1985–86 Manchester United F.C. season

English football club season April 2020 March 2015 March 2015 Manchester United 1985–86 Ron Atkinson Martin Edwards First Division 4th FA Cup Fifth round League Cup Fourth round Football League Super Cup Group stage Charity Shield Runners-up Mark Hughes (17) Mark Hughes (18) 54,575 vs Tottenham Hotspur (16 November 1985) 20,130 vs Norwich City (6 November 1985) 42,821 _manutdh8486 _manutdh8486 _manutdh8486 _manutd8486 _manutdh8486 E20E0E E20E0E E20E0E FFFFFF 000000 _manutda8486 _manutda8486 _manutda8486 _manutd8486 _manutda8586 FFFFFF FFFFFF FFFFFF 000000 FFFFFF _manutdh8486 _manutd38486 _manutdh8486 _adidaswhite _color_3_stripes_white 0000C0 0000C0 0000C0 0000C0 0000C0 1984–85 1986–87 The 1985–86 season was Manchester United's 84th season in the Football League, and their 11th consecutive season in the top division of English football.http://www.stretfordend.co.uk/seasons/season1986.html Manchester United Season 1985/86 21 December 2011 StretfordEnd.co.uk Despite having won the FA Cup the previous season, the team was unable to compete in the 1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup due to the five-year ban on English clubs competing in European competitions that was imposed following the Heysel Stadium disaster at the 1985 European Cup Final. Instead, the clubs who would have qualified for Europe all competed in the Football League Super Cup. With no European action to distract them, they got off to a 10-match winning start in the league. They were unbeaten from their first 15 games with 41 points as at 2 November with 13 wins and 2 draws. The size of their lead at that point helped them stay top of the league until the beginning of February, despite taking only 35 points from their last 27 games and finishing fourth in the league on 76 points, 12 points behind champions Liverpool. There was no success in the cup competitions to fall back on, leading to doubts about the future of Ron Atkinson as manager. He had completed five seasons as manager without them finishing outside the top four and had won two FA Cups, but the wait for a league title was now entering its 20th season. Media reports linked two managers with a move to Old Trafford: Terry Venables, who had just rejected an offer to return to England from Barcelona to take charge at Arsenal; and Alex Ferguson, whose Aberdeen side had broken the Old Firm dominance of Celtic and Rangers in recent seasons. Despite this speculation, Atkinson remained in charge of United into the following season, but the pressure on him to deliver success to the club remained intense. The ban on English clubs in European competitions was extended to a second season, meaning that United would not be able to compete in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup. Mark Hughes was once again United's top scorer, scoring 17 goals in the league and 18 in all competitions. However, he was less prolific during the second half of the season after scoring 11 times before Christmas, and on 21 March 1986 it was announced that he would be leaving United at the end of the season to sign for FC Barcelona of Spain in a £2million deal. United had already signed Nottingham Forest striker Peter Davenport as his successor. United had signed another striker, Terry Gibson from Coventry City, just after the turn of the new year. United's title challenge was also not helped by the fact that captain Bryan Robson was only available for half of the club's league games this season due to injuries. FA Charity Shield 1985 FA Charity Shield DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance10 August 1985EvertonN0–282,000 First Division 1985–86 Football League#First Division DateOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendanceLeagueposition17 August 1985Aston VillaH4–0Whiteside 48', Hughes (2) 50', 75', Olsen 84'49,7431st20 August 1985Ipswich TownA1–0Robson 63'18,7771st24 August 1985ArsenalA2–1Hughes 20', McGrath 65'37,1451st26 August 1985West Ham UnitedH2–0Strachan 47', Hughes 55' 50,7731st31 August 1985Nottingham ForestA3–1Hughes 2', Barnes 5', Stapleton 41'26,2741st4 September 1985Newcastle UnitedH3–0Stapleton (2) 5', 11', Hughes 62'51,1021st7 September 1985Oxford UnitedH3–0Whiteside 29', Robson 44', Barnes 72'51,8201st14 September 1985Manchester CityA3–0Robson 8' (pen.), Albiston 19', Duxbury 73'48,7731st21 September 1985West Bromwich AlbionA5–1Brazil (2) 6', 80', Strachan 22', Blackmore 71', Stapleton 73'25,0681st28 September 1985SouthamptonH1–0Hughes 75'52,4491st5 October 1985Luton TownA1–1Hughes 61'17,4541st12 October 1985Queens Park RangersH2–0Hughes 31', Olsen 52'48,8451st19 October 1985LiverpoolH1–1McGrath 65'54,4921st26 October 1985ChelseaA2–1Olsen 41', Hughes 76'42,4851st2 November 1985Coventry CityH2–0Olsen (2) 18', 41'46,7481st9 November 1985Sheffield WednesdayA0–148,1051st16 November 1985Tottenham HotspurH0–054,5751st23 November 1985Leicester CityA0–322,0081st30 November 1985WatfordH1–1Brazil 68'42,1811st7 December 1985Ipswich TownH1–0Stapleton 30'37,9811st14 December 1985Aston VillaA3–1Blackmore 19', Strachan 67', Hughes 71'27,6261st21 December 1985ArsenalH0–144,3861st26 December 1985EvertonA1–3Stapleton 14'42,5511st1 January 1986Birmingham CityH1–0C. Gibson 50'43,0951st11 January 1986Oxford UnitedA3–1Whiteside 11', Hughes 74', C. Gibson 83'13,2801st18 January 1986Nottingham ForestH2–3Olsen (2) 46' (pen.), 67'46,7171st2 February 1986West Ham UnitedA1–2Robson 26'22,6422nd9 February 1986LiverpoolA1–1C. Gibson 15'35,0642nd22 February 1986West Bromwich AlbionH3–0Olsen (3) 26' (pen.), 53' (pen.), 70'45,1932nd1 March 1986SouthamptonA0–119,0122nd15 March 1986Queens Park RangersA0–123,4073rd19 March 1986Luton TownH2–0Hughes 37', McGrath 76'33,6683rd22 March 1986Manchester CityH2–2C. Gibson 2', Strachan 58' (pen.) 51,2743rd29 March 1986Birmingham CityA1–1Robson 84'22,5513rd31 March 1986EvertonH0–051,1893rd5 April 1986Coventry CityA3–1C. Gibson 13', Robson 28', Strachan 82'17,1603rd9 April 1986ChelseaH1–2Olsen 68' (pen.) 45,3553rd13 April 1986Sheffield WednesdayH0–232,3313rd16 April 1986Newcastle UnitedA4–2Robson 2' (pen.), Hughes (2) 17', 44', Whiteside 50'31,8403rd19 April 1986Tottenham HotspurA0–032,3573rd26 April 1986Leicester CityH4–0Stapleton 17', Hughes 83', Blackmore 85', Davenport 87' (pen.) 38,8403rd3 May 1986WatfordA1–1Hughes 23'18,4144th First Division MUN y FA Cup 1985-86 FA Cup DateRoundOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance9 January 1986Round 3RochdaleH2–0Stapleton 15', Hughes 68'40,22325 January 1986Round 4SunderlandA0–035,48429 January 1986Round 4ReplaySunderlandH3–0Whiteside 28', Olsen (2) 38', 54' (pen.)43,4025 March 1986Round 5West Ham UnitedA1–1Stapleton 73'26,4419 March 1986Round 5ReplayWest Ham UnitedH0–230,441 Football League Cup 1985–86 Football League Cup DateRoundOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance24 September 1985Round 2First legCrystal PalaceA1–0Barnes 59'21,5079 October 1985Round 2Second legCrystal PalaceH1–0Whiteside 1'26,11829 October 1985Round 3West Ham UnitedH1–0Whiteside 77'32,05626 November 1985Round 4LiverpoolA1–2McGrath 7'41,291 Football League Super Cup Football League Super Cup DateRoundOpponentsH / AResultF–AScorersAttendance18 September 1985Group stageEvertonH2–4Robson 45' (pen.), Stapleton 61'33,8596 November 1985Group stageNorwich CityH1–1Whiteside 68' (pen.)20,1304 December 1985Group stageEvertonA0–120,54211 December 1985Group stageNorwich CityA1–1C. Gibson 64'15,449 Group 1Pos. PositionTeamPld. Matches playedW Matches wonD Matches drawnL Matches lostGF Goals forGA Goals againstGD Goal differencePts. Points1Everton430163+392Norwich City412133053Manchester United402247–32 Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGKENG Gary Bailey250204030340GKENG Chris Turner170300020220DFSCO Arthur Albiston371503030481DFWAL Clayton Blackmore1232(2)0204020(2)3DFENG Mike Duxbury21(2)130302029(2)1DFENG Billy Garton100100010120DFENG John Gidman240201030300DFENG Mark Higgins6020000080DFSCO Graeme Hogg170002020210DFIRL Paul McGrath403404150534DFDEN John Sivebæk2(1)00000002(1)0MFENG Mark Dempsey1000001(1)02(1)0MFENG Colin Gibson185400021246MFIRL Kevin Moran18(1)030401026(1)0MFENG Remi Moses4000000(1)04(1)0MFDEN Jesper Olsen25(3)113(2)2303034(5)13MFENG Bryan Robson217302021288MFSCO Gordon Strachan27(1)550103(1)036(2)5MFNIR Norman Whiteside374514251518FWENG Peter Barnes12(1)200312017(1)3FWSCO Alan Brazil1(10)3002(2)0306(12)3FWENG Peter Davenport111000000111FWENG Terry Gibson2(5)00000002(5)0FWWAL Mark Hughes40173120404918FWIRL Frank Stapleton34(7)752404147(7)10FWENG Nicky Wood0(1)00000000(1)0 References Category:Manchester United F.C. seasons Manchester United