League Division One Champions 1985-1986

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.

League Division One Results

Date	Opponents				Goalscorers	Att
17/08/85	Arsenal	H	W	2-0	Whelan (33), Nicol (61)	38261
21/08/85	Aston Villa	A	D	2-2	Rush (39), Molby (85)	20197
24/08/85	Newcastle United	A	L	0-1		29670
26/08/85	Ipswich Town	H	W	5-0	Nicol (15), Rush 2 (23, 67), Molby (27), Johnston (90)	29383
31/08/85	West Ham United	A	D	2-2	Johnston (52), Whelan (83)	19762
03/09/85	Nottingham Forest	H	W	2-0	Whelan 2 (55, 69)	27135
07/09/85	Watford	H	W	3-1	Neal (pen 27), Johnston (67), Rush (72)	31395
14/09/85	Oxford United	A	D	2-2	Rush (62), Johnston (75)	11474
21/09/85	Everton	A	W	3-2	Dalglish (1), Rush (16), McMahon (42)	51509
28/09/85	Tottenham Hotspur	H	W	4-1	Lawrenson (44), Rush (56), Molby 2 (pen 61, pen 67)	41521
05/10/85	Queens Park Rangers	A	L	1-2	Walsh (9)	24621
12/10/85	Southampton	H	W	1-0	McMahon (60)	31070
19/10/85	Manchester United	A	D	1-1	Johnston (46)	54492
26/10/85	Luton Town	H	W	3-2	Walsh 2 (31, 35), Molby (65)	31488
02/11/85	Leicester City	H	W	1-0	Rush (84)	31718
09/11/85	Coventry City	A	W	3-0	Beglin (5), Walsh (47), Rush (81)	16947
16/11/85	West Bromwich Albion	H	W	4-1	Nicol (45), Molby (62), Lawrenson (73), Walsh (87)	28407
23/11/85	Birmingham City	A	W	2-0	Rush (10), Walsh (26)	15062
30/11/85	Chelsea	H	D	1-1	Molby (pen 85)	38482
07/12/85	Aston Villa	H	W	3-0	Molby (2), Walsh (67), Johnston (81)	29418
14/12/85	Arsenal	A	L	0-2		35048
21/12/85	Newcastle United	H	D	1-1	Nicol (34)	30746
26/12/85	Manchester City	A	L	0-1		35584
28/12/85	Nottingham Forest	A	D	1-1	MacDonald (55)	27141
01/01/86	Sheffield Wednesday	H	D	2-2	Rush (49), Walsh (76)	38964
12/01/86	Watford	A	W	3-2	Walsh 2 (44, 85), Rush (75)	16967
18/01/86	West Ham United	H	W	3-1	Molby (pen 58), Rush (67), Walsh (70)	41056
01/02/86	Ipswich Town	A	L	1-2	Whelan (36)	20551
09/02/86	Manchester United	H	D	1-1	Wark (40)	35004
22/02/86	Everton	H	L	0-2		45445
02/03/86	Tottenham Hotspur	A	W	2-1	Molby (66), Rush (90)	16436
08/03/86	Queens Park Rangers	H	W	4-1	McMahon 2 (19, 75), Rush (29), Wark (43)	26219
15/03/86	Southampton	A	W	2-1	Wark (53), Rush (59)	19784
22/03/86	Oxford United	H	W	6-0	Rush 2 , Lawrenson, Whelan, Molby 2 (pen 51, 88)	37861
29/03/86	Sheffield Wednesday	A	D	0-0		37946
31/03/86	Manchester City	H	W	2-0	McMahon 2 (32, 58)	43316
12/04/86	Coventry City	H	W	5-0	Whelan 3 (20, 26, 83), Molby (46), Rush (78)	42729
16/04/86	Luton Town	A	W	1-0	Johnston (17)	15390
19/04/86	West Bromwich Albion	A	W	2-1	Dalglish (23), Rush (55)	22010
26/04/86	Birmingham City	H	W	5-0	Rush (25), Gillespie 3 (46, 58, pen 83), Molby (pen 49)	42021
30/04/86	Leicester City	A	W	2-0	Rush (20), Whelan (28)	25799
03/05/86	Chelsea	A	W	1-0	Dalglish (23)	43900

Most Appearances

Position	Player	Appearances
GK	Bruce Grobbelaar	42
DF	Alan Hansen	41
MF	Craig Johnston	41
FW	Ian Rush	40
MF	Jan Mølby	39
MF	Ronnie Whelan	39
DF	Mark Lawrenson	36
DF	Jim Beglin	34
MF	Steve Nicol	34
MF	Steve McMahon	23
FW	Kenny Dalglish	21
FW	Paul Walsh	20
MF	Kevin MacDonald	17
MF	Sammy Lee	15
DF	Gary Gillespie	14
DF	Phil Neal	13
MF	John Wark	9
DF	Alan Kennedy	8

Leading Goalscorers

Position	Player	Goals Scored
FW	Ian Rush	22
MF	Jan Mølby	14
FW	Paul Walsh	11
MF	Ronnie Whelan	10
MF	Craig Johnston	7
MF	Steve McMahon	6
MF	Steve Nicol	4
DF	Mark Lawrenson	3
FW	Kenny Dalglish	3
DF	Gary Gillespie	3
MF	John Wark	3
DF	Jim Beglin	1
MF	Kevin MacDonald	1
DF	Phil Neal	1

League Division One Table

#	Team	M	W	D	L	goals	Dif.	Pt.
1	Liverpool FC	42	26	10	6	89:37	52	88
2	Everton FC	42	26	8	8	87:41	46	86
3	West Ham United	42	26	6	10	74:40	34	84
4	Manchester United	42	22	10	10	70:36	34	76
5	Sheffield Wednesday	42	21	10	11	63:54	9	73
6	Chelsea FC	42	20	11	11	57:56	1	71
7	Arsenal FC	42	20	9	13	49:47	2	69
8	Nottingham Forest	42	19	11	12	69:53	16	68
9	Luton Town	42	18	12	12	61:44	17	66
10	Tottenham Hotspur	42	19	8	15	74:52	22	65
11	Newcastle United	42	17	12	13	67:72	-5	63
12	Watford FC	42	16	11	15	69:62	7	59
13	Queens Park Rangers	42	15	7	20	53:64	-11	52
14	Southampton FC	42	12	10	20	51:62	-11	46
15	Manchester City	42	11	12	19	43:57	-14	45
16	Aston Villa	42	10	14	18	51:67	-16	44
17	Coventry City	42	11	10	21	48:71	-23	43
18	Oxford United	42	10	12	20	62:80	-18	42
19	Leicester City	42	10	12	20	54:76	-22	42
20	Ipswich Town	42	11	8	23	32:55	-23	41
21	Birmingham City	42	8	5	29	30:73	-43	29
22	West Bromwich Albion	42	4	12	26	35:89	-54	24