1984–85 Football League

The 1984–1985 season was the 85th completed season of The Football League.

Contents

Season Overview

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. 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.

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.

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.

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 Alliance Premier League side Bath City who were placed 4th in the Alliance Premier League and were the highest placed team there that would have met the Football League’s requirements. Re-election results are given at the end of this article.

Final league tables and results[1]

The tables 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.

Re-election: 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

Football League, First Division
Season 1984–85
Champions Everton (8th English title)
Relegated Norwich City
Stoke City
Sunderland
FA Cup winners Manchester United (6th FA Cup title)
European Cup 1985–86 No qualifications [notes 1][3]
European Cup Winners' Cup 1985–86 No qualifications[notes 1]
UEFA Cup 1985–86 No qualifications[notes 1]
Matches played 462
Goals scored 1288 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorer Kerry Dixon (Chelsea), 24
Gary Lineker (Leicester City), 24 [4]
Biggest home win Chelsea – Coventry City 6–2 (3 Nov 1984)
Biggest away win Aston Villa – Nottingham Forest 0–5 (5 Sep 1984)
Highest scoring QPR – Newcastle United 5–5 (22 Sep 22 1984)
Longest winning run Everton (10 games)
Longest unbeaten run Everton (18 games)
Longest losing run Stoke City (10 games)
Highest attendance ?
Lowest attendance ?
Average attendance ?
Locations of the Football League First Division 1984–1985 teams
Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1984–1985
Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GD Pts Notes
1 Everton 42 16 3 2 58 17 12 3 6 30 26 88 43 + 45 90 Excluded from
the European Cup 1985–86[notes 1]
2 Liverpool 42 12 4 5 36 19 10 7 4 32 16 68 35 + 33 77 Excluded from
the UEFA Cup 1985–86[notes 1]
3 Tottenham Hotspur 42 11 3 7 46 31 12 5 4 32 20 78 51 + 27 77 Excluded from
the UEFA Cup 1985–86[notes 1]
4 Manchester United 42 13 6 2 47 13 9 4 8 30 34 77 47 + 30 76 Excluded from
the 1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup[notes 1]
5 Southampton 42 13 4 4 29 18 6 7 8 27 29 56 47 + 9 68 Excluded from
the UEFA Cup 1985–86[notes 1]
6 Chelsea 42 13 3 5 38 20 5 9 7 25 28 63 48 + 15 66
7 Arsenal 42 14 5 2 37 14 5 4 12 24 35 61 49 + 12 66
8 Sheffield Wednesday 42 12 7 2 39 21 5 7 9 19 24 58 45 + 13 65
9 Nottingham Forest 42 13 4 4 35 18 6 3 12 21 30 56 48 + 8 64
10 Aston Villa 42 10 7 4 34 20 5 4 12 26 40 60 60 ± 0 56
11 Watford 42 10 5 6 48 30 4 8 9 33 41 81 71 + 10 55
12 West Bromwich Albion 42 11 4 6 36 23 5 3 13 22 39 58 62 – 4 55
13 Luton Town 42 12 5 4 40 22 3 4 14 17 39 57 61 – 4 54
14 Newcastle United 42 11 4 6 33 26 2 9 10 22 44 55 70 – 15 52
15 Leicester City 42 10 4 7 39 25 5 2 14 26 48 65 73 – 8 51
16 West Ham United 42 7 8 6 27 23 6 4 11 24 45 51 68 – 17 51
17 Ipswich Town 42 8 7 6 27 20 5 4 12 19 37 46 57 – 11 50
18 Coventry City 42 11 3 7 29 22 4 2 15 18 42 47 64 – 17 50
19 Queens Park Rangers 42 11 6 4 41 30 2 5 14 12 42 53 72 – 19 50
20 Norwich City 42 9 6 6 28 24 4 4 13 18 40 46 64 – 18 49 Excluded from
the UEFA Cup 1985–86[notes 1] [notes 2]
21 Sunderland 42 7 6 8 20 26 3 4 14 20 36 40 62 – 22 40
22 Stoke City 42 3 3 15 18 41 0 5 16 6 50 24 91 – 67 17
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Norwich City were 1985 League Cup winners and would normally have qualified for the UEFA Cup. They were nevertheless relegated.
Key
League Champions, excluded from European Cup
FA Cup winners, excluded from Cup Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup spot, but excluded
League Cup winners, excluded from UEFA Cup, relegated
Relegated

First Division Results

Home \ Away1 ARS AST CHE COV EVE IPS LEI LIV LUT MNU NEW NOR NOT QPR SHW SOT STO SUN TOT WAT WBA WHU
Arsenal 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 3–1 3–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 4–0 3–2 1–2 1–1 4–0 2–1
Aston Villa 0–0 4–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 3–0 4–0 2–2 0–5 5–2 3–0 2–2 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 3–1 0–0
Chelsea 1–1 3–1 6–2 0–1 2–0 3–0 3–1 2–0 1–3 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 0–2 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–3 3–1 3–0
Coventry City 1–2 0–3 1–0 4–1 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–0 0–3 1–1 0–0 1–3 3–0 1–0 2–1 4–0 0–1 1–1 3–1 2–1 1–2
Everton 2–0 2–1 3–4 2–1 1–1 3–0 1–0 2–1 5–0 4–0 3–0 5–0 2–0 1–1 2–2 4–0 4–1 1–4 4–0 4–1 3–0
Ipswich Town 2–1 3–0 2–0 0–0 0–2 2–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 5–1 0–2 0–3 3–3 2–0 0–1
Leicester City 1–4 5–0 1–1 5–1 1–2 2–1 0–1 2–2 2–3 2–3 2–0 1–0 4–0 3–1 1–2 0–0 2–0 1–2 1–1 2–1 1–0
Liverpool 3–0 2–1 4–3 3–1 0–1 2–0 1–2 1–0 0–1 3–1 4–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 4–3 0–0 3–0
Luton Town 3–1 1–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 3–1 4–0 1–2 2–1 2–2 3–1 1–2 2–0 1–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–2 3–2 1–2 2–2
Manchester United 4–2 4–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 3–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 5–0 2–0 2–0 3–0 1–2 0–0 5–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 2–0 5–1
Newcastle United 1–3 3–0 2–1 0–1 2–3 3–0 1–4 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 3–1 2–3 3–1 1–0 1–1
Norwich City 1–0 2–2 0–0 2–1 4–2 0–2 1–3 3–3 3–0 0–1 0–0 0–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–3 1–2 3–2 2–1 1–0
Nottingham Forest 2–0 3–2 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 0–2 3–1 3–2 0–0 3–1 2–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 3–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–2
Queens Park Rangers 1–0 2–0 2–2 2–1 0–0 3–0 4–3 0–2 2–3 1–3 5–5 2–2 3–0 0–0 0–4 2–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 3–1 4–2
Sheffield Wednesday 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 2–2 5–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 4–2 1–2 3–1 3–1 2–1 2–1 2–2 2–1 1–1 2–0 2–1
Southampton 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 1–2 3–0 3–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 0–3 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–2 4–3 2–3
Stoke City 2–0 1–3 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–2 2–2 0–1 0–4 2–1 0–1 2–3 1–4 0–2 2–1 1–3 2–2 0–1 1–3 0–0 2–4
Sunderland 0–0 0–4 0–2 0–0 1–2 1–2 0–4 0–3 3–0 3–2 0–0 2–1 0–2 3–0 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–1
Tottenham Hotspur 0–2 0–2 1–1 4–2 1–2 2–3 2–2 1–0 4–2 1–2 3–1 3–1 1–0 5–0 2–0 5–1 4–0 2–0 1–5 2–3 2–2
Watford 3–4 3–3 1–3 0–1 4–5 3–1 4–1 1–1 3–0 5–1 3–3 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 3–1 1–2 0–2 5–0
West Bromwich Albion 2–2 1–0 0–1 5–2 2–1 1–2 2–0 0–5 4–0 1–2 2–1 0–1 4–1 0–0 2–2 0–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 5–1
West Ham United 3–1 1–2 1–1 3–1 0–1 0–0 3–1 0–3 0–0 2–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–3 0–0 2–3 5–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–2

Source:
1The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second Division

Football League, Second Division
Season 1984–85
Champions Oxford United (1st title)
Promoted Birmingham City,
Manchester City
Relegated Cardiff City,
Notts County,
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Matches played 462
Goals scored 1255 (2.72 per match)
Top goalscorer John Aldridge (Oxford United), 30 [4]
Biggest home win ?
Biggest away win ?
Highest scoring ?
Longest winning run ?
Longest unbeaten run ?
Longest losing run ?
Highest attendance ?
Lowest attendance ?
Average attendance ?
Locations of the Football League Second Division 1984–1985 teams
Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1984–1985
Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GD Pts Notes
1 Oxford United 42 18 2 1 62 15 7 7 7 22 21 84 36 + 48 84
2 Birmingham City 42 12 6 3 30 15 13 1 7 29 18 59 33 + 26 82
3 Manchester City 42 14 4 3 42 16 7 7 7 24 24 66 40 + 26 74
4 Portsmouth 42 11 6 4 39 25 9 8 4 30 25 69 50 + 19 74
5 Blackburn Rovers 42 14 3 4 38 15 7 7 7 28 26 66 41 + 25 73
6 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 13 6 2 31 11 7 6 8 23 23 54 34 + 20 72
7 Leeds United 42 12 7 2 37 11 7 5 9 29 32 66 43 + 23 69
8 Shrewsbury Town 42 12 6 3 45 22 6 5 10 21 31 66 53 + 13 65 [notes2 1]
9 Fulham 42 13 3 5 35 26 6 5 10 33 38 68 64 + 4 65
10 Grimsby Town 42 13 1 7 47 32 5 7 9 25 32 72 64 + 8 62
11 Barnsley 42 11 7 3 27 12 3 9 9 15 30 42 42 ± 0 58
12 Wimbledon 42 9 8 4 40 29 7 2 12 31 46 71 75 – 4 58
13 Huddersfield Town 42 9 5 7 28 29 6 5 10 24 35 52 64 – 12 55
14 Oldham Athletic 42 10 4 7 27 23 5 4 12 22 44 49 67 – 18 53
15 Crystal Palace 42 8 7 6 25 27 4 5 12 21 38 46 65 – 19 48
16 Carlisle United 42 8 5 8 27 23 5 3 13 23 44 50 67 – 17 47
17 Charlton Athletic 42 8 7 6 34 30 3 5 13 17 33 51 63 – 12 45
18 Sheffield United 42 7 6 8 31 28 3 8 10 23 38 54 66 – 12 44
19 Middlesbrough 42 6 8 7 22 26 4 2 15 19 31 41 57 – 16 40
20 Notts County 42 6 5 10 25 32 4 2 15 20 41 45 73 – 28 37
21 Cardiff City 42 5 3 13 24 42 4 5 12 23 37 47 79 – 32 35
22 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 5 4 12 18 32 3 5 13 19 47 37 79 – 42 33
  1. ^ Shrewsbury Town were winners of the Welsh Cup winners this season, but as they are an English club, they did not earn a place in the Cup Winners' Cup,
    and besides, English clubs were banned anyway.
Key
Division Champions, promoted
Promoted
Welsh Cup winners, not qualified for Cup Winners' Cup
Relegated

Second Division Results

Home \ Away1 BAR BIR BLB B&H CAR CRL CHA CPA FUL GRI HUD LEE MNC MID NTC OLD OXF POR SHE SHR WDN WOL
Barnsley 0–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–3 1–0 3–1 1–0 0–0 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–1 3–0 2–2 1–0 3–1 0–0 5–1
Birmingham City 0–0 0–2 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–1 3–0 2–2 2–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 3–2 2–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 4–1 0–0 4–2 1–0
Blackburn Rovers 0–0 2–1 2–0 2–1 4–0 3–0 0–1 2–1 3–1 1–3 2–1 0–1 3–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 3–1 3–1 2–0 3–0
Brighton & Hove Albion 0–0 2–0 3–1 1–0 4–1 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–2 2–1 2–0 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 5–1
Cardiff City 3–0 1–2 1–2 2–4 2–1 0–3 0–3 0–2 2–4 3–0 2–1 0–3 2–1 1–4 2–2 0–2 1–2 1–3 0–0 1–3 0–0
Carlisle United 2–0 2–1 0–1 0–3 0–1 1–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 0–1 2–2 0–0 0–3 2–2 2–5 0–1 3–0 1–1 2–0 6–1 0–1
Charlton Athletic 5–3 2–1 1–0 0–1 1–4 1–1 1–1 1–2 4–1 2–2 2–3 1–3 1–0 3–0 2–1 3–3 2–2 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–0
Crystal Palace 0–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–2 0–2 1–1 3–1 1–2 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–0 2–1 1–3 2–2 0–5 0–0
Fulham 1–1 0–1 3–2 2–0 3–2 3–2 0–0 2–2 2–1 2–1 0–2 3–2 2–1 1–0 3–1 1–0 1–3 1–0 1–2 3–1 1–2
Grimsby Town 1–0 1–0 1–1 2–4 6–3 1–0 2–1 1–3 2–4 5–1 0–2 4–1 3–1 2–0 4–1 1–2 2–3 0–2 2–1 2–1 5–1
Huddersfield Town 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 2–1 2–0 2–1 2–0 2–2 0–0 1–0 0–2 3–1 1–2 2–1 0–3 0–2 2–2 1–5 2–1 3–1
Leeds United 2–0 0–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 4–1 2–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 5–0 6–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 5–2 3–2
Manchester City 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–0 2–2 1–3 5–1 2–1 2–3 3–0 1–0 1–2 1–0 2–0 0–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 4–0 3–0 4–0
Middlesbrough 0–0 0–0 1–2 2–1 3–2 1–2 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–5 2–2 0–0 2–1 0–1 1–2 0–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 2–4 1–1
Notts County 0–2 1–3 0–3 1–2 0–2 3–0 0–0 0–0 2–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 3–2 3–2 0–0 2–0 1–3 0–0 1–3 2–3 4–1
Oldham Athletic 2–1 0–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–3 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–0 2–2 1–1 0–2 2–0 3–2 0–0 0–2 2–2 0–1 0–1 3–2
Oxford United 4–0 0–3 2–1 2–1 4–0 4–0 5–0 5–0 3–2 1–0 3–0 5–2 3–0 1–0 1–1 5–2 1–1 5–1 1–0 4–0 3–1
Portsmouth 0–0 1–3 2–2 1–1 0–0 3–1 0–1 1–1 4–4 3–2 3–2 3–1 1–2 1–0 3–1 5–1 2–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 0–1
Sheffield United 3–1 3–4 1–3 1–1 2–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 2–3 0–2 2–1 0–0 0–3 3–0 2–0 1–1 4–1 0–1 3–0 2–2
Shrewsbury Town 2–0 1–0 3–0 0–0 0–0 4–2 1–1 4–1 3–1 4–1 5–1 2–3 1–0 0–2 4–2 3–0 2–2 0–0 3–3 1–2 2–1
Wimbledon 3–3 1–2 1–1 1–0 2–1 3–0 1–3 3–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 2–2 2–2 1–1 3–2 1–0 1–3 3–2 5–0 4–1 1–1
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0–1 0–2 0–3 0–1 3–0 0–2 1–0 2–1 0–4 0–1 2–1 0–2 2–0 0–0 2–2 0–3 1–2 0–0 2–2 0–1 3–3

Source:
1The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third Division

Football League, Third Division
Season 1984–85
Champions Bradford City (1st title)
Promoted Hull City,
Millwall
Relegated Burnley,
Cambridge United,
Orient,
Preston North End
Matches played 552
Goals scored 1503 (2.72 per match)
Top goalscorer Tommy Tynan (Plymouth Argyle), 31 [4]
Biggest home win ?
Biggest away win ?
Highest scoring ?
Longest winning run ?
Longest unbeaten run ?
Longest losing run ?
Highest attendance ?
Lowest attendance ?
Average attendance ?
Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1984–1985
Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1984–1985
Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GD Pts Notes
1 Bradford City 46 15 6 2 44 23 13 4 6 33 22 77 45 + 32 94 [notes3 1]
2 Millwall 46 18 5 0 44 12 8 7 8 29 30 73 42 + 31 90
3 Hull City 46 16 4 3 46 20 9 8 6 32 29 78 49 + 29 87
4 Gillingham 46 15 5 3 54 29 10 3 10 26 33 80 62 + 18 83
5 Bristol City 46 17 2 4 46 19 7 7 9 28 28 74 47 + 27 81
6 Bristol Rovers 46 15 6 2 37 13 6 6 11 29 35 66 48 + 18 75
7 Derby County 46 14 7 2 40 20 5 6 12 25 34 65 54 + 11 70
8 York City 46 13 5 5 42 22 7 4 12 28 35 70 57 + 13 69
9 Reading 46 8 7 8 31 29 11 5 7 37 33 68 62 + 6 69
10 Bournemouth 46 16 3 4 42 16 3 8 12 15 30 57 46 + 11 68
11 Walsall 46 9 7 7 33 22 9 6 8 25 30 58 52 + 6 67
12 Rotherham United 46 11 6 6 36 24 7 5 11 19 31 55 55 ± 0 65
13 Brentford 46 13 5 5 42 27 3 9 11 20 37 62 64 – 2 62
14 Doncaster Rovers 46 11 5 7 42 33 6 3 14 30 41 72 74 – 2 59
15 Plymouth Argyle 46 11 7 5 33 23 4 7 12 29 42 62 65 – 3 59
16 Wigan Athletic 46 12 6 5 36 22 3 8 12 24 42 60 64 – 4 59
17 Bolton Wanderers 46 12 5 6 38 22 4 1 18 31 53 69 75 – 6 54
18 Newport County 46 9 6 8 30 30 4 7 12 25 37 55 67 – 12 52
19 Lincoln City 46 8 11 4 32 20 3 7 13 18 31 50 51 – 1 51
20 Swansea City 46 7 5 11 31 39 5 6 12 22 41 53 80 – 27 47
21 Burnley 46 6 8 9 30 24 5 5 13 30 49 60 73 – 13 46
22 Orient 46 7 7 9 30 36 4 6 13 21 40 51 76 – 25 46
23 Preston North End 46 9 5 9 33 41 4 2 17 18 59 51 100 – 49 46
24 Cambridge United 46 2 3 18 17 48 2 6 15 20 47 37 95 – 58 21
  1. ^ Bradford City v. Lincoln City was abandoned after 40 mins, the result stands.
Key
Division Champions, promoted
Promoted
Relegated

Fourth Division

Football League, Fourth Division
Season 1984–85
Champions Chesterfield (2nd title)
Promoted Blackpool,
Bury,
Darlington
Failed re-election None
Matches played 552
Goals scored 1478 (2.68 per match)
Top goalscorer John Clayton (Tranmere Rovers), 31 [4]
Biggest home win ?
Biggest away win ?
Highest scoring ?
Longest winning run ?
Longest unbeaten run ?
Longest losing run ?
Highest attendance ?
Lowest attendance ?
Average attendance ?
Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1984–1985
Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GD Pts
1 Chesterfield 46 16 6 1 40 13 10 7 6 24 22 64 35 + 29 91
2 Blackpool 46 15 7 1 42 15 9 7 7 31 24 73 39 + 34 86
3 Darlington 46 16 4 3 41 22 8 9 6 25 27 66 49 + 17 85
4 Bury 46 15 6 2 46 20 9 6 8 30 30 76 50 + 26 84
5 Hereford United 46 16 2 5 38 21 6 9 8 27 26 65 47 + 18 77
6 Tranmere Rovers 46 17 1 5 50 21 7 2 14 33 45 83 66 + 17 75
7 Colchester United 46 13 7 3 49 29 7 7 9 38 36 87 65 + 22 74
8 Swindon Town 46 16 4 3 42 21 5 5 13 20 37 62 58 + 4 72
9 Scunthorpe United 46 14 6 3 61 33 5 8 10 22 29 83 62 + 21 71
10 Crewe Alexandra 46 10 7 6 32 28 8 5 10 33 41 65 69 – 4 66
11 Peterborough United 46 11 7 5 29 21 5 7 11 25 32 54 53 + 1 62
12 Port Vale 46 11 8 4 39 24 3 10 10 22 35 61 59 + 2 60
13 Aldershot 46 11 6 6 33 20 6 2 15 23 43 56 63 – 7 59
14 Mansfield Town 46 10 8 5 25 15 3 10 10 16 23 41 38 + 3 57
15 Wrexham 46 10 6 7 39 27 5 3 15 28 43 67 70 – 3 54
16 Chester City 46 11 3 9 35 30 4 6 13 25 42 60 72 – 12 54
17 Rochdale 46 8 7 8 33 30 5 7 11 22 39 55 69 – 14 53
18 Exeter City 46 9 7 7 30 27 4 7 12 27 52 57 79 – 22 53
19 Hartlepool United 46 10 6 7 34 29 4 4 15 20 38 54 67 – 13 52
20 Southend United 46 8 8 7 30 34 5 3 15 28 49 58 83 – 25 50
21 Halifax Town 46 9 3 11 26 32 6 2 15 16 37 42 69 – 27 50
22 Stockport County 46 11 5 7 40 26 2 3 18 18 53 58 79 – 21 47
23 Northampton Town 46 10 1 12 32 32 4 4 15 21 42 53 74 – 21 47
24 Torquay United 46 5 11 7 18 24 4 3 16 20 39 38 63 – 25 41
Key
Division Champions, promoted
Promoted
New club in the league (none)
Re-elected
Failed re-election (none)

Election/Re-election to the Football League

This year Wealdstone, the winners of the Alliance Premier League, could not apply for election because they did not meet Football League requirements. 2nd placed Nuneaton could not apply either for the same reasons, and neither could 3rd placed Dartford, so 4th placed Bath City won the right to apply for election to the Football League to replace one of the four bottom sides in the 1984–85 Football League Fourth Division. The vote went as follows:

Club Final Position Votes
Northampton Town 23rd (Fourth Division) 52
Stockport County 22nd (Fourth Division) 50
Torquay United 24th (Fourth Division) 50
Halifax Town 21st (Fourth Division) 48
Bath City 4th (Alliance Premier League) 8

As a result of this, all four Football League teams were re-elected, and Bath City were denied membership of the Football League.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "England 1984–85". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. http://www.rsssf.com/engpaul/FLA/1984-85.html. Retrieved 2010-02-24. 
  2. ^ Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane’s, London & Sydney, 1980.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ a b c d "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/engtops.html#1947-1. Retrieved 2010-10-31. 
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 « 1983–84
1985–86 » 
FA competitions
FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds, Final) • Charity Shield • FA Trophy
Football League
Lower leagues
Alliance Premier League · Northern Premier League · Southern Football League · Isthmian League
European competitions
Related to national team
Club seasons
First Division
Arsenal · Aston Villa · Chelsea · Coventry City · Everton · Ipswich Town · Leicester City · Liverpool · Luton Town · Manchester United · Newcastle United · Norwich City · Nottingham Forest · Queens Park Rangers · Sheffield Wednesday · Southampton · Stoke City · Sunderland · Tottenham Hotspur · Watford · West Bromwich Albion · West Ham United
Second Division
Barnsley · Birmingham City · Blackburn Rovers · Brighton & Hove Albion · Cardiff City · Carlisle United · Charlton Athletic · Crystal Palace · Fulham · Grimsby Town · Huddersfield Town · Leeds United · Manchester City · Middlesbrough · Notts County · Oldham Athletic · Oxford United · Portsmouth · Sheffield United · Shrewsbury Town · Wimbledon · Wolverhampton Wanderers
Third Division
Bolton Wanderers · Bournemouth · Bradford City · Brentford · Bristol City · Bristol Rovers · Burnley · Cambridge United · Derby County · Doncaster Rovers · Gillingham · Hull City · Leyton Orient · Lincoln City · Millwall · Newport County · Plymouth Argyle · Preston North End · Reading · Rotherham United · Swansea City · Walsall · Wigan Athletic · York City
Fourth Division
Aldershot · Blackpool · Bury · Chester · Chesterfield · Colchester United · Crewe Alexandra · Darlington · Exeter City · Halifax Town · Hartlepool United · Hereford United · Mansfield Town · Northampton Town · Peterborough United · Port Vale · Rochdale · Scunthorpe United · Southend United · Southport · Stockport County · Swindon Town · Torquay United · Tranmere Rovers · Wrexham
1984–85 in European football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues
Albania · Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czechoslovakia · Denmark '84 '85 · England · Estonia '84 '85 · Faroe Islands '84 '85 · Finland '84 '85 · France · East Germany · West Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland '84 '85 · Israel · Italy · Latvia '84 '85 · Lithuania '84 '85 · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Northern Ireland · Norway '84 '85 · Poland · Portugal · Republic of Ireland · Romania · Scotland · Soviet Union '84 '85 · Spain · Sweden '84 '85 · Switzerland · Turkey · Yugoslavia
Domestic cups
Albania · Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Cyprus · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · England · Faroe Islands '84 '85 · Finland '84 '85 · France · East Germany · West Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland '84 '85 · Israel · Italy · Liechtenstein · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Northern Ireland · Norway '84 '85 · Poland · Portugal · Republic of Ireland · Romania · San Marino · Scotland · Soviet Union · Spain · Sweden '84 '85 · Switzerland · Turkey · Wales · Yugoslavia
League cups
England · France · Israel · Northern Ireland · Republic of Ireland · Scotland
UEFA competitions