| Season | 1884–85 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's football | ||||
| FA Cup | Blackburn Rovers | |||
| ||||
The1884–85 season was the 14th season of competitivefootball in England.
On 23 October 1884, a number of members of theLancashire Football Association, at the instigation ofBolton Wanderers,[1] met inBlackburn with a view to resisting new Football Association legislation restricting the ability of clubs to "import" players.[2] The result was the formation of a new association, theBritish Football Association, made up of Lancashire clubs, plusAston Villa andWalsall Swifts, andSunderland provisionally joining, pending a club committee vote; the main refusenik wasBlackburn Rovers, which had already "grandfathered" in its imported players, having been the first club to do so en masse.[3]
The breakaway was forestalled in July 1885, when theFootball Association voted to allow professional players to take part in football competitions, by 35 votes to 12,[4] and the BFA was no longer necessary.
England finished second in theBritish Home Championship, which was won byScotland.
| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score* | Comp | England scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 February 1885 | Whalley Range,Manchester (H) |  Ireland | 4–0 | BHC | Charles Bambridge (Swifts),James Brown (Blackburn Rovers) &Benjamin Spilsbury (Cambridge University) William Eames (Own goal) |
| 14 March 1885 | Leamington Road,Blackburn (H) |  Wales | 1–1 | BHC | Clement Mitchell (Upton Park) (35 mins) |
| 21 March 1885 | Kennington Oval,London (H) |  Scotland | 1–1 | BHC | Charles Bambridge (Swifts) (57 mins) |
* England score given first
Key
Note – Some sources credit England's third goal as aJoe Lofthouse goal, but match reports clearly state an Eames own goal.[1]
| Competition | Winner |
|---|---|
| FA Cup | Blackburn Rovers (2) |
| Home Championship | Scotland |
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition
