1985–86 Football League

The 1985–86 season was the 87th completed season of The Football League.

The Football League

Season	1985–86
Champions	Liverpool
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Final league tables and results

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website,^[1] with home and away statistics separated.

During the first five seasons of the league, that is, until the season 1893–94, re-election process concerned the clubs which finished in the bottom four of the league. From the 1894–95 season and until the 1920–21 season the re-election process was required of the clubs which finished in the bottom three of the league. From the 1922–23 season on it was required of the bottom two teams of both Third Division North and Third Division South. Since the Fourth Division was established in the 1958–59 season, the re-election process has concerned the bottom four clubs in that division.^[2]

First Division

First Division

Season	1985–86
Champions	Liverpool 16th English title
Relegated	Ipswich Town Birmingham City West Bromwich Albion
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,288 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gary Lineker (30 goals)^[3]
Biggest home win	Luton Town 7–0 Southampton (19 October 1985) West Ham United 8–1 Newcastle United (21 April 1986)
Biggest away win	Sheffield Wednesday 1–5 Everton (3 September 1985) West Bromwich Albion 1–5 Manchester United (21 September 1985) Chelsea 0–4 West Ham United (29 Mar 1986) Chelsea 1–5 Watford (5 May 1986)
Highest scoring	West Ham United 8–1 Newcastle United (21 April 1986)
Longest winning run	10 matches Manchester United
Longest unbeaten run	18 matches West Ham United
Longest losing run	9 matches West Bromwich Albion
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

In a close three-horse race, Liverpool pipped Everton and West Ham United to the First Division title,^[4] while also defeating Merseyside rivals Everton in the FA Cup Final, thereby completing a historic double. Manchester United had been ten points clear in early November after winning their first ten matches; and thirteen of their first fifteen,^[5] but injuries, loss of form and ineffective signings had seen them fall away, leaving them still waiting for their first league title since 1967, mounting the pressure of manager Ron Atkinson, although the Old Trafford board initially decided to stick with Atkinson as their manager for the following season.

Arsenal finished seventh in the league for a third successive season, their manager Don Howe resigning a few weeks before the end of the season after it was reported that Terry Venables had been offered his job. Coach Steve Burtenshaw was placed in temporary charge of the first team until the end of the season, when George Graham returned to Highbury as manager. Tottenham Hotspur finished a disappointing 10th in the league, prompting the White Hart Lane board to sack manager Peter Shreeves and replace him with Luton Town's David Pleat.

At the lower end of the table, a disastrous season saw West Bromwich Albion relegated in bottom place after just four wins in the league, while nearby rivals Birmingham City fared nearly as badly, and were relegated in second place from bottom; both clubs would not return to the top flight until 2002. Their local rivals Aston Villa nearly went down with them, before a late upturn in form secured their survival. Oxford United had a memorable first season at this level as League Cup winners, but spent much of the season battling against relegation before finally managing to beat the drop. The final relegation place went to Ipswich Town, who had gradually fallen out of contention with the First Division's leading pack since Bobby Robson's departure to manage the England team four years earlier.

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool (C)	42	26	10	6	89	37	+52	88	Disqualified from the European Cup^[6]
2	Everton^[a]	42	26	8	8	87	41	+46	86	Disqualified from the European Cup Winners' Cup^[7]
3	West Ham United	42	26	6	10	74	40	+34	84	Disqualified from the UEFA Cup^[8]
4	Manchester United	42	22	10	10	70	36	+34	76
5	Sheffield Wednesday^[b]	42	21	10	11	63	54	+9	73
6	Chelsea	42	20	11	11	57	56	+1	71
7	Arsenal	42	20	9	13	49	47	+2	69
8	Nottingham Forest	42	19	11	12	69	53	+16	68
9	Luton Town	42	18	12	12	61	44	+17	66
10	Tottenham Hotspur	42	19	8	15	74	52	+22	65
11	Newcastle United	42	17	12	13	67	72	−5	63
12	Watford	42	16	11	15	69	62	+7	59
13	Queens Park Rangers	42	15	7	20	53	64	−11	52
14	Southampton	42	12	10	20	51	62	−11	46
15	Manchester City	42	11	12	19	43	57	−14	45
16	Aston Villa	42	10	14	18	51	67	−16	44
17	Coventry City	42	11	10	21	48	71	−23	43
18	Oxford United^[c]	42	10	12	20	62	80	−18	42	Disqualified from the UEFA Cup^[8]
19	Leicester City	42	10	12	20	54	76	−22	42
20	Ipswich Town (R)	42	11	8	23	32	55	−23	41	Relegation to the Second Division
21	Birmingham City (R)	42	8	5	29	30	73	−43	29
22	West Bromwich Albion (R)	42	4	12	26	35	89	−54	24

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Since the FA Cup winners, Liverpool, would have instead qualified for the European Cup, qualification would have instead been passed down to runners-up Everton.
2. Since Everton would have instead qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup qualification would have been passed down to Sheffield Wednesday.
3. Oxford United would have qualified as League Cup winners.

First Division results

Home \ Away	ARS	AST	BIR	CHE	COV	EVE	IPS	LEI	LIV	LUT	MCI	MUN	NEW	NOT	OXF	QPR	SHW	SOU	TOT	WAT	WBA	WHU
Arsenal		3–2	0–0	2–0	3–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–1	2–1	3–1	1–0	3–2	0–0	0–2	2–2	1–0
Aston Villa	1–4		0–3	3–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–2	3–1	0–1	1–3	1–2	1–2	2–0	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–2	4–1	1–1	2–1
Birmingham City	0–1	0–0		1–2	0–1	0–2	0–1	2–1	0–2	0–2	1–0	1–1	0–1	0–1	3–1	2–0	0–2	0–2	1–2	1–2	0–1	1–0
Chelsea	2–1	2–1	2–0		1–0	2–1	1–1	2–2	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–1	4–2	1–4	1–1	2–1	2–0	2–0	1–5	3–0	0–4
Coventry City	0–2	3–3	4–4	1–1		1–3	0–1	3–0	0–3	1–0	1–1	1–3	1–2	0–0	5–2	2–1	0–1	3–2	2–3	0–2	3–0	0–1
Everton	6–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	1–1		1–0	1–2	2–3	2–0	4–0	3–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	4–3	3–1	6–1	1–0	4–1	2–0	3–1
Ipswich Town	1–2	0–3	0–1	0–2	1–0	3–4		0–2	2–1	1–1	0–0	0–1	2–2	1–0	3–2	1–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–1
Leicester City	2–2	3–1	4–2	0–0	2–1	3–1	1–0		0–2	0–0	1–1	3–0	2–0	0–3	4–4	1–4	2–3	2–2	1–4	2–2	2–2	0–1
Liverpool	2–0	3–0	5–0	1–1	5–0	0–2	5–0	1–0		3–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	6–0	4–1	2–2	1–0	4–1	3–1	4–1	3–1
Luton Town	2–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–1	2–1	1–0	3–1	0–1		2–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–2	2–0	1–0	7–0	1–1	3–2	3–0	0–0
Manchester City	0–1	2–2	1–1	0–1	5–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–1		0–3	1–0	1–2	0–3	2–0	1–3	1–0	2–1	0–1	2–1	2–2
Manchester United	0–1	4–0	1–0	1–2	2–0	0–0	1–0	4–0	1–1	2–0	2–2		3–0	2–3	3–0	2–0	0–2	1–0	0–0	1–1	3–0	2–0
Newcastle United	1–0	2–2	4–1	1–3	3–2	2–2	3–1	2–1	1–0	2–2	3–1	2–4		0–3	3–0	3–1	4–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	4–1	1–2
Nottingham Forest	3–2	1–1	3–0	0–0	5–2	0–0	3–1	4–3	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–3	1–2		1–1	4–0	0–1	2–1	0–1	3–2	2–1	2–1
Oxford United	3–0	1–1	0–1	2–1	0–1	1–0	4–3	5–0	2–2	1–1	1–0	1–3	1–2	1–2		3–3	0–1	3–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–2
Queens Park Rangers	0–1	0–1	3–1	6–0	0–2	3–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	3–1	2–1	3–1		1–1	0–2	2–5	2–1	1–0	0–1
Sheffield Wednesday	2–0	2–0	5–1	1–1	2–2	1–5	1–0	1–0	0–0	3–2	3–2	1–0	2–2	2–1	2–1	0–0		2–1	1–2	2–1	1–0	2–2
Southampton	3–0	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–3	1–0	0–0	1–2	1–2	3–0	1–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	3–0	2–3		1–0	3–1	3–1	1–1
Tottenham Hotspur	1–0	4–2	2–0	4–1	0–1	0–1	2–0	1–3	1–2	1–3	0–2	0–0	5–1	0–3	5–1	1–1	5–1	5–3		4–0	5–0	1–0
Watford	3–0	1–1	3–0	3–1	3–0	0–2	0–0	2–1	2–3	1–2	3–2	1–1	4–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	2–1	1–1	1–0		5–1	0–2
West Bromwich Albion	0–0	0–3	2–1	0–3	0–0	0–3	1–2	2–2	1–2	1–2	2–3	1–5	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	3–1		2–3
West Ham United	0–0	4–1	2–0	1–2	1–0	2–1	2–1	3–0	2–2	0–1	1–0	2–1	8–1	4–2	3–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	4–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Liverpool	Joe Fagan	Retired	30 May 1985	Pre-season	Kenny Dalglish	30 May 1985
Southampton	Lawrie McMenemy	Signed by Sunderland	8 June 1985		Chris Nicholl	12 July 1985
Queens Park Rangers	Frank Sibley	Became assistant manager	11 June 1985		Jim Smith	11 June 1985
Oxford United	Jim Smith	Signed by Queens Park Rangers	11 June 1985		Maurice Evans	11 June 1985
Chelsea	John Neal	Retired	12 June 1985		John Hollins	12 June 1985
Newcastle United	Jack Charlton	Resigned	10 August 1985		Willie McFaul	10 August 1985
West Bromwich Albion	Johnny Giles		29 September 1985	22nd	Nobby Stiles	29 September 1985
Birmingham City	Ron Saunders		16 January 1986	21st	John Bond	22 January 1986
West Bromwich Albion	Nobby Stiles	Sacked	1 February 1986	22nd	Ron Saunders	14 February 1986
Arsenal	Don Howe	Resigned	22 March 1986	5th	Steve Burtenshaw (caretaker)	22 March 1986
Coventry City	Don Mackay	Sacked	13 April 1986	20th	John Sillett	13 April 1986

First Division maps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arsenal

Chelsea

Tottenham

Queens Park Rangers

Watford

West Ham

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Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1985–1986

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Birmingham

Chelsea

Coventry

Everton

Ipswich Town

Leicester City

Liverpool

Luton Town

Manchester City

Man United

Newcastle

Nottingham Forest

Oxford

QPR

Sheffield Wednesday

Southampton

Tottenham

Watford

West Bromwich Albion

West Ham

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Locations of the Football League First Division 1985–1986 teams

Second Division

Second Division

Season	1985–86
Champions	Norwich City
Promoted	Norwich City Charlton Athletic Wimbledon
Relegated	Carlisle United Middlesbrough Fulham
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,264 (2.74 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kevin Drinkell (22 goals)^[3]
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Norwich City (C, P)	42	25	9	8	84	37	+47	84	Promotion to the First Division
2	Charlton Athletic (P)	42	22	11	9	78	45	+33	77
3	Wimbledon (P)	42	21	13	8	58	37	+21	76
4	Portsmouth	42	22	7	13	69	41	+28	73
5	Crystal Palace	42	19	9	14	57	52	+5	66
6	Hull City	42	17	13	12	65	55	+10	64
7	Sheffield United	42	17	11	14	64	63	+1	62
8	Oldham Athletic	42	17	9	16	62	61	+1	60
9	Millwall	42	17	8	17	64	65	−1	59
10	Stoke City	42	14	15	13	48	50	−2	57
11	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	16	8	18	64	64	0	56
12	Barnsley	42	14	14	14	47	50	−3	56
13	Bradford City	42	16	6	20	51	63	−12	54
14	Leeds United	42	15	8	19	56	72	−16	53
15	Grimsby Town	42	14	10	18	58	62	−4	52
16	Huddersfield Town	42	14	10	18	51	67	−16	52
17	Shrewsbury Town	42	14	9	19	52	64	−12	51
18	Sunderland	42	13	11	18	47	61	−14	50
19	Blackburn Rovers	42	12	13	17	53	62	−9	49
20	Carlisle United (R)	42	13	7	22	47	71	−24	46	Relegation to the Third Division
21	Middlesbrough (R)	42	12	9	21	44	53	−9	45
22	Fulham (R)	42	10	6	26	45	69	−24	36

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	BAR	BLB	BRA	B&HA	CRL	CHA	CRY	FUL	GRI	HUD	HUL	LEE	MID	MIL	NWC	OLD	POR	SHU	SHR	STK	SUN	WDN
Barnsley		1–1	2–2	3–2	1–2	2–1	2–4	2–0	1–0	1–3	1–4	3–0	0–0	2–1	2–2	1–0	0–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–1	0–1
Blackburn Rovers	0–3		3–0	1–4	2–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	3–1	0–1	2–2	2–0	0–1	1–2	2–1	0–0	1–0	6–1	1–1	0–1	2–0	2–0
Bradford City	2–0	3–2		3–2	1–0	1–2	1–0	3–1	0–1	3–0	4–2	0–1	2–1	0–2	0–2	1–0	2–1	1–4	3–1	3–1	2–0	1–1
Brighton & Hove Albion	0–1	3–1	2–1		6–1	3–5	2–0	2–3	2–2	4–3	3–1	0–1	3–3	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–3	0–0	0–2	2–0	3–1	2–0
Carlisle United	1–1	2–1	1–2	2–0		2–3	2–2	2–1	1–2	2–0	2–1	1–2	1–0	1–0	0–4	3–1	0–1	1–0	0–2	3–0	1–2	2–3
Charlton Athletic	2–1	3–0	1–1	2–2	3–0		3–1	2–0	2–0	3–0	1–2	4–0	2–0	3–3	1–0	1–1	1–2	2–0	4–1	2–0	2–1	0–0
Crystal Palace	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	2–1		0–0	2–1	2–3	0–2	3–0	2–1	2–1	1–2	3–2	2–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	1–0	1–3
Fulham	2–0	3–3	4–1	1–0	0–1	0–3	2–3		2–1	2–1	1–1	3–1	0–3	1–2	0–1	2–2	0–1	2–3	2–1	1–0	1–2	0–2
Grimsby Town	1–2	5–2	2–0	0–2	1–0	2–2	3–0	1–0		1–1	0–1	1–0	3–2	5–1	1–0	1–4	1–0	0–1	3–1	3–3	1–1	0–1
Huddersfield Town	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–0	3–3	0–2	0–0	1–3	2–2		2–1	3–1	0–3	4–3	0–0	2–0	1–2	3–1	1–0	2–0	2–0	0–1
Hull City	0–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	4–0	1–1	1–2	5–0	2–0	3–1		2–1	0–0	3–0	1–0	4–2	2–2	0–0	4–3	0–2	1–1	1–1
Leeds United	0–2	1–1	2–1	2–3	2–0	1–2	1–3	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–1		1–0	3–1	0–2	3–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	4–0	1–1	0–0
Middlesbrough	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–1	1–3	1–3	0–2	1–0	3–1	0–1	1–2	2–2		3–0	1–1	3–2	1–0	1–2	3–1	1–1	2–0	1–0
Millwall	2–2	0–1	2–1	0–1	3–1	2–2	3–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	5–0	3–1	3–0		4–2	0–1	0–4	3–0	2–0	2–3	1–0	0–1
Norwich City	1–1	3–0	0–0	3–0	2–1	3–1	4–3	2–1	3–2	4–1	2–0	4–0	2–0	6–1		1–0	2–0	4–0	3–1	1–1	0–0	1–2
Oldham Athletic	1–1	3–1	0–1	4–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	2–1	2–1	1–1	3–1	3–1	1–0	0–0	1–3		2–0	1–5	4–3	2–4	2–2	2–1
Portsmouth	1–1	3–0	4–0	1–2	4–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	3–1	4–1	1–1	2–3	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–2		0–3	4–0	3–0	3–0	1–1
Sheffield United	3–1	3–3	3–1	3–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	3–2	0–1	1–3	2–5	2–0	0–0		1–1	1–2	1–0	4–0
Shrewsbury Town	3–0	2–0	2–0	2–1	0–0	2–1	0–2	2–1	0–2	3–0	0–0	1–3	2–1	1–1	0–3	2–0	1–1	3–1		1–0	1–2	1–1
Stoke City	0–0	2–2	3–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	0–1	6–2	3–2	0–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–3	2–2		1–0	0–0
Sunderland	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–1	2–2	1–2	1–1	4–2	3–3	1–0	1–1	4–2	1–0	1–2	0–2	0–3	1–3	2–1	2–0	2–0		2–1
Wimbledon	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–0	4–1	3–1	1–1	1–0	3–0	2–2	3–1	0–3	3–0	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–3	5–0	2–1	1–0	3–0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second Division maps

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlton Athletic

Crystal Palace

Fulham

Millwall

Wimbledon

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Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1985–1986

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barnsley

Bradford City

Brighton & Hove

Blackburn Rovers

Carlisle United

Charlton

Crystal Palace

Fulham

Grimsby Town

Huddersfield

Hull

Leeds U.

Middlesbrough

Millwall

Norwich City

Oldham

Portsmouth

Sheffield United

Shrewsbury

Stoke

Sunderland

Wimbledon

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Locations of the Football League Second Division 1985–1986 teams

Third Division

Football League, Third Division

Season	1985–86
Champions	Reading (1st title)
Promoted	Derby County, Plymouth Argyle
Relegated	Cardiff City, Lincoln City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Swansea City
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,550 (2.81 per match)
Top goalscorer	Trevor Senior (Reading), 27^[3]
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Reading	46	16	3	4	39	22	13	4	6	28	29	+16	94	Division Champions, promoted
2	Plymouth Argyle	46	17	3	3	56	20	9	6	8	32	33	+35	87	Promoted
3	Derby County	46	13	7	3	45	20	10	8	5	35	21	+39	84
4	Wigan Athletic	46	17	4	2	54	17	6	10	7	28	31	+34	83
5	Gillingham	46	14	5	4	48	17	8	8	7	33	37	+27	79
6	Walsall	46	15	7	1	59	23	7	2	14	31	41	+26	75
7	York City	46	16	4	3	49	17	4	7	12	28	41	+19	71
8	Notts County	46	12	6	5	42	26	7	8	8	29	34	+11	71
9	Bristol City	46	14	5	4	43	19	4	9	10	26	41	+9	68
10	Brentford	46	8	8	7	29	29	10	4	9	29	32	−3	66
11	Doncaster Rovers	46	7	10	6	20	21	9	6	8	25	31	−7	64
12	Blackpool	46	11	6	6	38	19	6	6	11	28	36	+11	63
13	Darlington	46	10	7	6	39	33	5	6	12	22	45	−17	58
14	Rotherham United	46	13	5	5	44	18	2	7	14	17	41	+2	57
15	AFC Bournemouth	46	9	6	8	41	31	6	3	14	24	41	−7	54
16	Bristol Rovers	46	9	8	6	27	21	5	4	14	24	54	−24	54
17	Chesterfield	46	10	6	7	41	30	3	8	12	20	34	−3	53
18	Bolton Wanderers	46	10	4	9	35	30	5	4	14	19	38	−14	53
19	Newport County	46	7	8	8	35	33	4	10	9	17	32	−13	51
20	Bury	46	11	7	5	46	26	1	6	16	17	41	−4	49
21	Lincoln City	46	7	9	7	33	34	3	7	13	22	43	−22	46	Relegated
22	Cardiff City	46	7	5	11	22	29	5	4	14	31	54	−30	45
23	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	6	6	11	29	47	5	4	14	28	51	−41	43
24	Swansea City	46	9	6	8	27	27	2	4	17	16	60	−44	43

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Third Division results

Home \ Away	BOU	BLP	BOL	BRE	BRC	BRR	BRY	CAR	CHF	DAR	DER	DON	GIL	LIN	NPC	NTC	PLY	REA	ROT	SWA	WAL	WIG	WOL	YOR
AFC Bournemouth		1–4	2–1	0–0	5–0	6–1	2–1	1–1	3–2	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–3	2–2	0–1	0–0	1–3	0–1	1–2	4–0	0–1	0–2	3–2	2–0
Blackpool	2–0		1–1	4–0	2–1	4–2	5–0	3–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	4–0	2–2	2–0	0–0	1–3	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	1–2	0–1	0–2
Bolton Wanderers	1–0	1–3		1–2	0–4	0–2	1–4	5–0	2–1	0–3	0–1	2–0	0–1	1–1	4–0	1–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–2	4–1	1–1
Brentford	1–0	1–1	1–1		1–2	1–0	1–0	3–0	1–0	2–1	3–3	1–3	1–2	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–3	1–3	2–1	3–3
Bristol City	1–3	2–1	2–0	0–0		2–0	4–1	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	4–1	1–2	1–1	3–1	3–0	2–0	3–0	3–1	0–1	2–3	1–0	3–0	2–2
Bristol Rovers	2–3	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–1		2–1	2–1	1–1	3–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	1–1	1–2	0–2	5–2	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	0–1
Bury	3–0	4–1	2–1	0–0	6–3	1–1		3–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	1–2	4–0	1–1	2–4	0–1	3–1	2–0	2–2	2–1	0–0	3–1	4–2
Cardiff City	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–3	2–0	0–0		0–2	0–1	0–2	0–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–3	1–2	1–3	2–3	1–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	2–1
Chesterfield	0–1	1–2	3–0	1–3	0–0	2–0	4–3	3–4		1–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–2	3–1	2–2	1–2	3–4	2–0	4–1	2–3	1–1	3–0	1–0
Darlington	0–0	2–1	1–1	3–5	2–1	3–3	1–1	4–1	2–1		2–1	0–2	3–2	1–0	3–2	2–3	0–2	0–0	2–2	6–0	0–3	1–1	2–1	1–0
Derby County	3–0	1–2	2–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	1–1		1–1	2–0	7–0	1–1	2–0	1–2	1–1	2–1	5–1	3–1	1–0	4–2	2–1
Doncaster Rovers	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–2	1–0	0–2	2–0	1–0	0–3		2–3	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–2	0–1	1–1
Gillingham	2–0	2–2	2–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–2	4–0		2–0	0–1	4–0	1–1	3–0	3–0	5–1	5–2	2–0	2–0	1–2
Lincoln City	3–2	0–3	1–1	3–0	1–1	2–2	2–0	0–4	2–1	1–1	0–1	3–3	1–0		1–1	0–2	1–1	0–1	0–0	4–1	3–2	0–0	2–3	3–4
Newport County	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–2	1–1	3–0	1–0	1–2	3–3	3–0	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–2		1–2	3–1	0–2	0–0	2–0	1–5	3–4	3–1	1–1
Notts County	3–1	1–2	1–0	0–4	4–0	0–0	2–2	1–4	2–1	5–0	0–3	1–1	1–1	3–2	1–2		2–0	0–0	1–0	3–0	3–1	1–1	4–0	3–1
Plymouth Argyle	2–1	3–1	4–1	2–0	4–0	4–2	3–0	4–4	0–0	4–2	4–1	0–1	3–0	2–1	2–0	0–1		0–1	4–0	2–0	2–0	2–1	3–1	2–2
Reading	1–2	1–0	1–0	3–1	1–0	3–2	2–0	1–1	4–2	0–2	1–0	2–0	1–2	0–2	2–0	3–1	4–3		2–1	2–0	2–1	1–0	2–2	0–0
Rotherham United	4–1	4–1	4–0	1–2	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–0	1–2	1–2	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	1–2		4–1	3–0	0–0	1–2	4–1
Swansea City	1–1	2–0	3–1	2–0	1–3	0–1	1–0	3–1	1–1	2–2	0–3	0–2	2–2	3–1	1–1	0–0	0–2	2–3	1–0		2–1	0–1	0–2	1–0
Walsall	4–2	1–1	2–0	1–2	2–1	6–0	3–2	6–3	3–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	4–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	2–2	6–0	3–1	3–1		3–3	1–1	3–1
Wigan Athletic	3–0	1–1	1–3	4–0	1–1	4–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	5–1	2–1	4–1	3–3	3–2	0–0	3–1	3–0	1–0	2–0	5–0	2–0		5–3	1–0
Wolverhampton Wanderers	0–3	2–1	0–2	1–4	2–1	3–4	1–1	3–1	1–0	2–1	0–4	1–2	1–3	1–1	1–2	2–2	0–3	2–3	0–0	1–5	0–0	2–2		3–2
York City	2–1	3–0	3–0	1–0	1–1	4–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	7–0	1–3	0–1	2–0	2–1	3–1	2–2	3–1	0–1	2–1	3–1	1–0	4–1	2–1

Source: [1] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third Division maps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blackpool

Bolton

Bournemouth

Brentford

Bristol City

Bristol Rovers

Bury

Cardiff City

Chesterfield

Darlington

Derby County

Doncaster

Gillingham

Lincoln City

Newport Co.

Notts County

Plymouth Argyle

Reading

Rotherham

Swansea City

Walsall

Wigan Athletic

Wolverhampton Wanderers

York City

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Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1985–1986

 

 

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Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1985–1986

Fourth Division

Football League, Fourth Division

Season	1985–86
Champions	Swindon Town (1st title)
Promoted	Chester City, Mansfield Town, Port Vale
Failed re-election	None
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,576 (2.86 per match)
Top goalscorer	Steve Taylor (Rochdale), 25 Richard Cadette (Southend United), 25^[3]
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Swindon Town	46	20	2	1	52	19	12	4	7	30	24	+39	102	Division Champions, promoted
2	Chester City	46	15	5	3	44	16	8	10	5	39	34	+33	84	Promoted
3	Mansfield Town	46	13	8	2	43	17	10	4	9	31	30	+27	81
4	Port Vale	46	13	9	1	42	11	8	7	8	25	26	+30	79
5	Orient	46	11	6	6	39	21	9	6	8	40	43	+15	72
6	Colchester United	46	12	6	5	51	22	7	7	9	37	41	+25	70
7	Hartlepool United	46	15	6	2	41	20	5	4	14	27	47	+1	70
8	Northampton Town	46	9	7	7	44	29	9	3	11	35	29	+21	64
9	Southend United	46	13	4	6	43	27	5	6	12	26	40	+2	64
10	Hereford United	46	15	6	2	55	30	3	4	16	19	43	+1	64
11	Stockport County	46	9	9	5	35	28	8	4	11	28	43	−8	64
12	Crewe Alexandra	46	10	6	7	35	26	8	3	12	19	35	−7	63
13	Wrexham	46	11	5	7	34	24	6	4	13	34	56	−12	60	Welsh Cup Winners, qualified for the 1986–87 European Cup Winners' Cup First round^[a]
14	Burnley	46	11	3	9	35	30	5	8	10	25	35	−5	59
15	Scunthorpe United	46	11	7	5	33	23	4	7	12	17	32	−5	59
16	Aldershot	46	12	5	6	45	25	5	2	16	21	49	−8	58
17	Peterborough United	46	9	11	3	31	19	4	6	13	21	45	−12	56
18	Rochdale	46	12	7	4	41	29	2	6	15	16	48	−20	55
19	Tranmere Rovers	46	9	1	13	46	41	6	8	9	28	32	+1	54
20	Halifax Town	46	10	8	5	35	27	4	4	15	25	44	−11	54
21	Exeter City	46	10	4	9	26	25	3	11	9	21	34	−12	54	Re-elected
22	Cambridge United	46	12	2	9	45	38	3	7	13	20	42	−15	54
23	Preston North End	46	7	4	12	32	41	4	6	13	22	48	−35	43
24	Torquay United	46	8	5	10	29	32	1	5	17	14	56	−45	37

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

1. Wrexham won the 1986 Welsh Cup and thus claimed a place in the 1986–87 European Cup Winners' Cup, Welsh clubs still being allowed to compete in UEFA's competitions.

Fourth Division results

Home \ Away	ALD	BUR	CAM	CHE	COL	CRE	EXE	HAL	HAR	HER	LEY	MAN	NOR	PET	PTV	PNE	ROC	SCU	STD	STP	SWI	TOR	TRA	WRE
Aldershot		0–2	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–2	4–0	1–2	0–1	2–0	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	4–0	2–1	2–1	1–3	6–1	2–4	1–1	3–1	6–0
Burnley	1–2		1–1	1–0	0–2	0–1	3–1	1–3	2–0	3–2	1–0	2–1	3–2	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–3	0–1	0–2	3–0	3–1	5–2
Cambridge United	0–2	0–4		3–2	1–3	1–0	1–1	4–0	4–2	4–0	1–2	4–2	2–5	3–1	1–3	2–0	1–0	0–1	1–2	1–2	1–1	3–0	3–2	4–3
Chester City	1–0	4–0	1–1		4–0	4–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	3–0	1–0	2–3	2–1	4–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–1	3–1	1–0	2–1
Colchester United	4–0	2–2	4–1	2–3		1–2	1–1	3–1	3–1	4–1	4–0	0–0	2–0	5–0	1–0	4–0	0–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	5–2
Crewe Alexandra	2–0	3–1	0–1	2–2	0–2		0–1	2–2	0–0	2–0	1–3	2–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	3–3	4–2	4–0	1–1	0–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	3–2
Exeter City	2–0	0–2	0–0	1–3	2–2	1–2		1–0	1–2	3–2	1–1	1–0	1–2	0–1	1–0	3–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–0	0–3	2–2	1–0	0–1
Halifax Town	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–2	2–2	1–0	1–0		3–2	1–0	2–1	1–2	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–3	0–0	1–3	0–0	1–2	5–2
Hartlepool United	2–1	3–1	2–1	1–1	4–1	4–1	0–0	3–0		2–1	1–2	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	0–1	1–1	3–2	1–0	1–0	1–0	3–3
Hereford United	4–1	2–2	1–0	0–2	2–0	4–1	4–1	2–1	2–2		3–2	4–2	3–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	2–1	3–2	4–1	4–1	1–4	3–1
Orient	1–1	3–0	3–1	0–0	1–2	0–1	2–2	1–0	1–1	2–2		0–1	0–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	5–0	3–0	3–0	0–1	1–0	4–2	3–1	1–3
Mansfield Town	2–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	2–1	2–2	2–1	2–0	4–0	4–0	1–1		1–0	0–1	2–1	2–3	3–2	1–1	3–0	4–2	1–1	4–0	0–1	1–1
Northampton Town	2–3	2–0	0–2	2–2	1–0	0–1	2–2	4–0	3–0	1–3	2–3	1–0		2–2	2–2	6–0	1–0	2–2	0–0	3–1	0–1	5–1	2–2	1–2
Peterborough United	3–0	0–0	0–0	3–0	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–1	3–1	0–0	2–2	4–2	0–5		1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	3–0	2–0	0–1	1–1
Port Vale	3–1	1–1	4–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	0–0	3–2	4–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	2–0		0–1	1–1	3–1	4–0	1–1	3–0	0–0	0–0	4–0
Preston North End	1–3	1–0	1–2	3–6	3–2	1–2	2–2	0–1	2–1	2–0	1–3	0–2	1–1	2–4	0–1		1–1	0–1	3–2	1–2	0–3	4–0	2–2	1–0
Rochdale	2–0	1–0	2–1	1–2	3–3	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–2	1–1	1–4	1–1	3–2	2–1	3–3	1–1		1–0	2–1	4–1	1–2	5–0	1–1	3–2
Scunthorpe United	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–0	3–3	1–0	2–1	2–2	0–3	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–3	3–1		2–0	2–3	0–2	4–0	0–1	1–1
Southend United	2–0	2–3	1–0	1–1	2–4	0–1	2–0	2–1	3–2	3–1	5–1	3–1	0–4	0–1	2–1	2–1	5–0	2–1		0–0	0–0	1–2	2–2	3–0
Stockport County	3–2	1–1	3–1	2–2	1–1	3–0	1–1	2–1	1–3	1–1	2–3	0–2	1–0	2–2	1–2	2–1	3–0	0–0	2–1		0–2	1–1	1–1	2–0
Swindon Town	4–1	3–1	1–0	4–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	3–1	3–2	1–0	4–1	2–1	3–2	3–0	0–0	4–1	4–0	1–1	2–1	1–0		2–1	2–1	0–1
Torquay United	1–2	2–0	1–1	0–3	2–1	0–0	1–2	2–0	1–3	2–1	2–2	1–2	1–1	2–0	0–1	1–0	1–2	1–0	2–2	4–3	0–1		1–2	1–3
Tranmere Rovers	3–0	2–1	6–2	2–3	3–4	0–1	0–1	0–3	4–2	1–2	0–3	1–2	1–3	7–0	1–2	2–3	2–0	2–1	1–1	2–3	3–1	2–0		1–3
Wrexham	4–1	0–1	6–2	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	0–1	1–3	1–2	1–0	0–1	1–3	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–0	3–0	0–1	3–2	1–1

Source: [2] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Fourth Division maps

 

 

Orient

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Locations of the Football League Fourth Division London teams 1985–1986

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aldershot

Burnley

Cambridge Utd

Chester

Colchester

Crewe

Exeter City

Halifax Town

Hartlepool

Hereford United

Mansfield Town

Orient

Northampton Town

Peterborough

Port Vale

Preston North End

Rochdale

Scunthorpe United

Southend

Stockport

Swindon

Torquay

Tranmere

Wrexham

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Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1985–1986

Election/Re-election to the Football League

As champions of the Alliance Premier League, Enfield won the right to apply for election to the Football League, to replace one of the four bottom teams in the 1985–86 Football League Fourth Division. The vote went as follows:

Club	Final Position	Votes
Exeter City	21st (Fourth Division)	64
Preston North End	23rd (Fourth Division)	62.5
Cambridge United	22nd (Fourth Division)	61
Torquay United	24th (Fourth Division)	61
Enfield	1st (Alliance Premier League)	7.5

Hence, all four Football League teams were re-elected, and Enfield were denied membership of the Football League.

This was the last season in which the Alliance Premier League champions had to apply for election to the Football League. From the 1986–87 season, when the Alliance Premier League was re-branded as the Football Conference, the champions were automatically promoted, provided that they met the criteria set by the Football League.

See also

• 1985–86 in English football

Notes

References

1. "England 1985–86". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
2. Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
3. "English League Leading Goalscorers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
4. Remember the 1985 TV blackout? Only the Big Yin knew who McAvennie was, Simon Hart, The Independent, 22 October 2011
5. When football fans did not see a single match on TV over Christmas, Steven Pye, The Guardian, 3 December 2019
6. English teams were banned by UEFA from its competitions from the season 1985–86 on until the season 1990–91 because of the Heysel Disaster in 1985, involving Liverpool fans.
7. English teams were banned by UEFA from its competitions from the season 1985–86 on until the season 1990–91 because of the Heysel Disaster in 1985, involving Liverpool fans.
8. English teams were banned by UEFA from its competitions from the season 1985–86 on until the season 1990–91 because of the Heysel Disaster in 1985, involving Liverpool fans.

• Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane's, London & Sydney, 1980.

External links

• 1985–86 League Tables