1980/81 - division one
about the programme
The 1980/81 programme saw in crease in pages from 24 to 28, and a price-hike, to 25p. The 21 league programmes were added to with 2 League Cup issues, and 1 for the FA Cup 3rd round replay against Manchester United in January 1981. The design saw a ‘squarer’ design with match action on the cover. The first home programme carried a team photo on the cover, with Michael Robinson added in using a very crude ‘cut and paste’! He was signed too late to be included in the original squad photo (which you can see on the cover of 2 of the friendly programmes). Inside, ‘Seagull News’ and ‘Scene around the Goldsone’ was followed by match action, and ‘Introducing’ profiled squad members throughout the season. The opposition were covered across the centre pages, followed by ‘Voice-piece’, written by local journalists. ‘Football around the World’, commercial news, ‘What the Papers Say’ and statistics rounded off a very readable programme. The 4 home friendlies were all against foreign opposition with the first of these, against Maccabi Netanya from Israel, saw Albion win the Jewish Chronicle Trophy.
click on image for full programme
16 aug 80
v wolverhampton wanderers
w 2-0
Albion scorers: Gordon Smith, John Gregory
Att: 19,307
26 aug 80
v tranmere rovers
(league cup 2nd rnd, 1st leg)
w 3-1
Albion scorers: Steve Foster, Michael Robinson, Peter Ward
Att: 10,055
30 aug 80
v west bromwich albion
l 1-2
Albion scorers: Michael Robinson
Att: 18,162
13 sep 80
v birmingham city
d 2-2
Albion scorers: Neil McNab, Mark Lawrenson
Att: 15,788
20 sep 80
v norwich city
w 2-1
Albion scorers: Michael Robinson, Gary Stevens
Att: 14,877
23 sep 80
v coventry city
(league cup 3rd rnd)
l 1-2
Albion scorers: Gerry Ryan
Att: 14,426
7 oct 80
v everton
l 1-3
Albion scorers: Peter Ward
Att: 16,523
11 oct 80
v nottingham forest
l 0-1
Albion scorers: n/a
Att: 17,420
25 oct 80
v manchester city
l 1-2
Albion scorers: Michael Robinson
Att: 18,368
8 nov 80
v middlesbrough
l 0-1
Albion scorers: n/a
Att: 12,112
11 nov 80
v ipswich town
w 1-0
Albion scorers: Michael Robinson
Att: 17,055
22 nov 80
v manchester united
l 1-4
Albion scorers: Andy Ritchie
Att: 23,277
6 dec 80
v sunderland
w 2-1
Albion scorers: Michael Robinson, Andy Ritchie
Att: 13,903
20 dec 80
v aston villa
w 1-0
Albion scorers: Michael Robinson
Att: 16,425
27 dec 80
v crystal palace
w 3-2
Albion scorers: Peter O’Sullivan, Michael Robinson 2
Att: 27,367
7 jan 81
v manchester united
(fa cup 3rd rnd replay)
l 0-2
Albion scorers: n/a
Att: 26,928
31 jan 81
v tottenham hotspur
l 0-2
Albion scorers: n/a
Att: 23,354
21 feb 81
v liverpool
d 2-2
Albion scorers: Michael Robinson, Gordon Smith
Att: 23,275
24 feb 81
v southampton
w 2-0
Albion scorers: Gary Williams (pen), Giles Stille
Att: 23,715
7 mar 81
v coventry city
w 4-1
Albion scorers: Michael Robinson 2, Giles Stille, Gordon Smith
Att: 14,063
21 mar 81
v stoke city
d 1-1
Albion scorers: Michael Robinson
Att: 13,583
28 mar 81
v Manchester City
d 1-1
Albion scorers: John Gregory
Att: 30,122
4 apr 81
v arsenal
l 0-1
Albion scorers: n/a
Att: 21,015
18 apr 81
v crystal Palace
w 3-0
Albion scorers: John Gregory (2), Gordon Smith
Att: 18,792
20 apr 81
v leicester city
w 2-1
Albion scorers: Michael Robinson, John Gregory
Att: 21,179
2 may 81
v leeds united
w 2-1
Albion scorers: Steve Foster, Andy Ritchie
Att: 27,577
Albion won their final 4 games to avoid relegation by just 2 points
friendlies/testimonials
29 jul 80
v maccabi netanya
w 2-0
Albion scorers: Ray McHale, Peter Sayer
Att: n/a
5 & 7 aug 80
drecht steden tournament
Albion beat RWD Molenbeek (Belgium) 5-0, thanks to goals from Peter Ward (2), Michael Robinson, Brian Horton (pen) & John Gregory. Two days later, we drew 1-1 with Twente Enschede, John Gregory scoring our goal.
11 aug 80
v sparta rotterdam
D 1-1
Albion scorers: Giles Stille
Att: n/a
25 nov 80
v nac breda
l 0-2
Albion scorers: n/a
Att: n/a
6 may 81
v fc groningen
d 1-1
Albion scorers: Andy Ritchie
Att: n/a
