| Season: | 1981 |
| Manager: |  Carlos Alberto Silva João Leal Neto Chico Formiga |
| Mgrtitle: | Manager |
| Chairman: | Antônio Leme Nunes Galvão |
| Chrtitle: | Chairman |
| League: | Série A |
| League Result: | Runners-up |
| Cup1: | Campeonato Paulista |
| Cup1 Result: | Champions (13th title) |
| League Topscorer: | Serginho (11) |
| Season Topscorer: | Serginho (32) |
| Prevseason: | 1980 |
| Nextseason: | 1982 |
The 1981 season was São Paulo's 52nd season since club's existence.
| width=60 | Position | width=60 | Nation | width=60 | Playing position | width=150 | Name | width=80 | Campeonato Brasileiro | width=80 | Campeonato Paulista | width=80 | Others | width=80 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | FW | Serginho | 11 | 20 | 1 | 32 | ||||||||
| 2 | | MF | Éverton | 10 | 11 | 0 | 21 | ||||||||
| 3 | | MF | Renato | 0 | 16 | 4 | 20 | ||||||||
| 4 | | FW | Paulo César | 3 | 5 | 3 | 11 | ||||||||
| 5 | | FW | Tatu | 1 | 8 | 1 | 10 | ||||||||
| 6 | | DF | Getúlio | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 | ||||||||
| 7 | | FW | Assis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||
| = | DF | Darío Pereyra | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| = | | MF | Mário Sérgio | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||
| = | | MF | Valtinho | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||
| 8 | | FW | Édson | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| = | | MF | Élvio | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| 9 | | MF | Almir | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| = | | DF | Chiquito | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| = | | MF | Heriberto | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| = | | DF | Marinho Chagas | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| = | | MF | Marquinhos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| = | | DF | Oscar | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Own goals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Total | 32 | 82 | 10 | 124 |
| Games played | 89 (23 Campeonato Brasileiro, 56 Campeonato Paulista, 10 Friendly match) |
| Games won | 45 (13 Campeonato Brasileiro, 28 Campeonato Paulista, 4 Friendly match) |
| Games drawn | 22 (6 Campeonato Brasileiro, 12 Campeonato Paulista, 4 Friendly match) |
| Games lost | 22 (4 Campeonato Brasileiro, 16 Campeonato Paulista, 2 Friendly match) |
| Goals scored | 124 |
| Goals conceded | 71 |
| Goal difference | +53 |
| Best result | 6–2 (H) v Palmeiras - Campeonato Paulista - 1981.10.4 |
| Worst result | 0–3 (A) v Palmeiras - Campeonato Paulista - 1981.5.17 |
| Top scorer | Serginho (32) |