1985–86 Isthmian League

The 1985–86 season was the 71st season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England. League consisted of three divisions. Division Two was divided into two sections.

Sutton United won the league for the second season in a row and finally were promoted to the Conference.

Premier Division

Isthmian League
Premier Division

Season	1985–86
Champions	Sutton United
Promoted	Sutton United
Relegated	Billericay Town Epsom & Ewell
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,444 (3.13 per match)
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 19 clubs from the previous season and three new clubs:

• Farnborough Town, promoted as champions of Division One
• Kingstonian, promoted as runners-up in Division One
• Yeovil Town, relegated from the Alliance Premier League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Sutton United	42	29	8	5	109	39	+70	95	Promoted to the Football Conference
2	Yeovil Town	42	28	7	7	92	48	+44	91
3	Farnborough Town	42	23	8	11	90	50	+40	77
4	Croydon	42	23	7	12	70	50	+20	76
5	Harrow Borough	42	21	8	13	76	66	+10	71
6	Slough Town	42	18	8	16	66	68	−2	62
7	Bishop's Stortford	42	17	10	15	55	61	−6	61
8	Kingstonian	42	15	15	12	57	56	+1	60
9	Dulwich Hamlet	42	17	9	16	64	79	−15	60
10	Wokingham Town	42	16	10	16	67	64	+3	58
11	Windsor & Eton	42	17	7	18	58	75	−17	58
12	Tooting & Mitcham United	42	14	11	17	65	76	−11	53
13	Walthamstow Avenue	42	12	14	16	69	70	−1	50
14	Worthing	42	13	10	19	72	82	−10	49
15	Bognor Regis Town	42	15	6	21	63	70	−7	48
16	Hayes	42	10	17	15	36	42	−6	47
17	Hitchin Town	42	11	14	17	53	69	−16	47
18	Barking	42	11	13	18	45	55	−10	46
19	Hendon	42	10	13	19	59	77	−18	43
20	Carshalton Athletic	42	9	13	20	56	79	−23	40
21	Billericay Town	42	9	12	21	59	78	−19	39	Relegated to Division One
22	Epsom & Ewell	42	8	12	22	63	90	−27	36

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

Division One

Isthmian League
Division One

Season	1985–86
Champions	St Albans City
Promoted	Bromley St Albans City
Relegated	Aveley Chesham United Harlow Town Hornchurch
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,387 (3 per match)
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Division One consisted of 22 clubs, including 16 clubs from the previous season and six new clubs:

Two clubs relegated from the Premier Division:

• Harlow Town
• Leytonstone/Ilford

Two clubs promoted from Division Two North:

• Finchley
• Leyton-Wingate

Two clubs promoted from Division Two South:

• Grays Athletic
• Uxbridge

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	St Albans City	42	23	11	8	92	61	+31	80	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Bromley	42	24	8	10	68	41	+27	80
3	Wembley	42	22	12	8	59	30	+29	78
4	Oxford City	42	22	11	9	75	51	+24	77
5	Hampton	42	21	11	10	63	45	+18	74
6	Leyton-Wingate	42	21	10	11	77	56	+21	73
7	Uxbridge	42	20	8	14	64	49	+15	68
8	Staines Town	42	18	10	14	69	66	+3	64
9	Boreham Wood	42	15	16	11	62	54	+8	61
10	Walton & Hersham	42	16	10	16	68	71	−3	58
11	Lewes	42	16	8	18	61	75	−14	56
12	Leytonstone/Ilford	42	13	15	14	57	67	−10	54
13	Finchley	42	12	17	13	61	59	+2	53
14	Grays Athletic	42	13	11	18	69	75	−6	50
15	Leatherhead	42	14	8	20	62	68	−6	50
16	Tilbury	42	13	11	18	60	66	−6	50
17	Maidenhead United	42	13	7	22	61	67	−6	46
18	Basildon United	42	12	9	21	52	72	−20	45
19	Hornchurch	42	11	11	20	44	59	−15	44	Relegated to Division Two North
20	Chesham United	42	12	6	24	51	87	−36	42
21	Harlow Town	42	8	14	20	53	70	−17	38
22	Aveley	42	8	6	28	59	98	−39	30

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division Two North

Isthmian League
Division Two North

Season	1985–86
Champions	Stevenage Borough
Promoted	Kingsbury Town Stevenage Borough
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,128 (2.97 per match)
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Division Two North consisted of 20 clubs, including 16 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs:

• Clapton, relegated from Division One
• Hertford Town, relegated Division One
• Rainham Town, transferred from Division Two South
• Vauxhall Motors (Luton), joined from the South Midlands League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Stevenage Borough	38	26	6	6	71	24	+47	84	Promoted to Division One
2	Kingsbury Town	38	25	8	5	84	35	+49	83
3	Heybridge Swifts	38	20	8	10	65	46	+19	68
4	Cheshunt	38	18	10	10	60	40	+20	64
5	Hertford Town	38	17	7	14	60	50	+10	58
6	Chalfont St Peter	38	15	11	12	53	50	+3	56	Transferred to Division Two South
7	Tring Town	38	14	13	11	58	46	+12	55
8	Royston Town	38	13	13	12	59	57	+2	52
9	Saffron Walden Town	38	13	12	13	61	65	−4	51
10	Berkhamsted Town	38	14	8	16	45	52	−7	50
11	Haringey Borough	38	14	7	17	49	51	−2	49
12	Letchworth Garden City	38	13	8	17	46	52	−6	47
13	Rainham Town	38	14	4	20	54	91	−37	46
14	Hemel Hempstead	38	12	9	17	50	66	−16	45
15	Ware	38	11	11	16	56	61	−5	44
16	Vauxhall Motors	38	11	10	17	58	62	−4	43
17	Barton Rovers	38	12	7	19	50	60	−10	43
18	Harefield United	38	9	12	17	56	72	−16	39	Transferred to Division Two South
19	Clapton	38	10	7	21	51	90	−39	37
20	Wolverton Town	38	8	11	19	42	58	−16	35

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division Two South

Isthmian League
Division Two South

Season	1985–86
Champions	Grays Athletic
Promoted	Grays Athletic Uxbridge
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,243 (3.27 per match)
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Division Two South consisted of 20 clubs, including 15 clubs from the previous season and five new clubs:

• Flackwell Heath, transferred from Division Two North
• Marlow, transferred from Division Two North
• Metropolitan Police, relegated from Division One
• Southwick, joined from the Combined Counties League
• Woking, relegated from Division One

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Southwick	38	25	8	5	86	34	+52	83	Promoted to Division One
2	Bracknell Town	38	24	9	5	80	23	+57	81
3	Woking	38	23	9	6	94	45	+49	78
4	Newbury Town	38	22	7	9	86	53	+33	73
5	Whyteleafe	38	21	10	7	61	41	+20	73
6	Molesey	38	21	8	9	59	39	+20	71
7	Metropolitan Police	38	20	6	12	72	48	+24	66
8	Southall	38	19	7	12	77	59	+18	64
9	Dorking	38	18	10	10	70	57	+13	64
10	Feltham	38	16	7	15	65	60	+5	55
11	Banstead Athletic	38	15	8	15	60	66	−6	53
12	Petersfield United	38	12	9	17	61	71	−10	45
13	Hungerford Town	38	11	6	21	57	78	−21	39
14	Flackwell Heath	38	11	6	21	46	72	−26	39
15	Eastbourne United	38	9	8	21	51	81	−30	35
16	Camberley Town	38	9	7	22	53	64	−11	34
17	Egham Town	38	7	8	23	41	83	−42	29
18	Horsham	38	6	10	22	33	74	−41	28
19	Ruislip Manor	38	5	12	21	44	87	−43	27
20	Marlow	38	6	5	27	47	108	−61	23

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

See also

• Isthmian League
• 1985–86 Northern Premier League
• 1985–86 Southern Football League