Season 1980/1981

After missing out on promotion to the First Division vias the play-offs the previous season, Stade Rennais began a new season in the Second Division with the same ambition of getting promoted. To achieve this goal, there were few changes in regards to the departures and arrivals of players. Rennes did strengthen its squad, however, bringing in some experienced heads with the likes of Steck, Dufour, Stéphan and Zivaljevic. The season began really badly, however, for the Red and Blacks, having to wait until matchday 7 for their first win in the league. Between the 5th and 13th matchdays, Rennes found themselves bottom of the table on five occasions, but they recovered somewhat with a run of good results which lifted them to 12th in the table at the mid-season break. As the season wore on, Rennes continued to climb the table, getting up to the heady heights of 5th place by mid-February following an unbeaten run of 11 matches. The rise up the table, however, was slowed in March. Despite winning 6 of their last 8 matches in the league, Rennes would finish just outside the promotion spots in 4th place. They finished with the 9th best attack, and 3rd best defence in Group B of the Second Division. In the French Cup, Stade Rennais were eliminated in the Round of 64 by Paris Saint Germain following a 0-2 defeat.