# 1986–87 Football Conference

The Football Conference season of 1986–87 (known as the GM Vauxhall Conference for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the Football Conference, the first season under this name, this league having earlier been known as the Alliance Premier League.

## Overview

This was the first season of automatic promotion for champions of the Conference, following the abolition of the re-election system, and automatic relegation to the Conference for the bottom placed team in the Football League Fourth Division. Scarborough finished the season as Conference champions, and so won automatic promotion to the Football League at the expense of Lincoln City.

## New teams in the league this season

* Gateshead (promoted 1985–86)
* Sutton United (promoted 1985–86)
* Welling United (promoted 1985–86)

## Final league table

| Pos | Team | Pld | HW | HD | HL | HGF | HGA | AW | AD | AL | AGF | AGA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Scarborough | 42 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 31 | 19 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 33 | 14 | +31 | 91 | Football Conference Champions, promoted to the Football League Fourth Division 1987–88 |
| 2 | Barnet | 42 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 47 | 22 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 39 | 17 | +47 | 85 | |
| 3 | Maidstone United | 42 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 43 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 28 | 32 | +23 | 73 | |
| 4 | Enfield | 42 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 32 | 21 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 34 | 26 | +19 | 70 | |
| 5 | Altrincham | 42 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 35 | 18 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 31 | 35 | +13 | 69 | |
| 6 | Boston United | 42 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 40 | 28 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 42 | 46 | +8 | 69 | |
| 7 | Sutton United | 42 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 52 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 29 | 27 | +30 | 68 | |
| 8 | Runcorn | 42 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 45 | 23 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 26 | 35 | +13 | 67 | |
| 9 | Telford United | 42 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 41 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 36 | +10 | 64 | |
| 10 | Bath City | 42 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 35 | 31 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 28 | 31 | +1 | 63 | |
| 11 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 43 | 25 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 21 | 25 | +14 | 61 | |
| 12 | Kidderminster Harriers | 42 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 46 | 34 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 31 | 47 | −4 | 55 | FA Trophy winners |
| 13 | Stafford Rangers | 42 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 32 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 26 | 35 | −2 | 53 | |
| 14 | Weymouth | 42 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 43 | 33 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 25 | 44 | −9 | 51 | |
| 15 | Dagenham | 42 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 32 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 24 | 43 | −16 | 49 | |
| 16 | Kettering Town | 42 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 35 | 28 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 19 | 38 | −12 | 47 | Conference League Cup winners |
| 17 | Northwich Victoria | 42 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 25 | 23 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 28 | 46 | −16 | 44 | |
| 18 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 28 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 45 | −25 | 44 | Relegated to Southern League |
| 19 | Wealdstone | 42 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 26 | 34 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 24 | 36 | −20 | 43 | |
| 20 | Welling United | 42 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 39 | 38 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 22 | 46 | −23 | 40 | |
| 21 | Frickley Athletic | 42 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 28 | 37 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 45 | −35 | 32 | Relegated to Northern Premier League |
| 22 | Gateshead | 42 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 26 | 45 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 22 | 50 | −47 | 31 | Relegated to Northern Premier League |
* 1 2 3 New club in the Conference
* ↑ Nuneaton Borough were relegated due to financial irregularities.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALT | BAR | BAT | BOS | CHL | DAG | ENF | FRK | GAT | KET | KID | MDS | NOR | NUN | RUN | SCA | STA | SUT | TEL | WEA | WEL | WEY |
| Altrincham | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Barnet | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 5–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 5–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Bath City | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 4–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Boston United | 4–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 6–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 4–3 | 1–1 |
| Cheltenham Town | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | | 6–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Dagenham | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Enfield | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 4–0 |
| Frickley Athletic | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–4 | | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 |
| Gateshead | 1–3 | 1–5 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 |
| Kettering Town | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 5–1 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 5–1 | 3–0 |
| Kidderminster Harriers | 3–0 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 5–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Maidstone United | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | | 5–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 |
| Northwich Victoria | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Nuneaton Borough | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–5 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–4 |
| Runcorn | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 3–2 | 7–3 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Scarborough | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Stafford Rangers | 2–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| Sutton United | 2–3 | 3–1 | 7–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 8–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–3 |
| Telford United | 4–0 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | | 1–3 | 2–1 | 5–1 |
| Wealdstone | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| Welling United | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 3–2 | 3–4 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | | 5–0 |
| Weymouth | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 4–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 | |

## Topscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | League | FA Cup | FA Trophy | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | Kim Casey | Kidderminster Harriers | 38 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 44 |
| 2 | Mick Carter | Runcorn | 30 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 41 |
| 3 | Steve Butler | Maidstone United | 24 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 34 |
| 4 | Gary Abbott | Welling United | 23 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 28 |
| = | Chris Cook | Boston United | 23 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 27 |
| = | Ken McKenna | Telford United | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 7 | Nicky Evans | Barnet | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 26 |
| = | Chris Townsend | Cheltenham Town | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 9 | Mike Doherty | Weymouth | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| = | Paul Bodin | Bath City | 16 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 21 |
| = | Stewart Mell | Scarborough | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| = | John Timmons | Altrincham | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 |

## Promotion and relegation
### Promoted

* Scarborough (to the Football League Fourth Division)
* Fisher Athletic (from the Isthmian League)
* Macclesfield Town (from the Northern Premier League)
* Wycombe Wanderers (from the Southern Premier League)

### Relegated

* Lincoln City (from the Football League Fourth Division)
* Frickley Athletic (to the Northern Premier League)
* Gateshead (to the Northern Premier League)
* Nuneaton Borough (to the Southern Premier League)