1986–87 Football League

The Football League
Season	1986–87
Champions	Everton
Relegated	Lincoln City
← 1985–86 1987–88 →

The 1986–1987 season was the 88th completed season of The Football League.

Play-offs to determine promotion places were introduced in 1987 so that more clubs remained eligible for promotion closer to the end of the season, and at the same time to aid in the reduction over two years of the number of clubs in the First Division from 22 to 20.

At the same time, automatic promotion and relegation between the Fourth Division and the Football Conference was introduced for one club, replacing the annual application for re-election to the League of the bottom four clubs and linking the League to the developing National League System pyramid.

Overview

The First Division

The First Division championship went to Everton in their final season under the management of Howard Kendall before his departure to Athletic Bilbao. His side overcame a spate of injuries to fight off competition from runners-up Liverpool and third-placed Tottenham. Fourth place went to George Graham’s emerging young Arsenal side who also won the League Cup in his first season in charge. Fifth place in the league went to newly promoted Norwich City, whose manager Ken Brown built a strong squad on a limited budget to achieve a finish which would have been enough to qualify for UEFA Cup had it not been for the ongoing ban on English clubs in European competitions.

Wimbledon finished sixth in the First Division in only their tenth season as a Football League club. Dave Bassett’s men had led the league for the first two weeks of September, but sixth place was still much higher than most pundits had tipped them for at the start of the season.

Aston Villa were relegated to the Second Division just five years after they won the European Cup. Chairman Doug Ellis had sensed from the start that 1986-87 would be a tough season for the club, so he axed manager Graham Turner in September and replaced him with Manchester City’s Billy McNeill. But McNeill was unable to stop the rot and Villa went down in bottom place. McNeill was subsequently sacked and replaced by Watford’s Graham Taylor.

Villa were joined on the way down by Manchester City and Leicester City. In the first season of the relegation/promotion play-offs, Charlton Athletic beat Second Division Leeds United to retain their top flight status.

Manchester United, whose blistering start to the previous season had ended in failure, started the 1986-87 season badly and entered November second from bottom in the league. Manager Ron Atkinson paid for these failings with his job and in came the Aberdeen manager Alex Ferguson to replace him. Ferguson rejuvenated United and they climbed up the table to finish in a secure 11th place.

The Second Division

Just two clubs were promoted from the Second Division this season. Champions Derby County were promoted for a second successive season; 12 seasons after they were last crowned champions of the First Division. Under the management of Arthur Cox they arrested an alarming slide which had seen them spend their centenary season (1984–85) in the 3rd Division. Runners-up spot went to Portsmouth, who were also automatically promoted.

The three playoff places were occupied by Oldham Athletic, Leeds United and Ipswich Town. Oldham and Ipswich blew their chances in the semi-finals, while Leeds were defeated by Charlton in the final to miss out on promotion — an FA Cup semi-final defeat had ended their chances of success in the cup competitions.

The relegation/promotion play-offs which operated between the Second and Third Divisions saw Sunderland go down to the Third Division for the first time in their history after losing to Gillingham in the promotion-relegation play-offs. Gillingham were subsequently defeated in a play-off final replay that saw Swindon Town promoted to the second tier. Lawrie McMenemy was sacked by the Rokerites at the end of March and Bob Stokoe, manager of the 1973 FA Cup winning team, was brought in as his successor, but was unable to keep Sunderland clear of the drop. Brighton and Grimsby were automatically relegated to the Third Division.

The Third Division

The three promotion places in this division were gained by three clubs who were among the least fancied promotion contenders at the start of the season. Champions Bournemouth were promoted to the Second Division for the first time in their history thanks to the efforts of hard working manager Harry Redknapp. Runners-up spot went to Bruce Rioch’s Middlesbrough, who had begun the season on the verge of extinction and had been forced to play their first home game of the season at Hartlepool’s ground because the official receiver had locked them out of Ayresome Park.

The relegation/promotion play-offs between the Third and Fourth Divisions saw Bolton Wanderers go down to the bottom division for the first time. Carlisle, Darlington and Newport County were also relegated.

The Fourth Division

The stars of the Fourth Division during 1986-87 were Graham Carr’s runaway champions Northampton Town, with young midfielder Eddie McGoldrick being the key player in his side’s season of success. Also automatically promoted were Preston and Southend with Aldershot winning the promotion/relegation playoffs.

Down at the bottom end of the division, an injury time winner for Torquay United kept them in the Football League after a police dog had bitten one of their players. The introduction of automatic relegation to the Conference saw Lincoln City lose their league status in favour of Conference champions Scarborough.

1986-87 saw many famous clubs reach their lowest ebb throughout the league. In the Fourth Division it was Burnley — league champions 27 years earlier — who plummeted to new depths. They finished third from bottom in the league and only a win on the last day of the season prevented them from going down to the Conference.

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.

As of this season, there were no more re-election procedures, but instead, the club finishing last in the Fourth Division was demoted to Conference. The first casualty of this new practice were Lincoln City.

First Division

Football League, First Division
Season	1986–87
Champions	Everton (9th English title)
Relegated	Aston Villa, Leicester City Manchester City
FA Cup winners	Coventry City (1st FA Cup title)
European Cup 1987–88	No qualifications ^[2] ^{[notes 1]}
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1215 (2.63 per match)
Top goalscorer	Clive Allen (Tottenham Hotspur), 33 ^[3]
Biggest home win	Sheff Wed – QPR 7–1 (2 May 1987); Nottingham Forest – Aston Villa 6–0 (20 Sept 1986)
Biggest away win	Chelsea – Nottingham Forest 2–6 (20 Sep 1986); Aston Villa – Arsenal 0–4 (29 Nov 1986); Chelsea – Wimbledon 0–4 (6 Dec 1986); Newcastle – Everton 0–4 (26 Dec 1986); Southampton – Arsenal 0–4 (15 Nov 1986)
Highest scoring	Sheff Wed – QPR 7–1 (2 May 1987); Liverpool – Norwich City 6–2 (1 Nov 1986); West Ham – Chelsea 5–3 (11 Oct 1986); Chelsea – Nottingham Forest 2–6 (20 Sep 1986)
Longest winning run	Everton (7 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Arsenal (17 games)
Longest losing run	Newcastle United (6 games)
← 1985–86 1987–88 →

No European qualification took place due to the Heysel Stadium disaster suspension in place.

Everton finished as champions for the second time in three seasons. Liverpool finished runners-up and were also runners-up in the Football League Cup to fourth-placed Arsenal, who won their first major trophy for eight years. Tottenham Hotspur finished third and failed to win any trophies despite being in strong contention for all three domestic trophies, reaching the semi-finals of the Football League Cup and the final of the FA Cup. Newly-promoted Norwich City completed the top five.

Aston Villa, who had been league champions in 1981 and European Cup winners in 1982, finished the season relegated in bottom place. Going down with them were Manchester City and Leicester City. Charlton Athletic survived their first top division season in 30 years by defeating Second Division Leeds United in the playoffs.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Everton	42	16	4	1	49	11	10	4	7	27	20	76	31	+45	86	Excluded from the European Cup 1987-88^{[notes 1]}
2	Liverpool	42	15	3	3	43	16	8	5	8	29	26	72	42	+30	77	Excluded from the UEFA Cup 1987-88^{[notes 1]}
3	Tottenham Hotspur	42	14	3	4	40	14	7	5	9	28	29	68	43	+25	71	Excluded from the UEFA Cup 1987-88^{[notes 1]}
4	Arsenal	42	12	5	4	31	12	8	5	8	27	23	58	35	+23	70	Excluded from the UEFA Cup 1987-88^{[notes 1]}
5	Norwich City	42	9	10	2	27	20	8	7	6	26	31	53	51	+2	68	Excluded from the UEFA Cup 1987-88^{[notes 1]}
6	Wimbledon	42	11	5	5	32	22	8	4	9	25	28	57	50	+7	66
7	Luton Town	42	14	5	2	29	13	4	7	10	18	32	47	45	+2	66
8	Nottingham Forest	42	12	8	1	36	14	6	3	12	28	37	64	51	+13	65
9	Watford	42	12	5	4	38	20	6	4	11	29	34	67	54	+13	63
10	Coventry City	42	14	4	3	35	17	3	8	10	15	28	50	45	+5	63	Excluded from the 1987-88 European Cup Winners' Cup^{[notes 1]}
11	Manchester United	42	13	3	5	38	18	1	11	9	14	27	52	45	+7	56
12	Southampton	42	11	5	5	44	24	3	5	13	25	44	69	68	+1	52
13	Sheffield Wednesday	42	9	7	5	39	24	4	6	11	19	35	58	59	–1	52
14	Chelsea	42	8	6	7	30	30	5	7	9	23	34	53	64	–11	52
15	West Ham United	42	10	4	7	33	28	4	6	11	19	39	52	67	–15	52
16	Queens Park Rangers	42	9	7	5	31	27	4	4	13	17	37	48	64	–16	50
17	Newcastle United	42	10	4	7	33	29	2	7	12	14	36	47	65	–18	47
18	Oxford United	42	8	8	5	30	25	3	5	13	14	44	44	69	–25	46
19	Charlton Athletic	42	7	7	7	26	22	4	4	13	19	33	45	55	–10	44	^{[notes 2]}
20	Leicester City	42	9	7	5	39	24	2	2	17	15	52	54	76	–22	42
21	Manchester City	42	8	6	7	28	24	0	9	12	8	33	36	57	–21	39
22	Aston Villa	42	7	7	7	25	25	1	5	15	20	54	45	79	–34	36

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

↑ All 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
↑ Charlton Athletic were able to retain their place in the 1st Division through play-offs.

Key
	League Champions, excluded from the European Cup
	FA Cup Winners, but excluded from the Cup Winners' Cup
	UEFA Cup spot, but excluded
	League Cup winners, excluded from UEFA Cup
	Into play-offs
	Relegated

Second Division play-offs

Main article: Football League Championship play-offs § 1987

Both the semifinals and the finals were decided over two legs.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Two play-offs 1987.

Semi-finals 1st leg –14 May; 2nd leg –17 May 1987					Finals 1st leg –23 May; 2nd leg –25 May 1987

19th	Charlton Athletic (Div 1)	0	2	2
5th	Ipswich Town	0	1	1
					19th	Charlton Athletic (Div 1)	1	0	1

					4th	Leeds United	0	1	1
3rd	Oldham Athletic	0	2	2

4th	Leeds United ^{[notes2 1]}	1	1	2

↑ Leeds United won on away goals.

Replay

29 May 1987

Leeds United	1 –2 (a.e.t.)	Charlton Athletic (Div 1)
	Report/Soccerbase

St. Andrews, Birmingham
Attendance: 18,000

Charlton Athletic remained in the First Division and Leeds United in the Second Division.

First Division results

Home ╲ Away	Arsenal !ARS	Aston Villa !AST	Charlton Athletic !CHA	Chelsea !CHE	Coventry City !COV	Everton !EVE	Leicester City !LEI	Liverpool !LIV	Luton Town !LUT	Manchester City !MCI	Manchester United !MUN	Newcastle United !NEW	Norwich City !NOR	Nottingham Forest !NOT	Oxford United !OXF	Queens Park Rangers !QPR	Sheffield Wednesday !SHW	Southampton !SOU	Tottenham Hotspur !TOT	Watford !WAT	West Ham United !WHU	Wimbledon !WDN
Arsenal !Arsenal		2–1	2–1	3–1	0–0	0–1	4–1	0–1	3–0	3–0	1–0	0–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	3–1	2–0	1–0	0–0	3–1	0–0	3–1
Aston Villa !Aston Villa	0–4		2–0	0–0	1–0	0–1	2–0	2–2	2–1	0–0	3–3	2–0	1–4	0–0	1–2	0–1	1–2	3–1	0–3	1–1	4–0	0–0
Charlton Athletic !Charlton Athletic	0–2	3–0		0–0	1–1	3–2	2–0	0–0	0–1	5–0	0–0	1–1	1–2	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–3	0–2	4–3	2–1	0–1
Chelsea !Chelsea	1–0	4–1	0–1		0–0	1–2	3–1	3–3	1–3	2–1	1–1	1–3	0–0	2–6	4–0	3–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	0–0	1–0	0–4
Coventry City !Coventry City	2–1	0–1	2–1	3–0		1–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	2–2	1–1	3–0	2–1	1–0	3–0	4–1	1–0	1–1	4–3	1–0	1–3	1–0
Everton !Everton	0–1	3–0	2–1	2–2	3–1		5–1	0–0	3–1	0–0	3–1	3–0	4–0	2–0	3–1	0–0	2–0	3–0	1–0	3–2	4–0	3–0
Leicester City !Leicester City	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–2	1–1	0–2		2–1	1–1	4–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–1	2–0	4–1	6–1	2–3	1–2	1–2	2–0	3–1
Liverpool !Liverpool	2–1	3–3	2–0	3–0	2–0	3–1	4–3		2–0	0–0	0–1	2–0	6–2	3–0	4–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–2
Luton Town !Luton Town	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	4–1		1–0	2–1	0–0	0–0	4–2	2–3	1–0	0–0	2–1	3–1	0–2	2–1	0–0
Manchester City !Manchester City	3–0	3–1	2–1	1–2	0–1	1–3	1–2	0–1	1–1		1–1	0–0	2–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–4	1–1	1–2	3–1	3–1
Manchester United !Manchester United	2–0	3–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–0		4–1	0–1	2–0	3–2	1–0	3–1	5–1	3–3	3–1	2–3	0–1
Newcastle United !Newcastle United	1–2	2–1	0–3	1–0	1–2	0–4	2–0	0–2	2–2	3–1	2–1		4–1	3–2	0–0	0–2	2–3	2–0	1–1	2–2	4–0	1–0
Norwich City !Norwich City	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–0		2–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	4–3	2–1	1–3	1–1	0–0
Nottingham Forest !Nottingham Forest	1–0	6–0	4–0	0–1	0–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–1		2–0	1–0	3–2	0–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	3–2
Oxford United !Oxford United	0–0	2–2	3–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–0	1–3	4–2	0–0	2–0	1–1	0–1	2–1		0–1	2–1	3–1	2–4	1–3	0–0	3–1
Queens Park Rangers !Queens Park Rangers	1–4	1–0	0–0	1–1	3–1	0–1	0–1	1–3	2–2	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	3–1	1–1		2–2	2–1	2–0	3–2	2–3	2–1
Sheffield Wednesday !Sheffield Wednesday	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–2	2–2	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–3	6–1	7–1		3–1	0–1	0–1	2–2	0–2
Southampton !Southampton	0–4	5–0	2–2	1–2	2–0	0–2	4–0	2–1	3–0	1–1	1–1	4–1	1–2	1–3	3–0	5–1	1–1		2–0	3–1	1–0	2–2
Tottenham Hotspur !Tottenham Hotspur	1–2	3–0	1–0	1–3	1–0	2–0	5–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	4–0	1–1	3–0	2–3	3–1	1–0	1–1	2–0		2–1	4–0	1–2
Watford !Watford	2–0	4–2	4–1	3–1	2–3	2–1	5–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	3–0	0–3	0–1	1–1	1–0		2–2	0–1
West Ham United !West Ham United	3–1	1–1	1–3	5–3	1–0	1–0	4–1	2–5	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–1	0–2	1–2	0–1	1–1	0–2	3–1	2–1	1–0		2–3
Wimbledon !Wimbledon	1–2	3–2	2–0	2–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	1–3	0–1	0–0	1–0	3–1	2–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	2–2	2–2	2–1	0–1

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

First Division maps

Locations of the Football League First Division 1986–1987 teams

Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1986–1987

Second Division

There were just two guaranteed promotion places in the Second Division this season due to the introduction of the playoffs and the phased reorganization of the league. Derby County finished top of the Second Division to clinch a second successive promotion and reclaim the First Division place they had last held in 1980. Portsmouth, absent from the First Division for nearly 30 years and who had missed promotion by a single place in the previous two seasons, finally achieved promotion by finishing second. Oldham Athletic and Ipswich Town failed to progress beyond the semi-finals of the new playoffs, leaving Leeds United to take on Charlton Athletic in a two-legged contest for a First Division place. Charlton won the replay to keep their First Division status and condemn Leeds to a sixth successive season in the Second Division.

Financially troubled Grimsby Town were relegated, along with Brighton & Hove Albion. Sunderland's second relegation in three seasons condemned them to Third Division football for the first time in their history as they went down after losing in the playoffs.

Football League, Second Division
Season	1986–87
Champions	Derby County (4th title)
Promoted	Portsmouth
Relegated	Brighton & Hove Albion, Grimsby Town, Sunderland
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1131 (2.45 per match)
Top goalscorer	Micky Quinn (Portsmouth), 22 ^[3]
← 1985–86 1987–88 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Derby County	42	14	6	1	42	18	11	3	7	22	20	64	38	+26	84
2	Portsmouth	42	17	2	2	37	11	6	7	8	16	17	53	28	+25	78
3	Oldham Athletic	42	13	6	2	36	16	9	3	9	29	28	65	44	+21	75
4	Leeds United	42	15	4	2	43	16	4	7	10	15	28	58	44	+14	68
5	Ipswich Town	42	12	6	3	29	10	5	7	9	30	33	59	43	+16	64
6	Crystal Palace	42	12	4	5	35	20	7	1	13	16	33	51	53	–2	62
7	Plymouth Argyle	42	12	6	3	40	23	4	7	10	22	34	62	57	+5	61
8	Stoke City	42	11	5	5	40	21	5	5	11	23	32	63	53	+10	58
9	Sheffield United	42	10	8	3	31	19	5	5	11	19	30	50	49	+1	58
10	Bradford City	42	10	5	6	36	27	5	5	11	26	35	62	62	±0	55
11	Barnsley	42	8	7	6	26	23	6	6	9	23	29	49	52	–3	55
12	Blackburn Rovers	42	11	4	6	30	22	4	6	11	15	33	45	55	–10	55
13	Reading	42	11	4	6	33	23	3	7	11	19	36	52	59	–7	53
14	Hull City	42	10	6	5	25	22	3	8	10	16	33	41	55	–14	53
15	West Bromwich Albion	42	8	6	7	29	22	5	6	10	22	27	51	49	+2	51
16	Millwall	42	10	5	6	27	16	4	4	13	12	29	39	45	–6	51
17	Huddersfield Town	42	9	6	6	38	30	4	6	11	16	31	54	61	–7	51
18	Shrewsbury Town	42	11	3	7	24	14	4	3	14	17	39	41	53	–12	51
19	Birmingham City	42	8	9	4	27	21	3	8	10	20	38	47	59	–12	50
20	Sunderland	42	8	6	7	25	23	4	6	11	24	36	49	59	–10	48	^{[notes3 1]}
21	Grimsby Town	42	5	8	8	18	21	5	6	10	21	38	39	59	–20	44
22	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	7	6	8	22	20	2	6	13	15	34	37	54	–17	39

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

↑ Sunderland lost in the first round of the play-offs and were thus relegated.

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Third Division play-offs

Main article: Football League One play-offs § 1987

Both the semifinals and the finals were decided over two legs.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Three play-offs 1987.

Semi-finals 1st leg –14 May; 2nd leg –17 May 1987					Finals 1st leg –22 May; 2nd leg –25 May 1987

20th	Sunderland (Div 2)	2	4	6
5th	Gillingham ^{[notes4 1]}	3	3	6
					3rd	Swindon Town ^{[notes4 2]}	0	2	2

					5th	Gillingham	1	1	2
3rd	Swindon Town	3	0	3

4th	Wigan Athletic	2	0	2

Replay

Swindon Town v Gillingham

29 May 1987

Swindon Town	2 –0	Gillingham
	Report/Soccerbase

Selhurst Park, South Norwood, London
Attendance: 18,491

↑ After the second leg and an extra time the aggregate was 6–6, but Gillingham had scored 4 times at Sunderland, versus
Sunderland 3 times at Gillingham, and thus Gillinham progressed to finals on away goals.
↑ Swindon won the replay 2–0, and were thus promoted to Division 2.

Second Division results

Home ╲ Away	Barnsley !BAR	Birmingham City !BIR	Blackburn Rovers !BLB	Bradford City !BRA	Brighton & Hove Albion !BHA	Crystal Palace !CRY	Derby County !DER	Grimsby Town !GRI	Huddersfield Town !HUD	Hull City !HUL	Ipswich Town !IPS	Leeds United !LEE	Millwall !MIL	Oldham Athletic !OLD	Plymouth Argyle !PLY	Portsmouth !POR	Reading !REA	Sheffield United !SHU	Shrewsbury Town !SHR	Stoke City !STK	Sunderland !SUN	West Bromwich Albion !WBA
Barnsley !Barnsley		2–2	1–1	2–0	3–1	2–3	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–1	0–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–2	2–1	0–2	1–0	2–2
Birmingham City !Birmingham City	1–1		1–1	2–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	2–2	2–1	1–1	1–3	3–2	0–1	1–1	2–1	0–2	0–0	2–0	0–1
Blackburn Rovers !Blackburn Rovers	4–2	1–0		2–1	1–1	0–2	3–1	2–2	1–2	0–2	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	0–0	0–2	2–1	2–1	6–1	0–1
Bradford City !Bradford City	0–0	0–0	2–0		2–0	1–2	0–1	4–2	4–3	2–0	3–4	2–0	4–0	0–3	2–2	1–0	3–0	1–1	0–0	1–4	3–2	1–3
Brighton & Hove Albion !Brighton & Hove Albion	1–1	2–0	0–2	2–2		2–0	0–1	0–1	1–1	2–1	1–2	0–1	0–1	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–1	2–0	3–0	1–0	0–3	2–0
Crystal Palace !Crystal Palace	0–1	6–0	2–0	1–1	2–0		1–0	0–3	1–0	5–1	3–3	1–0	2–1	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–3	1–2	2–3	1–0	2–0	1–1
Derby County !Derby County	3–2	2–2	3–2	1–0	4–1	1–0		4–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	0–1	4–2	0–0	3–0	2–0	3–1	0–0	3–2	1–1
Grimsby Town !Grimsby Town	0–1	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–2	0–1	0–1		0–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	2–2	1–1	0–2	3–2	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	3–1
Huddersfield Town !Huddersfield Town	2–2	2–2	1–2	5–2	2–1	1–2	2–0	0–0		1–3	1–2	1–1	3–0	5–4	1–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	2–2	0–2	2–1
Hull City !Hull City	3–4	3–2	0–0	2–1	1–0	3–0	1–1	1–1	0–0		2–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	0–3	0–2	0–2	0–0	3–0	0–4	1–0	2–0
Ipswich Town !Ipswich Town	1–0	3–0	3–1	1–0	1–0	3–0	0–2	1–1	3–0	0–0		2–0	0–0	0–1	3–0	0–1	1–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–0
Leeds United !Leeds United	2–2	4–0	0–0	1–0	3–1	3–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	3–0	3–2		2–0	0–2	4–0	3–1	3–2	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	3–2
Millwall !Millwall	1–0	0–2	2–2	1–2	3–1	0–1	0–1	1–0	4–0	0–1	1–0	1–0		0–0	3–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	4–0	1–1	1–1	0–1
Oldham Athletic !Oldham Athletic	2–0	2–2	3–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–4	1–1	2–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	2–1		2–1	0–0	4–0	3–1	3–0	2–0	1–1	2–1
Plymouth Argyle !Plymouth Argyle	2–0	0–0	1–1	3–2	2–2	3–1	1–1	5–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	3–2		2–3	1–0	1–0	3–2	1–3	2–4	1–0
Portsmouth !Portsmouth	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	3–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–0	0–1		1–0	1–2	3–0	3–0	3–1	2–1
Reading !Reading	0–0	2–2	4–0	0–1	2–1	1–0	2–0	2–3	3–2	1–0	1–4	2–1	0–1	2–3	2–0	2–2		2–0	3–1	0–1	1–0	1–1
Sheffield United !Sheffield United	1–0	1–1	4–1	2–2	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–2	0–0	4–2	0–0	0–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	1–0	3–3		1–1	3–1	2–1	1–1
Shrewsbury Town !Shrewsbury Town	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	4–1	1–2	3–0	2–1	0–2	1–2	2–0	1–1	1–0	0–0	1–0		4–1	0–1	1–0
Stoke City !Stoke City	1–2	0–2	1–0	2–3	1–1	3–1	0–2	5–1	2–0	1–1	0–0	7–2	2–0	0–2	1–0	1–1	3–0	5–2	1–0		3–0	1–1
Sunderland !Sunderland	2–3	2–0	3–0	2–3	1–1	1–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–1	0–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	2–0		0–3
West Bromwich Albion !West Bromwich Albion	0–1	3–2	0–1	2–2	0–0	1–2	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	3–4	3–0	0–1	2–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	1–2	4–1	2–2

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

Second Division maps

Locations of the Football League Second Division 1986–1987 teams

Crystal Palace

Millwall

Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1986–1987

Third Division

A.F.C. Bournemouth won promotion to the Second Division for the first time in their history as Third Division champions, going up with runners-up Middlesbrough, who had started the season in receivership. Swindon Town became the third team to go up to the Second Division this season by winning the playoffs and securing their second successive promotion.

Newport County, Darlington and Carlisle United went down automatically. The Fourth Division would be familiar territory for Newport and Darlington, but Carlisle had not played in the Fourth Division for nearly a quarter of a century and just three years earlier had been in the race for a First Division place. Defeat in the playoffs meant that Bolton Wanderers, four times FA Cup winners, would be playing Fourth Division football for the first time in their history in the 1987-88 season.

Football League, Third Division
Season	1986–87
Champions	Bournemouth (1st title)
Promoted	Middlesbrough, Swindon Town
Relegated	Bolton Wanderers, Carlisle United, Darlington, Newport County
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1471 (2.66 per match)
Top goalscorer	Andy Jones (Port Vale), 29 ^[3]
← 1985–86 1987–88 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Bournemouth	46	19	3	1	44	14	10	7	6	32	26	76	40	+36	97
2	Middlesbrough	46	16	5	2	38	11	12	5	6	29	19	67	30	+37	94
3	Swindon Town	46	14	5	4	37	19	11	7	5	40	28	77	47	+30	87	^{[notes5 1]}
4	Wigan Athletic	46	15	5	3	47	26	10	5	8	36	34	83	60	+23	85
5	Gillingham	46	16	5	2	42	14	7	4	12	23	34	65	48	+17	78
6	Bristol City	46	14	6	3	42	15	7	8	8	21	21	63	36	+27	77
7	Notts County	46	14	6	3	52	24	7	7	9	25	32	77	56	+21	76
8	Walsall	46	16	4	3	50	27	6	5	12	30	40	80	67	+13	75
9	Blackpool	46	11	7	5	35	20	5	9	9	39	39	74	59	+15	64
10	Mansfield Town	46	9	9	5	30	23	6	7	10	22	32	52	55	–3	61
11	Brentford	46	9	7	7	39	32	6	8	9	25	34	64	66	–2	60
12	Port Vale	46	8	6	9	43	36	7	6	10	33	34	76	70	+6	57
13	Doncaster Rovers	46	11	8	4	32	19	3	7	13	24	43	56	62	–6	57
14	Rotherham United	46	10	6	7	29	23	5	6	12	19	34	48	57	–9	57
15	Chester City	46	7	9	7	32	28	6	8	9	29	31	61	59	+2	56
16	Bury	46	9	7	7	30	26	5	6	12	24	34	54	60	–6	55
17	Chesterfield	46	11	5	7	36	33	2	10	11	20	36	56	69	–13	54
18	Fulham	46	8	8	7	35	41	4	9	10	24	36	59	77	–18	53
19	Bristol Rovers	46	7	8	8	26	29	6	4	13	23	46	49	75	–26	51
20	York City	46	11	8	4	34	29	1	5	17	21	50	55	79	–24	49
21	Bolton Wanderers	46	8	5	10	29	26	2	10	11	17	32	46	58	–12	45	^{[notes5 2]}
22	Carlisle United	46	7	5	11	26	35	3	3	17	13	43	39	78	–39	38
23	Darlington	46	6	10	7	25	28	1	6	16	20	49	45	77	–32	37
24	Newport County	46	4	9	10	26	34	4	4	15	23	52	49	86	–37	37

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

↑ Swindon Town were winners of the play-offs and were thus promoted.
↑ Bolton Wanderers lost in the first round of the play-offs and were thus relegated.

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	Relegated

Fourth Division play-offs

Main article: Football League Two play-offs § 1987

Both the semifinals and the finals were decided over two legs, and only the aggregates are given in the schemata below.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Four play-offs 1987.

Semi-finals 1st leg –14 May; 2nd leg –17 May 1987					Finals 1st leg –23 May; 2nd leg –25 May 1987

21st	Bolton Wanderers (Div 3)	0	2	2
6th	Aldershot	1	2	3
					6th	Aldershot	2	1	3

					4th	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	0	0
4th	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2	0	2

5th	Colchester United	0	0	0

Third Division maps

Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1986–1987

Brentford

Fulham

Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1986–1987

Fourth Division

Northampton Town collected 99 points, more than any Football League side this season, to seal the Fourth Division title and a place in the Third Division. Also going up automatically were Preston North End and Southend United. The fourth promotion place went to Aldershot, whose surprise victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the playoffs saw them move up from the Fourth Division for the first time in over a decade.

The introduction of automatic relegation from the Football League saw Lincoln City go down in bottom place, a second successive relegation for a club who had been in the league for 66 years and who had been on the verge of Second Division football as recently as 1983. They were replaced in the league by GM Vauxhall Conference champions Scarborough. Narrowly escaping the drop were Torquay United, who had been forced to apply for re-election to the league on several occasions under the old system due to low finishes, and this time escaped the drop with a winning goal in injury time after time was added on following a police dog's attack on an injured player. Burnley, league champions as recently as 1960 and First Division members as recently as 1976, escaped the drop by winning their final game of the season, though in slightly less dramatic circumstances than those which enabled Torquay's escape.

Football League, Fourth Division
Season	1986–87
Champions	Northampton Town (1st title)
Promoted	Aldershot, Preston North End, Southend United
Failed re-election	Lincoln City
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1456 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorer	Richard Hill (Northampton Town), 28 ^[3]
← 1985–86 1987–88 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Northampton Town	46	20	2	1	56	20	10	7	6	47	33	103	53	+50	99
2	Preston North End	46	16	4	3	36	18	10	8	5	36	29	72	47	+25	90
3	Southend United	46	14	4	5	43	27	11	1	11	25	28	68	55	+13	80
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	12	3	8	36	24	12	4	7	33	26	69	50	+19	79
5	Colchester United	46	15	3	5	41	20	6	4	13	23	36	64	56	+8	70
6	Aldershot	46	13	5	5	40	22	7	5	11	24	35	64	57	+7	70	^{[notes6 1]}
7	Orient	46	15	2	6	40	25	5	7	11	24	36	64	61	+3	69
8	Scunthorpe United	46	15	3	5	52	27	3	9	11	21	30	73	57	+16	66
9	Wrexham	46	8	13	2	38	24	7	7	9	32	27	70	51	+19	65
10	Peterborough United	46	10	7	6	29	21	7	7	9	28	29	57	50	+7	65
11	Cambridge United	46	12	6	5	37	23	5	5	13	23	39	60	62	–2	62
12	Swansea City	46	13	3	7	31	21	4	8	11	25	40	56	61	–5	62
13	Cardiff City	46	6	12	5	24	18	9	4	10	24	32	48	50	–2	61
14	Exeter City	46	11	10	2	37	17	0	13	10	16	32	53	49	+4	56
15	Halifax Town	46	10	5	8	32	32	5	5	13	27	42	59	74	–15	55
16	Hereford United	46	10	6	7	33	23	4	5	14	27	38	60	61	–1	53
17	Crewe Alexandra	46	8	9	6	38	35	5	5	13	32	37	70	72	–2	53
18	Hartlepool United	46	6	11	6	24	30	5	7	11	20	35	44	65	–21	51
19	Stockport County	46	9	6	8	25	27	4	6	13	15	42	40	69	–29	51
20	Tranmere Rovers	46	6	10	7	32	37	5	7	11	22	35	54	72	–18	50
21	Rochdale	46	8	8	7	31	30	3	9	11	23	43	54	73	–19	50
22	Burnley	46	9	7	7	31	35	3	6	14	22	39	53	74	–21	49
23	Torquay United	46	8	8	7	28	29	2	10	11	28	43	56	72	–16	48
24	Lincoln City	46	8	7	8	30	27	4	5	14	15	38	45	65	–20	48

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

↑ Aldershot were winners of the play-offs and were thus promoted.

Key
	Division Champions, promoted
	Promoted
	Participated in play-offs
	Promoted through play-offs
	New club in the league (none)
	Relegated to Conference

Fourth Division maps

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wrexham

Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1986–1987