The 1985–86 National Football League, known for sponsorship reasons as the

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

National Football League, was the 55th staging of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), an annual

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tournament for the

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teams of

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won their second title to bridge a sixty-year gap.

Format

1985-86 saw a change in format of the National League. Divisions Three and Four were amalgamated into a new Division Three, which was split by region.

Divisions

* Division One: 8 teams * Division Two: 8 teams * Division Three: 16 teams. Split into two regional groups of 8 (North and South)

Round-robin format

Each team played every other team in its division (or group where the division is split) once, either home or away.

Points awarded

2 points were awarded for a win and 1 for a draw.

Titles

Teams in all three divisions competed for the

title.

Knockout stage qualifiers

* Division One: top 4 teams * Division Two: top 2 teams * Division Three (North): group winners * Division Three (South): group winners

Knockout phase structure

In the quarter-finals, the match-ups were as follows: * Quarter-final 1: First-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Three (South) * Quarter-final 2: Second-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Three (North) * Quarter-final 3: Third-placed team in Division One v Second-placed team in Division Two * Quarter-final 4: Fourth-placed team in Division One v First-placed team in Division Two The semi-final match-ups are: * Semi-final 1: Winner Quarter-final 1 v Winner Quarter-final 4 * Semi-final 2: Winner Quarter-final 2 v Winner Quarter-final 3 The final match-up is: Winner Semi-final 1 v Winner Semi-final 2.

Promotion and relegation

* Division One: bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Two * Division Two: top 2 teams promoted to Division One. Bottom 2 teams demoted to Division Three. * Division Three (North): group winners promoted to Division Two. * Division Three (South): group winners promoted to Division Two.

Separation of teams on equal points

In the event that teams finish on equal points, then a play-off will be used to determine group placings if necessary, i.e. where to decide relegation places or quarter-finalists.

Format

Divisions

Round-robin format

Points awarded

Titles

Knockout stage qualifiers

Knockout phase structure

Promotion and relegation

Separation of teams on equal points

League Tables

Division One

Division Two

Division Three

Division Three (North) table

Division Three (South) table

Knockout stages

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

References

External links