1985–86 Irish League
# 1985–86 Irish League

The 1985–86 Irish League was the 85th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league consisted of 14 teams, and Linfield won the championship.

## League standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Linfield (C) | 26 | 20 | 3 | 3 | 59 | 16 | +43 | 43 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Coleraine | 26 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 51 | 31 | +20 | 35 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Ards | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 37 | 19 | +18 | 31 | |
| 4 | Glentoran | 26 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 42 | 26 | +16 | 31 | Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 5 | Crusaders | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 42 | 34 | +8 | 31 | |
| 6 | Larne | 26 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 49 | 34 | +15 | 28 | |
| 7 | Ballymena United | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 43 | 30 | +13 | 27 | |
| 8 | Cliftonville | 26 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 31 | 34 | −3 | 25 | |
| 9 | Distillery | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 30 | 49 | −19 | 24 | |
| 10 | Portadown | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 22 | 32 | −10 | 23 | |
| 11 | Glenavon | 26 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 26 | 36 | −10 | 21 | |
| 12 | Bangor | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 31 | 45 | −14 | 18 | |
| 13 | Newry Town | 26 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 28 | 59 | −31 | 17 | |
| 14 | Carrick Rangers | 26 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 12 | 58 | −46 | 10 | |

## Results

| Home \ Away | ARD | BAN | BLM | CRK | CLI | COL | CRU | DIS | GLV | GLT | LRN | LIN | NEW | POR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ards | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Bangor | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Ballymena United | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 7–1 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Carrick Rangers | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–4 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Cliftonville | 0–0 | 4–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 |
| Coleraine | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | | 4–3 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–5 | 7–1 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 4–0 |
| Crusaders | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 4–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Distillery | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 4–2 | 0–1 | 0–6 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 0–3 |
| Glenavon | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Glentoran | 2–1 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 1–0 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| Larne | 2–1 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| Linfield | 0–2 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Newry Town | 0–0 | 5–1 | 1–6 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–5 | 2–6 | 1–3 | | 1–0 |
| Portadown | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | |
