The 1985–86 North West Counties Football League was the fourth in the history of the

North West Counties Football League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern S ...

, a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

competition in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Teams were divided into three divisions.

Division One

Division One featured 2 new teams: *

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

promoted as champions from Division Two * Irlam Town promoted as runners-up from Division Two

League table

Division Two

Division Two featured 3 new teams: *

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footb ...

, relegated from Division One * Kirkby Town promoted as champions from Division Three *

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

promoted as runners-up from Division Three

League table

Division Three

Oldham Dew changed their name to Oldham Town Division Three featured 2 new teams: *

Padiham Padiham ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Calder, about west of Burnley, Lancashire, England. It forms part of the Borough of Burnley. Originally by the River Calder, it is edged by the foothills of Pendle Hill to the north-west ...

, relegated from Division Two * Huyton Town

League table

Promotion and relegation

Division One

Prescot Cables and Formby were relegated to Division Two.

Division two

Division Two champions Kirkby Town and second placed Rossendale United were promoted to Division One while Ford Motors and Nantwich Town were relegated to Division Three.

Division Three

Division Three champions Blackpool Mechanics and second placed Oldham Town were promoted to Division Two while Bolton ST, Prestwich Heys, Huyton Town and Ashton Athletic left the League at the end of the season and were replaced by newly admitted Flixton and Ashton Town.

External links

North West Counties Football League Tables at RSSSF
{{DEFAULTSORT:1985-86 North West Counties Football League North West Counties Football League seasons 7