The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website, with home and away statistics separated. During the first five seasons of the league, that is, until the season 1893–94, re-election process concerned the clubs which finished in the bottom four of the league. From the 1894–95 season and until the 1920–21 season the re-election process was required of the clubs which finished in the bottom three of the league. From the 1922–23 season on it was required of the bottom two teams of both Third Division North and Third Division South. Since the Fourth Division was established in the 1958–59 season, the re-election process has concerned the bottom four clubs in that division.
First Division">Football League First Division">First Division
Second Division">Football League Second Division">Second Division
’s Oxford United side won a successive promotion as Second Division champions and reached the First Division after just 23 years as Football League members. Following them into the big time were Birmingham City and Manchester City. Slipping out of the league’s second tier were Cardiff City, joined by Notts County and Wolverhampton Wanderers – both relegated for the second season in succession. Veteran manager Tommy Docherty had tried his hand at reversing financially troubled Wolves’ rapid decline at the Molineux, but without success.
Second Division results
Second Division maps
Third Division">Football League Third Division">Third Division
’s Third Division championship glory was overshadowed on the final day of the season when a fire at their Valley Parade ground killed 56 spectators – including two followers of their opponents Lincoln City. The other two promotion places in the Third Division were occupied by Millwall and Hull City. Going down from the Third Division were Cambridge United, Orient, Burnley and Preston North End. Burnley and Preston were founder members of the Football League who had reached great heights in the past – just 25 years ago Burnley had been league champions. Those successes were now very much a distant memory as both clubs slid into the league's fourth tier for the first time. Swansea City, who had finished sixth in the First Division just three years earlier, continued to suffer as a result of their financial problems as they narrowly avoided a third successive relegation.
Results
Third Division maps
Fourth Division">Football League Fourth Division">Fourth Division
, Blackpool, Darlington and Bury were promoted to the Third Division after occupying the Fourth Division's top four places. The bottom four clubs, Halifax Town, Stockport County, Northampton Town and Torquay United, all retained their league status after a successful re-election campaign at the expense of Alliance Premier League side Bath City who were placed 4th in the Alliance Premier League and were the highest placed team there that would have met the Football League's requirements. Re-election results are given at the end of this article.
Results
Fourth Division maps
Election/Re-election to the Football League
This year Wealdstone, the winners of the Alliance Premier League, could not apply for election because they did not meet Football League requirements. 2nd placed Nuneaton could not apply either for the same reasons, and neither could 3rd placed Dartford, so 4th placed Bath City won the right to apply for election to the Football League to replace one of the four bottom sides in the 1984–85 Football League Fourth Division. The vote went as follows:
Club
Final Position
Votes
Northampton Town
23rd
52
Stockport County
22nd
50
Torquay United
24th
50
Halifax Town
21st
48
Bath City
4th
8
As a result of this, all four Football League teams were re-elected, and Bath City were denied membership of the Football League.
