1985–86 Newport County A.F.C. season explained

Season:	1985–86
Manager:	Bobby Smith (until 25 March 1986) John Relish (from 25 March 1986)
Chairman:	Archie Menzies
League Result:	19th
Cup1 Result:	3rd round
Cup2 Result:	1st round
Cup3 Result:	4th round
League Topscorer:	Staniforth (9)
Season Topscorer:	Mardenborough (11)
Highest Attendance:	6,449 vs Reading (12 October 1985)
Lowest Attendance:	1,508 vs Brentford (11 March 1986)
Average Attendance:	2,536
Nextseason:	1986–87
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The 1985–86 season was Newport County's sixth consecutive season in the Third Division and their 58th season overall in the Football League.

Season review

Results summary

Note: Three points for a win

Results by round

Fixtures and results

Third Division

Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
17 Aug 1985	Doncaster Rovers	H	2–2	Boyle, Carter	2,375
24 Aug 1985	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–1	Miles 2	6,073
26 Aug 1985	Cardiff City	H	1–2	Carter	5,027
31 Aug 1985	Bournemouth	A	1–0	Carter	3,381
7 Sep 1985	Bristol Rovers	H	3–0	James, Staniforth, Dowman	2,775
14 Sep 1985	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–2		3,686
17 Sep 1985	Swansea City	A	1–1	Boyle	5,534
21 Sep 1985	Bolton Wanderers	H	0–1		2,212
28 Sep 1985	Walsall	A	0–2		4,586
1 Oct 1985	Bristol City	H	1–1	Lewis	3,776
5 Oct 1985	Lincoln City	A	1–1	Staniforth	1,989
12 Oct 1985	Reading	H	0–2		6,449
19 Oct 1985	Brentford	A	0–0		3,646
22 Oct 1985	Rotherham United	H	0–0		1,817
26 Oct 1985	Wigan Athletic	A	0–0		3,719
2 Nov 1985	Gillingham	H	1–1	P.Jones	1,970
6 Nov 1985	York City	H	1–1	OG	1,529
9 Nov 1985	Chesterfield	A	1–3	Gill	2,420
23 Nov 1985	Notts County	H	1–2	Carter	1,946
14 Dec 1985	Blackpool	H	1–1	Berry	1,991
21 Dec 1985	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	3–1	Mardernborough 2, Boyle	2,222
26 Dec 1985	Bury	A	1–1	Mardenborough	3,013
28 Dec 1985	Cardiff City	A	1–1	Staniforth	7,450
11 Jan 1986	Bournemouth	H	2–1	Boyle, Staniforth	2,333
18 Jan 1986	Doncaster Rovers	A	1–1	Relish	2,336
25 Jan 1986	Plymouth Argyle	H	3–1	Staniforth, Berry, OG	3,007
1 Feb 1986	Bristol Rovers	A	0–2		3,284
4 Feb 1986	Rotherham United	A	0–0		2,975
16 Feb 1986	Swansea City	H	2–0	Relish, Mayes	2,805
22 Feb 1986	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–4		4,063
28 Feb 1986	Walsall	H	1–5	Boyle	1,530
4 Mar 1986	Bristol City	A	1–3	Mardenborough	4,395
8 Mar 1986	Lincoln City	H	1–2	James	1,540
11 Mar 1986	Brentford	H	1–2	Berry	1,508
15 Mar 1986	Reading	A	0–2		4,783
18 Mar 1986	Darlington	A	2–3	Carter, Latchford	2,508
22 Mar 1986	Wigan Athletic	H	3–4	Latchford 2, Mardenborough	1,700
29 Mar 1986	Derby County	A	1–1	Carter	11,251
31 Mar 1986	Bury	H	1–0	Staniforth	1,983
5 Apr 1986	York City	A	1–3	Lewis	3,038
12 Apr 1986	Chesterfield	H	3–3	Carter, Latchford, Staniforth	1,940
19 Apr 1986	Notts County	A	2–1	Staniforth, Mardenborough	3,279
22 Apr 1986	Derby County	H	1–1	Boyle	3,049
26 Apr 1986	Darlington	H	3–0	Mardenborough, Latchford, Staniforth	2,848
29 Apr 1986	Gillingham	A	1–0	L.Jones	2,566
3 May 1986	Blackpool	A	0–0		3,407

FA Cup

See main article: 1985–86 FA Cup.

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
1	16 Nov 1985	Southend United	A	1–0	Mardenborough	3,343
2	7 Dec 1985	Torquay United	H	1–1	Berry	2,386
2r	10 Dec 1985	Torquay United	A	3–2 a.e.t.	P.Jones, Boyle, James	1,937
3	4 Jan 1986	Sunderland	A	0–2		12,352

Football League Cup

See main article: 1985–86 Football League Cup.

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Notes
1–1	20 Aug 1985	Bristol Rovers	A	0–2		2,777
1–2	3 Sep 1985	Bristol Rovers	H	1–0	Reck	2,012	1–2 agg

Welsh Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance
3	26 Nov 1985	Ton Pentre	A	4–2	Mardenborough 2, L.Jones, OG	1,200
4	14 Jan 1986	Kidderminster Harriers	H	3–3	Gill 2, L.Jones	1,138
4r	3 Feb 1986	Kidderminster Harriers	A	1–2	Gill	1,008

League table

width=20	Pos	width=220	Team	width=20	Pld	width=20	W	width=20	D	width=20	L	width=20	F	width=20	A	width=20	GD	width=30	Pts
1	Reading	46	29	7	10	67	51	+16	94
2	Plymouth Argyle	46	26	9	11	88	53	+35	87
3	Derby County	46	23	15	8	80	41	+39	84
4	Wigan Athletic	46	23	14	9	82	48	+34	83
5	Gillingham	46	22	13	11	81	54	+27	79
6	Walsall	46	22	9	15	90	64	+26	75
7	York City	46	20	11	15	77	58	+19	71
8	Notts County	46	19	14	13	71	60	+11	71
9	Bristol City	46	18	14	14	69	60	+9	68
10	Brentford	46	18	12	16	58	61	−3	66
11	Doncaster Rovers	46	16	16	14	45	52	−7	64
12	Blackpool	46	17	12	17	66	55	+11	63
13	Darlington	46	15	13	18	61	78	−17	58
14	Rotherham United	46	15	12	19	61	59	+2	57
15	Bournemouth	46	15	9	22	65	72	−7	54
16	Bristol Rovers	46	14	12	20	51	75	−24	54
17	Chesterfield	46	13	14	19	61	64	−3	53
18	Bolton Wanderers	46	15	8	23	54	68	−14	53
19	Newport County	46	11	18	17	52	65	−13	51
20	Bury	46	12	13	21	63	67	−4	49
21	Lincoln City	46	10	16	20	55	77	−22	46
22	Cardiff City	46	12	9	25	53	83	−30	45
23	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	11	10	25	57	98	−41	43
24	Swansea City	46	11	10	25	43	87	−44	43

width=50	Key!	width=120
	Division Champions
	Promoted
	Relegated