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[9]
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

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

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

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

Locations of the Football League Second Division 1985–1986 teams

Third Division

Football LeagueThird 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	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Reading (C, P)	46	29	7	10	67	51	+16	94	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Plymouth Argyle (P)	46	26	9	11	88	53	+35	87
3	Derby County (P)	46	23	15	8	80	41	+39	84
4	Wigan Athletic	46	23	14	9	82	48	+34	83
5	Gillingham	46	22	13	11	81	54	+27	79
6	Walsall	46	22	9	15	90	64	+26	75
7	York City	46	20	11	15	77	58	+19	71
8	Notts County	46	19	14	13	71	60	+11	71
9	Bristol City	46	18	14	14	69	60	+9	68
10	Brentford	46	18	12	16	58	61	−3	66
11	Doncaster Rovers	46	16	16	14	45	52	−7	64
12	Blackpool	46	17	12	17	66	55	+11	63
13	Darlington	46	15	13	18	61	78	−17	58
14	Rotherham United	46	15	12	19	61	59	+2	57
15	Bournemouth	46	15	9	22	65	72	−7	54
16	Bristol Rovers	46	14	12	20	51	75	−24	54
17	Chesterfield	46	13	14	19	61	64	−3	53
18	Bolton Wanderers	46	15	8	23	54	68	−14	53
19	Newport County	46	11	18	17	52	65	−13	51
20	Bury	46	12	13	21	63	67	−4	49
21	Lincoln City (R)	46	10	16	20	55	77	−22	46	Relegation to the Fourth Division
22	Cardiff City (R)	46	12	9	25	53	83	−30	45
23	Wolverhampton Wanderers (R)	46	11	10	25	57	98	−41	43
24	Swansea City (R)	46	11	10	25	43	87	−44	43

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

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: 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

Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1985–1986

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

Fourth Division

Football LeagueFourth 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	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Swindon Town (C, P)	46	32	6	8	82	43	+39	102	Promotion to the Third Division
2	Chester City (P)	46	23	15	8	83	50	+33	84
3	Mansfield Town (P)	46	23	12	11	74	47	+27	81
4	Port Vale (P)	46	21	16	9	67	37	+30	79
5	Orient	46	20	12	14	79	64	+15	72
6	Colchester United	46	19	13	14	88	63	+25	70
7	Hartlepool United	46	20	10	16	68	67	+1	70
8	Northampton Town	46	18	10	18	79	58	+21	64
9	Southend United	46	18	10	18	69	67	+2	64
10	Hereford United	46	18	10	18	74	73	+1	64
11	Stockport County	46	17	13	16	63	71	−8	64
12	Crewe Alexandra	46	18	9	19	54	61	−7	63
13	Wrexham	46	17	9	20	68	80	−12	60	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round
14	Burnley	46	16	11	19	60	65	−5	59
15	Scunthorpe United	46	15	14	17	50	55	−5	59
16	Aldershot	46	17	7	22	66	74	−8	58
17	Peterborough United	46	13	17	16	52	64	−12	56
18	Rochdale	46	14	13	19	57	77	−20	55
19	Tranmere Rovers	46	15	9	22	74	73	+1	54
20	Halifax Town	46	14	12	20	60	71	−11	54
21	Exeter City	46	13	15	18	47	59	−12	54	Re-elected
22	Cambridge United	46	15	9	22	65	80	−15	54
23	Preston North End	46	11	10	25	54	89	−35	43
24	Torquay United	46	9	10	27	43	88	−45	37

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

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

Fourth Division maps

Orient

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

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