1980–81 Alliance Premier League
# 1980–81 Alliance Premier League

The 1980–81 Alliance Premier League season was the second season of the Alliance Premier League. Altrincham were the winners of their second Alliance Premier League title.

## New team(s) in the league this season

* Frickley Athletic (promoted 1979–80)

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | HW | HD | HL | HGF | HGA | AW | AD | AL | AGF | AGA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Altrincham | 38 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 40 | 21 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 32 | 20 | +31 | 54 | Alliance Premier League champions, no promotion |
| 2 | Kettering Town | 38 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 38 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 28 | 25 | +29 | 51 | |
| 3 | Scarborough | 38 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 25 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 18 | +20 | 47 | |
| 4 | Northwich Victoria | 38 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 27 | +13 | 45 | |
| 5 | Weymouth | 38 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 30 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 24 | 22 | +14 | 44 | |
| 6 | Bath City | 38 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 28 | 24 | +19 | 42 | |
| 7 | Maidstone United | 38 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 42 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 22 | 35 | +11 | 41 | |
| 8 | Boston United | 38 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 39 | 30 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 28 | +5 | 41 | |
| 9 | Barrow | 38 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 25 | 31 | +1 | 38 | |
| 10 | Frickley Athletic | 38 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 25 | 40 | −1 | 38 | |
| 11 | Stafford Rangers | 38 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 34 | 22 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 22 | 34 | 0 | 37 | |
| 12 | Worcester City | 38 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 33 | 25 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 29 | −7 | 35 | |
| 13 | Telford United | 38 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 25 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 22 | 36 | −12 | 35 | |
| 14 | Yeovil Town | 38 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 37 | 30 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 23 | 34 | −4 | 34 | |
| 15 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 38 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 26 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 22 | 34 | −7 | 34 | |
| 16 | AP Leamington | 38 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 29 | 26 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 40 | −19 | 31 | |
| 17 | Barnet | 38 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 27 | 26 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 38 | −25 | 31 | |
| 18 | Nuneaton Borough | 38 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 27 | 31 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 22 | 34 | −16 | 29 | Relegated to Southern League Midland Division |
| 19 | Wealdstone | 38 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 27 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 37 | −19 | 29 | Relegated to Southern League Southern Division |
| 20 | Bangor City | 38 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 25 | 34 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 34 | −33 | 24 | Relegated to Northern Premier League |

* ↑ Alliance Premier League Cup winners
* ↑ New club in the Alliance Premier League

Note: FA Trophy winners (Bishop's Stortford, Isthmian League Division One)

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALT | APL | BAN | BAR | BRW | BAT | BOS | FRK | GRN | KET | MDS | NOR | NUN | SCA | STA | TEL | WEA | WEY | WRC | YEO |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Altrincham | | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 4–3 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| AP Leamington | 2–4 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 3–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Bangor City | 4–5 | 1–0 | | 4–2 | 2–6 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–5 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Barnet | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 4–4 |
| Barrow | 0–4 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Bath City | 0–1 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Boston United | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 4–2 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 5–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| Frickley Athletic | 0–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 2–4 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Gravesend & Northfleet | 0–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 |
| Kettering Town | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 6–1 | 2–0 | | 3–0 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Maidstone United | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 4–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 4–2 |
| Northwich Victoria | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Nuneaton Borough | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–5 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 0–4 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 3–0 |
| Scarborough | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Stafford Rangers | 1–3 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Telford United | 3–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 5–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Wealdstone | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Weymouth | 0–0 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Worcester City | 0–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–4 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 4–1 | 2–1 | | 0–1 |
| Yeovil Town | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 5–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–5 | 3–0 | |

## Tops scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Total |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Williams | Northwich Victoria | 26 |
| 2 | J. N. Evans | Kettering Town | 25 |
| 3 | Graham Heathcote | Altrincham | 19 |
| = | John Rogers | Altrincham | 19 |
| = | Graham Withey | Bath City | 19 |
| 6 | Frank Ovard | Maidstone United | 17 |
| 7 | Clive Green | Yeovil Town | 16 |
| 8 | Colin Cowperthwaite | Barrow | 15 |
| 9 | David Mather | Telford United | 13 |
| 10 | D. Gardner | AP Leamington | 12 |
| = | Hickton | AP Leamington | 12 |
| = | Aniello Iannone | Weymouth | 12 |
| = | Mick Wadsworth | Frickley Athletic | 12 |
| = | Woodall | Frickley Athletic | 12 |

* ↑ Williams' goals include also goals scored in the League Cup.
* ↑ The number of goals is the sum of league and league cup goals.

## Promotion and relegation

### Promoted

* Dagenham (from the Isthmian League Premier Division)
* Dartford (from the Southern League Southern Division)
* Enfield (from the Isthmian League Premier Division)
* Runcorn (from the Northern Premier League)
* Trowbridge Town (from the Southern League Midland Division)

### Relegated

* Bangor City (to the Northern Premier League)
* Nuneaton Borough (to the Southern League Midland Division)
* Wealdstone (to the Southern League Southern Division)

## Election to the Football League

As winners of the Alliance Premier League Altrincham won (for the second season running) the right to apply for election to the Football League to replace one of the four bottom sides in the 1980–81 Football League Fourth Division. The vote went as follows:

| Club | Final Position | Votes |
| - | - | - |
| Tranmere Rovers | 21st (Fourth Division) | 48 |
| Hereford United | 22nd (Fourth Division) | 46 |
| York City | 24th (Fourth Division) | 46 |
| Halifax Town | 23rd (Fourth Division) | 41 |
| Altrincham | 1st (Alliance Premier League) | 15 |

As a result of this, Altrincham did not gain membership of the Football League.

