The 1985–86 Associate Members' Cup, known as the 1985–86 Freight Rover Trophy, was the fifth staging of a secondary football league tournament, and the third staging of the
Associate Members' Cup, a knock-out competition for
English football
Football is the most popular sport in England. Widely regarded as the birthplace of modern football, the first official rules of the game were established in England in 1863. The country is home to the world's first football league, the oldest ...
clubs in the
Third Division and the
Fourth Division. The winners were
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
and the runners-up were
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
.
The competition began on 14 January 1986 and ended with the final on 24 May 1986 at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
.
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
Southern Section
Quarter-finals
Northern Section
Southern Section
Area semi-finals
Northern Section
Southern Section
Area finals
Northern Area final
Southern Area final
Final
Notes
General
statto.com
Specific
{{DEFAULTSORT:1985-86 Associate Members' Cup
EFL Trophy seasons
Associate Members' Cup
Associate Members' Cup