rd round
Welsh Cup	4th round
Top goalscorer	League: Peter Kitchen (13); All: Peter Kitchen (19)
Highest home attendance	21,239 (v Swansea City, 27 December 1980)
Lowest home attendance	4,059 (v Cambridge United, 17 October 1980)
Average home league attendance	6,770
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1979–80 1981–82 →

The 1980–81 season was Cardiff City F.C.'s 54th season in the Football League. They competed in the 22-team Division Two, then the second tier of English football, finishing nineteenth.

Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
--	GK	ENG	Peter Grotier
--	GK	ENG	Ron Healey
--	DF	WAL	Phil Dwyer
--	DF	ENG	Tim Gilbert
--	DF	WAL	Linden Jones
--	DF	WAL	Keith Pontin
--	DF	WAL	David Roberts
--	DF	ENG	Colin Sullivan
--	DF	WAL	Rod Thomas
--	MF	SCO	John Buchanan
--	MF	SCO	Alan Campbell
--	MF	EIR	Miah Dennehy


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
--	MF	WAL	Paul Giles
--	MF	ENG	Steve Grapes
--	MF	WAL	Wayne Hughes
--	MF	WAL	John Lewis
--	MF	WAL	Paul Maddy
--	MF	WAL	Tarki Micallef
--	MF	ENG	Billy Ronson
--	FW	WAL	Ray Bishop
--	FW	ENG	Paul Davies
--	FW	ENG	Peter Kitchen
--	FW	ENG	Gary Stevens

Source ^[1]

League standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
17	Orient	42	13	12	17	52	56	−4	38
18	Bolton Wanderers	42	14	10	18	61	66	−5	38
19	Cardiff City	42	12	12	18	44	60	−16	36
20	Preston North End (R)	42	11	14	17	41	62	−21	36	Relegation to the Third Division
21	Bristol City (R)	42	7	16	19	29	51	−22	30	Relegation to the Third Division

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(R) Relegated

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
Ground	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H
Result	L	W	L	W	L	D	W	L	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	W	W	W	D	D	D	D	D	D	L	L	L	L	W	W	D	L	L	D	W	L	D	L	W	D	D
Position	~	~	19	19	19	16	15	16	11	14	16	17	17	18	19	21	20	15	14	14	15	18	17	17	16	18	18	19	20	17	17	17	17	19	19	19	19	20	20	19	19	19

Source: ^[2]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Fixtures and results

Second Division

16 August 1980 (1980-08-16) 1	Cardiff City	1–2	Blackburn Rovers	Cardiff
15:00	Gary Stevens		Noel Brotherston Andy Crawford	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 6,908 Referee: Derek Civil (Birmingham)

19 August 1980 (1980-08-19) 2	Wrexham	0–1	Cardiff City	Wrexham
19:30			68' Ray Bishop	Stadium: Racecourse Attendance: 7,772

23 August 1980 (1980-08-23) 3	Oldham Athletic	2–0	Cardiff City	Oldham
15:00	Ryszard Kowenicki 81' Simon Stainrod 86'			Stadium: Boundary Park Attendance: 5,690 Referee: Terry Farley (Newton Aycliffe)

30 August 1980 (1980-08-30) 4	Cardiff City	4–2	Orient	Cardiff
15:00	Gary Stevens 8' Phil Dwyer 40' Gary Stevens 52' John Buchanan 55'		13' Steve Parsons 44' Billy Jennings	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 5,649 Referee: Malcolm Heath (Stoke)

6 September 1980 (1980-09-06) 5	Newcastle United	2–1	Cardiff City	Newcastle
	Ray Clarke 19' Alan Shoulder 32' (pen)		50' Peter Kitchen	Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 15,804

13 September 1980 (1980-09-13) 6	Cardiff City	1–1	Bolton Wanderers	Cardiff
15:00	Gary Stevens 45'		Mick Walsh	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 6,649 Referee: Mike Bidmead (Chessington)

20 September 1980 (1980-09-20) 7	Cardiff City	2–1	Bristol Rovers	Cardiff
15:00	Billy Ronson 40' Keith Pontin 62'		35' Bob Lee	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 6,122

27 September 1980 (1980-09-27) 8	Notts County	4–2	Cardiff City	Nottingham
	Eddie Kelly 28' Iain McCulloch Ray O'Brien 64' (pen) Iain McCulloch		22' Phil Dwyer Peter Kitchen	Stadium: Meadow Lane Attendance: 7,229

4 October 1980 (1980-10-04) 9	Cardiff City	1–0	Watford	Cardiff
15:00	Tarki Micallef 8'			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 6,407

7 October 1980 (1980-10-07) 10	West Ham United	1–0	Cardiff City	London
19:30	Jimmy Neighbour 50'			Stadium: Upton Park Attendance: 20,402

11 October 1980 (1980-10-11) 11	Sheffield Wednesday	2–0	Cardiff City	Sheffield
	Brian Hornsby 35' Andy McCulloch 80'			Stadium: Hillsborough Attendance: 15,396

17 October 1980 (1980-10-17) 12	Cardiff City	1–2	Cambridge United	Cardiff
19:30	Lindsay Smith (og)		63' John Lyons 70' Steve Spriggs	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,059

22 October 1980 (1980-10-22) 13	Cardiff City	1–0	Queens Park Rangers	Cardiff
19:30	Steve Grapes 19'			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,489 Referee: Brian Stevens (Stonehouse)

25 October 1980 (1980-10-25) 14	Shrewsbury Town	2–0	Cardiff City	Shrewsbury
	Jack Keay 54' (pen) Steve Biggins 78'			Stadium: Gay Meadow Attendance: 4,466

31 October 1980 (1980-10-31) 15	Cardiff City	0–1	Chelsea	Cardiff
19:30			37' Chris Hutchings	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 8,489 Referee: Lester Shapter (Paignton)

8 November 1980 (1980-11-08) 16	Preston North End	3–1	Cardiff City	Preston
	Mick Baxter Alex Bruce Gary Stevens (og)		36' Peter Kitchen	Stadium: Deepdale Attendance: 5,458

12 November 1980 (1980-11-12) 17	Cardiff City	1–0	Wrexham	Cardiff
19:30	Peter Kitchen 50' (pen)			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,562 Referee: Colin Downey (Hounslow)

15 November 1980 (1980-11-15) 18	Blackburn Rovers	2–3	Cardiff City	Blackburn
15:00	Kevin Stonehouse 75' (pen) Glenn Keeley 84'		Peter Kitchen 54' Peter Kitchen 90' John Buchanan	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 7,854

22 November 1980 (1980-11-22) 19	Cardiff City	1–0	Luton Town	Cardiff
15:00	John Buchanan			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 6,064 Referee: Maurice Robinson (Sutton Colefield)

29 November 1980 (1980-11-29) 20	Derby	1–1	Cardiff City	Derby
	Kevin Wilson 64'		75' (og) Jonathan Clark	Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 15,581

6 December 1980 (1980-12-06) 21	Cardiff City	1–1	Grimsby Town	Cardiff
15:00	Peter Kitchen 55' (pen)		11' (pen) Joe Waters	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 6,063 Referee: Mike Warner (Wednesbury)

26 December 1980 (1980-12-26) 22	Bristol City	0–0	Cardiff City	Bristol
				Stadium: Ashton Gate Attendance: 14,921 Referee: Ray Lewis (Great Bookham, Surrey)

27 December 1980 (1980-12-27) 23	Cardiff City	3–3	Swansea	Cardiff
15:00	Gary Stevens 12' Peter Kitchen 85' John Buchanan 86'		38' Neil Robinson 40' Alan Curtis 73' Leighton James	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 21,239 Referee: Jeff Bray (Hinckley)

10 January 1981 (1981-01-10) 24	Luton Town	2–2	Cardiff City	Luton
	David Moss 24' Brian Stein 64'		8' Peter Kitchen 46' Paul Giles	Stadium: Kenilworth Road Attendance: 9,013

17 January 1981 (1981-01-17) 25	Orient	2–2	Cardiff City	London
15:00	Joe Mayo 52' Nigel Gray 80'		51' Paul Maddy 61' Paul Maddy	Stadium: Brisbane Road Attendance: 3,836 Referee: Ray Toseland (Kettering)

31 January 1981 (1981-01-31) 26	Cardiff City	0–2	Oldham Athletic	Cardiff
15:00			10' Roger Palmer 86' Martin Nuttall	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 5,563 Referee: Dennis Hedges (Oxford)

3 February 1981 (1981-02-03) 27	Queens Park Rangers	2–0	Cardiff City	London
19:30	Terry Fenwick 49' Tommy Langley 62'			Stadium: Loftus Road Attendance: 9,834 Referee: Tom Bune (Sussex)

7 February 1981 (1981-02-07) 28	Bolton Wanderers	4–2	Cardiff City	Bolton
15:00	John Thomas 40' John Thomas 52' Phillip Wilson 61' Dušan Nikolić 74'		2' John Buchanan 78' John Buchanan	Stadium: Burnden Park Attendance: 8,115 Referee: Michael Lowe (Sheffield)

20 February 1981 (1981-02-20) 29	Cardiff City	0–1	Notts County	Cardiff
19:30			86' Trevor Christie	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,987 Referee: Alan Robinson (Fareham)

25 February 1981 (1981-02-25) 30	Cardiff City	1–0	Newcastle United	Cardiff
19:30	Peter Kitchen 32'			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,235

28 February 1981 (1981-02-28) 31	Bristol Rovers	0–1	Cardiff City	Bristol
15:00			20' Steve Grapes	Stadium: Eastville Attendance: 7,525

4 March 1981 (1981-03-04) 32	Cardiff City	0–0	Sheffield Wednesday	Cardiff
19:30				Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 7,002 Referee: John Hunting (Leicester)

7 March 1981 (1981-03-07) 33	Watford	4–2	Cardiff City	London
15:00	Malcolm Poskett 36' Luther Blissett 45' Keith Pritchett 59' Malcolm Poskett 70'		21' Peter Kitchen 53' Linden Jones	Stadium: Vicarage Road Attendance: 10,014

21 March 1981 (1981-03-21) 34	Cambridge United	2–0	Cardiff City	Cambridge
15:00	George Reilly 7' Derrick Christie 86'			Stadium: Abbey Stadium Attendance: 3,790 Referee: Danny Vickers (Essex)

28 March 1981 (1981-03-28) 35	Cardiff City	2–2	Shrewsbury Town	Cardiff
15:00	John Lewis Phil Dwyer		(pen) Jack Keay Ian Atkins	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 5,201 Referee: David Letts (Basingstoke)

4 April 1981 (1981-04-04) 36	Chelsea	0–1	Cardiff City	London
			47' Gary Stevens	Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 11,569 Referee: Brian Martin (Keyworth, Nottingham)

11 April 1981 (1981-04-11) 37	Cardiff City	1–3	Preston North End	Cardiff
15:00	Phil Dwyer 35'		47' Sean Haslegrave 50' Alex Bruce 84' Stephen Elliott	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,991 Referee: Brian Stevens (Stonehouse)

18 April 1981 (1981-04-18) 38	Swansea	1–1	Cardiff City	Swansea
15:00	Leighton James 43'		Peter Kitchen	Stadium: Vetch Field Attendance: 19,038 Referee: Derek Civil (Birmingham)

20 April 1981 (1981-04-20) 39	Cardiff City	2–3	Bristol City	Cardiff
15:00	Steve Grapes 2' Peter Kitchen		Gary Mabbutt James Mann 89' James Mann	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 5,579 Referee: Morris Baker (Wolverhampton)

25 April 1981 (1981-04-25) 40	Grimsby Town	0–1	Cardiff City	Grimsby
15:00			5' Gary Stevens	Stadium: Blundell Park Attendance: 7,377

2 May 1981 (1981-05-02) 41	Cardiff City	0–0	Derby	Cardiff
15:00				Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 7,377 Referee: Leslie Burden (Dorset)

6 May 1981 (1981-05-06) 42	Cardiff City	0–0	West Ham United	Cardiff
19:30				Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 10,535 Referee: Peter Reeves (Leicester)

Source ^[3]

League Cup

9 August 1980 (1980-08-09) Round 1 (First Leg)	Torquay United	0–0	Cardiff City	Torquay
15:00				Stadium: Plainmoor Attendance: 3,441

13 August 1980 (1980-08-13) Round 1 (Second Leg)	Cardiff City	2–1 (2–1 agg.)	Torquay United	Cardiff
19:30	Ray Bishop 57' Gary Stevens 70'		58' Gerry Fell	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 3,149

27 August 1980 (1980-08-27) Round 2 (First Leg)	Cardiff City	1–0	Chelsea	Cardiff
19:30	Ray Bishop 44'			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 6,549 Referee: Tony Glasson (Salisbury)

3 September 1980 (1980-09-03) Round 2 (Second Leg)	Chelsea	1–1 (1–2 agg.)	Cardiff City	London
19:45	Micky Droy		84' Peter Kitchen	Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 12,959 Referee: Mike J Taylor (Walmer)

23 September 1980 (1980-09-23) Round 3	Barnsley	3–2	Cardiff City	Barnsley
	Ronnie Glavin (pen) Derrick Parker Ian Banks 90'		John Buchanan 88' John Lewis	Stadium: Oakwell Attendance: 13,135 Referee: Kevin McNally

FA Cup

3 January 1981 (1981-01-03) Round 3	Leicester City	3–0	Cardiff City	Leicester
15:00	Gary Lineker 30' David Buchanan 51' Jim Melrose 80'			Stadium: Filbert Street Attendance: 17,527 Referee: Darryl Reeves (Uxbridge)

Welsh Cup

3 December 1980 (1980-12-03) Round 3	Cardiff City	6–0	Cardiff Corinthians	Cardiff
19:30	Peter Kitchen 12', 42', 61', 75', 82' Wayne Hughes 53'			Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 1,080

27 January 1981 (1981-01-27) Round 4	Wrexham	3–0	Cardiff City	Wrexham
19:30	Steve Fox 31', 55' Dixie McNeil 63'			Stadium: The Racecourse Attendance: 4,880 Referee: Howard King (Merthyr Tydfil)

References

^ "All Cardiff City football club players: 1981". 11v11. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
^ "Cardiff City 1980-81 results". Cardiff City Forum. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
^ "Cardiff City football club match record: 1981". 11v11. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

Bibliography

Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-462-0.
Crooks, John (1986). Cardiff City Chronology 1920-86. John Crooks. ISBN 0-9511984-0-8.
Shepherd, Richard (2002). The Definitive Cardiff City F.C. Tony Brown. ISBN 1-899-46817-X.
Crooks, John (1992). Cardiff City Football Club: Official History of the Bluebirds. Yore Publications. ISBN 0-9513321-8-X.
"Football Club History Database – Cardiff City". Archived from the original on 30 December 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2008.

Welsh Football Data Archive

[1] "All Cardiff City football club players: 1981". 11v11. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

[results-2] "Cardiff City 1980-81 results". Cardiff City Forum. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

[11v11results-3] "Cardiff City football club match record: 1981". 11v11. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]