1985–86 Watford F.C. season

Watford 1985–86 football season

Watford
1985–86 season
Chairman	Elton John
Manager	Graham Taylor
Stadium	Vicarage Road
First Division	12th
FA Cup	Sixth round (eliminated by Liverpool)
League Cup	Third round (eliminated by Queens Park Rangers)
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

The 1985–86 season was Watford's 105th season in existence, and their fourth season in the First Division, following promotion in the 1981–82 season, in which they finished 12th. Along with the First Division, they competed in the FA Cup and Football League Cup, being eliminated in the sixth and third rounds respectively.

Competitions

First Division

Main article: 1985–86 Football League First Division

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
10	Tottenham Hotspur	42	19	8	15	74	52	+22	65
11	Newcastle United	42	17	12	13	67	72	−5	63
12	Watford	42	16	11	15	69	62	+7	59
13	Queens Park Rangers	42	15	7	20	53	64	−11	52
14	Southampton	42	12	10	20	51	62	−11	46

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

Matches

First Division match results
Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
17 August 1985	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–4		29,884
20 August 1985	Birmingham City	H	3–0	West, Bames (2)	14,278
24 August 1985	West Bromwich Albion	H	5–1	West (3), Terry, Talbot	14,541
26 August 1985	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–2	Blissett	21,962
31 August 1985	Coventry City	H	3–0	Rostron, West, Smillie	13,835
4 September 1985	Leicester City	A	2–2	Rostron (2)	9,672
7 September 1985	Liverpool	A	1–3	West	31,395
14 September 1985	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–0	Blissett, Callaghan	15,771
21 September 1985	Nottingham Forest	A	2–3	Callaghan, Rostron	12,921
28 September 1985	Chelsea	H	3–1	Barnes, Blissett, Terry	16,035
5 October 1985	Southampton	A	1–3	Talbot	14,172
12 October 1985	Manchester City	H	3–2	Blissett, Callaghan, Barnes	15,418
19 October 1985	Everton	A	1–4	Jackett (pen.)	26,425
26 October 1985	Oxford United	H	2–2	Rostron, Callaghan	16,126
2 November 1985	Newcastle United	A	1–1	West	20,649
9 November 1985	Aston Villa	H	1–1	Talbot	14,085
16 November 1985	West Ham United	A	1–2	Sterling	21,490
23 November 1985	Luton Town	H	1–2	Talbot	16,107
30 November 1985	Manchester United	A	1–1	West	42,181
7 December 1985	Birmingham City	A	2–1	Blissett, Sterling	7,043
14 December 1985	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–0	Blissett	16,327
22 December 1985	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–3	Sterling	11,092
28 December 1985	Leicester City	H	2–1	West (2)	14,709
1 January 1986	Ipswich Town	A	0–0		15,922
12 January 1986	Liverpool	H	2–3	Jackett, Lohman	16,697
18 January 1986	Coventry City	A	2–0	Barnes (2)	7,499
1 February 1986	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–1	West, Bames	13,144
15 March 1986	Manchester City	A	1–0	Terry	18,899
22 March 1986	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–2	Terry	14,069
29 March 1986	Ipswich Town	H	0–0		14,988
31 March 1986	Arsenal	A	2–0	Bames, Allen	19,599
1 April 1986	Arsenal	H	3–0	Smillie, Jackett (pen.), Allen	18,635
5 April 1986	Newcastle United	H	4–1	Talbot, Porter, Gibbs, Smillie	14,706
9 April 1986	Oxford United	A	1–1	McClelland	10,680
12 April 1986	Aston Villa	A	1–4	Sinnott	12,781
15 April 1986	Everton	H	0–2		18,960
19 April 1986	West Ham United	H	0–2		16,651
21 April 1986	Nottingham Forest	H	1–1	Bames	11,510
26 April 1986	Luton Town	A	2–3	Jackett (pen.), Sinnott	11,810
29 April 1986	Southampton	H	1–1	West	11,868
3 May 1986	Manchester United	H	1–1	Blissett	18,414
5 May 1986	Chelsea	A	5–1	Talbot (2), Bardsley (2), West	12,017

FA Cup

FA Cup match results
Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
Third round	4 January 1986	Coventry City	A	3–1	West (2), Jackett	10,498
Fourth round	25 January 1986	Manchester City	A	1–1	Jackett	31,632
Fourth round replay	3 February 1986	Manchester City	H	0–0		19,347
Fourth round, second replay	6 February 1986	Manchester City	A	3–1	Smillie, Barnes, Sterling	27,260
Fifth round	5 March 1986	Bury	H	1–1	Barnes	13,316
Fifth round replay	8 March 1986	Bury	A	3–0	Callaghan, West, Sterling	7,501
Sixth round	11 March 1986	Liverpool	A	0–0		36,775
Sixth round replay	17 March 1986	Liverpool	H	1–2	Barnes	28,097

League Cup

League Cup match results
Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
Second round, first leg	24 September 1985	Crewe Alexandra	A	3–1	Rostron, Blissett, Jackett	4,265
Second round, second leg	7 October 1985	Crewe Alexandra	H	3–2	Terry, Callaghan, Barnes	11,583
Third round	30 October 1985	Queens Park Rangers	H	0–1		16,826

References

"Watford Manager History | Past & Present | Soccer Base".
Dunk, Peter, ed. (1986). Rothman's Football Yearbook: 1986–87. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 374. ISBN 978-0-356-12333-2.
Dunk, Peter, ed. (1986). Rothman's Football Yearbook: 1986–87. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 472–477. ISBN 978-0-356-12333-2.
Dunk, Peter, ed. (1986). Rothman's Football Yearbook: 1986–87. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 440–445. ISBN 978-0-356-12333-2.

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

Watford F.C. seasons

1898–99
1899–1900
1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
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1913–14
1914–15
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1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
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1921–22
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1924–25
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1926–27
1927–28
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1930–31
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1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
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1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
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1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
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1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
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1961–62
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1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22
2022–23
2023–24
2024–25

1985–86 in English football

« 1984–85 1986–87 »

National teams

Bobby Robson
Rous Cup
1986 FIFA World Cup (qualification – Group 3)

League competitions

Levels 1–4	Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division, Fourth Division)
Level 5	Alliance Premier League
Levels 6–7	Isthmian League (Premier, One) Northern Premier League (level 6 only) Southern League (Premier, Midland, Southern)
Levels 8–9	Isthmian League (Two North, Two South) Combined Counties League (level 8 only) Eastern Counties League (level 8 only) Essex Senior League (level 8 only) Hellenic League (Premier, One) Kent League (level 8 only) London Spartan League (Premier, Senior) Midland Football Combination (level 8 only) North West Counties League (One, Two) Northern Counties East League (Premier, One) Northern League (One, Two) South Midlands League (Premier, One) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (Premier, One) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 8 only) Western League (Premier, One)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) Charity Shield FA Trophy (Final)
Football League cups	League Cup (Final) Full Members' Cup (Final) Super Cup Associate Members' Cup (Final)

Club seasons
First Division	Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Chelsea Coventry City Everton Ipswich Town Leicester City Liverpool Luton Town Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Oxford United Queens Park Rangers Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Tottenham Hotspur Watford West Bromwich Albion West Ham United
Second Division	Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Carlisle United Charlton Athletic Crystal Palace Fulham Grimsby Town Huddersfield Town Hull City Leeds United Middlesbrough Millwall Norwich City Oldham Athletic Portsmouth Sheffield United Shrewsbury Town Stoke City Sunderland Wimbledon
Third Division	Blackpool Bolton Wanderers Bournemouth Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Bury Cardiff City Chesterfield Darlington Derby County Doncaster Rovers Gillingham Lincoln City Newport County Notts County Plymouth Argyle Reading Rotherham United Swansea City Walsall Wigan Athletic Wolverhampton Wanderers York City
Fourth Division	Aldershot Burnley Cambridge United Chester City Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Exeter City Halifax Town Hartlepool United Hereford United Mansfield Town Northampton Town Orient Peterborough United Port Vale Preston North End Rochdale Scunthorpe United Southend United Southport Stockport County Swindon Town Torquay United Tranmere Rovers Wrexham

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