1981 Campeonato Paulista

Campeonato Paulista – Série A1
Season	1981
Champions	São Paulo
Relegated	Noroeste
Taça de Ouro	; São Paulo ; Ponte Preta; Inter de Limeira; Santos; XV de Jaú; São José
Taça de Prata	Corinthians; Portuguesa; Palmeiras; Botafogo; Juventus
Matches played	537
Goals scored	1,190 (2.22 per match)
Top goalscorer	Jorge Mendonça (Guarani) – 38 goals
Biggest home win	Guarani 5-0 América (June 17, 1981); Ponte Preta 5-0 Santos (July 11, 1981); Ponte Preta 6-1 Taubaté (August 9, 1981)
Biggest away win	Comercial 0-5 Guarani (June 21, 1981); Ferroviária 0-5 Taubaté (September 6, 1981)
Highest scoring	Taubaté 3-4 Marília (March 5, 1981); Taubaté 5-2 Juventus (March 8, 1981); Guarani 2-5 XV de Jaú (May 31, 1981); São José 3-4 Taubaté (July 5, 1981); Ponte Preta 6-1 Taubaté (August 9, 1981); Taubaté 5-2 Comercial (August 12, 1981); Juventus 5-2 Comercial (September 20, 1981)
	← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 Campeonato Paulista da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional^[1] was the 80th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. São Paulo won the championship by the 13th time. Noroeste was relegated.^[2]

Championship

The championship would be divided into two rounds, and each round was divided into three phases - Qualifying, in which two teams qualified into the Final phase, Regular, in which six teams qualified into the Final phase, and Final, divided into two groups of four, with the winners of each group qualifying to the Finals. The winners of each round qualified to the Championship Finals.^[1]^[2]

First round

Qualifying phase

This stage involved twelve teams: all of the first level teams except for the eight teams that were still participating either in that year's Taça de Ouro or the Taça de Ouro. The twelve teams were divided into two groups of six, in which each team played twice against the teams of its own group. the top two teams of each group qualified to a playoff to determine the two teams that would qualify into that round's final phase.^[2]

Group Gold

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	São Bento	10	7	1	2	19	15	+4	15	Qualified
2	Marília	10	5	3	2	19	16	+3	13	Qualified
3	São José	10	3	3	4	15	12	+3	9
4	XV de Jaú	10	3	3	4	15	17	−2	9
5	Juventus	10	3	3	4	16	19	−3	9
6	Taubaté	10	1	3	6	14	19	−5	5

Updated to match(es) played on March 28, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Group Red

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Comercial	10	5	3	2	16	8	+8	13	Qualified
2	América	10	4	4	2	10	9	+1	12	Qualified
3	Ferroviária	10	5	1	4	15	12	+3	11
4	Botafogo	10	3	4	3	11	11	0	10
5	Francana	10	2	5	3	10	10	0	9
6	Noroeste	10	2	1	7	9	21	−12	5

Updated to match(es) played on March 28, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Qualifying phase Finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Marília	1–2	Comercial	1–0	0–2
América	2–1	São Bento	1–0	1–1

Regular phase

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ponte Preta	19	11	7	1	29	13	+16	29	Qualified
2	Guarani	19	9	7	3	36	23	+13	25
3	Inter de Limeira	19	10	4	5	31	21	+10	24
4	Botafogo	19	9	4	6	16	15	+1	22
5	Portuguesa	19	8	6	5	19	16	+3	22
6	Santos	19	9	3	7	26	20	+6	21
7	Corinthians	19	7	7	5	28	20	+8	21	Second round qualifying phase
8	XV de Jaú	19	7	7	5	20	16	+4	21
9	Juventus	19	7	6	6	17	11	+6	20
10	São José	19	6	8	5	21	22	−1	20
11	São Paulo	19	7	5	7	22	14	+8	19
12	América	19	5	9	5	11	14	−3	19	Qualified through the Qualifying phase
13	Palmeiras	19	4	11	4	22	20	+2	19	Second round qualifying phase
14	Taubaté	19	6	6	7	26	26	0	18	Second round qualifying phase
15	Comercial	19	5	7	7	15	26	−11	17	Qualified through the Qualifying phase
16	Francana	19	4	6	9	20	31	−11	14	Second round qualifying phase
17	Ferroviária	19	3	7	9	15	25	−10	13
18	Marília	19	4	4	11	16	28	−12	12
19	Noroeste	19	4	4	11	10	22	−12	12
20	São Bento	19	2	8	9	12	27	−15	12

Updated to match(es) played on July 7, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Final phase

Group Red

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ponte Preta	6	3	3	0	9	2	+7	9	Qualified
2	América	6	2	3	1	4	3	+1	7
3	Botafogo	6	1	3	2	2	4	−2	5
4	Santos	6	1	1	4	4	10	−6	3

Updated to match(es) played on July 29, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Group Black

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Guarani	6	4	2	0	10	2	+8	10	Qualified
2	Comercial	6	2	2	2	6	7	−1	6
3	Portuguesa	6	2	1	3	6	8	−2	5
4	Inter de Limeira	6	0	3	3	4	9	−5	3

Updated to match(es) played on July 29, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

First round Finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Guarani	3–4	Ponte Preta	1–1	2–3

Second round

Qualifying phase

This stage, that happened simultaneously with the First round's Final stage, was composed of the twelve teams that had been eliminated in the First round, divided into three groups of four, in which each team played twice against the teams of its own group, with the best team in each group qualifying to the Finals, where the three teams played once against each other, the best two qualifying to the Second round's Final phase.

Group Green

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Palmeiras	6	2	4	0	6	2	+4	8	Qualified
2	São Bento	6	3	1	2	5	4	+1	7
3	Ferroviária	6	0	5	1	5	7	−2	5
4	XV de Jaú	6	0	4	2	3	6	−3	4

Updated to match(es) played on July 29, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Group Gold

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	São Paulo	6	4	0	2	12	5	+7	8	Qualified
2	Noroeste	6	2	2	2	6	8	−2	6
3	Taubaté	6	2	1	3	4	5	−1	5
4	Francana	6	2	1	3	5	9	−4	5

Updated to match(es) played on July 29, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Group Red

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Corinthians	6	3	3	0	10	6	+4	9	Qualified
2	Juventus	6	2	3	1	8	5	+3	7
3	São José	6	0	4	2	3	6	−3	4
4	Marília	6	0	4	2	5	9	−4	4

Updated to match(es) played on July 29, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Qualifying phase Finals

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	São Paulo	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	3	Qualified
2	Palmeiras	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	2	Qualified
3	Corinthians	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1

Updated to match(es) played on August 6, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Regular phase

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	São Paulo	19	11	3	5	36	18	+18	25	Qualified through the Qualifying phase
2	Guarani	19	9	6	4	34	23	+11	24	Qualified
3	São José	19	8	6	5	19	18	+1	22
4	Ponte Preta	19	7	8	4	31	20	+11	22
5	XV de Jaú	19	7	8	4	24	17	+7	22
6	Santos	19	7	8	4	21	15	+6	22
7	Palmeiras	19	6	8	5	20	24	−4	20	Qualified through the Qualifying phase
8	Corinthians	19	6	7	6	23	23	0	19	Qualified
9	Ferroviária	19	6	7	6	22	26	−4	19
10	Marília	19	5	9	5	24	26	−2	19
11	Comercial	19	7	4	8	20	31	−11	18
12	Portuguesa	19	5	8	6	16	17	−1	18
13	Juventus	19	4	10	5	26	21	+5	18
14	Inter de Limeira	19	4	10	5	12	15	−3	18
15	São Bento	19	4	10	5	14	19	−5	18
16	Francana	19	4	9	6	18	22	−4	17
17	Botafogo	19	5	6	8	15	21	−6	16
18	Taubaté	19	4	7	8	21	25	−4	15
19	Noroeste	19	4	6	9	14	20	−6	14
20	América	19	3	8	8	12	21	−9	14

Updated to match(es) played on October 18, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Final phase

Group White

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	São Paulo	6	3	2	1	6	3	+3	8	Qualified
2	Guarani	6	2	4	0	9	5	+4	8
3	Corinthians	6	2	3	1	5	4	+1	7
4	XV de Jaú	6	0	1	5	3	11	−8	1

Updated to match(es) played on November 15, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Group Black

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	São José	6	2	3	1	5	3	+2	7	Qualified
2	Palmeiras	6	2	3	1	5	4	+1	7
3	Santos	6	1	3	2	7	8	−1	5
4	Ponte Preta	6	1	3	2	2	4	−2	5

Updated to match(es) played on November 15, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Second round finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
São José	3–3^[3]	São Paulo	1–0	2–3

Finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
São Paulo	3–1	Ponte Preta	1–1	2–0

Aggregate table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Ponte Preta	38	18	15	5	60	33	+27	51	1982 Taça de Ouro
2	Guarani	38	18	13	7	70	46	+24	49	Qualified to 1982 Taça de Ouro as Taça de Prata champion
3	São Paulo	38	18	8	12	58	32	+26	44	1982 Taça de Ouro
4	Santos	38	16	11	11	47	35	+12	43
5	XV de Jaú	38	14	15	9	44	33	+11	43
6	Inter de Limeira	38	14	14	10	43	36	+7	42
7	São José	38	14	14	10	40	40	0	42
8	Corinthians	38	13	14	11	51	43	+8	40	1982 Taça de Prata
9	Portuguesa	38	13	14	11	35	33	+2	40
10	Palmeiras	38	10	19	9	42	44	−2	39
11	Botafogo	38	14	10	14	31	36	−5	38
12	Juventus	38	11	16	11	43	32	+11	38
13	Comercial	38	12	11	15	35	57	−22	35
14	Taubaté	38	10	13	15	47	51	−4	33
15	América	38	8	17	13	23	35	−12	33
16	Ferroviária	38	9	14	15	37	51	−14	32
17	Francana	38	8	15	15	38	53	−15	31
18	Marília	38	8	14	16	28	43	−15	30
19	São Bento	38	6	18	14	26	46	−20	30	Relegation Playoff
20	Noroeste	38	8	10	20	24	42	−18	26	Relegated

Updated to match(es) played on October 18, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Much like in the previous year,^[4] the team with the fewest points would be relegated and the team with the second-fewest points would go to a playoff against the runner-up of the Second Level. only the results of the regular phases were counted. as such, Noroeste was relegated and São Bento had to dispute a playoff in neutral ground against XV de Piracicaba.^[5]

Relegation Playoffs

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
XV de Piracicaba	3–3	São Bento	1–0	0–1	0-0 (1-3 pen.)

References

^ ^a ^b "Futebolnacional.com.br – Championship of Sao Paulo 1981". Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c "RSSSF – Championship of Sao Paulo 1981". Retrieved April 8, 2019.
^ São Paulo won due to having a better season record
^ "Francana pode garantir seu lugar na 1.a" [Francana might remain in the first level]. Folha de São Paulo (in Portuguese). São Paulo, Brazil. November 11, 1980. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
^ "Tabelão". Placar (in Portuguese). No. 604. São Paulo, Brazil: Editora Abril. December 11, 1981. p. 76. Retrieved April 8, 2019.

[futebolnacional-1] "Futebolnacional.com.br – Championship of Sao Paulo 1981". Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.

[rsssfbrasil-2] "RSSSF – Championship of Sao Paulo 1981". Retrieved April 8, 2019.

[3] São Paulo won due to having a better season record

[4] "Francana pode garantir seu lugar na 1.a" [Francana might remain in the first level]. Folha de São Paulo (in Portuguese). São Paulo, Brazil. November 11, 1980. Retrieved April 8, 2019.

[5] "Tabelão". Placar (in Portuguese). No. 604. São Paulo, Brazil: Editora Abril. December 11, 1981. p. 76. Retrieved April 8, 2019.

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