1985–86 Scottish Premier Division

Celtic won the 1985–86 Scottish Premier Division and became champions in one of the closest finishes in League history. On the final day of the season Hearts were leading Celtic by two points - a draw against Dundee would have been sufficient to see them win their first League title since the 1959–60 season. Hearts lost 2–0 to Dundee at Dens Park thanks to two late goals by substitute Albert Kidd, while Celtic beat St Mirren 5–0 at Love Street. As a result, Celtic won the league on goal difference.^[1]

Scottish Premier Division

Season	1985–86
Champions	Celtic 5th Premier Division title 34th Scottish title
European Cup	Celtic
UEFA Cup	Heart of Midlothian Dundee United Rangers
Cup Winners' Cup	Aberdeen
Matches played	180
Goals scored	498 (2.77 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ally McCoist (24)
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Relegation was suspended due to league reconstruction, therefore Motherwell and Clydebank retained their Premier Division status.

Much of the season was only viewed by fans in stadiums as a dispute between television companies and the Scottish Football League resulted in no televised Scottish league football between September 1985 and March 1986.^[2]

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Celtic (C)	36	20	10	6	67	38	+29	50	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Heart of Midlothian	36	20	10	6	59	33	+26	50	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Dundee United	36	18	11	7	59	31	+28	47
4	Aberdeen	36	16	12	8	62	31	+31	44	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
5	Rangers	36	13	9	14	53	45	+8	35	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
6	Dundee	36	14	7	15	45	51	−6	35
7	St Mirren	36	13	5	18	42	63	−21	31
8	Hibernian	36	11	6	19	49	63	−14	28
9	Motherwell	36	7	6	23	33	66	−33	20
10	Clydebank	36	6	8	22	29	77	−48	20

Source: Rsssf
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Results

Matches 1–18

During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away	ABE	CEL	CLY	DND	DNU	HOM	HIB	MOT	RAN	STM
Aberdeen		4–1	3–1	4–1	3–2	3–0	3–0	1–1	1–0	1–1
Celtic	2–1		2–0	2–1	0–3	0–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–0
Clydebank	2–1	0–2		4–0	1–2	1–0	2–4	1–1	0–1	1–1
Dundee	1–3	0–2	2–0		0–3	1–1	1–0	3–1	3–2	2–1
Dundee United	1–1	1–0	2–1	2–0		1–1	2–2	3–0	1–1	5–0
Heart of Midlothian	1–0	1–1	4–1	1–1	2–0		2–1	3–0	3–0	3–0
Hibernian	1–1	0–5	5–0	2–1	0–1	0–0		1–0	1–3	2–3
Motherwell	1–1	1–2	0–0	1–3	0–1	2–1	2–0		0–3	3–1
Rangers	0–3	3–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	3–1	1–2	1–0		3–0
St Mirren	1–0	1–2	0–2	1–0	1–0	6–2	1–3	4–1	2–1

Source: Rsssf
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–36

During matches 19–36 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away	ABE	CEL	CLY	DND	DNU	HOM	HIB	MOT	RAN	STM
Aberdeen		0–1	4–1	0–0	0–1	0–1	4–0	3–2	1–1	3–1
Celtic	1–1		2–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–2	2–0	1–1
Clydebank	0–6	0–5		0–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	2–1	0–2
Dundee	0–0	1–3	4–0		0–1	2–0	3–1	4–0	2–1	3–1
Dundee United	2–1	4–2	4–0	0–0		0–3	4–0	4–0	1–1	1–2
Heart of Midlothian	1–1	1–1	1–0	3–1	1–1		3–1	2–0	3–1	3–0
Hibernian	0–1	2–2	2–3	1–0	1–2	1–2		4–0	1–1	3–0
Motherwell	0–1	0–2	3–0	2–2	2–0	1–3	3–1		1–0	1–2
Rangers	1–1	4–4	4–2	5–0	1–1	0–2	3–1	2–0		2–0
St Mirren	1–1	0–5	3–0	1–2	1–1	0–1	0–2	1–0	2–1

Source: Rsssf
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.