The 1980–81 John Player Cup was the tenth edition of England's premier rugby union club competition at the time.

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

won the competition for a third consecutive year defeating

Gosforth Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of New ...

in the final. The competition was extended with extra rounds replacing the previous format of 32 teams only. The event was sponsored by John Player cigarettes and the final was held at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...

Draw and results

First round

Away team progress*

Second round

Third round

Fourth round

Quarter-finals

London Scottish progressed on more tries rule*

Semi-finals

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1980-81 John Player Cup 1980–81 rugby union tournaments for clubs John Player Cup RFU Knockout Cup