| Administrator: | Test and County Cricket Board |
| Cricket Format: | Limited overs cricket(40 overs per innings) |
| Tournament Format: | League |
| Champions: | Worcestershire |
| Count: | 1 |
| Participants: | 17 |
| Matches: | 136 |
| Most Runs: | 650 Michael Buss (Sussex) |
| Most Wickets: | 33 Keith Boyce (Essex)/Lawrence Williams (Glamorgan) |
| Previous Year: | 1970 |
| Previous Tournament: | 1970 John Player League |
| Next Year: | 1972 |
| Next Tournament: | 1972 John Player League |
The 1971 John Player League was the third competing of what was generally known as the Sunday League. The competition was won for the first time by Worcestershire County Cricket Club.
| width=200 | Team | width=20 | Pld | width=20 | W | width=20 | T | width=20 | L | width=20 | N/R | width=20 | A | width=20 | Pts | width=60 | R/R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcestershire | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 4.522 | |||||||||
| Essex | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 4.519 | |||||||||
| Lancashire | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 4.575 | |||||||||
| Leicestershire | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 4.335 | |||||||||
| Somerset | 16 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 4.436 | |||||||||
| Hampshire | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 4.366 | |||||||||
| Sussex | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 4.704 | |||||||||
| Kent | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 4.435 | |||||||||
| Surrey | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 4.056 | |||||||||
| Glamorgan | 16 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 4.287 | |||||||||
| Derbyshire | 16 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 4.111 | |||||||||
| Nottinghamshire | 16 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 4.365 | |||||||||
| Middlesex | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4.721 | |||||||||
| Northamptonshire | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4.137 | |||||||||
| Yorkshire | 16 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 4.347 | |||||||||
| Gloucestershire | 16 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 4.052 | |||||||||
| Warwickshire | 16 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 4.695 | |||||||||
| Team marked | |||||||||||||||||