1985–86 in Scottish football
Premier Division champions
Celtic
Division One champions
Hamilton Academical
Division Two champions
Dunfermline Athletic
Scottish Cup winners
Aberdeen
League Cup winners
Aberdeen
Junior Cup winners
Auchinleck Talbot
Teams in Europe
Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Rangers, St Mirren
Scotland national team
1986 World Cup qualification, 1986 World Cup, Rous Cup
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

The 1985–86 season was the 89th season of competitive football in Scotland. [1]

At a national level, Scotland's qualification for the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico was marred by the death of Manager Jock Stein. In the end caretaker manager Alex Ferguson was not able to take the team beyond the first round.

In club football, with Rangers once again failing to mount a title challenge, manager Jock Wallace's second spell as manager ended in April when he was sacked[2] and the club appointed Graeme Souness as player-manager, recruiting the former Liverpool midfielder from Sampdoria in Italy.[3] Celtic eventually won the league on the final day after Hearts threw away a two-point lead.

Impressively, Aberdeen won both the Scottish Cup and the League Cup.

Scottish Premier Division

Celtic won the League and became champions in one of the closest finishes in League history. On the final day of the season Hearts were leading Celtic by two points - a draw against Dundee would have been sufficient to see them win their first League title since the 1959–60 season. Hearts lost 2–0 to Dundee at Dens Park thanks to two late goals by substitute Albert Kidd, while Celtic beat St Mirren 5–0 at Love Street. As a result, Celtic won the league on goal difference.[4]

Relegation was suspended due to league reconstruction, therefore Motherwell and Clydebank retained their Premier Division status.

A dispute between television companies and the Scottish Football League resulted in no televised Scottish league football between September 1985 and March 1986.[5]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Celtic (C) 36 20 10 6 67 38 +29 50 Qualification for the European Cup first round
2 Heart of Midlothian 36 20 10 6 59 33 +26 50 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3 Dundee United 36 18 11 7 59 31 +28 47
4 Aberdeen 36 16 12 8 62 31 +31 44 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
5 Rangers 36 13 9 14 53 45 +8 35 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
6 Dundee 36 14 7 15 45 51 −6 35
7 St Mirren 36 13 5 18 42 63 −21 31
8 Hibernian 36 11 6 19 49 63 −14 28
9 Motherwell 36 7 6 23 33 66 −33 20
10 Clydebank 36 6 8 22 29 77 −48 20
Source: Rsssf
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Champions: Celtic
No relegation

Scottish League Division One

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Hamilton Academical (C, P) 39 24 8 7 77 44 +33 56 Promotion to Premier Division
2 Falkirk (P) 39 17 11 11 57 39 +18 45
3 Kilmarnock 39 18 8 13 62 49 +13 44
4 Forfar Athletic 39 17 10 12 51 43 +8 44
5 East Fife 39 14 15 10 54 46 +8 43
6 Dumbarton 39 16 11 12 59 52 +7 43
7 Morton 39 14 11 14 57 63 −6 39
8 Partick Thistle 39 10 16 13 53 64 −11 36
9 Airdrieonians 39 12 11 16 51 50 +1 35
10 Brechin City 39 13 9 17 58 64 −6 35
11 Clyde 39 9 17 13 49 59 −10 35
12 Montrose 39 10 14 15 43 54 −11 34
13 Ayr United (R) 39 10 11 18 41 60 −19 31 Relegation to Second Division
14 Alloa Athletic (R) 39 6 14 19 49 74 −25 26
Source: RSSSF and statto[6]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Promoted: Hamilton Academical, Falkirk
Relegated: Ayr United, Alloa Athletic.

Scottish League Division Two

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Dunfermline Athletic 39 23 11 5 91 47 +44 57 Promotion to the 1986–87 First Division
2 Queen of the South 39 23 9 7 71 36 +35 55
3 Meadowbank Thistle 39 19 11 9 68 45 +23 49
4 Queen's Park 39 19 8 12 61 39 +22 46
5 Stirling Albion 39 18 8 13 57 53 +4 44
6 St Johnstone 39 18 6 15 63 55 +8 42
7 Stenhousemuir 39 16 8 15 55 63 −8 40
8 Arbroath 39 15 9 15 56 50 +6 39
9 Raith Rovers 39 15 7 17 67 65 +2 37
10 Cowdenbeath 39 14 9 16 52 53 −1 37
11 East Stirlingshire 39 11 6 22 49 69 −20 28
12 Berwick Rangers 39 7 11 21 45 80 −35 25
13 Albion Rovers 39 8 8 23 38 86 −48 24
14 Stranraer 39 9 5 25 41 83 −42 23
Source: "1985-1986 Second Division - SPFL Archive". SPFL. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

Promoted: Dunfermline Athletic, Queen of the South

Other honours

Cup honours

Competition Winner Score Runner-up
Scottish Cup 1985–86 Aberdeen 3 – 0 Heart of Midlothian
League Cup 1985–86 Aberdeen 3 – 0 Hibernian
Youth Cup Aberdeen 2 – 0 Queen of the South
Junior Cup Auchinleck Talbot 3 – 2 Pollok

Individual honours

Award Winner Club
Footballer of the YearScotland Sandy JardineHeart of Midlothian
Players' Player of the YearScotland Richard GoughDundee United
Young Player of the YearScotland Craig LeveinHeart of Midlothian

Scotland national team

Date Venue Opponents Score[7] Competition Scotland scorer(s)
10 September 1985 Ninian Park, Cardiff (A)  Wales 1–1 WCQG7 Davie Cooper
16 October 1985 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  East Germany 0–0 Friendly
20 November 1985 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Australia 2–0 WCQPO Davie Cooper, Frank McAvennie
4 December 1985 Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne (A)  Australia 0–0 WCQPO
28 January 1986 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan (A)  Israel 1–0 Friendly Paul McStay
26 March 1986 Hampden Park, Glasgow (H)  Romania 3–0 Friendly Gordon Strachan, Richard Gough, Roy Aitken
23 April 1986 Wembley Stadium, London (A)  England 1–2 Rous Cup Graeme Souness (pen.)
29 April 1986 Philips Stadion, Eindhoven (A)  Netherlands 0–0 Friendly
4 June 1986 Estadio Neza 86, Nezahualcóyotl (N)  Denmark 0–1 WCGE
8 June 1986 Estadio La Corregidora, Querétaro (N)  West Germany 1–2 WCGE Gordon Strachan
13 June 1986 Estadio Neza 86, Nezahualcóyotl (N)  Uruguay 0–0 WCGE

Key:

  • (H) = Home match
  • (A) = Away match
  • WCQG7 = World Cup qualifying - Group 7
  • WCQPO = World Cup qualifying play-off match
  • WCGE = World Cup - Group E

Death of Jock Stein

On 10 September 1985, the Scotland team travelled to Ninian Park, Cardiff, to take on Wales in their final qualifying game for the World Cup in Mexico. They needed at least a draw to secure a place in the qualification play-off, which they finally achieved in the 81st minute when a Davie Cooper penalty drew Scotland level with Wales, who had gone ahead earlier with a Mark Hughes goal. Just after the final whistle, Scotland manager Jock Stein collapsed from a heart attack at the side of the pitch and died in the medical room shortly afterwards. He was 62 years old.[8]

Aberdeen manager Alex Ferguson, who had been Stein's assistant, was appointed caretaker manager of Scotland after Stein's death.[9] His first match was at Hampden Park on 20 November 1985, as Scotland took on Australia in the World Cup qualification playoff first leg. Goals from Davie Cooper and the debutant Frank McAvennie gave Scotland a 2-0 advantage, and they confirmed their place in Mexico by drawing the second leg 0–0 in Melbourne.[10] Scotland's World Cup campaign began on 4 June, when they took on Denmark in their opening group game, only to lose 1–0. Four days later, they took on West Germany and despite taking an early lead through Gordon Strachan, lost 2-1 and were left with virtually no hope of reaching the knockout stages. Any hope of progression ended five days later when they could only manage a goalless draw against Uruguay.[11]

Kenny Dalglish 100th cap

Three weeks after his 35th birthday, Kenny Dalglish became the Scotland team's first player to be capped 100 times as senior level in a friendly against Romania on 26 March 1986.[12][13]

See also

1985–86 Aberdeen F.C. season
1985–86 Dundee United F.C. season

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "1985/86 - the Scottish Football League". Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "Jock Wallace | Former Managers | Former Managers | History | Rangers". Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  3. ↑ "Rangers Home HISTORY". Archived from the original on 21 September 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  4. ↑ "Celtic keep bargain with a little help from Dundee". Glasgow Herald (Page 10). 5 May 1986. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Dens memories reduce former Hearts manager to tears - Scotsman.com Sport". Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  6. ↑ "Scottish Division One 1985-1986 Season Summary". statto.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  7. ↑ Scotland's score is shown first.
  8. ↑ "BBC - A Sporting Nation - Jock Stein dies 1985".
  9. ↑ "新皇冠体育_大赢家体育即时比分足球-万家乐网".
  10. ↑ "Scotland's play-off past". BBC News. 14 November 2003.
  11. ↑ "Planet World Cup - 1986 - Match Schedule".
  12. ↑ "Bill Shankly - This website is a part of LFCHistory.net". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  13. ↑ "Scotland 3 Rumania 0". Glasgow Herald (Page 28). 27 March 1986. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
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