1984-85 in English football

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The 1984-85 season was the 105th season of competitive football in England.

Contents

[edit] Overview

The 1984-85 season was dominated by two major disasters, at Bradford and at Heysel.

[edit] Bradford City disaster

56 spectators died and more than 200 were injured when a fire ripped through the Main Stand at Valley Parade during Bradford City's Third Division fixture with Lincoln City on 11 May. This tragedy was seen by many as a wake-up call for English clubs to improve the state of their grounds and take more drastic safety measures to bring an end to problems which had been plaguing the game for years without any effective action being taken.

[edit] Heysel disaster

Less than three weeks after the Bradford fire, 39 spectators (mostly Italian) were trampled to death on the terraces of Heysel Stadium where Liverpool took on Juventus in the European Cup final. As a result, all English clubs were banned indefinitely from European competition with Liverpool ordered to serve an extra three years whenever the other English sides were re-admitted. Despite the tragedy, the match was played and Juventus beat Liverpool 1-0.

[edit] First Division

Howard Kendall's Everton side beat neighbours Liverpool to the league championship, while Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United followed closely behind. The blue half of Merseyside also collected the Cup Winners' Cup to complete a brilliant cup double, for the club, despite winning the championship with a record breaking ninety points and completing the double, Everton were unfortunately denied entry into the following season's European Cup following the impending ban by UEFA on all English clubs following the Heysel tragedy. Stoke City finished bottom of the First Division with just three league wins all season and just 17 points - a record low under the 3 points for a win system in any division, which would stand for twenty-one years. Norwich City and Sunderland - the two League Cup finalists - occupied the two other relegation places.

Liverpool manager Joe Fagan retired after the season and striker Kenny Dalglish was appointed player-manager.

[edit] Second Division

Jim Smith's Oxford United side won a successive promotion as Second Division champions and reached the First Division after just 23 years as Football League members. Following them into the big time were Birmingham City and Manchester City.

Slipping out of the league's second tier were Cardiff City, joined by Notts County and Wolverhampton Wanderers - both relegated for the second season in succession. Veteran manager Tommy Docherty had tried his hand at reversing financially-troubled Wolves' rapid decline at the Molineux, but without success.

[edit] Third Division

Bradford City's Third Division championship glory was overshadowed on the final day of the season when a fire at their Valley Parade ground killed 56 spectators - including two followers of their opponents Lincoln City.

The other two promotion places in the Third Division were occupied by Millwall and Hull City.

Going down from the Third Division were Cambridge United (who won just four games all season), Orient, Burnley and Preston North End. Burnley and Preston were founder members of the Football League who had reached great heights in the past - just 25 years ago Burnley had been league champions. But those successes were now very much a distant memory as both clubs slid into the league's fourth tier for the first time.

Swansea City, who had finished sixth in the First Division just three years earlier, continued to suffer as a result of their financial problems as they narrowly avoided a third successive relegation.

[edit] Fourth Division

Chesterfield, Blackpool, Darlington and Bury were promoted to the Third Division after occupying the Fourth Division's top four places.

The bottom four clubs, Halifax Town, Stockport County, Northampton Town (who had spent a season in the First Division some 20 years earlier) and Torquay United, all retained their league status after a successful re-election campaign at the expense of Gola League champions Maidstone United.

[edit] FA Cup

Manchester United won their second FA Cup in three years after a Norman Whiteside goal gave them an extra-time 1-0 victory over Everton at Wembley. Defender Kevin Moran became the first player to be sent off in an FA Cup final after he brought down Peter Reid in what he insisted was a misjudged tackle. United's triumph ended Everton's hopes of completing a treble of trophies - they had already lifted the league title and UEFA Cup Winners Cup. Millwall fans rioted in their 6th round match against Luton Town,causing Luton to ban away fans from their ground.

[edit] League Cup

Norwich became the first club to win a major trophy in a relegation season as they lifted the League Cup after beating Sunderland, who went down with them to the Second Division.

[edit] Star players

[edit] Star managers

  • Howard Kendall brought glory to Everton as they lifted the league championship trophy and the Cup Winners' Cup.
  • Ron Atkinson won his second FA Cup in three years with Manchester United.
  • Jim Smith brought First Division football to Oxford United less than a quarter of a century after they were elected to the league.
  • Ken Brown guided Norwich City to League Cup glory which compensated for their relegation to the Second Division.
  • Howard Wilkinson guided newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday to seventh place in the First Division in their first top division season for more than a decade.
  • Ron Saunders took Birmingham City back into the First Division at the first time of asking.
  • Trevor Cherry guided Bradford City to Third Division championship glory.
  • Former Arsenal player George Graham achieved managerial success with Millwall as they won promotion to the Second Division.
  • Brian Horton took Hull City to promotion in the Third Division.
  • Cyril Knowles (who played for Tottenham in the late 1960s and early 1970s), enjoyed success in management by getting Darlington promoted to the Third Division.

[edit] Honours

Competition Winner Runner-up
First Division Everton Liverpool
Second Division Oxford United Birmingham City
Third Division Bradford City Millwall
Fourth Division Chesterfield Blackpool
FA Cup Manchester United Everton
League Cup Norwich City Sunderland
Freight Rover Trophy Wigan Athletic Brentford
Charity Shield Everton Liverpool

[edit] League table

[edit] First Division

P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Everton 42 28 6 8 88 43 +45 90
2 Liverpool 42 22 11 9 68 35 +33 77
3 Tottenham Hotspur 42 23 8 11 78 51 +27 77
4 Manchester United 42 22 10 10 77 47 +30 76
5 Southampton 42 19 11 12 56 47 +9 68
6 Chelsea 42 18 12 12 63 48 +15 66
7 Arsenal 42 19 9 14 61 49 +12 66
8 Sheffield Wednesday 42 17 14 11 58 45 +13 65
9 Nottingham Forest 42 19 7 16 56 48 +8 64
10 Aston Villa 42 15 11 16 60 60 +0 56
11 Watford 42 14 13 15 81 71 +10 55
12 West Bromwich Albion 42 16 7 19 58 62 -4 55
13 Luton Town 42 15 9 18 57 61 -4 54
14 Newcastle United 42 13 13 16 55 70 -15 52
15 Leicester City 42 15 6 21 65 73 -8 51
16 West Ham United 42 13 12 17 51 68 -17 51
17 Ipswich Town 42 13 11 18 46 57 -11 50
18 Coventry City 42 15 5 22 47 64 -17 50
19 Queens Park Rangers 42 13 11 18 53 72 -19 50
20 Norwich City 42 13 10 19 46 64 -18 49
21 Sunderland 42 10 10 22 40 62 -22 40
22 Stoke City 42 3 8 31 24 91 -67 17

[edit] Second Division

P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Oxford United 42 25 9 8 84 36 +48 84
2 Birmingham City 42 25 7 10 59 33 +26 82
3 Manchester City 42 21 11 10 66 40 +26 74
4 Portsmouth 42 20 14 8 69 50 +19 74
5 Blackburn Rovers 42 21 10 11 66 41 +25 73
6 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 20 12 10 54 34 +20 72
7 Leeds United 42 19 12 11 66 43 +23 69
8 Shrewsbury Town 42 18 11 13 66 53 +13 65
9 Fulham 42 19 8 15 68 64 +4 65
10 Grimsby Town 42 18 8 16 72 64 +8 62
11 Barnsley 42 14 16 12 42 42 +0 58
12 Wimbledon 42 16 10 16 71 75 -4 58
13 Huddersfield Town 42 15 10 17 52 64 -12 55
14 Oldham Athletic 42 15 8 19 49 67 -18 53
15 Crystal Palace 42 12 12 18 46 65 -19 48
16 Carlisle United 42 13 8 21 50 67 -17 47
17 Charlton Athletic 42 11 12 19 51 63 -12 45
18 Sheffield United 42 10 14 18 54 66 -12 44
19 Middlesbrough 42 10 10 22 41 57 -16 40
20 Notts County 42 10 7 25 45 73 -28 37
21 Cardiff City 42 9 8 25 47 79 -32 35
22 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 8 9 25 37 79 -42 33

[edit] Third Division

P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Bradford City 46 28 10 8 77 45 +32 94
2 Millwall 46 26 12 8 73 42 +31 90
3 Hull City 46 25 12 9 78 49 +29 87
4 Gillingham 46 25 8 13 80 62 +18 83
5 Bristol City 46 24 9 13 74 47 +27 81
6 Bristol Rovers 46 21 12 13 66 48 +18 75
7 Derby County 46 19 13 14 65 54 +11 70
8 York City 46 20 9 17 70 57 +13 69
9 Reading 46 19 12 15 68 62 +6 69
10 Bournemouth 46 19 11 16 57 46 +11 68
11 Walsall 46 18 13 15 58 52 +6 67
12 Rotherham United 46 18 11 17 55 55 +0 65
13 Brentford 46 16 14 16 62 64 -2 62
14 Doncaster Rovers 46 17 8 21 72 74 -2 59
15 Plymouth Argyle 46 15 14 17 62 65 -3 59
16 Wigan Athletic 46 15 14 17 60 64 -4 59
17 Bolton Wanderers 46 16 6 24 69 75 -6 54
18 Newport County 46 13 13 20 55 67 -12 52
19 Lincoln City 46 11 18 17 50 51 -1 51
20 Swansea City 46 12 11 23 53 80 -27 47
21 Burnley 46 11 13 22 60 73 -13 46
22 Orient 46 11 13 22 51 76 -25 46
23 Preston North End 46 13 7 26 51 100 -49 46
24 Cambridge United 46 4 9 33 37 95 -58 21

[edit] Fourth Division

P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Chesterfield 46 26 13 7 64 35 +29 91
2 Blackpool 46 24 14 8 73 39 +34 86
3 Darlington 46 24 13 9 66 49 +17 85
4 Bury 46 24 12 10 76 50 +26 84
5 Hereford United 46 22 11 13 65 47 +18 77
6 Tranmere Rovers 46 24 3 19 83 66 +17 75
7 Colchester United 46 20 14 12 87 65 +22 74
8 Swindon Town 46 21 9 16 62 58 +4 72
9 Scunthorpe United 46 19 14 13 83 62 +21 71
10 Crewe Alexandra 46 18 12 16 65 69 -4 66
11 Peterborough United 46 16 14 16 54 53 +1 62
12 Port Vale 46 14 18 14 61 59 +2 60
13 Aldershot 46 17 8 21 56 63 -7 59
14 Mansfield Town 46 13 18 15 41 38 +3 57
15 Wrexham 46 15 9 22 67 70 -3 54
16 Chester City 46 15 9 22 60 72 -12 54
17 Rochdale 46 13 14 19 55 69 -14 53
18 Exeter City 46 13 14 19 57 79 -22 53
19 Hartlepool United 46 14 10 22 54 67 -13 52
20 Southend United 46 13 11 22 58 83 -25 50
21 Halifax Town 46 15 5 26 42 69 -27 50
22 Stockport County 46 13 8 25 58 79 -21 47
23 Northampton Town 46 14 5 27 53 74 -21 47
24 Torquay United 46 9 14 23 38 63 -25 41

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

[edit] Deaths


1980–81 | 1981–82 | 1982–83 | 1983–84 | 1984–85 | 1985–86 | 1986–87 | 1987–88 | 1988–89
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