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1985–86 Arsenal F.C. season

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Arsenal F.C.
1985–86 season
ChairmanPeter Hill-Wood
ManagerDon Howe (to 22 March)
Steve Burtenshaw (caretaker, for remainder of season)
First Division7th
FA CupFifth round
League CupQuarter-finals
Top goalscorerLeague: Tony Woodcock (11)
All: Charlie Nicholas (18)

The 1985–86 season was Arsenal Football Club's 60th consecutive season in the top flight of English football.[1][2] In this season Arsenal celebrated its centenary, 100 years of footballing history. Arsenal finished seventh in the Football League First Division and saw little success in cup competitions, falling unceremoniously to Aston Villa in the quarterfinals of the League Cup.

Arsenal saw a promising group of young talent break into the first team, with Martin Keown, Tony Adams, Niall Quinn, and David Rocastle all making regular appearances.

Don Howe resigned from Arsenal in March 1986. Steven Burtenshaw took over from Howe, overseeing a slide from fifth to seventh place. George Graham became manager at the end of the season.

Season summary

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After 4 consecutive wins in a run of 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in 11 games Don Howe resigned on 22 March 1986. With Arsenal on the fringes of the title race, rumours were abound that the Arsenal board had approached Terry Venables with a view to naming him as Don Howe’s successor. When Howe was unable to get clarity or reassurance from the board, he promptly resigned.

Howe was hardly a failure, as the Gunners had not finished lower than seventh in the First Division under his leadership, but in the absence of silverware his exit became inevitable. Adopting a lower public profile than his predecessor, Howe did not invest heavily in the transfer market, preferring to augment his squad by bringing through youngsters such as Tony Adams, David Rocastle and Niall Quinn, but he never attained the desired blend.[3]

Steven Burtenshaw took over with the club 5th in the league. The momentum was immediately lost and with five defeats in the next seven games Arsenal slipped away from their challenging position. Once again, the domestic cups would see the Gunners fall short.  In the F.A. Cup they fell in the fifth round, losing 3 – 0 to Luton Town at Kenilworth Road after a replay. In the League Cup, another replay saw Arsenal bow out at the quarter-final stage to Aston Villa.[4][5][3] On 8 April 1986 Paul Mariner played his last league game for Arsenal against Nottingham Forest.  In his final season he made just 5 starts and 7 sub appearances in league and cup but failed to score.

The crowds declined too. On 26 April 1986 when Arsenal met West Bromwich Albion at Highbury just 14,843 turned up. The 2-2 draw made it just one win in eight matches.  On 3 May against Birmingham City Tony Woodcock scored his 11th and final league goal of the season. He was Arsenal’s top scorer, as he was the previous season when both he and Brian Talbot got 10 each. Only 6,234 were in the crowd at St.Andrew's to see it. Two days later Tony Woodcock played his last game for Arsenal, a 3-0 away defeat to Oxford. Then with the season over, Arsenal finishing in 7th, on 14 May 1986 George Graham became manager.[6]

Squad

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK England ENG John Lukic
DF England ENG Viv Anderson
DF England ENG Kenny Sansom
MF England ENG Stewart Robson
DF Republic of Ireland IRL David O'Leary
DF England ENG Martin Keown
MF England ENG Ian Allinson
MF England ENG Paul Davis
FW Scotland SCO Charlie Nicholas
FW England ENG Tony Woodcock
MF England ENG Graham Rix (captain)
No. Pos. Nation Player
DF England ENG Tommy Caton
MF England ENG Steve Williams
MF England ENG David Rocastle
FW England ENG Martin Hayes
DF England ENG Tony Adams
FW Republic of Ireland IRL Niall Quinn
DF England ENG Chris Whyte
FW England ENG Paul Mariner
DF England ENG Gus Caesar
GK Wales WAL Rhys Wilmot

Results

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First Division

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
5 Sheffield Wednesday[a] 42 21 10 11 63 54 +9 73 Disqualified from the UEFA Cup[7]
6 Chelsea 42 20 11 11 57 56 +1 71
7 Arsenal 42 20 9 13 49 47 +2 69
8 Nottingham Forest 42 19 11 12 69 53 +16 68
9 Luton Town 42 18 12 12 61 44 +17 66
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:
  1. ^ Since Everton would have instead qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup qualification would have been passed down to Sheffield Wednesday.
17 August 1985 1 Liverpool 2–0 Arsenal Liverpool
Stadium: Anfield
20 August 1985 2 Arsenal 3–2 Southampton London
Stadium: Highbury
27 August 1985 4 Luton Town 2–2 Arsenal Luton
Stadium: Kenilworth Road
31 August 1985 5 Arsenal 1–0 Leicester City London
Stadium: Highbury
21 September 1985 9 Chelsea 2–1 Arsenal London
Stadium: Stamford Bridge
28 September 1985 10 Arsenal 0–0 Newcastle United London
Stadium: Highbury
5 October 1985 11 Arsenal 3–2 Aston Villa London
Stadium: Highbury
12 October 1985 12 West Ham United 0–0 Arsenal London
Hayes pen.'
Rocastle
Stadium: Upton Park
19 October 1985 13 Arsenal 1–0 Ipswich Town London
Stadium: Highbury
2 November 1985 15 Arsenal 1–0 Manchester City London
Stadium: Highbury
9 November 1985 16 Everton 6–1 Arsenal Liverpool
Stadium: Goodison Park
16 November 1985 17 Arsenal 2–1 Oxford United London
Stadium: Highbury
30 November 1985 19 Arsenal 0–0 Birmingham City London
Stadium: Highbury
7 December 1985 20 Southampton 3–0 Arsenal Southampton
Stadium: The Dell
14 December 1985 21 Arsenal 2–0 Liverpool London
Stadium: Highbury
1 February 1986 26 Arsenal 2–1 Luton Town London
Stadium: Highbury
8 March 1986 28 Aston Villa 1–4 Arsenal Birmingham
Stadium: Villa Park
11 March 1986 29 Ipswich Town 1–2 Arsenal Ipswich
Stadium: Portman Road
15 March 1986 30 Arsenal 1–0 West Ham United London
Stadium: Highbury
22 March 1986 31 Arsenal 3–0 Coventry City London
Stadium: Highbury
31 March 1986 33 Arsenal 0–2 Watford London
Stadium: Highbury
1 April 1986 34 Watford 3–0 Arsenal London
Stadium: Vicarage Road
12 April 1986 37 Arsenal 0–1 Everton London
Stadium: Highbury
26 April 1986 39 Arsenal 2–2 West Bromwich Albion London
Stadium: Highbury
Attendance: 14,843
29 April 1986 40 Arsenal 2–0 Chelsea London
Stadium: Highbury
Attendance: 24,025
3 May 1986 41 Birmingham City 0–1 Arsenal Birmingham
Stadium: St Andrew's
Attendance: 6,234
5 May 1986 42 Oxford United 3–0 Arsenal Oxford
Stadium: Manor Ground
Attendance: 13,651

Football League Cup

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25 September 1985 Second round
(1st Leg)
Hereford United 0–0 Arsenal Hereford
Stadium: Edgar Street
8 October 1985 Second round
(2nd Leg)
Arsenal 2–1
(2–1 agg.)
Hereford United London
Stadium: Highbury
30 October 1985 Third round Manchester City 1–2 Arsenal Manchester
Stadium: Maine Road
19 November 1985 Fourth round Arsenal 0–0 Southampton London
Stadium: Highbury
26 November 1985 Fourth round
(replay)
Southampton 1–3 Arsenal Southampton
Stadium: The Dell, Southampton
22 January 1986 Fifth round Aston Villa 1–1 Arsenal Birmingham
Stadium: Villa Park
4 February 1986 Fifth round
(replay)
Arsenal 1–2 Aston Villa London
Stadium: Highbury

[8]

FA Cup

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Arsenal entered the FA Cup in the third round proper, in which they were drawn to face Grimsby Town.

4 January 1986 Third round Grimsby Town 3–4 Arsenal Grimsby
Stadium: Blundel Park
25 January 1986 Fourth round Arsenal 5–1 Rotherham United London
Stadium: Highbury
15 February 1986 Fifth round Luton Town 2–2 Arsenal Luton
Stadium: Kenilworth Road
3 March 1986 Fifth round
(replay)
Arsenal 0–0 Luton Town London
Stadium: Highbury
5 March 1986 Fifth round
(2nd replay)
Luton Town 3–0 Arsenal Luton
Stadium: Kenilworth Road

Top scorers

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First Division

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References

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  1. ^ James, Josh (18 June 2013). "All-time Arsenal". Arsenal F.C. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  2. ^ Ross, James; Heneghan, Michael; Orford, Stuart; Culliton, Eoin (25 August 2016). "English Clubs Divisional Movements 1888–2016". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1986). Arsenal 1886-1986: the official centenary history of Arsenal Football Club. Twickenham: Hamlyn. pp. 250–54. ISBN 9780600358718.
  4. ^ "theguardian". 1 April 2022.
  5. ^ Official Arsenal Handbook.
  6. ^ Tony Atwood. Arsenal History Society: preserving Arsenal's heritage.
  7. ^ 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, involving Liverpool fans.
  8. ^ "Arsenal match record: 1986".
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