| Season | 1985–86[1] |
|---|---|
| Champions | Enfield (2ndAlliance Premier League title) |
| Promoted to theFootball League | None |
| FA Trophy winners | Altrincham |
| Relegated to Level 6 | Barrow, Dartford, Wycombe Wanderers |
| Promoted for the next season | Gateshead, Sutton, Welling United |
| Matches | 462 |
| Goals | 1,377 (2.98 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Kim Casey(Kidderminster Harriers), 36 |
| Biggest home win | Kidderminster Harriers –Wycombe Wanderers 8–2; Bath City –Barrow 6–0 |
| Biggest away win | Cheltenham Town –Kidderminster Harriers 2–6; Barrow –Runcorn 0–4 |
| Highest scoring | Altrincham –Nuneaton Borough 7–4 |
| Longest winning run | ? |
| Longest unbeaten run | ? |
| Longest losing run | ? |
| Highest attendance | ? |
| Lowest attendance | ? |
| Average attendance | ? |
The Alliance Premier League season of 1985–86 (known as theGola League 1985–86 for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of theAlliance Premier League. This was the first year where a team from theIsthmian League had been promoted to the APL, and this was the last season of the league under this name - starting with the1986–87 season, the league would be renamed to the Football Conference.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enfield(C) | 42 | 27 | 10 | 5 | 94 | 47 | +47 | 76 | |
| 2 | Frickley Athletic | 42 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 78 | 50 | +28 | 69 | |
| 3 | Kidderminster Harriers | 42 | 24 | 7 | 11 | 99 | 62 | +37 | 67 | |
| 4 | Altrincham | 42 | 22 | 11 | 9 | 70 | 49 | +21 | 63 | |
| 5 | Weymouth | 42 | 19 | 15 | 8 | 75 | 60 | +15 | 61 | |
| 6 | Runcorn | 42 | 19 | 14 | 9 | 70 | 44 | +26 | 60 | |
| 7 | Stafford Rangers | 42 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 61 | 54 | +7 | 60 | |
| 8 | Telford United | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 68 | 66 | +2 | 51 | |
| 9 | Kettering Town | 42 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 55 | 53 | +2 | 49 | |
| 10 | Wealdstone | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 57 | 56 | +1 | 47 | |
| 11 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 69 | 69 | 0 | 46 | |
| 12 | Bath City | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 53 | 54 | −1 | 45 | |
| 13 | Boston United | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 66 | 76 | −10 | 44 | |
| 14 | Barnet | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 56 | 60 | −4 | 41 | |
| 15 | Scarborough | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 54 | 66 | −12 | 40 | |
| 16 | Northwich Victoria | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 42 | 54 | −12 | 37 | |
| 17 | Maidstone United | 42 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 57 | 66 | −9 | 36 | |
| 18 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 13 | 5 | 24 | 58 | 73 | −15 | 36 | |
| 19 | Dagenham | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 48 | 66 | −18 | 36 | |
| 20 | Wycombe Wanderers(R) | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 55 | 84 | −29 | 36 | Relegation to theIsthmian League Premier Division |
| 21 | Dartford(R) | 42 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 51 | 82 | −31 | 26 | Relegation to theSouthern League Premier Division |
| 22 | Barrow(R) | 42 | 7 | 8 | 27 | 41 | 86 | −45 | 24 | Relegation to theNorthern Premier League |
| Home \ Away | ALT | BAR | BRW | BAT | BOS | CHL | DAG | DAR | ENF | FRK | KET | KID | MDS | NOR | NUN | RUN | SCA | STA | TEL | WEA | WEY | WYC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altrincham | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 7–4 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–3 | |
| Barnet | 2–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | |
| Barrow | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 1–1 | |
| Bath City | 0–2 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 3–1 | |
| Boston United | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | |
| Cheltenham Town | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–6 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 5–3 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4–2 | |
| Dagenham | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | |
| Dartford | 3–2 | 5–3 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | |
| Enfield | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 4–4 | 2–3 | |
| Frickley Athletic | 0–0 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | |
| Kettering Town | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 4–1 | |
| Kidderminster Harriers | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 8–2 | |
| Maidstone United | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 4–4 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | |
| Northwich Victoria | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | |
| Nuneaton Borough | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | |
| Runcorn | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | |
| Scarborough | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 3–5 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | |
| Stafford Rangers | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | |
| Telford United | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | |
| Wealdstone | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 7–2 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |
| Weymouth | 0–0 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 4–2 | 1–1 | |
| Wycombe Wanderers | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 4–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–5 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 |
As winners of the Alliance Premier League,Enfield won the right to apply for election to the Football League to replace one of the four bottom sides in the 1985–86Football League Fourth Division. The vote went as follows:
| Club | Final Position | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Exeter City | 21st (Fourth Division) | 64 |
| Preston North End | 23rd (Fourth Division) | 62.5 |
| Cambridge United | 22nd (Fourth Division) | 61 |
| Torquay United | 24th (Fourth Division) | 61 |
| Enfield | 1st (Alliance Premier League) | 7.5 |
As a resultEnfield did not gain membership of the Football League. This was the final season in which the team who won the Conference National had to apply for election to the Football League, and from the 1986–87 season onward the winning team was automatically promoted, on the provision that they met the various conditions that the Football League set for all its members.