In 1981 the Ballon d'Or was won by Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. It was the second year in a row the West German forward won the prestigious award. The 1980-1981 Bundesliga top scorer, Rummenigge played a significant part in his club Bayern München winning the German championship that season.
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| March 1981: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in action for Bayern Munich |
Rummenige being named European Footballer of the Year was the outcome of a ballot held among a panel of football journalists organised by the magazine France Football, with one vote coming from each of the following 26 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, East Germany, England, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Scotland, Soviet Union, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, West Germany and Yugoslavia.
The result was announced in the edition dated December 29th, 1981.
| Name | Country | Club | Pts. |
|
1. |
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 106 |
2. |
Paul Breitner | West Germany | Bayern Munich | 64 |
3. |
Bernd Schuster | West Germany | FC Barcelona | 39 |
4. |
Michel Platini | France | AS Saint Etienne | 36 |
5. |
Oleg Blokhin | Soviet Union | Dynamo Kiev | 14 |
6. |
Dino Zoff | Italy | Juventus | 13 |
7. |
Ramaz Shengelia | Soviet Union | Dinamo Tbilisi | 10 |
8. |
Alexsandr Chivadze | Soviet Union | Dinamo Tbilisi | 9 |
9. |
Liam Brady | Ireland | Juventus | 7 |
| John Wark | Scotland | Ipswich Town | 7 | |
11. |
David Kipiani | Soviet Union | Dinamo Tbilisi | 6 |
| Andras Toroczik | Hungary | Újpest Dózsa | 6 | |
| Zbigniew Boniek | Poland | Widzew Lodz | 6 | |
| Maxime Bossis | France | FC Nantes | 6 | |
| Bruno Pezzey | Austria | Eintracht Frankfurt | 6 | |
16. |
Horst Hrubesch | West Germany | Hamburger SV | 5 |
| Ruud Krol | Holland | Napoli | 5 | |
| Vladimir Petrovic | Yugoslavia | Red Star Belgrade | 5 | |
19. |
Zlatko Vujovic | Yugoslavia | Hajduk Split | 4 |
| Trevor Brooking | England | West Ham United | 4 | |
21. |
Giancarlo Antognoni | Italy | Fiorentina | 3 |
| Jan Ceulemans | Belgium | Club Brugge | 3 | |
| Kenny Dalglish | Scotland | Liverpool | 3 | |
| Bryan Robson | England | Manchester United | 3 | |
| Frank Stapleton | Ireland | Manchester United | 3 | |
| Wilfried van Moer | Belgium | SK Beveren | 3 | |
| Luis Arconada | Spain | Real Sociedad | 3 | |
28. |
Grzegorz Lato | Poland | Lokeren | 2 |
| Tibor Nyilasi | Hungary | Ferencváros | 2 | |
| Wlodzimierz Smolarek | Poland | Widzew Lódz | 2 | |
| Frans Thijssen | Holland | Ipswich Town | 2 | |
32. |
Antonio Oliveira | Portugal | Sporting Lisbon | 1 |
| Uli Stielike | West Germany | Real Madrid | 1 | |
| Jesús Zamora | Spain | Real Sociedad | 1 | |
1980 • European Footballer of the Year • 1982