1979–80 Football League

The 1979–80 season was the 81st completed season of The Football League.

The Football League

Season	1979–80
Champions	Liverpool
← 1978–79 1980–81 →

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 website with home and away statistics separated.

During the first five seasons of the league, that is, until the season 1893–94, re-election process concerned the clubs which finished in the bottom four of the league. From the 1894–95 season and until the 1920–21 season the re-election process was required of the clubs which finished in the bottom three of the league. From the 1922–23 season on it was required of the bottom two teams of both Third Division North and Third Division South. Since the Fourth Division was established in the 1958–59 season, the re-election process has concerned the bottom four clubs in that division.

First Division

First Division

Season	1979–80
Champions	Liverpool 12th English title
Relegated	Bristol City Derby County Bolton Wanderers
European Cup	Liverpool Nottingham Forest (as defending champions)
UEFA Cup	Manchester United Ipswich Town Wolverhampton Wanderers
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,159 (2.51 per match)
Top goalscorer	Phil Boyer (23 goals)
Biggest home win	Ipswich Town 6–0 Manchester United (1 March 1980)
Biggest away win	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)
Highest scoring	Norwich City 3–5 Liverpool (9 February 1980)
← 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.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool (C)	42	25	10	7	81	30	51	60	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Manchester United	42	24	10	8	65	35	30	58	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Ipswich Town	42	22	9	11	68	39	29	53
4	Arsenal	42	18	16	8	52	36	16	52
5	Nottingham Forest	42	20	8	14	63	43	20	48	Qualification for the European Cup first round
6	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	19	9	14	58	47	11	47	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
7	Aston Villa	42	16	14	12	51	50	1	46
8	Southampton	42	18	9	15	65	53	12	45
9	Middlesbrough	42	16	12	14	50	44	6	44
10	West Bromwich Albion	42	11	19	12	54	50	4	41
11	Leeds United	42	13	14	15	46	50	−4	40
12	Norwich City	42	13	14	15	58	66	−8	40
13	Crystal Palace	42	12	16	14	41	50	−9	40
14	Tottenham Hotspur	42	15	10	17	52	62	−10	40
15	Coventry City	42	16	7	19	56	66	−10	39
16	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	11	15	16	47	57	−10	37
17	Manchester City	42	12	13	17	43	66	−23	37
18	Stoke City	42	13	10	19	44	58	−14	36
19	Everton	42	9	17	16	43	51	−8	35
20	Bristol City (R)	42	9	13	20	37	66	−29	31	Relegation to the Second Division
21	Derby County (R)	42	11	8	23	47	67	−20	30
22	Bolton Wanderers (R)	42	5	15	22	38	73	−35	25

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Results

Home \ Away	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

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [1] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Derby County	Tommy Docherty	Resigned	20 May 1979	Pre-season	Colin Addison	6 July 1979
Manchester City	Tony Book	Became general manager	31 May 1979		Malcolm Allison	31 May 1979
Bolton Wanderers	Ian Greaves	Sacked	28 January 1980	22nd	Stan Anderson	28 January 1980

Maps

Arsenal

Crystal Palace

Tottenham

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Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1979–1980

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

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Locations of the Football League First Division 1979–1980 teams

Second Division

Second Division

Season	1979–80
Champions	Leicester City
Promoted	Leicester City Sunderland Birmingham City
Relegated	Fulham Burnley Charlton Athletic
Cup Winners' Cup	West Ham United
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,162 (2.52 per match)
Top goalscorer	Clive Allen (28 goals)
Biggest home win	Queens Park Rangers 7–0 Burnley (27 October 1979)
Biggest away win	Orient 0–4 West Ham United (1 January 1980) Charlton Athletic 0–4 Sunderland (15 March 1980)
Highest scoring	Orient 3–7 Chelsea (10 November 1979)
← 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.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Leicester City (C, P)	42	21	13	8	58	38	20	55	Promotion to the First Division
2	Sunderland (P)	42	21	12	9	69	42	27	54
3	Birmingham City (P)	42	21	11	10	58	38	20	53
4	Chelsea	42	23	7	12	66	52	14	53
5	Queens Park Rangers	42	18	13	11	75	53	22	49
6	Luton Town	42	16	17	9	66	45	21	49
7	West Ham United	42	20	7	15	54	43	11	47	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
8	Cambridge United	42	14	16	12	61	53	8	44
9	Newcastle United	42	15	14	13	53	49	4	44
10	Preston North End	42	12	19	11	56	52	4	43
11	Oldham Athletic	42	16	11	15	49	53	−4	43
12	Swansea City	42	17	9	16	48	53	−5	43
13	Shrewsbury Town	42	18	5	19	60	53	7	41
14	Orient	42	12	17	13	48	54	−6	41
15	Cardiff City	42	16	8	18	41	48	−7	40
16	Wrexham	42	16	6	20	40	49	−9	38
17	Notts County	42	11	15	16	51	52	−1	37
18	Watford	42	12	13	17	39	46	−7	37
19	Bristol Rovers	42	11	13	18	50	64	−14	35
20	Fulham (R)	42	11	7	24	42	74	−32	29	Relegation to the Third Division
21	Burnley (R)	42	6	15	21	39	73	−34	27
22	Charlton Athletic (R)	42	6	10	26	39	78	−39	22

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Results

Home \ Away	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

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [2] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Charlton Athletic

Chelsea

Fulham

Orient

Queens Park Rangers

Watford

West Ham

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Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1979–1980

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

class=notpageimage|

Locations of the Football League Second Division 1979–1980 teams

Third Division

Football League
Third Division

Season	1979–80
Champions	Grimsby Town (1st title)
Promoted	Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday
Relegated	Bury, Mansfield Town, Southend United, Wimbledon
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,422 (2.58 per match)
Top goalscorer	Terry Curran (Sheffield Wednesday), 22
← 1978–79 1980–81 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Grimsby Town	46	18	2	3	46	16	8	8	7	27	26	31	62	Division Champions, promoted
2	Blackburn Rovers	46	13	5	5	34	17	12	4	7	24	19	22	59	Promoted
3	Sheffield Wednesday	46	12	6	5	44	20	9	10	4	37	27	34	58
4	Chesterfield	46	16	5	2	46	16	7	6	10	25	30	25	57
5	Colchester United	46	10	10	3	39	20	10	2	11	25	36	8	52
6	Carlisle United	46	13	6	4	45	26	5	6	12	21	30	10	48
7	Reading	46	14	6	3	43	19	2	10	11	23	46	1	48
8	Exeter City	46	14	5	4	38	22	5	5	13	22	46	−8	48
9	Chester	46	14	6	3	29	18	3	7	13	20	39	−8	47
10	Swindon Town	46	15	4	4	50	20	4	4	15	21	43	8	46
11	Barnsley	46	10	7	6	29	20	6	7	10	24	36	−3	46
12	Sheffield United	46	13	5	5	35	21	5	5	13	25	45	−6	46
13	Rotherham United	46	13	4	6	38	24	5	6	12	20	42	−8	46
14	Millwall	46	14	6	3	49	23	2	7	14	16	36	6	45
15	Plymouth Argyle	46	13	7	3	39	17	3	5	15	20	38	4	44
16	Gillingham	46	8	9	6	26	18	6	5	12	23	33	−2	42
17	Oxford United	46	10	4	9	34	24	4	9	10	23	38	−5	41
18	Blackpool	46	10	7	6	39	34	5	4	14	23	40	−12	41
19	Brentford	46	10	6	7	33	26	5	5	13	26	47	−14	41
20	Hull City	46	11	7	5	29	21	1	9	13	22	48	−18	40
21	Bury	46	10	4	9	30	23	6	3	14	15	36	−14	39	Relegated
22	Southend United	46	11	6	6	33	23	3	4	16	14	35	−11	38
23	Mansfield Town	46	9	9	5	31	24	1	7	15	16	34	−11	36
24	Wimbledon	46	6	8	9	34	38	4	6	13	18	43	−29	34

Source: rsssf.com

Results

Home \ Away	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

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [3] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

Brentford

Millwall

Wimbledon

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Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1979–1980

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

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Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1979–1980

Fourth Division

Football League
Fourth Division

Season	1979–80
Champions	Huddersfield Town (1st title)
Promoted	Newport County, Portsmouth, Walsall
Failed re-election	None
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,460 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorer	Colin Garwood (Portsmouth / Aldershot), 27
← 1978–79 1980–81 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Huddersfield Town	46	16	5	2	61	18	11	7	5	40	30	53	66	Division Champions, promoted
2	Walsall	46	12	9	2	43	23	11	9	3	32	24	28	64	Promoted
3	Newport County	46	16	5	2	47	22	11	2	10	36	28	33	61	Welsh Cup winners, qualified for UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1980–81 First round
4	Portsmouth	46	15	5	3	62	23	9	7	7	29	26	42	60	Promoted
5	Bradford City	46	14	6	3	44	14	10	6	7	33	36	27	60
6	Wigan Athletic	46	13	5	5	42	26	8	8	7	34	35	15	55
7	Lincoln City	46	14	8	1	43	12	4	9	10	21	30	22	53
8	Peterborough United	46	14	3	6	39	22	7	7	9	19	25	11	52
9	Torquay United	46	13	7	3	47	25	2	10	11	23	44	1	47
10	Aldershot	46	10	7	6	35	23	6	6	11	27	30	9	45
11	Bournemouth	46	8	9	6	32	25	5	9	9	20	26	1	44
12	Doncaster Rovers	46	11	6	6	37	27	4	8	11	25	36	−1	44
13	Northampton Town	46	14	5	4	33	16	2	7	14	18	50	−15	44
14	Scunthorpe United	46	11	9	3	37	23	3	6	14	21	52	−17	43
15	Tranmere Rovers	46	10	4	9	32	24	4	9	10	18	32	−6	41
16	Stockport County	46	9	7	7	30	31	5	5	13	18	41	−24	40
17	York City	46	9	6	8	35	34	5	5	13	30	48	−17	39
18	Halifax Town	46	11	9	3	29	20	2	4	17	17	52	−26	39
19	Hartlepool United	46	10	7	6	36	28	4	3	16	23	36	−5	38
20	Port Vale	46	8	6	9	34	24	4	6	13	22	46	−14	36
21	Hereford United	46	8	7	8	22	21	3	7	13	16	31	−14	36	Re-elected
22	Darlington	46	7	11	5	33	26	2	6	15	17	48	−24	35
23	Crewe Alexandra	46	10	6	7	25	27	1	7	15	10	41	−33	35
24	Rochdale	46	6	7	10	20	28	1	6	16	13	51	−46	27

Source:

Results

Home \ Away	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

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: [4] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Maps

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

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Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1979–1980

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.

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.