# 1979–80 Football League
The 1979–80 Football League season was the [English Football League](https://www.edgepedia.org/english-football-league)'s competition for 1979–80, in which Liverpool retained the First Division title, finishing two points clear of Manchester United in a 22-team top flight.[1](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/liverpool-win-premier-league-all-of-the-reds-top-flight-titles) A win still counted for two points that season; the three-point win was introduced later.[2](https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/298030/1/24023.pdf) Outside the League itself, the season also saw the launch of the Alliance Premier League, the first nationwide league below the Football League.[3](https://www.fchd.info/lghist/1979-80summary.htm)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First Division champion | Liverpool, 60 points from 42 matches (25 wins, 10 draws, 7 losses; 81 goals for, 30 against)[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm) |
| Runner-up | Manchester United, 58 points, two behind Liverpool[1](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/liverpool-win-premier-league-all-of-the-reds-top-flight-titles) • [4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm) |
| Scoring system | Two points for a win, one for a draw[2](https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/298030/1/24023.pdf) |
| Division One totals | 22 clubs, 462 matches, 1,159 goals, an average of 2.51 per match[5](https://the-premier-league.com/season/1979-80/) |
| Lower-division champions | Leicester City (Second), Grimsby Town (Third), Huddersfield Town (Fourth)[3](https://www.fchd.info/lghist/1979-80summary.htm) |
| Relegated from Division One | Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, and Derby County[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm) |
| New competition | The Alliance Premier League was formed; Altrincham won its first title[3](https://www.fchd.info/lghist/1979-80summary.htm) |
## First Division
Liverpool won the title with 60 points, taking 25 of their 42 matches and conceding only 30 goals, the fewest in the division.[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm) Manchester United finished second on 58 points, with Ipswich Town third on 53 and Arsenal fourth on 52.[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm) The title race ran deep into the season: Liverpool and Manchester United began [Boxing Day](https://www.edgepedia.org/boxing-day) level on points at the top of the table, and Liverpool won the Anfield meeting 2–0 that day.[6](https://theliverpoolbrief.com/archive/liverpool-manchester-united-1979-boxing-day)
Across the 22 clubs the division produced 462 matches and 1,159 goals, an average of 2.51 per match, with 134 draws.[5](https://the-premier-league.com/season/1979-80/) Ten clubs finished with a positive goal difference and twelve with a negative one.[5](https://the-premier-league.com/season/1979-80/)
**Relegation.** Bolton Wanderers finished bottom with 25 points, taking only 5 wins all season, and Derby County (30) and Bristol City (31) went down with them.[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm) Leicester City and [Sunderland](https://www.edgepedia.org/sunderland) were promoted from Division Two in their place.[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm)
## Lower divisions
Leicester City won the Second Division with 55 points, one ahead of Sunderland, and both were promoted; Birmingham City and Chelsea, relegated from the First Division the previous season, finished third and fourth on 53 points each, with Birmingham City also promoted while Chelsea missed out.[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm) • [9](https://footballrates.com/tables/div2/1979_80) Burnley and Charlton Athletic were relegated to Division Three.[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm)
Grimsby Town, promoted from Division Four a year earlier, won Division Three with 62 points and went up again along with Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield Wednesday.[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm) In Division Four, Huddersfield Town took the title with 66 points and 101 goals, and were promoted with Walsall, Newport County, and [Portsmouth](https://www.edgepedia.org/portsmouth).[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm)
## Movement between divisions
The season's promotion and relegation reshuffled all four divisions. Entering the season, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, and Stoke City had come up to Division One, while Birmingham City, Chelsea, and Queens Park Rangers had gone down.[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm) After it, Birmingham City returned to Division One as Second Division runners-up on points behind Leicester City, alongside Sunderland, while Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, and Derby County dropped out of the top flight.[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm) Further down, Grimsby Town, Sheffield Wednesday, and Blackburn Rovers moved up to Division Two, and Huddersfield Town, Walsall, Newport County, and Portsmouth to Division Three.[4](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm)
## The wider game in 1979–80
**The Alliance Premier League.** The most significant structural change of the season happened outside the Football League: the Alliance Premier League was formed, creating the first nationwide league below it, and [Altrincham](https://www.edgepedia.org/altrincham) won its inaugural championship.[3](https://www.fchd.info/lghist/1979-80summary.htm) Other non-league winners that season included Enfield in the Isthmian League Premier Division and Blyth Spartans in the Northern League.[3](https://www.fchd.info/lghist/1979-80summary.htm)
**European context.** English clubs were strong in Europe that season: Nottingham Forest won the [1979–80 European Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/1979-80-european-cup), beating Liverpool among others on the way, and defended the trophy [Brian Clough](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-clough)'s side had won the previous year.[7](https://as.com/futbol/champions/los-otros-finalistas-inesperados-de-las-finales-de-champions-league-monaco-tottenham-n/)
## Unofficial championship
Under the Unofficial Football League Championship, a notional title passed between clubs that beat the current holder, the championship changed hands several times in 1979–80. Southampton took it from Liverpool with a 3–2 win on 1 September 1979, Aston Villa claimed it in October, Liverpool regained it on 8 December, and later in the season Coventry City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Nottingham Forest each held it in turn.[8](https://uflc.co.uk/results/1979-80)
## References
1. [Liverpool win Premier League: all of the Reds' top-flight titles, FourFourTwo](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/liverpool-win-premier-league-all-of-the-reds-top-flight-titles)
2. [Reade, J. James; van Ours, Jan C., working paper (Win for two points in 1979/80), EconStor](https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/298030/1/24023.pdf)
3. [Football Club History Database – Season Summary 1979-80](https://www.fchd.info/lghist/1979-80summary.htm)
4. [Football Club History Database – Football League 1979-80](https://fchd.info/lghist/fl1980.htm)
5. [Season 1979-80 statistics, the-premier-league.com](https://the-premier-league.com/season/1979-80/)
6. [Liverpool 2–0 Manchester United: Boxing Day separation, The Liverpool Brief](https://theliverpoolbrief.com/archive/liverpool-manchester-united-1979-boxing-day)
7. [Los otros finalistas inesperados de las finales de Champions League, AS](https://as.com/futbol/champions/los-otros-finalistas-inesperados-de-las-finales-de-champions-league-monaco-tottenham-n/)
8. [UFLC – Results 1979-80](https://uflc.co.uk/results/1979-80)
9. [League table Second Division 1979/80 - FootballRates.com](https://footballrates.com/tables/div2/1979_80)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football competitions and records › Competitions and recurring events › Domestic leagues and league seasons › English Premier League and top flight › Football League First Division seasons (pre-1992 top flight)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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