1985–86 Liverpool F.C. season explained

Club:	Liverpool F.C.
Season:	1985 - 86
Chairman:	John W Smith
Manager:	Kenny Dalglish
League:	First Division
League Result:	Champions
League Topscorer:	Ian Rush (22)
Season Topscorer:	Ian Rush (31)
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	Winners
Cup2:	League Cup
Cup2 Result:	Semi-finals
Cup3:	Screen Sport Super Cup
Cup3 Result:	Final (Played in 1986-87)
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Prevseason:	1984–85
Nextseason:	1986–87

The 1985–86 season was Liverpool Football Club's 94th season in existence and their 24th consecutive season in the First Division. This was Kenny Dalglish’s first season as manager. At 34 he was player manager, and with several players in their last seasons as players. The change to the new team would take time during the season, but it ended with them winning the double of the League and FA Cup, and reaching the League Cup semi-finals. It was the fifth time that the league and FA Cup double had been achieved in English football.^[1]

As there was a ban on English clubs participating in the European competitions after the Heysel disaster, there was the ScreenSport Super Cup replacing it. As the competition did not end until the 1986-87 season, Liverpool reached the final after getting through the group, and the semi-finals.

Squad

Goalkeepers

• Bob Bolder
• Bruce Grobbelaar
• Chris Pile

Defenders

• Gary Ablett
• Jim Beglin
• Gary Gillespie
• Alan Hansen
• Steve Nicol
• Alan Kennedy
• Mark Lawrenson
• John McGregor
• Phil Neal (joined Bolton in December 1985)

Midfielders

• Craig Johnston
• Sammy Lee
• Kevin MacDonald
• Steve McMahon
• Jan Mølby
• Mark Seagraves
• John Wark
• Ronnie Whelan

Attackers

• Ian Rush
• Kenny Dalglish
• Paul Walsh

Results

First Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
17-Aug-85		H	2–0		38,261	Report	Report
21-Aug-85		A	2–2		20,197	Report	Report
24-Aug-85		A	0–1		29,670	Report	Report
26-Aug-85		H	5–0		29,383	Report	Report
31-Aug-85		A	2–2		19,762	Report	Report
03-Sep-85		H	2–0		27,135	Report	Report
07-Sep-85		H	3–1		31,395	Report	Report
14-Sep-85		A	2–2		11,474	Report	Report
21-Sep-85		A	3–2		51,509	Report	Report
28-Sep-85		H	4–1		41,521	Report	Report
05-Oct-85		A	1–2		24,621	Report	Report
12-Oct-85		H	1–0		31,070	Report	Report
19-Oct-85		A	1–1		54,492	Report	Report
26-Oct-85		H	3–2		31,488	Report	Report
02-Nov-85		H	1–0		31,718	Report	Report
09-Nov-85		A	3–0		16,947	Report	Report
16-Nov-85		H	4–1		28,407	Report	Report
23-Nov-85		A	2–0		15,062	Report	Report
30-Nov-85		H	1–1		38,482	Report	Report
07-Dec-85		H	3–0		29,418	Report	Report
14-Dec-85		A	0–2		35,048	Report	Report
21-Dec-85		H	1–1		30,746	Report	Report
26-Dec-85		A	0–1		35,584	Report	Report
28-Dec-85		A	1–1		27,141	Report	Report
01-Jan-86		H	2–2		38,964	Report	Report
12-Jan-86		A	3–2		16,967	Report	Report
18-Jan-86		H	3–1		41,056	Report	Report
01-Feb-86		A	1–2		20,551	Report	Report
09-Feb-86		H	1–1		35,004	Report	Report
22-Feb-86		H	0–2		45,445	Report	Report
02-Mar-86		A	2–1		16,436	Report	Report
08-Mar-86		H	4–1		26,219	Report	Report
15-Mar-86		A	2–1		19,784	Report	Report
22-Mar-86		H	6–0		37,861	Report	Report
29-Mar-86		A	0–0		37,946	Report	Report
31-Mar-86		H	2–0		43,316	Report	Report
12-Apr-86		H	5–0		42,729	Report	Report
16-Apr-86		A	1–0		15,390	Report	Report
19-Apr-86		A	2–1		22,010	Report	Report
26-Apr-86		H	5–0		42,021	Report	Report
30-Apr-86		A	2–0		25,799	Report	Report
03-May-86		A	1–0		43,900	Report	Report

FA Cup

See main article: 1985–86 FA Cup.

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
04-Jan-86		H	5–0		29,082	Report	Report
26-Jan-86		A	2–1		33,625	Report	Report
15-Feb-86		A	1–1		12,443	Report	Report
18-Feb-86		H	3–1 aet		29,362	Report	Report
11-Mar-86		H	0–0		36,775	Report	Report
17-Mar-86		A	2–1		28,097	Report	Report
05-Apr-86		N	2–0		44,605	Report	Report

Final

See main article: 1986 FA Cup final.

GK 1 Bruce Grobbelaar CB 2 Mark Lawrenson LB 3 Jim Beglin RB 4 Steve Nicol LM 5 Ronnie Whelan CB 6 Alan Hansen (c) SS 7 RM 8 Craig Johnston CF 9 Ian Rush CM 10 Jan Mølby CM 11 Kevin MacDonald Substitute: MF 12 Steve McMahon Player/Manager: Kenny Dalglish

GK 1 Bobby Mimms RB 2 LB 3 CB 4 Kevin Ratcliffe (c) CB 5 CM 6 Peter Reid CM 7 Trevor Steven CF 8 Gary Lineker CF 9 Graeme Sharp RM 10 Paul Bracewell LM 11 Kevin Sheedy Substitute: MF 12 Manager: Howard Kendall

League Cup

See main article: 1985–86 Football League Cup.

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
24-Sep-85		H	3–0		16,150	Report	Report
09-Oct-85		A	5–2		7,719	Report	Report
29-Oct-85		H	4–0		15,291	Report	Report
26-Nov-85		H	2–1		41,291	Report	Report
21-Jan-86		H	3–0		19,762	Report	Report
12-Feb-86		A	0–1		15,051	Report	Report
05-Mar-86		H	2–2		23,863	Report	Report

Super Cup

See main article: Football League Super Cup.

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Report 1	Report 2
17-Sep-85		H	2–1		16,189	Report	Report
22-Oct-85		A	1–1		10,503	Report	Report
03-Dec-85		H	2–0		14,855	Report	Report
14-Jan-86		A	3–0		10,078	Report	Report
05-Feb-86		A	1–1		15,330	Report	Report
06-May-86		H	3–1		26,696	Report	Report

References

• LFC History.net – Games for the 1985–86 season
• Liverweb - Games for the 1985–86 season

Notes and References

1. Web site: Shrivathsa . Sridhar . England's league and FA Cup double winners - Factbox . Reuters . 18 May 2019 . 8 August 2020.