| Club: | Birmingham City F.C. |
| Season: | 1980–81 |
| Manager: | Jim Smith |
| Chairman: | Keith Coombs |
| Stdtitle: | Ground |
| Stadium: | St Andrew's |
| League: | Football League First Division |
| League Result: | 13th of 22 |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | Fourth round (eliminated by Coventry City) |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Fifth round (eliminated by Liverpool) |
| League Topscorer: | Frank Worthington (16) |
| Season Topscorer: | Frank Worthington (18) |
| Highest Attendance: | 33,879 vs Aston Villa, 11 October 1980 |
| Lowest Attendance: | 12,163 vs Bristol City, League Cup 2nd round, 26 August 1980 |
| Average Attendance: | 19,248 |
| Pattern La1: | _whitelines |
| Pattern B1: | _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes |
| Pattern Ra1: | _whitelines |
| Pattern Sh1: | _blue_stripes_adidas |
| Pattern So1: | _color_3_stripes_blue |
| Leftarm1: | 0000ff |
| Body1: | 0000ff |
| Rightarm1: | 0000ff |
| Prevseason: | 1979–80 |
| Nextseason: | 1981–82 |
The 1980–81 Football League season was Birmingham City Football Club's 78th in the Football League and their 46th in the First Division, to which they were promoted in 1979–80. They finished in 13th position in the 22-team division. They entered the 1980–81 FA Cup in the third round proper and lost to Coventry City in the fourth, and were eliminated in the quarter-final of the League Cup by Liverpool.
Twenty-three players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were eleven different goalscorers. Defenders Joe Gallagher and Dave Langan and midfielder Archie Gemmill each played in every game but one over the season, and Frank Worthington was the club's top scorer with 18 goals, of which 16 were scored in the league.
See main article: 1980–81 Football League.
| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 August 1980 | 4th | Coventry City | H | W | 3–1 | Curbishley 2, Dillon | 21,877 | |
| 20 August 1980 | 10th | Nottingham Forest | A | L | 1–2 | Worthington | 26,561 | |
| 23 August 1980 | 7th | Manchester United | H | D | 0–0 | 28,661 | ||
| 30 August 1980 | 13th | Southampton | A | L | 1–3 | Worthington | 21,683 | |
| 6 September 1980 | 15th | Liverpool | H | D | 1–1 | Worthington | 27,042 | |
| 13 September 1980 | 14th | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | D | 2–2 | Curbishley, Bertschin | 15,767 | |
| 20 September 1980 | 15th | West Bromwich Albion | H | D | 1–1 | Givens | 22,016 | |
| 27 September 1980 | 14th | Norwich City | A | D | 2–2 | Ainscow, Worthington | 13,561 | |
| 4 October 1980 | 15th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | L | 0–1 | 22,777 | ||
| 7 October 1980 | 13th | Arsenal | H | W | 3–1 | Lynex, Worthington, Dillon | 15,511 | |
| 11 October 1980 | 15th | Aston Villa | H | L | 1–2 | Worthington pen | 33,879 | |
| 18 October 1980 | 14th | Manchester City | A | W | 1–0 | Gemmill pen | 30,041 | |
| 25 October 1980 | 14th | Stoke City | H | D | 1–1 | Bertschin | 16,535 | |
| 1 November 1980 | 11th | Middlesbrough | A | W | 2–1 | Worthington 2 | 13,292 | |
| 8 November 1980 | 9th | Crystal Palace | H | W | 1–0 | Bertschin | 16,910 | |
| 11 November 1980 | 9th | Nottingham Forest | H | W | 2–0 | Worthington 2 | 22,433 | |
| 15 November 1980 | 10th | Coventry City | A | L | 1–2 | Curbishley | 18,429 | |
| 22 November 1980 | 10th | Tottenham Hotspur | H | W | 2–1 | Curbishley, Ainscow | 24,817 | |
| 29 November 1980 | 9th | Everton | A | D | 1–1 | Ainscow | 22,274 | |
| 6 December 1980 | 10th | Leicester City | H | L | 1–2 | Scott og | 18,479 | |
| 13 December 1980 | 12th | Aston Villa | A | L | 0–3 | 41,101 | ||
| 20 December 1980 | 13th | Ipswich Town | H | L | 1–3 | Ainscow | 16,161 | |
| 26 December 1980 | 13th | Leeds United | A | D | 0–0 | 19,214 | ||
| 27 December 1980 | 14th | Sunderland | H | W | 3–2 | Gemmill, Bertschin, Worthington | 19,005 | |
| 10 January 1981 | 14th | Tottenham Hotspur | A | L | 0–1 | 24,909 | ||
| 13 January 1981 | 14th | Ipswich Town | A | L | 1–5 | Worthington | 21,148 | |
| 17 January 1981 | 14th | Southampton | H | L | 0–3 | 16,491 | ||
| 31 January 1981 | 18th | Manchester United | A | L | 0–2 | 39,081 | ||
| 7 February 1981 | 17th | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | W | 2–1 | Evans, Curbishley | 13,691 | |
| 14 February 1981 | 14th | Liverpool | A | D | 2–2 | Evans, Ainscow | 32,199 | |
| 20 February 1981 | 10th | Norwich City | H | W | 4–0 | Ainscow, Evans 2, Gemmill | 14,686 | |
| 28 February 1981 | 14th | West Bromwich Albion | A | D | 2–2 | Worthington, Ainscow | 24,848 | |
| 17 March 1981 | 12th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | W | 1–0 | Worthington | 20,005 | |
| 21 March 1981 | 10th | Manchester City | H | W | 2–0 | Worthington, Evans | 16,160 | |
| 28 March 1981 | 10th | Stoke City | A | D | 0–0 | 14,624 | ||
| 31 March 1981 | 11th | Arsenal | A | L | 1–2 | Worthington | 17,431 | |
| 4 April 1981 | 11th | Middlesbrough | H | W | 2–1 | Evans, Broadhurst | 12,472 | |
| 11 April 1981 | 11th | Crystal Palace | A | L | 1–3 | Ainscow | 11,122 | |
| 18 April 1981 | 11th | Sunderland | A | L | 0–3 | 20,158 | ||
| 21 April 1981 | 13th | Leeds United | H | L | 0–2 | 14,505 | ||
| 25 April 1981 | 13th | Leicester City | A | L | 0–1 | 13,686 | ||
| 2 May 1981 | 13th | Everton | H | D | 1–1 | Evans | 12,863 |
| Team | ||||||||||
| 11th | Stoke City | 42 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 51 | 60 | -9 | 42 | |
| 12th | Manchester City | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 56 | 59 | -3 | 39 | |
| 13th | Birmingham City | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 50 | 61 | -11 | 38 | |
| 14th | Middlesbrough | 42 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 53 | 61 | -8 | 37 | |
| 15th | Everton | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 55 | 58 | -3 | 36 |
See main article: 1980–81 FA Cup.
| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Third round | 3 January 1981 | Sunderland | H | D | 1–1 | Bertschin | 23,098 | |
| Third round replay | 7 January 1981 | Sunderland | A | W | 2–1 | Bertschin, Evans | 27,793 | |
| Fourth round | 24 January 1981 | Coventry City | A | L | 2–3 | 29,492 |
See main article: 1980–81 Football League Cup.
| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second round 1st leg | 26 August 1980 | Bristol City | H | W | 2–1 | Ainscow, Gemmill pen | 12,163 | |
| Second round 2nd leg | 2 September 1980 | Bristol City | A | D | 0–0 | 6,958 | ||
| Third round | 23 September 1980 | Blackburn Rovers | H | W | 1–0 | Gallagher | 14,580 | |
| Fourth round | 28 October 1980 | Ipswich Town | H | W | 2–1 | Worthington pen, Ainscow | 18,968 | |
| Fifth round | 2 December 1980 | Liverpool | A | L | 1–3 | Bertschin | 30,236 |
Numbers in parentheses denote appearances made as a substitute.
Players marked left the club during the playing season.
Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
| Name | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goals | Goals | Goals | Goals | ||||||||
| GK | Tony Coton | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| GK | Jeff Wealands | 39 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 46 | 0 | ||
| DF | Kevan Broadhurst | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | ||
| DF | Mark Dennis | 19 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||
| DF | Joe Gallagher | 41 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 49 | 1 | ||
| DF | Phil Hawker | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | ||
| DF |  Ireland | Dave Langan | 42 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 49 | 0 | |
| DF | Terry Lees | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| DF | Malcolm Page | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| DF | Colin Todd | 40 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 48 | 0 | ||
| DF | Pat Van Den Hauwe | 3 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | ||
| MF | Alan Ainscow | 40 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 48 | 11 | ||
| MF | Alan Curbishley | 29 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 6 | ||
| MF | Kevin Dillon | 38 (1) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 44 (1) | 2 | ||
| MF | Archie Gemmill | 41 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 49 | 4 | ||
| MF | Terry Goode | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | ||
| MF | Ian Handysides | 6 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 (2) | 0 | ||
| FW | Keith Bertschin | 28 (2) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 34 (2) | 7 | ||
| FW | Tony Evans | 16 (1) | 7 | 0 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 (2) | 8 | ||
| FW | Ireland | 4 (6) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 6 (7) | 1 | ||
| FW | Paul Ivey | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | ||
| FW | 6 (8) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 (8) | 1 | |||
| FW | Frank Worthington | 36 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 43 | 18 | ||