Campeonato Carioca
Season	1981
Champions	Flamengo
Relegated	Serrano Olaria
Taça de Ouro	Fluminense Flamengo Vasco da Gama Botafogo Bangu
Taça de Prata	América Volta Redonda Americano Campo Grande
Matches played	201
Goals scored	488 (2.43 per match)
Top goalscorer	Roberto Dinamite (Vasco da Gama) - 31 goals
Biggest home win	Flamengo 7-0 Americano (June 3, 1981)
Biggest away win	Americano 0-5 Vasco da Gama (September 24, 1981)
Highest scoring	Flamengo 7-0 Americano (June 3, 1981) Flamengo 5-2 Campo Grande (June 21, 1981) Fluminense 5-2 Volta Redonda (September 16, 1981) Flamengo 6-1 Americano (November 10, 1981)
← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 edition of the Campeonato Carioca kicked off on May 23, 1981 and ended on December 6, 1981. It is the official tournament organized by FFERJ (Federação de Futebol do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, or Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. Only clubs based in the Rio de Janeiro State are allowed to play. Twelve teams contested this edition. Flamengo won the title for the 21st time. Serrano and Olaria were relegated.^[1]^[2]

System

The tournament would be divided in four stages:^[2]^[1]

Taça Guanabara: The twelve teams all played in a single round-robin format against each other. The champions qualified to the Final phase.
Taça Ney Cidade Pinheiro: The twelve teams all played in a single round-robin format against each other. The champions qualified to the Final phase.
Taça Sylvio Corrêa Pacheco: The twelve teams all played in a single round-robin format against each other. The champions qualified to the Final phase.
Final phase: The champions of the two stages, plus the team with the best overall record would play that phase. In case one team won two rounds, an up-to-three match series against the other stage winner would be played: a tie favoured the team with the most stages won; in case of a loss, another match would be held under the same rules; if another loss occurred, another match would be held, and in case of another loss, the title would go to the team that had won only one stage.

Championship

Taça Alfredo Curvelo

This tournament was played in late 1980, by the four teams that had been eliminated in the first round of the 1980 championship, and those that had been eliminated in the preliminary tournament of that year, to define the two teams that would play in the championship of 1981.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Olaria	7	3	4	0	7	1	+6	10	Qualified
2	Madureira	7	3	4	0	6	1	+5	10	Qualified
3	Bonsucesso	7	4	1	2	14	7	+7	9	Relegated
4	Portuguesa	7	4	1	2	8	5	+3	9
5	São Cristóvão	7	2	3	2	5	3	+2	7
6	Goytacaz	7	2	1	4	4	7	−3	5
7	Friburguense	7	1	1	5	6	11	−5	3
8	Niterói	7	1	1	5	3	18	−15	3

Updated to match(es) played on November 22, 1980. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Taça Guanabara

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Flamengo	11	7	3	1	26	8	+18	17	Qualified to Final phase
2	América	11	6	4	1	12	4	+8	16
3	Botafogo	11	4	7	0	10	5	+5	15
4	Vasco da Gama	11	6	2	3	19	10	+9	14
5	Bangu	11	2	8	1	12	12	0	12
6	Campo Grande	11	4	3	4	16	17	−1	11
7	Americano	11	2	6	3	9	16	−7	10
8	Fluminense	11	2	5	4	12	18	−6	9
9	Volta Redonda	11	2	4	5	13	18	−5	8
10	Serrano	11	2	3	6	10	14	−4	7
11	Olaria	11	2	3	6	7	12	−5	7
12	Madureira	11	2	2	7	10	22	−12	6

Updated to match(es) played on July 12, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Taça Ney Cidade Palmeiro

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Vasco da Gama	11	9	2	0	26	8	+18	20	Qualified to Final phase
2	Flamengo	11	7	3	1	21	6	+15	17
3	Botafogo	11	7	3	1	17	6	+11	17
4	Bangu	11	6	2	3	13	12	+1	14
5	Fluminense	11	6	1	4	18	15	+3	13
6	América	11	5	3	3	14	11	+3	13
7	Campo Grande	11	5	2	4	12	11	+1	12
8	Volta Redonda	11	1	5	5	12	19	−7	7
9	Serrano	11	1	4	6	7	13	−6	6
10	Olaria	11	1	3	7	6	18	−12	5
11	Americano	11	1	2	8	9	18	−9	4
12	Madureira	11	0	4	7	4	22	−18	4

Updated to match(es) played on September 27, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Taça Sylvio Corrêa Pacheco

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Flamengo	10	8	2	0	34	5	+29	18^[a]	Qualified to Final phase
2	Vasco da Gama	10	6	3	1	20	10	+10	15^[a]
3	Fluminense	11	6	2	3	23	15	+8	14
4	Botafogo	11	6	2	3	17	13	+4	14
5	Bangu	11	4	4	3	12	9	+3	12
6	Americano	11	5	1	5	11	19	−8	11
7	Madureira	11	4	3	4	9	16	−7	11
8	Volta Redonda	11	3	4	4	13	17	−4	10
9	Campo Grande	11	3	3	5	6	11	−5	9
10	Serrano	11	2	3	6	9	15	−6	7
11	América	11	2	3	6	8	18	−10	7
12	Olaria	11	1	0	10	5	18	−13	2

Updated to match(es) played on November 26, 1981. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.
Notes:

^ ^a ^b The November 22 match between Vasco and Flamengo wasn't held

Aggregate table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Flamengo	32	22	8	2	81	19	+62	52	Qualified to Final phase
2	Vasco da Gama	32	21	7	4	65	28	+37	49	Taça de Ouro
3	Botafogo	33	17	12	4	44	24	+20	46
4	Bangu	33	12	14	7	37	33	+4	38
5	Fluminense	33	14	8	11	53	48	+5	36
6	América	33	13	10	10	34	33	+1	36	Taça de Prata
7	Campo Grande	33	12	8	13	34	39	−5	32
8	Americano	33	8	9	16	29	53	−24	25
9	Volta Redonda	33	6	13	14	38	54	−16	25
10	Madureira	33	6	9	18	23	60	−37	21
11	Serrano	33	5	10	18	26	42	−16	20	Relegated
12	Olaria	33	4	6	23	18	48	−30	14	Relegated

Updated to match(es) played on November 21, 1982. Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) wins; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored.

Finals

29 November 1981 Final	Flamengo	0 – 2	Vasco da Gama	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro
	Nunes		Roberto Dinamite 64', 77' Marquinho	Attendance: 80,908 Referee: Alvimar Gaspar dos Reis

2 December 1981 Replay	Vasco da Gama	1 – 0	Flamengo	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro
	Roberto Dinamite 88' João Luis			Attendance: 45,704 Referee: Edson Alcantara do Amorim

6 December 1981 Replay	Flamengo	2 – 1	Vasco da Gama	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro
	Adílio 20' Nunes 24'		Ticão 83'	Attendance: 161,989 Referee: Alvimar Gaspar dos Reis

References

^ ^a ^b "RSSSF – Championship of Rio de Janeiro 1981". Retrieved May 11, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Futebolnacional.com.br – Championship of Rio de Janeiro 1981". Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2019.

v t e Campeonato Carioca seasons
Série A	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 (2) 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 (2) 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 (3) 1934 (3) 1935 (2) 1936 (2) 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 (2) 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Série A2	2021 2022 2023
Série B1	1906 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1938 1939 1940 1965 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Série B2	1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Série C	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023