1984–85 Football League

The Football League

Season	1984–85
Champions	Everton
← 1983–84 1985–86 →

The 1984–85 season was the 86th completed season of The Football League.

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, 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.

First Division

First Division

Season	1984–85
Champions	Everton 8th English title
Relegated	Norwich City Sunderland Stoke City
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,288 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorer	Gary Lineker Kerry Dixon (24 goals each)
Biggest home win	Chelsea 6–2 Coventry City (3 November 1984)
Biggest away win	Aston Villa 0–5 Nottingham Forest (5 September 1984)
Highest scoring	Queens Park Rangers 5–5 Newcastle United (22 September 1984)
Longest winning run	10 matches Everton
Longest unbeaten run	18 matches Everton
Longest losing run	10 matches Stoke City
← 1983–84 1985–86 →

Howard Kendall’s Everton side beat neighbours Liverpool to the league championship by thirteen points with five games to spare, while Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United followed closely behind. Howard Kendall's team also collected the Cup Winners' Cup. Southampton completed the top five, but long-serving manager Lawrie McMenemy then delivered a major surprise by resigning as manager to take over at relegated Sunderland.

The season marked the return of Sheffield Wednesday to the First Division after 14 years away, Newcastle United after six years away, and Chelsea after five years. All three sides secured First Division survival comfortably.

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.

The First Division's leading scorers this season were Gary Lineker at Leicester City and Kerry Dixon at Chelsea, with both players scoring 24 league goals.

Final table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Everton (C)	42	28	6	8	88	43	+45	90	Disqualified from the European Cup
2	Liverpool	42	22	11	9	68	35	+33	77	Disqualified from the UEFA Cup
3	Tottenham Hotspur	42	23	8	11	78	51	+27	77
4	Manchester United	42	22	10	10	77	47	+30	76	Disqualified from the European Cup Winners' Cup
5	Southampton	42	19	11	12	56	47	+9	68	Disqualified from the UEFA Cup
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 (R)	42	13	10	19	46	64	−18	49	Relegation to the Second Division
21	Sunderland (R)	42	10	10	22	40	62	−22	40
22	Stoke City (R)	42	3	8	31	24	91	−67	17

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

First Division results

Home \ Away	ARS	AST	CHE	COV	EVE	IPS	LEI	LIV	LUT	MUN	NEW	NWC	NOT	QPR	SHW	SOU	STK	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:
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
Newcastle United	Arthur Cox	Signed by Derby County	28 May 1984	Pre-season	Jack Charlton	19 July 1984
Queens Park Rangers	Terry Venables	Signed by Barcelona	30 May 1984		Alan Mullery	20 June 1984
Tottenham Hotspur	Keith Burkinshaw	Resigned	31 May 1984		Peter Shreeves	1 June 1984
Aston Villa	Tony Barton	Sacked	5 June 1984		Graham Turner	2 July 1984
Queens Park Rangers	Alan Mullery		5 December 1984	13th	Frank Sibley	5 December 1984
Coventry City	Bobby Gould		28 December 1984	21st	Don Mackay	28 December 1984
Stoke City	Bill Asprey	Resigned	2 April 1985	22nd	Tony Lacey (caretaker)	2 April 1985

First Division maps

Arsenal

Chelsea

Tottenham

Queens Park Rangers

Watford

West Ham

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Locations of the Football League First Division London teams 1984–1985

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Chelsea

Coventry

Everton

Ipswich Town

Leicester City

Liverpool

Luton Town

Manchester United

Newcastle

Norwich City

Nottingham Forest

QPR

Sheffield Wednesday

Southampton

Stoke

Sunderland

Tottenham

Watford

West Bromwich Albion

West Ham

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Locations of the Football League First Division 1984–1985 teams

Second Division

Second Division

Season	1984–85
Champions	Oxford United
Promoted	Oxford United Birmingham City Manchester City
Relegated	Notts County Cardiff City Wolverhampton Wanderers
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,255 (2.72 per match)
Top goalscorer	John Aldridge (30 goals)
← 1983–84 1985–86 →

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 Molineux, but without success.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
1	Oxford United (C, P)	42	25	9	8	84	36	+48	84	Promotion to the First Division
2	Birmingham City (P)	42	25	7	10	59	33	+26	82
3	Manchester City (P)	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 (R)	42	10	7	25	45	73	−28	37	Relegation to the Third Division
21	Cardiff City (R)	42	9	8	25	47	79	−32	35
22	Wolverhampton Wanderers (R)	42	8	9	25	37	79	−42	33

Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Second Division results

Home \ Away	BAR	BIR	BLB	B&HA	CAR	CRL	CHA	CRY	FUL	GRI	HUD	LEE	MCI	MID	NTC	OLD	OXF	POR	SHU	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:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second Division maps

Charlton Athletic

Crystal Palace

Fulham

Wimbledon

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Locations of the Football League Second Division London teams 1984–1985

Barnsley

Birmingham

Brighton & Hove

Blackburn Rovers

Cardiff City

Carlisle United

Charlton

Crystal Palace

Fulham

Grimsby Town

Huddersfield

Leeds United

Manchester City

Middlesbrough

Notts County

Oldham

Oxford

Portsmouth

Sheffield United

Shrewsbury

Wimbledon

Wolverhampton Wanderers

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Locations of the Football League Second Division 1984–1985 teams

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	1,503 (2.72 per match)
Top goalscorer	Tommy Tynan (Plymouth Argyle), 31
← 1983–84 1985–86 →

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. 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.

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Bradford City	46	15	6	2	44	23	13	4	6	33	22	+32	94	Division Champions, promoted.
2	Millwall	46	18	5	0	44	12	8	7	8	29	30	+31	90	Promoted
3	Hull City	46	16	4	3	46	20	9	8	6	32	29	+29	87
4	Gillingham	46	15	5	3	54	29	10	3	10	26	33	+18	83
5	Bristol City	46	17	2	4	46	19	7	7	9	28	28	+27	81
6	Bristol Rovers	46	15	6	2	37	13	6	6	11	29	35	+18	75
7	Derby County	46	14	7	2	40	20	5	6	12	25	34	+11	70
8	York City	46	13	5	5	42	22	7	4	12	28	35	+13	69
9	Reading	46	8	7	8	31	29	11	5	7	37	33	+6	69
10	Bournemouth	46	16	3	4	42	16	3	8	12	15	30	+11	68
11	Walsall	46	9	7	7	33	22	9	6	8	25	30	+6	67
12	Rotherham United	46	11	6	6	36	24	7	5	11	19	31	0	65
13	Brentford	46	13	5	5	42	27	3	9	11	20	37	−2	62
14	Doncaster Rovers	46	11	5	7	42	33	6	3	14	30	41	−2	59
15	Plymouth Argyle	46	11	7	5	33	23	4	7	12	29	42	−3	59
16	Wigan Athletic	46	12	6	5	36	22	3	8	12	24	42	−4	59
17	Bolton Wanderers	46	12	5	6	38	22	4	1	18	31	53	−6	54
18	Newport County	46	9	6	8	30	30	4	7	12	25	37	−12	52
19	Lincoln City	46	8	11	4	32	20	3	7	13	18	31	−1	51
20	Swansea City	46	7	5	11	31	39	5	6	12	22	41	−27	47
21	Burnley	46	6	8	9	30	24	5	5	13	30	49	−13	46	Relegated
22	Orient	46	7	7	9	30	36	4	6	13	21	40	−25	46
23	Preston North End	46	9	5	9	33	41	4	2	17	18	59	−49	46
24	Cambridge United	46	2	3	18	17	48	2	6	15	20	47	−58	21

Source:
Notes:

Results

Home \ Away	BOL	BOU	BRA	BRE	BRC	BRR	BUR	CAM	DER	DON	GIL	HUL	LEY	LIN	MIL	NPC	PLY	PNE	REA	ROT	SWA	WAL	WIG	YOR
Bolton Wanderers		2–1	0–2	1–1	1–4	0–1	1–3	0–0	3–0	3–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	3–1	7–2	4–0	1–2	2–0	0–0	3–1	1–0	2–1
Bournemouth	4–0		4–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–3	2–0	1–1	1–0	3–1	1–2	3–0	1–0	2–0	0–3	3–0	1–2	4–1	1–0	4–0
Bradford City	2–1	1–0		5–4	1–1	2–0	3–2	2–0	3–1	0–1	1–1	2–0	4–1	0–0	3–1	1–0	1–0	3–0	2–5	1–1	1–1	1–1	4–2	1–0
Brentford	2–1	0–0	0–1		1–2	0–3	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	5–2	2–1	0–1	2–2	1–1	2–5	3–1	3–1	2–1	3–0	3–0	3–1	2–0	2–1
Bristol City	3–2	2–0	2–0	1–1		3–0	1–0	3–0	3–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	3–2	2–1	0–1	2–1	4–3	4–0	2–3	0–1	2–2	1–2	2–0	1–0
Bristol Rovers	1–2	1–0	2–0	3–0	1–0		4–0	2–1	2–1	1–1	3–2	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	1–0	1–0	4–2	0–0	2–0	1–1
Burnley	3–2	1–1	1–2	3–1	0–1	0–0		2–0	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–2	7–0	1–1	1–2	1–2	1–1
Cambridge United	2–3	1–0	0–4	1–2	2–3	0–2	2–3		0–2	1–1	1–2	1–3	2–3	0–2	1–0	1–2	1–1	0–3	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–4
Derby County	3–2	2–3	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–2	1–0		3–1	1–0	3–1	1–0	2–0	1–2	3–3	3–1	2–0	4–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–0
Doncaster Rovers	2–0	3–0	0–3	2–2	1–1	2–2	2–0	3–2	2–1		0–1	1–2	1–1	3–2	0–1	3–2	4–3	1–2	0–4	0–1	4–1	4–1	1–1	3–0
Gillingham	2–3	3–2	2–2	2–0	1–3	4–1	1–1	3–0	3–2	2–1		1–0	2–0	3–2	1–4	1–1	3–3	4–0	4–1	2–1	1–1	3–0	5–1	1–0
Hull City	2–2	3–0	0–2	4–0	2–1	2–0	2–0	2–1	3–2	3–2	2–0		5–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–2	1–2	0–0	0–0	4–1	1–0	3–1	0–2
Orient	4–3	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–4	0–2	2–2	2–2	2–1	2–4	4–5		1–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	4–2	0–3	1–1	1–3
Lincoln City	2–0	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–2	3–1	1–1	0–0	0–2	2–0	0–0	0–0		0–1	2–2	2–2	4–0	5–1	3–3	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–1
Millwall	5–2	2–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–2	1–0	2–0		2–0	2–0	3–0	0–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	4–1	1–0
Newport County	3–2	1–1	0–1	2–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–2	1–3	2–1	0–3	0–1	2–0	2–1	3–2		1–0	3–3	1–2	0–2	2–0	1–2	1–1	1–1
Plymouth Argyle	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	3–2	2–2	2–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–0	3–1	1–0		6–4	1–2	1–0	1–2	1–3	1–0	1–1
Preston North End	1–0	2–1	1–4	1–1	3–2	2–2	3–3	3–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–4	0–1	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–2		0–2	0–3	3–2	1–0	2–5	2–4
Reading	3–1	0–2	0–3	0–0	1–0	3–2	5–1	3–1	0–0	1–4	0–2	4–2	1–1	1–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	3–0		1–0	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–2
Rotherham United	3–1	1–0	1–2	1–1	2–1	3–3	3–2	0–1	2–0	2–3	1–0	1–1	2–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–2	3–0	3–0		0–1	0–1	3–3	4–1
Swansea City	2–1	0–0	1–2	3–2	0–0	3–2	0–1	2–2	1–5	3–1	0–1	0–2	3–1	2–2	1–2	0–3	0–2	4–1	1–2	1–0		1–2	2–2	1–3
Walsall	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	4–1	1–2	2–3	5–0	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	4–2	0–0	3–3	1–1	0–3	2–1	3–1	0–2	3–0		0–0	3–0
Wigan Athletic	1–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	2–2	1–0	2–0	3–3	2–0	5–2	0–1	1–1	4–2	1–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–2		1–2
York City	0–3	4–1	1–2	1–0	0–2	1–0	4–0	3–2	1–1	3–1	7–1	1–2	2–1	2–1	1–1	2–0	0–0	0–1	2–2	3–0	1–0	1–1	2–0

Source: [1] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third Division maps

Brentford

Orient

Millwall

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Locations of the Football League Third Division London teams 1984–1985

Bolton

Bournemouth

Bradford C.

Brentford

Bristol City

Bristol Rovers

Burnley

Cambridge Utd

Derby County

Doncaster

Gillingham

Hull

Orient

Lincoln City

Millwall

Newport County

Plymouth Argyle

Preston North End

Reading

Rotherham

Swansea City

Walsall

Wigan Athletic

York City

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Locations of the Football League Third Division teams 1984–1985

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	1,478 (2.68 per match)
Top goalscorer	John Clayton (Tranmere Rovers), 31
← 1983–84 1985–86 →

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.

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Chesterfield	46	16	6	1	40	13	10	7	6	24	22	+29	91	Division Champions, promoted
2	Blackpool	46	15	7	1	42	15	9	7	7	31	24	+34	86	Promoted
3	Darlington	46	16	4	3	41	22	8	9	6	25	27	+17	85
4	Bury	46	15	6	2	46	20	9	6	8	30	30	+26	84
5	Hereford United	46	16	2	5	38	21	6	9	8	27	26	+18	77
6	Tranmere Rovers	46	17	1	5	50	21	7	2	14	33	45	+17	75
7	Colchester United	46	13	7	3	49	29	7	7	9	38	36	+22	74
8	Swindon Town	46	16	4	3	42	21	5	5	13	20	37	+4	72
9	Scunthorpe United	46	14	6	3	61	33	5	8	10	22	29	+21	71
10	Crewe Alexandra	46	10	7	6	32	28	8	5	10	33	41	−4	66
11	Peterborough United	46	11	7	5	29	21	5	7	11	25	32	+1	62
12	Port Vale	46	11	8	4	39	24	3	10	10	22	35	+2	60
13	Aldershot	46	11	6	6	33	20	6	2	15	23	43	−7	59
14	Mansfield Town	46	10	8	5	25	15	3	10	10	16	23	+3	57
15	Wrexham	46	10	6	7	39	27	5	3	15	28	43	−3	54
16	Chester City	46	11	3	9	35	30	4	6	13	25	42	−12	54
17	Rochdale	46	8	7	8	33	30	5	7	11	22	39	−14	53
18	Exeter City	46	9	7	7	30	27	4	7	12	27	52	−22	53
19	Hartlepool United	46	10	6	7	34	29	4	4	15	20	38	−13	52
20	Southend United	46	8	8	7	30	34	5	3	15	28	49	−25	50
21	Halifax Town	46	9	3	11	26	32	6	2	15	16	37	−27	50	Re-elected
22	Stockport County	46	11	5	7	40	26	2	3	18	18	53	−21	47
23	Northampton Town	46	10	1	12	32	32	4	4	15	21	42	−21	47
24	Torquay United	46	5	11	7	18	24	4	3	16	20	39	−25	41

Source:

Results

Home \ Away	ALD	BLP	BRY	CHE	CHF	COL	CRE	DAR	EXE	HAL	HAR	HER	MAN	NOR	PET	PTV	ROC	SCU	STD	STP	SWI	TOR	TRA	WRE
Aldershot		1–0	0–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–1	3–4	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	5–0	1–2	6–2	2–1	0–1	1–0	3–2	2–1
Blackpool	1–0		0–0	3–1	1–0	1–1	6–1	0–0	3–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–1	4–2	1–1	3–0	1–0	1–0	4–1	1–0	3–3	1–2	0–0
Bury	2–1	1–0		4–1	0–0	4–3	2–2	1–0	2–2	3–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	3–1	1–1	4–0	2–2	0–1	2–0	2–1	2–0	3–1	3–0	2–3
Chester City	2–0	0–0	2–3		1–1	1–2	0–2	5–2	1–3	2–0	1–0	2–1	0–3	1–0	1–3	2–0	0–1	1–1	5–1	2–1	2–0	0–1	2–4	2–1
Chesterfield	2–1	2–1	0–1	3–1		1–1	3–1	0–0	5–1	3–0	0–0	3–1	0–0	2–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	1–0	1–0	4–2	2–1
Colchester United	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	3–1		4–1	1–2	3–4	1–3	1–0	2–2	2–1	4–1	3–1	3–2	1–1	1–1	3–3	3–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	4–1
Crewe Alexandra	1–1	0–2	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–4		2–2	0–0	0–1	2–0	0–3	1–1	3–2	2–1	0–0	3–1	1–1	0–2	2–1	3–2	3–0	1–3	3–0
Darlington	1–1	0–4	1–1	2–1	1–3	4–0	2–1		2–1	2–0	0–1	1–1	3–1	4–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	3–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–1
Exeter City	3–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–1	1–5	0–2	1–1		1–0	3–2	0–0	0–0	5–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	0–2	1–1	4–3	0–1	2–0
Halifax Town	1–2	0–2	4–1	0–4	1–3	0–0	1–1	0–1	2–3		2–3	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–1	0–2	1–2	1–0	2–1	2–1	0–1	2–1	1–2
Hartlepool United	1–0	0–2	0–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	3–0	1–2	1–1	0–1		2–2	0–0	0–0	0–3	2–2	0–2	3–2	2–1	5–1	2–2	3–1	2–4	2–0
Hereford United	2–1	2–1	5–3	0–0	0–1	2–1	3–2	0–1	1–2	3–0	3–0		3–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–0	3–0	2–0	0–3	1–0	2–1	2–1
Mansfield Town	1–2	1–1	0–2	2–0	0–0	0–1	0–2	2–0	2–2	2–1	2–0	1–1		2–0	0–0	1–1	5–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–0
Northampton Town	4–0	0–1	0–1	0–2	1–3	1–3	1–3	2–1	5–2	0–1	2–0	0–3	1–0		0–3	1–0	0–0	0–2	1–2	4–0	4–0	3–1	2–0	0–4
Peterborough United	1–2	2–0	1–4	3–1	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	0–0	2–0	3–1	1–1	1–0	0–0		0–0	1–1	3–1	1–4	3–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	2–1
Port Vale	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	3–2	2–0	0–2	5–1	3–1	1–1	3–1	0–1	0–3	3–1		3–1	1–1	4–1	3–2	2–0	2–2	2–1	0–0
Rochdale	1–2	1–1	1–1	1–2	3–1	1–1	1–3	1–2	2–0	2–0	4–3	0–1	2–1	3–0	2–1	1–2		3–3	2–2	0–0	0–1	0–0	2–1	0–2
Scunthorpe United	2–1	1–1	2–2	2–1	2–4	2–2	2–3	0–1	7–1	4–0	2–0	1–1	2–2	2–1	2–1	3–3	4–2		2–1	1–0	6–2	2–0	5–2	5–2
Southend United	1–0	1–4	3–3	1–1	0–1	2–5	3–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–3	2–1	2–1	1–1	0–2	1–1		1–1	3–2	1–0	2–3	0–1
Stockport County	6–0	1–3	2–0	5–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–3	4–1	2–1	1–1	4–2	1–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	1–2		2–1	1–2	0–2	2–2
Swindon Town	2–1	4–1	1–0	4–4	4–0	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–1	0–3	1–0	2–0	1–1	0–1	2–1	0–0	2–0	4–0		1–3	2–1	2–1
Torquay United	1–3	0–2	0–2	2–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	0–2	0–0	1–3	1–0	0–0	2–2	0–0	0–0		1–1	4–3
Tranmere Rovers	4–3	3–0	3–2	1–0	0–1	3–1	3–1	3–0	3–2	1–0	1–2	0–1	0–0	1–2	4–0	4–1	3–1	2–0	2–0	3–0	0–2	3–1		3–1
Wrexham	1–0	1–2	3–0	2–0	2–0	2–2	1–3	1–1	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	0–3	1–3	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–2	3–4	4–0	2–0	4–0

Updated to match(es) played on compreat. Source: [2] Soccerbase
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Fourth Division maps

Aldershot

Blackpool

Bury

Chester City

Chesterfield

Colchester

Crewe Alexandra

Darlington

Exeter City

Halifax Town

Hartlepool

Hereford United

Mansfield Town

Northampton Town

Peterborough

Port Vale

Rochdale

Scunthorpe United

Southend

Stockport

Swindon

Torquay

Tranmere

Wrexham

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Locations of the Football League Fourth Division teams 1984–1985

Election/Re-election to the Football League

This year Wealdstone, the winners of the 1984–85 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

• 1984-85 in English football

References

• Ian Laschke: Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79. Macdonald and Jane's, London & Sydney, 1980.