1984–85 in English football

The 1984-85 season was the 105th season of competitive football in England.

Overview

The 1984-85 season was dominated by two major disasters, at Bradford and at Heysel.

Bradford City disaster

56 spectators died and more than 200 were injured when a fire ripped through the Main Stand at Valley Parade during Bradford City's Third Division fixture with Lincoln City on 11 May. This tragedy was seen by many as a wake-up call for English clubs to improve the state of their grounds and take more drastic safety measures to bring an end to problems which had been plaguing the game for years without any effective action being taken.

Heysel disaster

Less than three weeks after the Bradford fire, 39 spectators (mostly Italian) were trampled to death on the terraces of Heysel Stadium where Liverpool took on Juventus in the European Cup final. As a result, all English clubs were banned indefinitely from European competition with Liverpool ordered to serve an extra three years whenever the other English sides were re-admitted. Despite the tragedy, the match was played and Juventus beat Liverpool 1-0.

First Division

Howard Kendall's Everton side beat neighbours Liverpool to the league championship, while Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United followed closely behind. The blue half of Merseyside also collected the Cup Winners' Cup to complete a brilliant cup double, for the club, despite winning the championship with a record breaking ninety points and completing the double, Everton were unfortunately denied entry into the following season's European Cup following the impending ban by UEFA on all English clubs following the Heysel tragedy.
Stoke City finished bottom of the First Division with just three league wins all season and just 17 points - a record low under the 3 points for a win system in any division, which would stand for twenty-one years. Norwich City and Sunderland - the two League Cup finalists - occupied the two other relegation places.

Liverpool manager Joe Fagan retired after the season and striker Kenny Dalglish was appointed player-manager.

Second Division

Jim Smith's Oxford United side won a successive promotion as Second Division champions and reached the First Division after just 23 years as Football League members. Following them into the big time were Birmingham City and Manchester City.

Slipping out of the league's second tier were Cardiff City, joined by Notts County and Wolverhampton Wanderers - both relegated for the second season in succession. Veteran manager Tommy Docherty had tried his hand at reversing financially-troubled Wolves' rapid decline at the Molineux, but without success.

Third Division

Bradford City's Third Division championship glory was overshadowed on the final day of the season when a fire at their Valley Parade ground killed 56 spectators - including two followers of their opponents Lincoln City.

The other two promotion places in the Third Division were occupied by Millwall and Hull City.

Going down from the Third Division were Cambridge United (who won just four games all season), Orient, Burnley and Preston North End. Burnley and Preston were founder members of the Football League who had reached great heights in the past - just 25 years ago Burnley had been league champions. But those successes were now very much a distant memory as both clubs slid into the league's fourth tier for the first time.

Swansea City, who had finished sixth in the First Division just three years earlier, continued to suffer as a result of their financial problems as they narrowly avoided a third successive relegation.

Fourth Division

Chesterfield, Blackpool, Darlington and Bury were promoted to the Third Division after occupying the Fourth Division's top four places.

The bottom four clubs, Halifax Town, Stockport County, Northampton Town (who had spent a season in the First Division some 20 years earlier) and Torquay United, all retained their league status after a successful re-election campaign at the expense of Gola League champions Maidstone United.

FA Cup

Manchester United won their second FA Cup in three years after a Norman Whiteside goal gave them an extra-time 1-0 victory over Everton at Wembley. Defender Kevin Moran became the first player to be sent off in an FA Cup final after he brought down Peter Reid in what he insisted was a misjudged tackle. United's triumph ended Everton's hopes of completing a treble of trophies - they had already lifted the league title and UEFA Cup Winners Cup. Millwall fans rioted in their 6th round match against Luton Town,causing Luton to ban away fans from their ground.

League Cup

Norwich became the first club to win a major trophy in a relegation season as they lifted the League Cup after beating Sunderland, who went down with them to the Second Division.

Star players

*Everton's hugely successful side included PFA Player of the Year Peter Reid and FWA Player of the Year Neville Southall, although the likes of Andy Gray and Trevor Steven also hit the headlines with their strong performances. Gary Lineker and Kerry Dixon were the joint top scorers in Division One, with 24 goals each.

*PFA Young Player of the Year was Manchester United's young Welsh striker Mark Hughes, who helped his side lift the FA Cup. His team-mates Bryan Robson, Gordon Strachan and Gary Bailey also received praise for their showings throughout the season.

Star managers

*Howard Kendall brought glory to Everton as they lifted the league championship trophy and the Cup Winners' Cup.
*Ron Atkinson won his second FA Cup in three years with Manchester United.
*Jim Smith brought First Division football to Oxford United less than a quarter of a century after they were elected to the league.
*Ken Brown guided Norwich City to League Cup glory which compensated for their relegation to the Second Division.
*Howard Wilkinson guided newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday to seventh place in the First Division in their first top division season for more than a decade.
*Ron Saunders took Birmingham City back into the First Division at the first time of asking.
*Trevor Cherry guided Bradford City to Third Division championship glory.
*Former Arsenal player George Graham achieved managerial success with Millwall as they won promotion to the Second Division.
*Brian Horton took Hull City to promotion in the Third Division.
*Cyril Knowles (who played for Tottenham in the late 1960s and early 1970s), enjoyed success in management by getting Darlington promoted to the Third Division.

Honours

=Third Division=

=Fourth Division=

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Deaths

*Mike Barrett, 24, Bristol Rovers winger.
*Micky Cave, 35, former Torquay United, Bournemouth and York City midfielder. Died from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.