| Competition: | 2. Bundesliga |
| Season: | 1979–80 |
| Winners: | Nord: Arminia Bielefeld Süd: 1. FC Nürnberg |
| Relegated: | Nord: DSC Wanne-Eickel OSC Bremerhaven Arminia Hannover Wuppertaler SV Süd: MTV 1881 Ingolstadt Röchling Völklingen FV Würzburg 04 |
| League Topscorer: | Nord: Christian Sackewitz (35 goals) Süd: Emanuel Günther (29 goals) |
| Matches: | Nord: 380 Süd: 420 |
| Average Attendance: | Nord: 4,551 Süd: 4,960 |
| Prevseason: | 1978–79 |
| Nextseason: | 1980–81 |
The 1979–80 2. Bundesliga season was the sixth season of the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system. It was played in two regional divisions, Nord and Süd.
Arminia Bielefeld, 1. FC Nürnberg and Karlsruher SC were promoted to the Bundesliga while DSC Wanne-Eickel, OSC Bremerhaven, Arminia Hannover, Wuppertaler SV, MTV 1881 Ingolstadt, Röchling Völklingen and FV Würzburg 04 were relegated to the Oberligas.
The 1979–80 season saw OSC Bremerhaven, OSV Hannover, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and SC Herford promoted to the 2. Bundesliga from the Oberligas while Arminia Bielefeld had been relegated to the 2. Bundesliga Nord from the Bundesliga.
The league's top scorers:[1]
| Goals | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 35 | Christian Sackewitz | Arminia Bielefeld |
| 34 | Dieter Schatzschneider | Hannover 96 |
| 30 | Norbert Eilenfeldt | Arminia Bielefeld |
| 26 | Karl-Heinz Mödrath | Fortuna Köln |
| 24 | Norbert Stolzenburg | Tennis Borussia Berlin |
| 21 | Gerd-Volker Schock | Arminia Bielefeld |
| 18 | Ewald Hammes | SG Wattenscheid 09 |
| Bernd Krumbein | OSV Hannover | |
| Peter Kunkel | SG Wattenscheid 09 | |
| 17 | Norbert Lücke | DSC Wanne-Eickel |
| Frank-Michael Schonert | Viktoria Köln | |
The 1979–80 season saw ESV Ingolstadt, SV Röchling Völklingen, SSV Ulm 1846 and VfR Oli Bürstadt promoted to the 2. Bundesliga from the Oberligas and SV Darmstadt 98 and 1. FC Nürnberg relegated to the 2. Bundesliga Süd from the Bundesliga.
The league's top scorers:[2]
| Goals | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 29 | Emanuel Günther | Karlsruher SC |
| 26 | Walter Krause | Kickers Offenbach |
| 25 | Karl Allgöwer | Stuttgarter Kickers |
| 20 | Bodo Mattern | VfR Wormatia Worms |
| 17 | Werner Heck | 1. FC Saarbrücken |
| Hans Krostina | MTV 1881 Ingolstadt | |
| Uwe Sommerer | SpVgg Bayreuth | |
| 16 | Uwe Dreher | Stuttgarter Kickers |
| 15 | Eduard Kirschner | SpVgg Fürth |
| Rainer Künkel | 1. FC Saarbrücken | |
| Werner Nickel | Stuttgarter Kickers | |
| Karl-Heinz Struth | Karlsruher SC | |
| Lothar Wesseler | VfR Wormatia Worms | |
The final place in the Bundesliga was contested between the two runners-up in the Nord and Süd divisions. Karlsruher SC won on aggregate and were promoted to the Bundesliga.[3]