1980–81 Newport County A.F.C. season

Newport County
1980–81 season
Chairman	Richard Ford
Manager	Len Ashurst
Stadium	Somerton Park
Third Division	12th
European Cup Winners' Cup	Quarter-final
FA Cup	1st round
League Cup	2nd round
Welsh Cup	Semi-final
Top goalscorer	League: Gwyther (16); All: Gwyther (21)
Highest home attendance	18,000 vs FC Carl Zeiss Jena (ECWC, 18 Mar 1981)
Lowest home attendance	3,748 vs Carlisle United (5 May 1981)
Average home league attendance	5,658
Home colours	Away colours

The 1980–81 season was Newport County's first season back in the Third Division since relegation in 1962 and their 53rd season overall in the Football League.

The club finished a credible 12th in the Third Division but this season was all about County's first European competition, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

Season review

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
46	15	13	18	64	61	+3	43	11	6	6	38	22	+16	4	7	12	26	39	−13

Source: rsssf.com

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	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	D	L	W	W	L	L	L	L	W	D	W	L	L	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	D	D	D	L	L	D	W	L	L	D	W	D	D	L	W	D	D	L	W	D	W	D	W	L	W	L
Position	13	17	10	7	11	15	21	24	22	20	19	19	20	21	18	14	14	15	18	18	16	16	16	16	17	17	15	17	17	19	17	17	17	18	15	14	16	21	20	18	20	18	15	16	12	12

Updated to match(es) played on 7 May 1981. Source: statto.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Fixtures and results

Third Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
16 Aug 1980	Burnley	A	1–1	J.Aldridge	6,715
19 Aug 1980	Charlton Athletic	H	1–2	T.Tynan	8,062
23 Aug 1980	Millwall	H	2–1	T.Tynan 2	6,620
30 Aug 1980	Carlisle United	A	4–1	J.Aldridge, K.Elsey, D.Gwyther, K.Moore	2,859
6 Sep 1980	Gillingham	A	2–3	S.Lowndes, K.Oakes	4,712
13 Sep 1980	Oxford United	H	0–1		5,256
20 Sep 1980	Chesterfield	A	2–3	D.Gwyther, T.Tynan	5,277
27 Sep 1980	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–2		6,878
4 Oct 1980	Brentford	A	1–0	S.Lowndes	6,360
7 Oct 1980	Reading	H	0–0		5,545
11 Oct 1980	Portsmouth	H	2–1	K.Oakes 2	7,003
14 Oct 1980	Sheffield United	A	0–2		9,776
18 Oct 1980	Walsall	A	0–1		4,335
25 Oct 1980	Huddersfield Town	H	3–2	K.Oakes, S.Lowndes, D.Gwyther	6,403
28 Oct 1980	Fulham	H	2–1	J.Aldridge, OG	6,029
1 Nov 1980	Blackpool	A	4–2	K.Oakes 2, J.Aldridge, D.Gwyther	4,556
8 Nov 1980	Hull City	H	4–0	K.Oakes, D.Gwyther, N.Bailey, S.Lowndes	5,495
11 Nov 1980	Charlton Athletic	A	0–3		6,911
15 Nov 1980	Burnley	H	1–2	T.Tynan	5,370
29 Nov 1980	Rotherham United	A	0–1		5,512
3 Dec 1980	Chester	A	1–1	S.Lowndes	1,640
6 Dec 1980	Barnsley	H	0–0		5,537
13 Dec 1980	Chester	H	1–1	D.Gwyther	4,149
20 Dec 1980	Colchester United	A	0–1		2,160
26 Dec 1980	Swindon Town	H	0–2		7,086
27 Dec 1980	Exeter City	A	2–2	T.Tynan, D.Gwyther	6,295
3 Jan 1981	Sheffield United	H	4–0	D.Gwyther, S.Lowndes, K.Moore, T.Tynan	6,630
10 Jan 1981	Huddersfield Town	A	1–4	S.Lowndes	9,063
16 Jan 1981	Rotherham United	H	0–1		4,783
31 Jan 1981	Millwall	A	0–0		4,913
7 Feb 1981	Oxford United	A	1–0	D.Gwyther	4,440
14 Feb 1981	Gillingham	H	1–1	D.Gwyther	5,172
18 Feb 1981	Reading	A	1–1	S.Lowndes	3,876
21 Feb 1981	Plymouth Argyle	A	2–3	T.Tynan, D.Gwyther	4,315
28 Feb 1981	Chesterfield	H	5–1	T.Tynan 2, D.Gwyther, K.Oakes, S.Lowndes	5,340
7 Mar 1981	Brentford	H	1–1	T.Tynan	5,224
14 Mar 1981	Portsmouth	A	0–0		13,208
28 Mar 1981	Fulham	A	1–2	D.Gwyther	4,570
4 Apr 1981	Blackpool	H	3–1	J.Aldridge 2, A.Waddle	4,514
7 Apr 1981	Walsall	H	1–1	K.Moore	5,446
18 Apr 1981	Exeter City	H	2–1	T.Tynan, A.Waddle	5,231
20 Apr 1981	Swindon Town	A	1–1	A.Waddle	8,435
25 Apr 1981	Colchester United	H	1–0	J.Aldridge	4,619
2 May 1981	Barnsley	A	1–4	D.Gwyther	15,659
5 May 1981	Carlisle United	H	4–0	D.Gwyther 2, T.Tynan, N.Vaughan	3,748
7 May 1981	Hull City	A	1–3	K.Elsey	2,059

European Cup Winners' Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Notes
1–1	16 Sep 1980	Crusaders	Somerton Park	4–0	Bruton, Gwyther, Aldridge, Moore	6,285
1–2	1 Oct 1980	Crusaders	Seaview	0–0		1,500	4–0 agg
2–1	22 Oct 1980	SK Haugar	Sakkestad Stadion	0–0		4,522
2–2	4 Nov 1980	SK Haugar	Somerton Park	6–0	Tynan 2, Lowndes, Gwyther, Aldridge, Moore	8,855	6–0 agg
QF-1	4 Mar 1981	FC Carl Zeiss Jena	Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld	2–2	Tynan 2	16,000
QF-2	18 Mar 1981	FC Carl Zeiss Jena	Somerton Park	0–1		18,000	2–3 agg

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
1	22 Nov 1980	Plymouth Argyle	Home Park	0–2		6,719

Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Notes
1–1	9 Aug 1980	Hereford United	Edgar Street	0–1		7,745
1–2	12 Aug 1980	Hereford United	Somerton Park	5–0	Vaughan 2, Aldridge 2, Gwyther	5,683	5–1 agg
2–1	26 Aug 1980	Notts County	Somerton Park	1–1	Vaughan	6,708
2–2	2 Sep 1980	Notts County	Meadow Lane	0–2		4,714	1–3 agg

Welsh Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Notes
3	17 Nov 1980	Worcester City	Somerton Park	2–2	Moore, Elsey	2,937
3r	24 Nov 1980	Worcester City	St. George's Lane	3–2	Oakes, Lowndes, Aldridge	3,015
4	6 Jan 1981	Ton Pentre	Somerton Park	3–0	Gwyther 2, Moore	2,949
5	10 Feb 1981	Bangor City	Somerton Park	3–1	Oakes, Vaughan, Tynan	3,018
SF-1	25 Mar 1981	Hereford United	Edgar Street	1–2	Moore	5,251
SF-2	31 Mar 1981	Hereford United	Somerton Park	1–1	Lowndes	5,994	2–3 agg

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Rotherham United	46	24	13	9	62	32	+30	61
2	Barnsley	46	21	17	8	72	45	+27	59
3	Charlton Athletic	46	25	9	12	63	44	+19	59
4	Huddersfield Town	46	21	14	11	71	40	+31	56
5	Chesterfield	46	23	10	13	72	48	+24	56
6	Portsmouth	46	22	9	15	55	47	+8	53
7	Plymouth Argyle	46	19	14	13	56	44	+12	52
8	Burnley	46	18	14	14	60	48	+12	50
9	Brentford	46	14	19	13	52	49	+3	47
10	Reading	46	18	10	18	62	62	+0	46
11	Exeter City	46	16	13	17	62	66	−4	45
12	Newport County	46	15	13	18	64	61	+3	43
13	Fulham	46	15	13	18	57	64	−7	43
14	Oxford United	46	13	17	16	39	47	−8	43
15	Gillingham	46	12	18	16	48	58	−10	42
16	Millwall	46	14	14	18	43	60	−17	42
17	Swindon Town	46	13	15	18	51	56	−5	41
18	Chester	46	15	11	20	38	48	−10	41
19	Carlisle United	46	14	13	19	56	70	−14	41
20	Walsall	46	13	15	18	59	74	−15	41
21	Sheffield United	46	14	12	20	65	63	+2	40
22	Colchester United	46	14	11	21	45	65	−20	39
23	Blackpool	46	9	14	23	45	75	−30	32
24	Hull City	46	8	16	22	40	71	−31	32

Key
	Division Champions
	Promoted
	Relegated