Don Howe resigned from Arsenal in March 1986.Steven Burtenshaw took over from Howe, overseeing a slide from fifth to seventh place.George Graham became manager at the end of the season.
After 4 consecutive wins in a run of 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in 11 gamesDon Howe resigned on 22 March 1986. With Arsenal on the fringes of the title race, rumours were abound that the Arsenal board had approachedTerry Venables with a view to naming him as Don Howe’s successor. When Howe was unable to get clarity or reassurance from the board, he promptly resigned.
Howe was hardly a failure, as the Gunners had not finished lower than seventh in the First Division under his leadership, but in the absence of silverware his exit became inevitable. Adopting a lower public profile than his predecessor, Howe did not invest heavily in the transfer market, preferring to augment his squad by bringing through youngsters such asTony Adams,David Rocastle andNiall Quinn, but he never attained the desired blend.[3]
Steven Burtenshaw took over with the club 5th in the league. The momentum was immediately lost and with five defeats in the next seven games Arsenal slipped away from their challenging position. Once again, the domestic cups would see the Gunners fall short. In the F.A. Cup they fell in the fifth round, losing 3 – 0 to Luton Town atKenilworth Road after a replay. In the League Cup, another replay saw Arsenal bow out at the quarter-final stage to Aston Villa.[4][5][3] On 8 April 1986Paul Mariner played his last league game for Arsenal againstNottingham Forest. In his final season he made just 5 starts and 7 sub appearances in league and cup but failed to score.
The crowds declined too. On 26 April 1986 when Arsenal metWest Bromwich Albion atHighbury just 14,843 turned up. The 2-2 draw made it just one win in eight matches. On 3 May againstBirmingham CityTony Woodcock scored his 11th and final league goal of the season. He was Arsenal’s top scorer, as he was the previous season when both he andBrian Talbot got 10 each. Only 6,234 were in the crowd atSt.Andrew's to see it. Two days later Tony Woodcock played his last game for Arsenal, a 3-0 away defeat to Oxford. Then with the season over, Arsenal finishing in 7th, on 14 May 1986 George Graham became manager.[6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Source:World Football Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored Notes:
^Since Everton would have instead qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup qualification would have been passed down to Sheffield Wednesday.
^abSoar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1986).Arsenal 1886-1986: the official centenary history of Arsenal Football Club. Twickenham: Hamlyn. pp. 250–54.ISBN9780600358718.
