1985–86 Scottish Premier Division

Scottish Premier Division
Season	1985–86
Champions	Celtic ; 5th Premier Division title ; 34th Scottish title
European Cup	Celtic
UEFA Cup	Heart of Midlothian; Dundee United; Rangers
Cup Winners' Cup	Aberdeen
Matches played	180
Goals scored	498 (2.77 per match)
Top goalscorer	Ally McCoist (24)
	← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Celtic won the 1985–86 Scottish Premier Division and became champions in one of the closest finishes in League history. On the final day of the season Hearts were leading Celtic by two points - a draw against Dundee would have been sufficient to see them win their first League title since the 1959–60 season. Hearts lost 2–0 to Dundee at Dens Park thanks to two late goals by substitute Albert Kidd, while Celtic beat St Mirren 5–0 at Love Street. As a result, Celtic won the league on goal difference.^[1]

Relegation was suspended due to league reconstruction, therefore Motherwell and Clydebank retained their Premier Division status.

Much of the season was only viewed by fans in stadiums as a dispute between television companies and the Scottish Football League resulted in no televised Scottish league football between September 1985 and March 1986.^[2]

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Celtic (C)	36	20	10	6	67	38	+29	50	Qualification for the European Cup first round
2	Heart of Midlothian	36	20	10	6	59	33	+26	50	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
3	Dundee United	36	18	11	7	59	31	+28	47	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Aberdeen	36	16	12	8	62	31	+31	44	Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
5	Rangers	36	13	9	14	53	45	+8	35	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
6	Dundee	36	14	7	15	45	51	−6	35
7	St Mirren	36	13	5	18	42	63	−21	31
8	Hibernian	36	11	6	19	49	63	−14	28
9	Motherwell	36	7	6	23	33	66	−33	20
10	Clydebank	36	6	8	22	29	77	−48	20

Source: Rsssf
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Results

Matches 1–18

During matches 1–18 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away	ABE	CEL	CLY	DND	DNU	HOM	HIB	MOT	RAN	STM
Aberdeen		4–1	3–1	4–1	3–2	3–0	3–0	1–1	1–0	1–1
Celtic	2–1		2–0	2–1	0–3	0–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–0
Clydebank	2–1	0–2		4–0	1–2	1–0	2–4	1–1	0–1	1–1
Dundee	1–3	0–2	2–0		0–3	1–1	1–0	3–1	3–2	2–1
Dundee United	1–1	1–0	2–1	2–0		1–1	2–2	3–0	1–1	5–0
Heart of Midlothian	1–0	1–1	4–1	1–1	2–0		2–1	3–0	3–0	3–0
Hibernian	1–1	0–5	5–0	2–1	0–1	0–0		1–0	1–3	2–3
Motherwell	1–1	1–2	0–0	1–3	0–1	2–1	2–0		0–3	3–1
Rangers	0–3	3–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	3–1	1–2	1–0		3–0
St Mirren	1–0	1–2	0–2	1–0	1–0	6–2	1–3	4–1	2–1

Source: Rsssf
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 19–36

During matches 19–36 each team plays every other team twice (home and away).

Home \ Away	ABE	CEL	CLY	DND	DNU	HOM	HIB	MOT	RAN	STM
Aberdeen		0–1	4–1	0–0	0–1	0–1	4–0	3–2	1–1	3–1
Celtic	1–1		2–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	3–2	2–0	1–1
Clydebank	0–6	0–5		0–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	1–1	2–1	0–2
Dundee	0–0	1–3	4–0		0–1	2–0	3–1	4–0	2–1	3–1
Dundee United	2–1	4–2	4–0	0–0		0–3	4–0	4–0	1–1	1–2
Heart of Midlothian	1–1	1–1	1–0	3–1	1–1		3–1	2–0	3–1	3–0
Hibernian	0–1	2–2	2–3	1–0	1–2	1–2		4–0	1–1	3–0
Motherwell	0–1	0–2	3–0	2–2	2–0	1–3	3–1		1–0	1–2
Rangers	1–1	4–4	4–2	5–0	1–1	0–2	3–1	2–0		2–0
St Mirren	1–1	0–5	3–0	1–2	1–1	0–1	0–2	1–0	2–1

Source: Rsssf
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

^ Paul, Ian (5 May 1986). "Celtic keep bargain - with a little help from Dundee". Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
^ "Dens memories reduce former Hearts manager to tears - Scotsman.com Sport". Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2009-04-05.

[1] Paul, Ian (5 May 1986). "Celtic keep bargain - with a little help from Dundee". Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2022.

[2] "Dens memories reduce former Hearts manager to tears - Scotsman.com Sport". Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2009-04-05.

[1]

[2]

v t e Top division football seasons in Scotland
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Premier League	1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13
Premiership	2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Winners	List of champions Winning managers

v t e 1985–86 in European football (UEFA)
Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark '85 '86 England Finland '85 '86 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '85 '86 Italy Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '85 '86 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union '85 '86 Spain Sweden '85 '86 Switzerland Turkey Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Finland '85 '86 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '85 '86 Italy Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '85 '86 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Wales Yugoslavia
League cups	England Republic of Ireland Scotland Soviet Union Spain
UEFA competitions	European Cup (Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final)
Non-UEFA competitions	Intertoto Cup Balkans Cup

v t e 1985–86 in Scottish football
« 1984–85 1986–87 »
Domestic leagues	Football League Premier Division First Division Second Division Highland League
Domestic cups	Scottish Cup Final League Cup Final Junior Cup Tennent's Sixes
European competitions	European Cup European Cup Winners' Cup UEFA Cup
Related to national team	Results 1986 World Cup qualifying (Group 7) Rous Cup 1986 World Cup
Club seasons
Premier Division	Aberdeen Celtic Clydebank Dundee Dundee United Heart of Midlothian Hibernian Motherwell Rangers St. Mirren
First Division	Airdrieonians Alloa Athletic Ayr United Brechin City Clyde Dumbarton East Fife Falkirk Forfar Athletic Hamilton Academical Kilmarnock Montrose Morton Partick Thistle
Second Division	Albion Rovers Arbroath Berwick Rangers Cowdenbeath Dunfermline Athletic East Stirlingshire Meadowbank Thistle Queen's Park Queen of the South Raith Rovers St. Johnstone Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion Stranraer