1985–86 Football League

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

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

First Division

In a close three-horse race, Liverpool pipped Everton and West Ham United to the First Division title,Remember the 1985 TV blackout? Only the Big Yin knew who McAvennie was, Simon Hart, The Independent, 22 October 2011 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,When football fans did not see a single match on TV over Christmas, Steven Pye, The Guardian, 3 December 2019 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

First Division results

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

Second Division

Results

Second Division maps

Third Division

Third Division results

Third Division maps

Fourth Division

Fourth Division results

Fourth Division maps

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.

Attendances Source:

Division One # Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Manchester United 46,321 54,575 32,331 2 Liverpool FC 35,271 45,445 26,219 3 Everton FC 32,226 51,348 23,357 4 Manchester City FC 24,229 48,773 18,899 5 Arsenal FC 23,824 45,107 14,821 6 Newcastle United FC 23,434 32,183 16,785 7 Sheffield Wednesday FC 23,111 48,105 13,359 8 Chelsea FC 21,985 43,900 12,017 9 West Ham United FC 21,179 31,121 12,225 10 Tottenham Hotspur FC 20,859 33,835 9,359 11 Nottingham Forest FC 16,809 30,171 11,538 12 Watford FC 15,360 18,960 11,510 13 Aston Villa FC 15,237 27,626 8,456 14 Southampton FC 14,877 19,784 12,167 15 Ipswich Town FC 14,469 20,682 11,528 16 Queens Park Rangers FC 12,808 21,122 8,085 17 West Bromwich Albion FC 12,164 24,962 6,201 18 Leicester City FC 11,793 26,070 7,237 19 Coventry City FC 11,590 16,898 7,478 20 Luton Town FC 11,062 17,454 8,550 21 Oxford United FC 11,009 13,939 9,020 22 Birmingham City FC 10,900 24,971 5,833

Division Two

# Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Sunderland AFC 16,052 21,144 11,338 2 Norwich City FC 13,722 18,956 11,148 3 Portsmouth FC 13,614 18,859 9,560 4 Leeds United FC 13,259 21,128 9,638 5 Sheffield United FC 10,798 13,854 7,367 6 Brighton & Hove Albion FC 9,726 16,717 6,258 7 Stoke City FC 8,288 11,875 6,449 8 Hull City AFC 7,672 12,824 5,344 9 Huddersfield Town AFC 6,821 11,667 4,511 10 Crystal Palace FC 6,787 11,731 3,744 11 Middlesbrough FC 6,257 19,701 4,061 12 Barnsley FC 6,067 9,410 3,827 13 Charlton Athletic FC 6,028 13,214 3,059 14 Blackburn Rovers FC 5,826 9,666 3,616 15 Bradford City AFC 5,816 10,751 3,426 16 Millwall FC 5,459 9,158 3,188 17 Grimsby Town FC 5,157 9,121 3,476 18 Oldham Athletic FC 4,651 8,195 2,510 19 Fulham FC 4,624 9,281 2,134 20 Wimbledon FC 4,578 9,046 2,351 21 Carlisle United FC 4,010 9,249 2,418 22 Shrewsbury Town FC 3,927 9,595 2,364

Division Three

# Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Derby County FC 12,386 21,030 9,571 2 Plymouth Argyle FC 8,297 24,888 3,686 3 Reading FC 6,893 13,465 3,410 4 Bristol City FC 6,600 12,171 4,395 5 Walsall FC 4,891 10,480 3,282 6 Bolton Wanderers FC 4,847 9,252 2,902 7 Blackpool FC 4,536 9,473 1,995 8 Notts County FC 4,404 13,086 2,345 9 Swansea City AFC 4,306 6,989 2,779 10 Bristol Rovers FC 4,196 9,926 2,959 11 Wigan Athletic FC 4,148 9,485 2,657 12 York City FC 4,111 6,045 2,857 13 Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 4,020 9,166 2,205 14 Brentford FC 3,957 6,351 2,824 15 Gillingham FC 3,691 5,710 2,050 16 Rotherham United FC 3,474 6,030 2,101 17 AFC Bournemouth 3,424 6,105 1,873 18 Chesterfield FC 3,212 9,394 1,773 19 Cardiff City FC 3,061 8,375 1,663 20 Darlington FC 3,027 4,255 1,615 21 Bury FC 2,889 6,006 1,720 22 Doncaster Rovers FC 2,804 4,617 1,659 23 Lincoln City FC 2,617 6,237 1,379 24 Newport County AFC 2,494 6,461 1,508

Division Four

# Club Average Highest Lowest 1 Swindon Town FC 6,531 12,470 3,299 2 Mansfield Town FC 3,764 8,420 2,357 3 Port Vale FC 3,581 5,976 2,461 4 Preston North End FC 3,502 5,585 2,007 5 Burnley FC 3,204 4,279 1,988 6 Chester City FC 2,953 5,253 1,473 7 Southend United FC 2,785 8,119 1,006 8 Hereford United FC 2,756 4,094 1,857 9 Stockport County FC 2,667 4,690 1,354 10 Leyton Orient FC 2,629 3,713 1,443 11 Hartlepool United FC 2,593 4,195 1,282 12 Peterborough United FC 2,590 3,866 1,512 13 Northampton Town FC 2,385 4,449 1,167 14 Colchester United FC 2,328 3,927 1,356 15 Cambridge United FC 2,089 3,234 1,235 16 Exeter City FC 1,972 2,868 1,369 17 Wrexham AFC 1,820 3,519 912 18 Crewe Alexandra FC 1,817 4,986 1,009 19 Rochdale AFC 1,790 2,600 936 20 Scunthorpe United FC 1,778 2,495 1,238 21 Tranmere Rovers 1,566 3,188 1,031 22 Aldershot Town FC 1,480 3,723 1,027 23 Halifax Town AFC 1,406 2,334 732 24 Torquay United FC 1,240 2,558 850

See also 1985–86 in English football

References

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