1985–86 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
1985–86 season
Chairman	Doug Ellis
Manager	Graham Turner
Stadium	Villa Park
First Division	16th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Semi-finals

The 1985–86 English football season was Aston Villa's 87th season in the Football League. Villa competed in the Football League First Division.

There were debuts for Simon Stainrod (63), Paul Elliott CBE (57) and Steve Hodge (53).^[1]

10 July 1985 – Everton sell striker Andy Gray to Aston Villa for £150,000, six years after he first left Villa Park to sign for Wolves. The departure of Gray from Goodison Park comes despite calls from fans for manager Howard Kendall to retain the striker who played a crucial role in Everton winning three major trophies in his two seasons at the club.^[2]

29 November 1985 – Manchester United sign Aston Villa midfielder Colin Gibson for £275,000.^[3]

26 March 1986 – The return leg of the under-21 European Championship quarter-final sees England reach the next stage by drawing 1–1 with Denmark at Maine Road, with Aston Villa defender Paul Elliott equalising after the Danes took a 1–0 lead in the first half.^[4]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
14	Southampton	42	12	10	20	51	62	−11	46
15	Manchester City	42	11	12	19	43	57	−14	45
16	Aston Villa	42	10	14	18	51	67	−16	44
17	Coventry City	42	11	10	21	48	71	−23	43
18	Oxford United^[a]	42	10	12	20	62	80	−18	42	Disqualified from the UEFA Cup^[5]

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
Notes:

^ Oxford United would have qualified as League Cup winners.

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Note	Scorers
17 August 1985	Manchester United	A	0–4	The Football League season begins. FA Cup holders Manchester United beat Aston Villa 4–0 at Old Trafford.^[6] The season begins without any live coverage of matches on TV for an indefinite period after the collapse of talks between ITV and the Football League to show live matches this season.^[7]	—
21 August 1985	Liverpool	H	2–2	—	Gary Shaw, Mark Walters ^[8]
24 August 1985	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–2	—	Mark Walters
27 August 1985	Southampton	A	0–0	—	—
31 August 1985	Luton Town	H	3–1	—	Mark Walters, Steve Hodge, David Norton
4 September 1985	West Bromwich Albion	A	3–0	Midweek clashes in the First Division see a 3–0 away win for Villa over local rivals West Bromwich Albion.^[9]	Allan Evans (pen), Tony Daley, Mark Walters
7 September 1985	Birmingham City	A	0–0	—	—
14 September 1985	Coventry City	H	1–1	—	Steve Hodge
21 September 1985	Ipswich Town	A	3–0	—	Mark Walters, Steve Hodge, Paul Birch
28 September 1985	Everton	H	0–0	—	— ^[10]
5 October 1985	Arsenal	A	2–3	—	Simon Stainrod, Mark Walters
12 October 1985	Nottingham Forest	H	1–2	—	Colin Gibson
19 October 1985	West Ham United	A	1–4	The First Division scene produces a string of thrilling matches. West Ham's climb up the table continues with a 4–1 home win over Villa. West Bromwich Albion finally win a league game at the 13th attempt by beating their local rivals Birmingham City 2–1 at The Hawthorns.^[11]	Simon Stainrod
26 October 1985	Newcastle United	H	1–2	—	Andy Gray
2 November 1985	Oxford United	H	2–0	—	Allan Evans (pen), Simon Stainrod
9 November 1985	Watford	A	1–1	—	Andy Gray
16 November 1985	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–1	—	Colin Gibson
23 November 1985	Chelsea	A	1–2	—	Andy Gray
30 Nov 1985	Spurs	H	1–2	—	Mark Walters 88'
7 Dec 1985	Liverpool	A	0–3	Kenny Dalglish's team beat Aston Villa 3–0 at Anfield.^[12]	—
14 Dec 1985	Manchester United	H	1–3	Manchester United move five points ahead at the top of the First Division with a 3–1 win at struggling Aston Villa, who are in danger of relegation four seasons after winning the European Cup and five years after being league champions.^[13]	Steve Hodge 29'
17 Dec 1985	QPR	A	1–0	—	Paul Birch 5'
26 Dec 1985	Leicester City	A	1–3	—	Mark Walters 32'
28 Dec 1985	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–1	A local derby at Villa Park sees Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion draw 1–1.^[14]	Paul Kerr 43'
1 Jan 1986	Manchester City	H	0–1	—	—
11 Jan 1986	Coventry City	A	3–3	—	Simon Stainrod 2', Andy Gray 61', Paul Elliott 79'
18 Jan 1986	Luton Town	A	0–2	—	—
1 Feb 1986	Southampton	H	0–0	—	—
1 Mar 1986	Everton	A	0–2	Aston Villa have slipped into the relegation zone alongside West Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City.^[15] Everton strengthen their hold on the top position in the First Division by beating Aston Villa 2–0 at home.^[16]	—
8 Mar 1986	Arsenal	H	1–4	On the league scene, Aston Villa remain in the relegation zone after losing 4–1 at home to Arsenal.^[17]	Mark Walters 49'
15 Mar 1986	Forest	A	1–1	—	Mark Walte
19 March 1986	West Ham United	H	2–1	—	Steve Hodge (2)
22 March 1986	Birmingham City	H	0–3	A relegation crunch clash at Villa Park sees Birmingham City boost their own survival hopes and dent those of their local rivals Villa.^[18]	—
29 March 1986	Manchester City	A	2–2	—	Steve Hodge, Simon Stainrod
31 March 1986	Leicester City	H	1–0	—	Simon Stainrod
5 April 1986	Oxford United	A	1–1	—	Simon Stainrod
9 April 1986	Newcastle United	A	2–2	—	Tony Daley, Steve Hunt
12 April 1986	Watford	H	4–1	Aston Villa climb out of the bottom three with a 4–1 home win over Watford.^[19]	Tony Dorigo, Allan Evans (pen), Andy Gray, Simon Stainrod
16 April 1986	Ipswich Town	H	1–0	In a scrap to stay clear of the relegation zone at Villa Park, Aston Villa beat Ipswich Town 1–0. Birmingham City lose 2–0 at Tottenham and now need to win all three of their remaining games to stand any chance of avoiding relegation.^[20]	Steve Hodge
19 April 1986	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0–2	^[8]	—
26 April 1986	Chelsea	H	3–1	^[8]	David Norton, Steve Hunt, Simon Stainrod
3 May 1986	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–4	Wolverhampton Wanderers become the third West Midlands club to be relegated this season, and become only the second English league club ever to suffer three successive relegations, after their descent into the Fourth Division is confirmed. Liverpool defender Gary Gillespie scores a hat-trick in a 5–0 league win over relegated Birmingham City at Anfield.^[21] Chelsea's title challenge is over after they lose 3–1 at Aston Villa, whose victory takes them closer to survival. The First Division relegation battle takes a dramatic turn when Ipswich Town climb three places clear of the drop zone with a 3–2 win over Oxford United, who are still in the bottom three.^[22]	Simon Stainrod, Paul Elliott

Source: avfchistory.co.uk

FA Cup

29 January 1986 – The FA Cup fourth round replays sees Millwall beat Aston Villa 1–0.^[23]

League Cup

8 October 1985 – A Football League Cup second round second leg scoring spree at Villa Park sees Aston Villa beat Exeter City 8–1 to make the aggregate score 12–2 over two legs.^[24]

26 November 1985 – League Cup fourth round action sees Aston Villa win 2–1 away to local rivals West Bromwich Albion.^[25]

12 February 1986 – The first legs of the League Cup semi-finals are played. Aston Villa draw 2–2 at home with Oxford United while Liverpool suffers a surprise 1–0 defeat at QPR.^[26]

12 March 1986 – Oxford United reach the League Cup final for the first time after beating Aston Villa 4–3 on aggregate.^[27]

References

^ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.
^ "Score Draw | Andy Gray".
^ "Colin GIBSON - Football League appearances. - Leicester City FC".
^ England – U-21 International Results 1986–1995 – Details Archived 25 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Rsssf.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-23.
^ 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.
^ "1985-08-17".
^ "Remember the 1985 TV blackout? Only the Big Yin knew who McAvennie was". Independent.co.uk. 22 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c AVFC History – 1985–86 League Matches
^ "1985-09-04".
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3900
^ "1985-10-19".
^ "1985-12-07".
^ "Liverpool loses ground in soccer chase". Montreal Gazette. The Canadian Press. 16 December 1985.
^ "1985-12-28".
^ Manchester United FC News – United Mad. Manchesterunited-mad.co.uk (1986-02-22). Retrieved on 2011-03-23.
^ "1986-03-01".
^ "1986-03-08".
^ "1986-03-22".
^ "1986-04-12".
^ "1986-04-16".
^ Ex-Red: Gary Gillespie – This Is Anfield (Liverpool FC) Archived 2011-05-29 at the Wayback Machine. Thisisanfield.com (1986-04-26). Retrieved on 2011-03-23.
^ "1986-04-26".
^ "1986-01-29".
^ "1985-10-09".
^ "1985-11-26".
^ "1986-02-12".
^ Football Betting | Place Your Football Bet Today | Soccer Base

[table_note_OXF0.69358634282536-6] Oxford United would have qualified as League Cup winners.

[1] "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.

[2] "Score Draw | Andy Gray".

[3] "Colin GIBSON - Football League appearances. - Leicester City FC".

[rsssf1-4] England – U-21 International Results 1986–1995 – Details Archived 25 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Rsssf.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-23.

[5] 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.

[7] "1985-08-17".

[independent_1985_blackout-8] "Remember the 1985 TV blackout? Only the Big Yin knew who McAvennie was". Independent.co.uk. 22 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.

[avfc1986-9] AVFC History – 1985–86 League Matches

[10] "1985-09-04".

[11] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3900

[12] "1985-10-19".

[13] "1985-12-07".

[14] "Liverpool loses ground in soccer chase". Montreal Gazette. The Canadian Press. 16 December 1985.

[15] "1985-12-28".

[16] Manchester United FC News – United Mad. Manchesterunited-mad.co.uk (1986-02-22). Retrieved on 2011-03-23.

[17] "1986-03-01".

[18] "1986-03-08".

[19] "1986-03-22".

[20] "1986-04-12".

[21] "1986-04-16".

[22] Ex-Red: Gary Gillespie – This Is Anfield (Liverpool FC) Archived 2011-05-29 at the Wayback Machine. Thisisanfield.com (1986-04-26). Retrieved on 2011-03-23.

[23] "1986-04-26".

[24] "1986-01-29".

[25] "1985-10-09".

[26] "1985-11-26".

[27] "1986-02-12".

[soccerbase1-28] Football Betting | Place Your Football Bet Today | Soccer Base

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Aston Villa F.C. seasons
1870s	1870–71 1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80
1880s	1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
1890s	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900
1900s	1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10
1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

League table

Matches

FA Cup

League Cup

See also

References