1985–86 Associate Members' Cup

The 1985–86 Associate Members' Cup, known as the 1985–86 Freight Rover Trophy, was the third staging of the Associate Members' Cup, a knock-out competition for English football clubs in the Third Division and the Fourth Division. The winners were Bristol City and the runners-up were Bolton Wanderers.

1985–86 Associate Members Cup

Freight Rover Trophy
Tournament details
Country	England Wales

The competition began on 14 January 1986 and ended with the final on 24 May 1986 at Wembley Stadium.

In the first round, there were two sections split into eight groups: North and South. In the following rounds each section gradually eliminates teams in knock-out fashion until each has a winning finalist. At this point, the two winning finalists faced each other in the combined final for the honour of the trophy.

Preliminary round

Northern Section

Group 1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Bolton Wanderers	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	4
Crewe Alexandra	2	1	0	1	4	2	+2	3
Stockport County	2	0	1	1	2	6	−4	1

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
14 Jan	Crewe Alexandra	4–1	Stockport County
20 Jan	Stockport County	2–2	Bolton Wanderers
28 Jan	Bolton Wanderers	1–0	Crewe Alexandra

Group 2

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Darlington	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	4
Burnley	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	4
Chesterfield	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	0

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
14 Jan	Darlington	2–0	Chesterfield
21 Jan	Chesterfield	1–2	Burnley
13 Mar	Burnley	1–1	Darlington

Group 3

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Scunthorpe United	2	2	0	0	6	3	+3	6
Halifax Town	2	0	1	1	3	4	−1	1
Lincoln City	2	0	1	1	2	4	−2	1

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
15 Jan	Lincoln City	1–3	Scunthorpe United
21 Jan	Scunthorpe United	3–2	Halifax Town
11 Feb	Halifax Town	1–1	Lincoln City

Group 4

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Rotherham United	2	1	1	0	3	0	+3	4
Hartlepool United	2	1	0	1	3	5	−2	3
York City	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1	1

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
14 Jan	York City	0–0	Rotherham United
21 Jan	Rotherham United	3–0	Hartlepool United
28 Jan	Hartlepool United	3–2	York City

Group 5

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Tranmere Rovers	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	6
Preston North End	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
Bury	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	0

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
20 Jan	Tranmere Rovers	2–0	Preston North End
29 Jan	Preston North End	2–0	Bury
26 Feb	Bury	1–2	Tranmere Rovers

Group 6

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Wigan Athletic	2	2	0	0	8	0	+8	6
Rochdale	2	1	0	1	1	6	−5	3
Chester City	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3	0

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
20 Jan	Rochdale	1–0	Chester City
22 Jan	Chester City	0–2	Wigan Athletic
28 Jan	Wigan Athletic	6–0	Rochdale

Group 7

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Port Vale	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2	4
Wrexham	2	0	2	0	3	3	0	2
Blackpool	2	0	1	1	3	5	−2	1

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
21 Jan	Wrexham	1–1	Port Vale
23 Jan	Blackpool	2–2	Wrexham
10 Feb	Port Vale	3–1	Blackpool

Group 8

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Doncaster Rovers	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	3
Mansfield Town	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	3
Notts County	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	3

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
16 Jan	Notts County	1–0	Doncaster Rovers
21 Jan	Doncaster Rovers	1–0	Mansfield Town
11 Mar	Mansfield Town	1–0	Notts County

Group 8 play-off

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Mansfield Town	2	2	0	0	5	2	+3	6
Notts County	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	0
Doncaster Rovers	1	0	0	1	2	4	−2	0

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
17 Mar	Mansfield Town	4–2	Doncaster Rovers
20 Mar	Notts County	0–1	Mansfield Town

Southern Section

Group 1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Leyton Orient	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	6
Bournemouth	2	1	0	1	6	3	+3	3
Reading	2	0	0	2	0	8	−8	0

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
14 Jan	Leyton Orient	3–1	Bournemouth
21 Jan	Bournemouth	5–1	Reading
6 Mar	Reading	0–3	Leyton Orient

Group 2

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Northampton Town	2	2	0	0	5	2	+3	6
Colchester United	2	1	0	1	5	3	+2	3
Southend United	2	0	0	2	2	7	−5	0

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
14 Jan	Colchester United	4–1	Southend United
21 Jan	Northampton Town	2–1	Colchester United
13 Mar	Southend United	1–3	Northampton Town

Group 3

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Gillingham	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	4
Brentford	2	0	2	0	1	1	0	2
Derby County	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2	1

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
15 Jan	Brentford	0–0	Derby County
22 Jan	Derby County	0–2	Gillingham
29 Jan	Gillingham	1–1	Brentford

Group 4

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Hereford United	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	4
Bristol Rovers	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	3
Swindon Town	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1	1

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
15 Jan	Hereford United	2–0	Bristol Rovers
21 Jan	Bristol Rovers	2–1	Swindon Town
11 Mar	Swindon Town	1–1	Hereford United

Group 5

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Cambridge United	2	2	0	0	5	1	+4	6
Peterborough United	2	1	0	1	3	4	−1	3
Aldershot	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3	0

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
14 Jan	Aldershot	0–1	Cambridge United
17 Jan	Cambridge United	4–1	Peterborough United
17 Apr	Peterborough United	2–0	Aldershot

Group 6

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Bristol City	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	4
Walsall	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
Plymouth Argyle	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	1

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
14 Jan	Bristol City	0–0	Plymouth Argyle
21 Jan	Plymouth Argyle	0–1	Walsall
28 Jan	Walsall	1–2	Bristol City

Group 7

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Swansea City	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	4
Newport County	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	4
Cardiff City	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3	0

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
20 Jan	Swansea City	1–1	Newport County
21 Jan	Newport County	1–0	Cardiff City
28 Jan	Cardiff City	0–2	Swansea City

Group 8

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Torquay United	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	4
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2
Exeter City	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1

Source:

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
14 Jan	Exeter City	1–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers
22 Jan	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	Torquay United
29 Jan	Torquay United	1–0	Exeter City

Quarter-finals

Northern Section

Date	Home team	Score	Away team
18 February	Wigan Athletic	3–0	Rotherham United
10 March	Scunthorpe United	1–1	Port Vale
Port Vale won 4–3 on penalties
11 March	Bolton Wanderers	2–1	Tranmere Rovers
27 March	Darlington	3–0	Mansfield Town

Southern Section

Date	Home team	Score	Away team
19 February	Swansea City	1–0	Torquay United
24 February	Gillingham	2–0	Cambridge United
24 March	Leyton Orient	1–2	Hereford United
27 March	Bristol City	3–2	Northampton Town

Area semi-finals

Northern Section

Date	Home team	Score	Away team
26 March	Port Vale	1–2	Wigan Athletic
1 May	Darlington	0–3	Bolton Wanderers

Southern Section

Date	Home team	Score	Away team
2 April	Bristol City	3–0	Gillingham
2 April	Hereford United	0–0	Swansea City
Hereford United won 5–4 on penalties

Area finals

Northern Area final

6 May 1986

Wigan Athletic	0–1	Bolton Wanderers

9 May 1986

Bolton Wanderers	(3) 2 – 1 (1)	Wigan Athletic

Southern Area final

6 May 1986

Hereford United	2–0	Bristol City

9 May 1986

Bristol City	(3) 3 – 0 (2)	Hereford United

Final

24 May 1986

Bristol City	3–0	Bolton Wanderers
Riley , Pritchard	Report

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 54,502

Referee: G.Tyson (Sunderland)

Notes

General

• statto.com

Specific