1986–87 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.

As of this season, there were no more re-election procedures, but instead, the club finishing last in the Fourth Division was demoted to Conference. The first casualty of this new practice were Lincoln City.

First Division

9th English title Manchester City Aston Villa (33 goals) (20 September 1986) Sheffield Wednesday 7–1 Queens Park Rangers (2 May 1987) (20 September 1986) Southampton 0–4 Arsenal (15 November 1986) Aston Villa 0–4 Arsenal (29 November 1986) Chelsea 0–4 Wimbledon (6 December 1986) Newcastle United 0–4 Everton (26 December 1986) (20 September 1986) West Ham United 5–3 Chelsea (11 October 1986) Liverpool 6–2 Norwich City (1 November 1986) Sheffield Wednesday 7–1 Queens Park Rangers (2 May 1987) Everton Arsenal Newcastle United The First Division championship went to Everton in their final season under the management of Howard Kendall before his departure to Athletic Bilbao. This remains Everton's last league title. His side overcame a spate of injuries to fight off competition from runners-up Liverpool and third-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Fourth place went to George Graham's emerging young Arsenal side who also won the League Cup in his first season in charge. Fifth place went to newly-promoted Norwich City, whose manager Ken Brown built a strong squad on a limited budget to achieve a finish which would have been enough to qualify for the UEFA Cup had it not been for the ongoing ban on English clubs in European competitions.

Wimbledon finished sixth in the First Division in only their tenth season as a Football League club. Dave Bassett's men had led the league for the first two weeks of September, but sixth place was still much higher than most pundits had predicted at the start of the season. Luton Town enjoyed their highest league position by finishing seventh.

Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson had been under pressure for months, after his side had finished fourth in the league in 1985–86, 12 points behind the champions, Liverpool. The Manchester United board had initially decided to stick with Atkinson as manager for the 1986–87 season, but finally sacked him in November with Manchester United fourth from bottom in the league and having suffered a League Cup exit to Southampton. Aberdeen manager Alex Ferguson took over, and results began to improve despite no immediate new signings being made, with Manchester United finally finishing 11th.

West Ham United, who had come close to winning the title the previous season, slipped to 15th place in 1986–87.

Aston Villa were relegated to the Second Division just five years after they won the European Cup. Chairman Doug Ellis had sensed from the start that 1986-87 would be a tough season for the club, so he axed manager Graham Turner in September and replaced him with Manchester City's Billy McNeill. But McNeill was unable to stop the rot and Villa went down in bottom place. McNeill was subsequently sacked and replaced by Watford's Graham Taylor.

Villa were joined on the way down by Manchester City and Leicester City. In the first season of the relegation/promotion play-offs, Charlton Athletic beat Second Division Leeds United to retain their top flight status.

No European qualification took place due to UEFA voting to ban English clubs from European competitions for a third season following the Heysel disaster in 1985.

Final table

First Division results

Managerial changes

First Division maps

Arsenal Charlton Athletic Chelsea Tottenham Queens Park Rangers Watford West Ham Wimbledon

Arsenal Aston Villa Charlton Chelsea Coventry Everton Leicester City Liverpool Luton Town Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle Norwich City Nottingham Forest Oxford QPR Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Tottenham Watford West Ham Wimbledon

Second Division

Portsmouth Grimsby Town Brighton & Hove Albion (22 goals)

There were just two guaranteed promotion places in the Second Division this season due to the introduction of the playoffs and the phased reorganization of the league. Derby County finished top of the Second Division to clinch a second successive promotion and reclaim the First Division place they had last held in 1980. Portsmouth, absent from the First Division for nearly 30 years and who had missed promotion by a single place in the previous two seasons, finally achieved promotion by finishing second. Oldham Athletic and Ipswich Town failed to progress beyond the semi-finals of the new playoffs, leaving Leeds United to take on Charlton Athletic in a two-legged contest for a First Division place. Charlton won the replay to keep their First Division status and condemn Leeds to a sixth successive season in the Second Division.

Financially troubled Grimsby Town were relegated, along with Brighton & Hove Albion. Sunderland's second relegation in three seasons condemned them to Third Division football for the first time in their history as they went down after losing in the playoffs.

Second Division play-offs

1st leg –23 May; 2nd leg –25 May 1987 | score-width=30px | team-width=200px | RD1-seed1=19th | RD1-team1=Charlton Athletic (Div 1) | RD1-score1-1=0 | RD1-score1-2=2 | RD1-score1-3=2 | RD1-seed2=5th | RD1-team2=Ipswich Town | RD1-score2-1=0 | RD1-score2-2=1 | RD1-score2-3=1 | RD1-seed3=3rd | RD1-team3=Oldham Athletic | RD1-score3-1=0 | RD1-score3-2=2 | RD1-score3-3=2 | RD1-seed4=4th | RD1-team4=**Leeds United ** Leeds United won on away goals. | RD1-score4-1=1 | RD1-score4-2=1 | RD1-score4-3=2 | RD2-seed1=19th | RD2-team1=Charlton Athletic (Div 1) | RD2-score1-1=1 | RD2-score1-2=0 | RD2-score1-3=1 | RD2-seed2=4th | RD2-team2=Leeds United | RD2-score2-1=0 | RD2-score2-2=1 | RD2-score2-3=1

;Replay

• Charlton Athletic remained in the First Division and Leeds United in the Second Division.

Second Division results

|match_BAR_B&HA=3–1

|match_BIR_B&HA=2–0

|match_BLB_B&HA=1–1

|match_BRA_B&HA=2–0

|name_B&HA=Brighton & Hove Albion |match_B&HA_BAR=1–1 |match_B&HA_BIR=2–0 |match_B&HA_BLB=0–2 |match_B&HA_BRA=2–2 |match_B&HA_CRY=2–0 |match_B&HA_DER=0–1 |match_B&HA_GRI=0–1 |match_B&HA_HUD=1–1 |match_B&HA_HUL=2–1 |match_B&HA_IPS=1–2 |match_B&HA_LEE=0–1 |match_B&HA_MIL=0–1 |match_B&HA_OLD=1–2 |match_B&HA_PLY=1–1 |match_B&HA_POR=0–0 |match_B&HA_REA=1–1 |match_B&HA_SHU=2–0 |match_B&HA_SHR=3–0 |match_B&HA_STK=1–0 |match_B&HA_SUN=0–3 |match_B&HA_WBA=2–0

|match_CRY_B&HA=2–0

|match_DER_B&HA=4–1

|match_GRI_B&HA=1–2

|match_HUD_B&HA=2–1

|match_HUL_B&HA=1–0

|match_IPS_B&HA=1–0

|match_LEE_B&HA=3–1

|match_MIL_B&HA=3–1

|match_OLD_B&HA=1–1

|match_PLY_B&HA=2–2

|match_POR_B&HA=1–0

|match_REA_B&HA=2–1

|match_SHU_B&HA=0–1

|match_SHR_B&HA=1–0

|match_STK_B&HA=1–1

|match_SUN_B&HA=1–1

|match_WBA_B&HA=0–0

Second Division maps

Crystal Palace Millwall

Barnsley Birmingham Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Blackburn Rovers Crystal Palace Derby County Grimsby Town Huddersfield Hull Ipswich Town Leeds U. Millwall Oldham Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth Reading Sheffield United Shrewsbury Stoke Sunderland West Bromwich Albion

[[Football League Third Division|Third Division]]

The three promotion places in this division were gained by three clubs who were among the least fancied promotion contenders at the start of the season. Champions Bournemouth were promoted to the Second Division for the first time in their history thanks to the efforts of hard working manager Harry Redknapp. Runners-up spot went to Bruce Rioch's Middlesbrough, who had begun the season on the verge of extinction and had been forced to play their first home game of the season at Hartlepool's ground because the official receiver had locked them out of Ayresome Park.

The relegation/promotion play-offs between the Third and Fourth Divisions saw Bolton Wanderers go down to the bottom division for the first time. Newport County, Darlington and Carlisle United went down automatically. The Fourth Division would be familiar territory for Newport and Darlington, but Carlisle had not played in the Fourth Division for nearly a quarter of a century and just three years earlier had been in the race for a First Division place. Defeat in the playoffs meant that Bolton Wanderers would be playing Fourth Division football for the first time in their history.

Swindon Town Carlisle United Darlington Newport County

Third Division play-offs

Main article: Football League One play-offs#1987

Both the semifinals and the finals were decided over two legs. The full results can be found at: Football League Division Three play-offs 1987.

1st leg –22 May; 2nd leg –25 May 1987 | score-width=30px | team-width=200px | RD1-seed1=20th | RD1-team1=Sunderland (Div 2) | RD1-score1-1=2 | RD1-score1-2=4 | RD1-score1-3=6 | RD1-seed2=5th | RD1-team2=Gillingham After the second leg and an extra time the aggregate was 6–6, but Gillingham had scored 3 times at Sunderland, versus Sunderland 2 times at Gillingham, and thus Gillingham progressed to finals on away goals. | RD1-score2-1=3 | RD1-score2-2=3 | RD1-score2-3=6 | RD1-seed3=3rd | RD1-team3=Swindon Town | RD1-score3-1=3 | RD1-score3-2=0 | RD1-score3-3=3 | RD1-seed4=4th | RD1-team4=Wigan Athletic | RD1-score4-1=2 | RD1-score4-2=0 | RD1-score4-3=2 | RD2-seed1=3rd | RD2-team1=Swindon Town Swindon won the replay 2–0, and were thus promoted to Division 2. | RD2-score1-1=0 | RD2-score1-2=2 | RD2-score1-3=2 | RD2-seed2=5th | RD2-team2=Gillingham | RD2-score2-1=1 | RD2-score2-2=1 | RD2-score2-3=2

;Replay

Third Division results

Third Division maps

Brentford Fulham

Blackpool Bolton Bournemouth Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Bury Carlisle United Chester Chesterfield Darlington Doncaster Fulham Gillingham Mansfield Town Middlesbrough Newport County Notts County Port Vale Rotherham Swindon Walsall Wigan Athletic York City

[[Football League Fourth Division|Fourth Division]]

The stars of the Fourth Division during 1986-87 were Graham Carr's runaway champions Northampton Town, with young midfielder Eddie McGoldrick being the key player in his side's season of success. Northampton were confirmed as promoted with nine matches (19.6% of all matches) remaining, the earliest promotion in Football League history to date.

Also automatically promoted were Preston North End and Southend United. The fourth promotion place went to Aldershot by winning the promotion/relegation playoffs.

Down at the bottom end of the division, an injury time winner for Torquay United kept them in the Football League after a police dog had bitten one of their players. The introduction of automatic relegation to the Conference saw Lincoln City lose their league status in favour of Conference champions Scarborough.

Burnley – league champions 27 years earlier – plummeted to new depths. They finished third from bottom in the league and only a win on the last day of the season prevented them from going down to the Conference.

Preston North End Southend United

[[EFL League Two|Fourth Division play-offs]]

Main article: Football League Two play-offs#1987

Both the semifinals and the finals were decided over two legs, and only the aggregates are given in the schemata below. The full results can be found at: Football League Division Four play-offs 1987.

1st leg –23 May; 2nd leg –25 May 1987 | score-width=30px | team-width=200px | RD1-seed1=21st | RD1-team1=Bolton Wanderers (Div 3) | RD1-score1-1=0 | RD1-score1-2=2 | RD1-score1-3=2 | RD1-seed2=6th | RD1-team2=Aldershot | RD1-score2-1=1 | RD1-score2-2=2 | RD1-score2-3=3 | RD1-seed3=4th | RD1-team3=Wolverhampton Wanderers | RD1-score3-1=2 | RD1-score3-2=0 | RD1-score3-3=2 | RD1-seed4=5th | RD1-team4=Colchester United | RD1-score4-1=0 | RD1-score4-2=0 | RD1-score4-3=0 | RD2-seed1=6th | RD2-team1=Aldershot | RD2-score1-1=2 | RD2-score1-2=1 | RD2-score1-3=3 | RD2-seed2=4th | RD2-team2= Wolverhampton Wanderers | RD2-score2-1=0 | RD2-score2-2=0 | RD2-score2-3=0

Fourth Division results

Fourth Division maps

Aldershot Burnley Cambridge Utd Cardiff City Colchester Crewe Alexandra Exeter City Halifax Town Hartlepool Hereford United Orient Lincoln City Northampton Town Peterborough Preston North End Rochdale Scunthorpe United Southend Stockport Swansea City Torquay Tranmere Wolverhampton Wanderers Wrexham

Attendances

Source:

Division One

Division Two

Division Three

Division Four

References

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

References

1. "England 1986–87".
2. "English League Leading Goalscorers".
3. "League Division Three end of season table for 1986–87 season". AFS Enterprises.
4. (29 May 2024). "The Knowledge: Is Bayer Leverkusen's 40-point increase between seasons a record?".
5. https://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/archive/eng/aveeng1987.htm