# 1985–86 Kilmarnock F.C. season

The 1985–86 season was Kilmarnock's 84th in Scottish League Competitions.
Killie made a very impressive start to the league campaign in Eddie Morrison's first full season in charge. They were top of the table after 18 matches of the back of 4 consecutive victories and only 3 defeats. However, an inexplicable collapse followed in December. The club lost the next 3 matches all by the margin of 4–1 and then a home defeat by local rivals Ayr United.
Despite a less than impressive run of 4 wins in the next 10 matches, Killie were still firmly in the hunt for promotion. However, 3 defeats in the last 7 matches meant the club missed promotion by a point.
The first of these defeats saw Killie lose 2 late goals to Brechin City and lost the game 2–1.
Killie missed a retaken penalty seven minutes from time against Forfar Athletic and lost 1–0 then missed another penalty in the penultimate league game against Partick Thistle in the 62 minute with the score at 0–0.

## Scottish First Division
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Hamilton Academical (C, P) | 39 | 24 | 8 | 7 | 77 | 44 | +33 | 56 | Promotion to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Falkirk (P) | 39 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 57 | 39 | +18 | 45 | Promotion to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Kilmarnock | 39 | 18 | 8 | 13 | 62 | 49 | +13 | 44 | |
| 4 | Forfar Athletic | 39 | 17 | 10 | 12 | 51 | 43 | +8 | 44 | |
| 5 | East Fife | 39 | 14 | 15 | 10 | 54 | 46 | +8 | 43 | |

### Match results

| Match Day | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| 1 | 10 August | Alloa Athletic | H | 3–0 | McLean(50), Millar(51), McGivern(68) | 1,439 |
| 2 | 17 August | Forfar Athletic | A | 0–0 | | 967 |
| 3 | 24 August | Hamilton Academical | H | 1–0 | Millar(52) | 1,752 |
| 4 | 31 August | Ayr United | A | 0–3 | | 2,749 |
| 5 | 7 September | Partick Thistle | H | 5–0 | Bryson(6), Cuthbertson(21), McLean(29pen), McGivern(44), Clarke(78) | 1,944 |
| 6 | 14 September | Greenock Morton | A | 0–3 | | 1,434 |
| 7 | 21 September | Clyde | H | 1–1 | Millar(2) | 2,005 |
| 8 | 28 September | Brechin City | A | 4–2 | Neilson o.g(34), Bryson(60), Sarwar(72), McKinna(86) | 662 |
| 9 | 5 October | Falkirk | H | 1–0 | McLean(26pen) | 1,937 |
| 10 | 12 October | Montrose | H | 0–0 | | 1,498 |
| 11 | 19 October | Dumbarton | A | 0–1 | | 1,559 |
| 12 | 26 October | Airdrieonians | A | 2–1 | Clarke(69,88) | 1,513 |
| 13 | 2 November | East Fife | H | 2–2 | Cuthbertson(26,88) | 1,425 |
| 14 | 9 November | Partick Thistle | A | 1–1 | Bryson(49pen) | 2,391 |
| 15 | 16 November | Greenock Morton | H | 3–0 | Cockburn(4), Martin(44), Cuthbertson(62) | 1,837 |
| 16 | 23 November | Clyde | A | 3–1 | McGivern(20,78), Clarke(64) | 1,102 |
| 17 | 30 November | Brechin City | H | 3–1 | Bryson(13), Millar(48), Cuthbertson(82) | 2,787 |
| 18 | 7 December | Falkirk | A | 1–0 | McGivern(62) | 2,542 |
| 19 | 14 December | Montrose | A | 1–4 | McKinna(87) | 616 |
| 20 | 21 December | Dumbarton | H | 1–4 | Bryson(15) | 2,311 |
| 21 | 28 December | Hamilton Academical | A | 1–4 | Bryson(62) | 3,271 |
| 22 | 1 January | Ayr United | H | 1–2 | Bryson(88pen) | 4,119 |
| 23 | 4 January | Forfar Athletic | H | 1–0 | Millar(37) | 1,296 |
| 24 | 11 January | Alloa Athletic | A | 4–1 | McGivern(25), Millar(74,88), Cuthbertson(80) | 672 |
| 25 | 18 January | Airdrieonians | H | 0–2 | | 1,711 |
| 26 | 1 February | East Fife | A | 2–2 | Bryson(7,58) | 1,182 |
| 27 | 8 February | Greenock Morton | H | 1–1 | Clarke(59) | 2,252 |
| 28 | 1 March | Montrose | H | 3–0 | McNab(5), Bryson(8), McGuire(37) | 1,502 |
| 29 | 8 March | Hamilton Academical | A | 2–3 | McGivern(17,74) | 2,345 |
| 30 | 15 March | Alloa Athletic | H | 2–0 | McCafferty(14), McNab(54) | 1,260 |
| 31 | 22 March | Airdrieonians | A | 0–1 | | 1,409 |
| 32 | 25 March | Falkirk | A | 1–1 | McNab(29) | 1,759 |
| 33 | 29 March | Brechin City | H | 1–2 | Bryson(22) | 1,511 |
| 34 | 5 April | Clyde | A | 3–1 | Bryson(34), McGivern(47,51) | 820 |
| 35 | 9 April | East Fife | H | 2–0 | McGivern(9), McGuire(73) | 1,320 |
| 36 | 12 April | Forfar Athletic | A | 0–1 | | 874 |
| 37 | 19 April | Dumbarton | H | 3–0 | Bryson(20), Clarke(83), McGuire(89) | 2,321 |
| 38 | 26 April | Partick Thistle | A | 0–2 | | 2,835 |
| 39 | 3 May | Ayr United | H | 3–2 | Bryson(29), McGuire(28,70) | 2,369 |

## Scottish League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| R2 | 20 August | St Mirren | A | 1–3 | Millar(26) | 3,435 |

## Scottish Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | H/A | Score | Kilmarnock Scorer(s) | Attendance |
| R3 | 25 January | Stirling Albion | H | 1–0 | McCafferty(33) | 2,139 |
| R4 | 15 February | Dundee United | A | 1–1 | Bryson(75) | 6,610 |
| R4R | 19 February | Dundee United | H | 0–1 | | 9,054 |