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 area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

won the competition for a third consecutive year defeating

Gosforth Gosforth is an area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, situated north of the Newcastle City Centre, City Centre. It constituted a separate Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district of Northumberland from 1895 until 1974 before of ...

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 (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

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 The RFU Knockout Cup was an English rugby union competition open to any member of the Rugby Football Union. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1 ...

RFU Knockout Cup