1980–81 John Player Trophy

This was the tenth season for rugby league's League Cup competition. It was again known as the John Player Trophy for sponsorship purposes.

Warrington won the final, beating Barrow by the score of 12-5 at Central Park, Wigan in front of a crowd of 12,802. The gate receipts were £21020.

Background
This season saw only one change in the entrants, with the  admittance of Fulham to the  league and to this competition, resulted in only one junior club being invited, the total number remaining at thirty-two.

Round 1 - First Round
Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs

Round 2 - Second Round
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs

Round 3 -Quarter Finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Round 4 – Semi-Finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Round 3 – Semi-Finals - Replays
Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs

Prize money
As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows:

The road to success
This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

Notes and comments
1 * Pilkington Recs are a Junior (amateur) club from St Helens, home ground was City Road until they moved to Ruskin Drive from 2011-12

2 * Wigan official archives gives the score as 15-34 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives it as 16-34

3 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives the attendance as 3,571, the same as the previously listed match (which was Widnes v Huddersfield in round 2), but the Widnes official website omits to give the attendance for this match, one of only a few matches for that season without an attendance noted

4 * Wigan official archives give the score as 13-10 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives it as 13-15. As Barrow progressed into the semi-final, the score given in the Wigan archives was obviously in error

5 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives the attendance as 12,820 but Rothman's Yearbooks 1990-91 and 1992-93 give it as 12,802

6 * The attendance was a record for the final of this tournament (but would be broken next season)

7 * Central Park was the home ground of Wigan with a final capacity of 18,000, although the record attendance was  47,747 for Wigan v St Helens 27 March 1959