1985/86 Season Summary

After a shaky start to the new season in the renamed ‘Multipart League’ a brilliant mid-term run involving a club record ten consecutive victories in senior competitions saw Southport soar to third place in the table whilst reaching the third round of the F.A. Trophy.
The matches against Scarborough of the Gola League ranked as particular successes; eventually a strong Kidderminster Harriers side put Southport out 6—1 on a windswept night at Aggborough; but the incoming Peter King, Ronnie Naden, George Carr, Tony Quinn and John Coleman were quality performers at this level. The outstanding performance was undoubtedly the display in the first round game at Telford United where each of Southport’s four classic goals outshone the one before. This 4-2 victory on the ground of one of the major non-League sides may be seen as a turning-point in Southport’s post-League era.
Andy Mutch was transferred to Wolves immediately after the Trophy involvement was ended for a five figure fee and Southport slipped back. Yet even after a disastrous April they still finished in sixth place with 17 wins — the most since 1978-79.

Profile reproduced with Permission from:
The Sandgrounders: The Complete League History of Southport F. C., by Michael Braham and Geoff Wilde (Palatine Books, 1995). ISBN 978-1-874181-14-9

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
1	Gateshead	42	24	10	8	85	51	82
2	Marine	42	23	11	8	63	35	80
3	Morecambe	42	17	17	8	59	39	68
4	Gainsborough	42	18	14	10	66	52	68
5	Burton Albion	42	18	12	12	64	47	66
6	Southport	42	17	11	14	70	66	62
7	Worksop Town	42	17	10	15	51	48	61
8	Workington	42	14	18	10	54	46	60
9	Macclesfield	42	17	8	17	67	65	59
10	Hyde Utd	42	14	15	13	63	62	57
11	Witton Albion	42	15	13	14	56	59	58
12	Mossley	42	13	16	13	56	60	55
13	Bangor City	42	13	15	14	51	51	54
14	Rhyl	42	14	10	18	65	71	52
15	South Liverpool	42	11	17	14	43	44	50
16	Horwich RMI	42	15	6	21	53	63	51
17	Caernarfon Town	42	11	17	14	51	63	50
18	Oswestry Town	42	12	13	17	51	60	49
19	Buxton	42	11	12	19	55	76	45
20	Chorley	42	9	15	18	56	64	42
21	Matlock Town	42	9	15	18	59	75	42
22	Goole Town	42	7	11	24	37	78	32