League Cup 1980/81

The League Cup 1980/81 was the 21st edition of the English League Cup , which had existed since 1960 .

The competition started on August 8, 1980 with the first round and ended on April 1, 1981 with the second final at Wembley . The title went to Liverpool FC , who defeated the second division West Ham United in the final after a 1-1 draw in the first game and 2-1 in the replay. Liverpool won the English League Cup for the first time in its second appearance in the final after 1978 . West Ham rose at the end of the season as a second division champion in the First Division .

First round

	total		First leg	Return leg
Aldershot Town	3: 4	Wimbledon FC	2-0	1: 4
Blackburn Rovers	(a)1: 1 (a)	Huddersfield Town	0-0	1: 1 a.d.
Bournemouth AFC	1: 3	Swindon Town	1: 1	0: 2 a.d.
Brentford FC	3: 6	Charlton Athletic	3: 1	0: 5
Bury FC	3: 2	Halifax Town	2: 2	1-0
Carlisle United	3: 1	Rochdale AFC	2-0	1: 1
Chester City	1: 2	Stockport County	1: 1	0: 1 a.d.
Chesterfield FC	3: 1	Darlington FC	1-0	2: 1
Colchester United	1: 4	Gillingham FC	0: 2	1: 2
Doncaster Rovers	2: 3	Mansfield Town	1: 1	1: 2 a.d.
Exeter City	2: 2 (6: 7 on behalf)	Bristol Rovers	1: 1	1: 1 a.d.
Grimsby Town	1: 3	Notts County	1-0	0: 3
Hereford United	1: 5	AFC Newport County	1-0	0: 5
Lincoln City FC	7-0	Hull City	5-0	2-0
Northampton Town	3: 4	Reading FC	0: 2	3: 2
Peterborough United	4: 3	Fulham FC	3: 2	1: 1 a.d.
Plymouth Argyle	1: 3	Portsmouth FC	0: 1	1: 2
FC Port Vale	(a)3: 3 ( a )	Tranmere Rovers	2: 3	1: 0 a.d.
Rotherham United	1: 3	Bradford City	1: 3	0-0
Scunthorpe United	1: 3	Barnsley FC	0: 1	1: 2
Sheffield Wednesday	3: 1	Sheffield United	2-0	1: 1
Southend United	1: 2	Oxford United	1-0	0: 2
Torquay United	1: 2	Cardiff City	0-0	1: 2
Walsall FC	3: 6	Blackpool FC	2: 3	1: 3
Watford FC	3: 6	Millwall FC	2: 3	1: 3
Wigan Athletic	4: 3	Crewe Alexandra	2: 1	2: 2 a.d.
Wrexham FC	2: 5	Burnley FC	1: 3	1: 2
York city	2: 1	Hartlepool United	2: 1	0-0

Second round

	total		First leg	Return leg
Aston Villa	4: 1	Leeds United	1-0	3: 1
Birmingham City	2: 1	Bristol City	2: 1	0-0
Blackburn Rovers	2: 1	Gillingham FC	0-0	2: 1 a.d.
Bolton Wanderers	1: 5	Crystal Palace	0: 3	1: 2
Bradford City	1: 4	Liverpool FC	1-0	0: 4
Brighton & Hove Albion	7: 3	Tranmere Rovers	3: 1	4: 2
Burnley FC	0: 6	West Ham United	0: 2	0: 4
Cambridge United	4: 1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3: 1	1-0
Cardiff City	2: 1	Chelsea FC	1-0	1: 1
Carlisle United	2: 4	Charlton Athletic	1: 2	1: 2
Chesterfield FC	3: 4	Oxford United	3: 1	0: 3
Everton FC	5: 2	Blackpool FC	3-0	2: 2
Lincoln City FC	1: 3	Swindon Town	1: 1	0: 2
Manchester United	0: 2	Coventry City	0: 1	0: 1
Mansfield Town	2: 4	Barnsley FC	0-0	2: 4 a.d.
Middlesbrough FC	3: 4	Ipswich Town	3: 1	0: 3
Newcastle United	(a)3: 3 ( a )	Bury FC	3: 2	0: 1 a.d.
AFC Newport County	1: 3	Notts County	1: 1	0: 2
Nottingham Forest	4: 1	Peterborough United	3-0	1: 1
Oldham Athletic	(a)3: 3 ( a )	Portsmouth FC	3: 2	0: 1 a.d.
Leyton Orient	1: 4	Tottenham Hotspur	0: 1	1: 3
Preston North End	3: 1	Wigan Athletic	1-0	2: 1
Queens Park Rangers	0: 0 (5: 3 on behalf)	Derby County	0-0	0: 0 a.d.
Reading FC	1: 3	Luton Town	0: 2	1: 1
Shrewsbury Town	1: 3	Norwich City	1: 1	0: 2 a.d.
Southampton FC	5: 7	Watford FC	4-0	1: 7 a.d.
Stockport County	3: 2	Sunderland FC	1: 1	2: 1
Stoke City	1: 4	Manchester City	1: 1	0: 3
Swansea City	2: 5	Arsenal FC	1: 1	1: 3
West Bromwich Albion	2-0	Leicester City	1-0	1-0
Wimbledon FC	3: 4	Sheffield Wednesday	2: 1	1: 3
York city	(a)2: 2 ( a )	Bristol Rovers	2: 1	0: 1 a.d.

Third round

	Result
Barnsley FC	3: 2	Cardiff City
Birmingham City	1-0	Blackburn Rovers
Brighton & Hove Albion	1: 2	Coventry City
Bristol Rovers	0-0	Portsmouth FC
Bury FC	0: 7	Nottingham Forest
Cambridge United	2: 1	Aston Villa
Charlton Athletic	1: 2	West Ham United
Everton FC	1: 2	West Bromwich Albion
Ipswich Town	1: 1	Norwich City
Liverpool FC	5-0	Swindon Town
Luton Town	1: 2	Manchester City
Notts County	4: 1	Queens Park Rangers
Preston North End	1-0	Oxford United
Sheffield Wednesday	1: 2	Watford FC
Stockport County	1: 3	Arsenal FC
Tottenham Hotspur	0-0	Crystal Palace

Replay games

	Result
Portsmouth FC	2-0	Bristol Rovers
Norwich City	1: 3	Ipswich Town
Crystal Palace	1: 3	Tottenham Hotspur

Fourth round

	Result
Birmingham City	2: 1	Ipswich Town
Coventry City	1: 1	Cambridge United
Liverpool FC	4: 1	Portsmouth FC
Manchester City	5: 1	Notts County
Tottenham Hotspur	1-0	Arsenal FC
Watford FC	4: 1	Nottingham Forest
West Bromwich Albion	0-0	Preston North End
West Ham United	2: 1	Barnsley FC