The 1985–86 season was the 106th season of competitive football in England.
Timeline
5 July 1985: Everton signed England striker Gary Lineker for £800,000. 10 July 1985: Everton sold striker Andy Gray to Aston Villa for £150,000, six years after he first left Villa Park to sign for the Wolverhampton Wanderers. Gray departed from Goodison Park despite calls for manager Howard Kendall to retain him, as he helped Everton win three major trophies in his two seasons at the club. 12 July 1985: West Bromwich Albion signed striker Imre Varadi from Sheffield Wednesday for £285,000. 2 August 1985: Crystal Palace signed striker Ian Wright from Greenwich Borough. 10 August 1985: Everton beat Manchester United 2–0 in the FA Charity Shield at Wembley. 12 August 1985: Sheffield Wednesday signed striker Garry Thompson from West Bromwich Albion for £450,000. 17 August 1985: The league season began. Defending champions Everton suffered a 3–1 defeat to Leicester City on Filbert Street. FA Cup holders Manchester United beat Aston Villa 4–0 at Old Trafford. Tottenham Hotspur beat Watford 4–0 at White Hart Lane. Wimbledon won 3–0 against Middlesbrough, while Huddersfield Town beat Millwall 4–3 at Leeds Road. The season began without any live coverage of matches on TV after talks between ITV and the Football League to show live matches failed. International matches were the only matches shown on live TV. 24 August 1985: Oxford United achieved their first win in the First Division with a 5–0 victory over Leicester City at the Manor Ground. Watford beat West Bromwich Albion 5–1 at Vicarage Road. Manchester United were the only team in the First Division with a 100% record after three games, having beaten Arsenal 2–1 at Highbury. Sheffield Wednesday won 3–1 against Manchester City at Maine Road. 26 August 1985: Liverpool beat Ipswich Town 5–0 at Anfield in the First Division. Newcastle United won 2–1 against Coventry City. Leeds United lost 6–2 to Stoke City. 31 August 1985: Manchester United led the league after five straight wins, with Sheffield Wednesday in second place, while Chelsea and Newcastle United fill the next two places. Everton climbed to fifth as Lineker scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Birmingham City at Goodison Park. In the Second Division, Portsmouth headed the promotion race, joined in the top three by the Blackburn Rovers and Oldham Athletic. 4 September 1985: Manchester United won 3–0 against Newcastle United, Tottenham beat Chelsea 4–1 at White Hart Lane, Leicester and Watford tied 2–2 at Filbert Street, Aston Villa won 3–0 against West Bromwich Albion. 7 September 1985: Manchester United won 3–0 against Oxford United at Old Trafford. Liverpool won 3–1 against Watford. Everton lost 3–0 to the Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road. Tottenham beat Newcastle 5–1 at White Hart Lane. Down in the Second Division, Sunderland tied 3–3 with Grimsby Town at Roker Park. 8 September 1985: Nottingham Forest beat Leicester City 3-0 on Filbert Street. 10 September 1985: Scotland manager Jock Stein, 62, died at the end of a 1–1 draw between Scotland and Wales in the last game of the World Cup qualifying campaign at Ninian Park. 13 September 1985: Sheffield Wednesday signed midfielder Mark Chamberlain from Stoke City for £300,000. 14 September 1985: At the Manchester derby, Manchester United won 3–0 at Maine Road. Liverpool tied 2–2 with Oxford United at the Manor Ground. Arsenal won 1–0 home against Sheffield Wednesday. 18 September 1985: Norwich City won 4–3 against Crystal Palace at Carrow Road. 21 September 1985: Manchester United won 5–1 against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns in the First Division. Tottenham's beat Sheffield Wednesday 5-1, and move up to fifth place. Liverpool won the Merseyside derby 3–2 at Goodison Park. 28 September 1985: Charlton Athletic left The Valley after an inspection report by safety officials, and began a groundshare with Crystal Palace. Manchester United won their tenth game against Southampton at Old Trafford. Liverpool beat Tottenham 4–1 at Anfield. Chelsea lost 3–1 at Watford. 29 September 1985: West Bromwich Albion fired Johnny Giles as manager and replaced him with Nobby Stiles. 1 October 1985: Ipswich Town, UEFA Cup winners in 1981 and league runners-up as recently as 1982, lost 1–0 defeat against Luton Town. 2 October 1985: Leicester and Oxford tied 4–4 in the First Division at Filbert Street. 5 October 1985: Manchester United tied 1–1 against Luton Town, one game short of the record 11-match winning start set by Tottenham in 1960. Liverpool lost 2–1 to the Queens Park Rangers. Chelsea won 1–0 against Manchester City at Maine Road. West Bromwich Albion tied 1–1 with Tottenham. In the Second Division Brighton beat Carlisle United 6–1 at the Goldstone Ground.