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1980–81 Arsenal F.C. season

English football club season

Field	Value
club	Arsenal F.C.
season	1980–81
chairman	Denis Hill-Wood
manager	Terry Neill
league	First Division
league result	3rd
league topscorer
Frank Stapleton (14)
season topscorer
Frank Stapleton (16)
cup1	FA Cup
cup1 result	Third round
cup2	League Cup
cup2 result	Fourth round
highest attendance	54,045 vs Tottenham Hotspur
(30 August 1980)
lowest attendance	17,431 vs Birmingham City
(31 March 1981)
prevseason	1979–80
nextseason	1981–82
pattern_la1	_redborder
pattern_b1	_arsenal78h
pattern_ra1	_redborder
pattern_so1	_arsenal69hl
leftarm1	FFFFFF
body1	FF0000
rightarm1	FFFFFF
shorts1	FFFFFF
pattern_la2	_arsenal69a
pattern_b2	_arsenal7879a
pattern_ra2	_arsenal69a
pattern_so2	_arsenal68al
shorts2	0000FF

Frank Stapleton (14) Frank Stapleton (16) (30 August 1980) (31 March 1981) The 1980–81 season was Arsenal Football Club's 55th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. The club ended their campaign third in the Football League First Division, despite a dismal start. Manager Terry Neill was attempting to follow up on finalist performances in both the FA Cup and the European Cup Winner's Cup during the previous season.

In the transfer business, Arsenal lost first-team regular Liam Brady to Juventus. Arsenal signed 19-year-old Clive Allen from Queens Park Rangers as a forward for £1.250.000 million, a club transfer record. However, Allen failed to make a competitive match appearance for the club and was instead moved-on to Crystal Palace in a swap deal for Kenny Sanson. Peter Nicholas also joined the club in March.

Frank Stapleton was Arsenal's top scorer in both the league and in all competitions. He left Arsenal for Manchester United at the end of the season.

Throughout the season, Arsenal went undefeated at Highbury in the League.

Season summary

After the gruelling and heart breaking 70-match season in 1979/80, it was clear that Arsenal needed reinforcements if they wanted to progress to the next level, and it was essential that the money earned from their cup runs should be invested in the squad. Arsenal only received the maximum £600,000 allowed by UEFA and the EEC for international transfers when Liam Brady went to Juventus.

With the impending departure of Brady, Arsenal fans were in need of some positives, so the signing of Clive Allen at least provided a glimmer of hope. The 19-year-old centre forward was one of the most exciting prospects in the English game. After scoring 28 goals for QPR in the Second Division in 1979/80 Arsenal signed the teenager to provide competition and assistance to Frank Stapleton and Alan Sunderland. Arsenal had smashed their transfer record, spending £1.25 million on Allen, completely blitzing their previous high of £440,000 on Brian Talbot in the process and making Allen the first £1 million teenager.

Clive Allen's Arsenal career was over after just 62 days at the club. Allen, who played just three pre-season games for Arsenal, headed to Crystal Palace along with goalkeeper Paul Barron. In return England defender Kenny Sansom arrived at Highbury.

Arsenal also bought defensive midfielder Peter Nicholas from Crystal Palace in March 1981. He joined Arsenal when the club had won a grand total of three of the last 14 games played. After that Arsenal played nine, and only dropped two points and Nicholas didn’t play on the losing side. When he joined Arsenal they were 7th, eleven points behind the leaders.

By the end of the season Arsenal were 3rd, seven points behind the leaders, and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Arsenal had gone through the whole season undefeated at Highbury in the League and were undefeated in their final nine matches.

Pre-season and friendlies

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score
F–A	Scorers	Attendance	1 August 1980	3 August 1980	9 August 1980	10 August 1980
Rangers	A	L	0–2		27,000
Aberdeen	A	L	1–2	Stapleton
Vasco da Gama	N	L	1–2	Talbot
Partizan Belgrade	A	D	0–0

Results

First Division

Main article: 1980–81 Football League#First Division

Football League Cup

Main article: 1980–81 Football League Cup

(1st Leg) (2nd Leg)

FA Cup

Main article: 1980–81 FA Cup

Arsenal entered the FA Cup in the third round proper, in which they were drawn to face Everton.

Squad

Top scorers

First Division

IRL Frank Stapleton 14
ENG Alan Sunderland 7
ENG Brian Talbot 7

References

Soar, Phil. (1986). "Arsenal 1886-1986 : the official centenary history of Arsenal Football Club". Hamlyn.
Eccleshare, Charlie. (13 October 2019). "Seven London clubs in one day. Clive Allen retraces the steps of a remarkable career".
(14 February 2018). "Footballers joining and leaving a club soon after".
James, Josh. (2008). "Arsenal: The Complete Record". deCoubertin Books.
Spurling, Jon. (2001). "All Guns Blazing". Aureus.
Donnelley, Paul. (2009). "Arsenal On This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year". Pitch Publishing Ltd.
Soar, Phil. (2003). "The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal.". Hamlyn.
Arsenal and Man United in hunt for Germany U-21 ace. "Arsenal FC - Kader 1980/1981". Worldfootball.net.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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