1980–81 Eerste Divisie
# 1980–81 Eerste Divisie

The Dutch Eerste Divisie in the 1980–81 season was contested by 19 teams. HFC Haarlem won the championship.

## New entrants

Relegated from the 1979–80 Eredivisie

* HFC Haarlem
* Vitesse Arnhem

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | HFC Haarlem | 36 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 78 | 25 | +53 | 54 | Promoted to Eredivisie. |
| 2 | sc Heerenveen | 36 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 68 | 41 | +27 | 46 | Qualified for Promotion play-off as Period champions. |
| 3 | FC Volendam | 36 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 68 | 49 | +19 | 46 | |
| 4 | Fortuna Sittard | 36 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 65 | 50 | +15 | 43 | |
| 5 | DS '79 | 36 | 17 | 8 | 11 | 64 | 49 | +15 | 42 | Qualified for Promotion play-off as Period champions. |
| 6 | FC Den Bosch | 36 | 17 | 8 | 11 | 46 | 41 | +5 | 42 | Qualified for Promotion play-off as Period champions. |
| 7 | De Graafschap | 36 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 55 | 43 | +12 | 41 | Qualified for Promotion play-off as Period champions. |
| 8 | Vitesse Arnhem | 36 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 55 | 58 | −3 | 38 | |
| 9 | SC Cambuur | 36 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 46 | 38 | +8 | 36 | |
| 10 | FC Eindhoven | 36 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 47 | 44 | +3 | 36 | |
| 11 | Telstar | 36 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 43 | 56 | −13 | 35 | |
| 12 | Helmond Sport | 36 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 45 | 45 | 0 | 34 | |
| 13 | VVV-Venlo | 36 | 14 | 5 | 17 | 68 | 74 | −6 | 33 | |
| 14 | SVV | 36 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 35 | 47 | −12 | 33 | |
| 15 | SC Veendam | 36 | 11 | 9 | 16 | 53 | 65 | −12 | 31 | |
| 16 | FC Amsterdam | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 45 | 62 | −17 | 29 | |
| 17 | SC Amersfoort | 36 | 7 | 9 | 20 | 30 | 59 | −29 | 23 | |
| 18 | FC Vlaardingen | 36 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 31 | 59 | −28 | 22 | Withdrew owing to bankruptcy. |
| 19 | SC Heracles | 36 | 7 | 6 | 23 | 35 | 72 | −37 | 20 | |

## Promotion competition

In the promotion competition, four period winners (the best teams during each of the four quarters of the regular competition) played for promotion to the eredivisie.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | De Graafschap | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 8 | Promoted to Eredivisie. |
| 2 | sc Heerenveen | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 7 | |
| 3 | FC Den Bosch | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 6 | |
| 4 | DS '79 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 15 | −6 | 3 | |
