1986–87 Football League

The First Division

The First Division championship went to Everton in their final season under the management of Howard Kendall before his departure to Athletic Bilbao. To date, this remains Everton's last league title. His side overcame a spate of injuries to fight off competition from runners-up Liverpool and third-placed Tottenham. Fourth place went to George Graham’s emerging young Arsenal side who also won the League Cup in his first season in charge. Fifth place in the league went to newly promoted Norwich City, whose manager Ken Brown built a strong squad on a limited budget to achieve a finish which would have been enough to qualify for UEFA Cup had it not been for the ongoing ban on English clubs in European competitions.

Wimbledon finished sixth in the First Division in only their tenth season as a Football League club. Dave Bassett’s men had led the league for the first two weeks of September, but sixth place was still much higher than most pundits had tipped them for at the start of the season.

Aston Villa were relegated to the Second Division just five years after they won the European Cup. Chairman Doug Ellis had sensed from the start that 1986-87 would be a tough season for the club, so he axed manager Graham Turner in September and replaced him with Manchester City’s Billy McNeill. But McNeill was unable to stop the rot and Villa went down in bottom place. McNeill was subsequently sacked and replaced by Watford’s Graham Taylor.

Villa were joined on the way down by Manchester City and Leicester City. In the first season of the relegation/promotion play-offs, Charlton Athletic beat Second Division Leeds United to retain their top flight status.

Manchester United, whose blistering start to the previous season had ended in failure, started the 1986-87 season badly and entered November second from bottom in the league. Manager Ron Atkinson paid for these failings with his job and in came the Aberdeen manager Alex Ferguson to replace him. Ferguson rejuvenated United and they climbed up the table to finish in a secure 11th place.

The Second Division

Just two clubs were promoted from the Second Division this season. Champions Derby County were promoted for a second successive season; 12 seasons after they were last crowned champions of the First Division. Under the management of Arthur Cox they arrested an alarming slide which had seen them spend their centenary season (1984–85) in the 3rd Division. Runners-up spot went to Portsmouth, who were also automatically promoted.

The three playoff places were occupied by Oldham Athletic, Leeds United and Ipswich Town. Oldham and Ipswich blew their chances in the semi-finals, while Leeds were defeated by Charlton in the final to miss out on promotion — an FA Cup semi-final defeat had ended their chances of success in the cup competitions.

The relegation/promotion play-offs which operated between the Second and Third Divisions saw Sunderland go down to the Third Division for the first time in their history after losing to Gillingham in the promotion-relegation play-offs. Gillingham were subsequently defeated in a play-off final replay that saw Swindon Town promoted to the second tier. Lawrie McMenemy was sacked by the Rokerites at the end of March and Bob Stokoe, manager of the 1973 FA Cup winning team, was brought in as his successor, but was unable to keep Sunderland clear of the drop. Brighton and Grimsby were automatically relegated to the Third Division.

The Third Division

The three promotion places in this division were gained by three clubs who were among the least fancied promotion contenders at the start of the season. Champions Bournemouth were promoted to the Second Division for the first time in their history thanks to the efforts of hard working manager Harry Redknapp. Runners-up spot went to Bruce Rioch’s Middlesbrough, who had begun the season on the verge of extinction and had been forced to play their first home game of the season at Hartlepool’s ground because the official receiver had locked them out of Ayresome Park.

The relegation/promotion play-offs between the Third and Fourth Divisions saw Bolton Wanderers go down to the bottom division for the first time. Carlisle, Darlington and Newport County were also relegated.

The Fourth Division

The stars of the Fourth Division during 1986-87 were Graham Carr’s runaway champions Northampton Town, with young midfielder Eddie McGoldrick being the key player in his side’s season of success. Also automatically promoted were Preston and Southend with Aldershot winning the promotion/relegation playoffs.

Down at the bottom end of the division, an injury time winner for Torquay United kept them in the Football League after a police dog had bitten one of their players. The introduction of automatic relegation to the Conference saw Lincoln City lose their league status in favour of Conference champions Scarborough.

1986-87 saw many famous clubs reach their lowest ebb throughout the league. In the Fourth Division it was Burnley — league champions 27 years earlier — who plummeted to new depths. They finished third from bottom in the league and only a win on the last day of the season prevented them from going down to the Conference.

Final league tables and results

The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website, with home and away statistics separated.

As of this season, there were no more re-election procedures, but instead, the club finishing last in the Fourth Division was demoted to Conference. The first casualty of this new practice were Lincoln City.

First Division

No European qualification took place due to the Heysel Stadium disaster suspension in place.

Everton finished as champions for the second time in three seasons. Liverpool finished runners-up and were also runners-up in the Football League Cup to fourth-placed Arsenal, who won their first major trophy for eight years. Tottenham Hotspur finished third and failed to win any trophies despite being in strong contention for all three domestic trophies, reaching the semi-finals of the Football League Cup and the final of the FA Cup. Newly-promoted Norwich City completed the top five.

Aston Villa, who had been league champions in 1981 and European Cup winners in 1982, finished the season relegated in bottom place. Going down with them were Manchester City and Leicester City. Charlton Athletic survived their first top division season in 30 years by defeating Second Division Leeds United in the playoffs.

Second Division play-offs

Both the semifinals and the finals were decided over two legs.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Two play-offs 1987.

First Division results

Source:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second Division

There were just two guaranteed promotion places in the Second Division this season due to the introduction of the playoffs and the phased reorganization of the league. Derby County finished top of the Second Division to clinch a second successive promotion and reclaim the First Division place they had last held in 1980. Portsmouth, absent from the First Division for nearly 30 years and who had missed promotion by a single place in the previous two seasons, finally achieved promotion by finishing second. Oldham Athletic and Ipswich Town failed to progress beyond the semi-finals of the new playoffs, leaving Leeds United to take on Charlton Athletic in a two-legged contest for a First Division place. Charlton won the replay to keep their First Division status and condemn Leeds to a sixth successive season in the Second Division.

Financially troubled Grimsby Town were relegated, along with Brighton & Hove Albion. Sunderland's second relegation in three seasons condemned them to Third Division football for the first time in their history as they went down after losing in the playoffs.

Third Division play-offs

Both the semifinals and the finals were decided over two legs.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Three play-offs 1987.

Second Division results

Source:
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Third Division

A.F.C. Bournemouth won promotion to the Second Division for the first time in their history as Third Division champions, going up with runners-up Middlesbrough, who had started the season in receivership. Swindon Town became the third team to go up to the Second Division this season by winning the playoffs and securing their second successive promotion.

Newport County, Darlington and Carlisle United went down automatically. The Fourth Division would be familiar territory for Newport and Darlington, but Carlisle had not played in the Fourth Division for nearly a quarter of a century and just three years earlier had been in the race for a First Division place. Defeat in the playoffs meant that Bolton Wanderers, four times FA Cup winners, would be playing Fourth Division football for the first time in their history in the 1987-88 season.

Fourth Division play-offs

Both the semifinals and the finals were decided over two legs, and only the aggregates are given in the schemata below.
The full results can be found at: Football League Division Four play-offs 1987.

Fourth Division

Northampton Town collected 99 points, more than any Football League side this season, to seal the Fourth Division title and a place in the Third Division. Also going up automatically were Preston North End and Southend United. The fourth promotion place went to Aldershot, whose surprise victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the playoffs saw them move up from the Fourth Division for the first time in over a decade.

The introduction of automatic relegation from the Football League saw Lincoln City go down in bottom place, a second successive relegation for a club who had been in the league for 66 years and who had been on the verge of Second Division football as recently as 1983. They were replaced in the league by GM Vauxhall Conference champions Scarborough. Narrowly escaping the drop were Torquay United, who had been forced to apply for re-election to the league on several occasions under the old system due to low finishes, and this time escaped the drop with a winning goal in injury time after time was added on following a police dog's attack on an injured player. Burnley, league champions as recently as 1960 and First Division members as recently as 1976, escaped the drop by winning their final game of the season, though in slightly less dramatic circumstances than those which enabled Torquay's escape.