Season: 1984–85
Football League First Division
League
Back in the First Division as champions, John Neal’s Chelsea finished a remarkable 6th of 22 with 66 points — 18 wins, 12 draws, 12 defeats (63–48).
- Division
- Football League First Division (Tier 1)
- Manager
- John Neal
- Top scorer (league)
- Kerry Dixon (24)
- Top scorer (all comps)
- Kerry Dixon (36)
- Avg. league attendance
- 23,065
Cups & Europe
- FA Cup
- Fourth round
- League Cup
- Semi-finals
- Europe
- —
Notes
Back in the First Division as champions, John Neal’s Chelsea finished a remarkable 6th of 22 with 66 points — 18 wins, 12 draws, 12 defeats (63–48). Home form was 13–3–5 (38–20); away 5–9–7 (25–28). Goal difference +15 put them above Arsenal, who finished level on 66. Everton were champions with 90; Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur took 77 apiece; Manchester United 76; Southampton 68. Norwich City (49), Sunderland (40) and Stoke City (17) went down. The return season mixed swagger with grit. A 6–2 thrashing of Coventry in November and a 3–1 win over Liverpool in December announced the Blues as a force again; Gordon Davies’s hat-trick helped sink Everton 4–3 at Goodison on 22 December. Kerry Dixon finished joint top scorer in the First Division with 24 league goals (level with Leicester’s Gary Lineker) — the first Chelsea player to lead the top flight since Jimmy Greaves in 1960–61 — and 36 in all competitions. David Speedie added 10 and 16; Davies 6; Mickey Thomas 5 and 7; Pat Nevin 4 and 7. The Milk Cup run was the romance of the year. Millwall were beaten 4–2 on aggregate, Walsall after a replay, Manchester City 4–1 at the Bridge, then Sheffield Wednesday in an epic fifth-round tie — 1–1, 4–4 away, and a 2–1 second replay at home. The semi-final against Sunderland ended 0–2 away and 2–3 at home (2–5 on aggregate). The FA Cup reached the fourth round: Wigan Athletic were swept aside 5–0 in a third-round replay after a 2–2 draw at the Bridge, then Millwall won 3–2 at Stamford Bridge. Crowds averaged 23,065 for home league games — high 42,197 against Manchester United on 29 December, low 13,267 versus Aston Villa on 16 April. There was no European football this season. Neal managed every match; that summer heart disease forced him to step down on 11 June 1985, with John Hollins taking over. The Le Coq Sportif thin-hooped home shirt remained the look of the Bridge.
Kits
The hooped look moved to a white away shirt.
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea.htm
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea-change-kits.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_F.C.
Illustration from hex colours (not official kit photography).
On this day (related years)
History
Eras, trophies, and great matches in the History section.
Explore history →Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chelsea_F.C._seasons
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984%E2%80%9385_Chelsea_F.C._season
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984%E2%80%9385_Football_League
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984%E2%80%9385_Football_League_First_Division
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984%E2%80%9385_FA_Cup
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984%E2%80%9385_Football_League_Cup
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Neal_(footballer,_born_1932)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Dixon
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chelsea_F.C._managers
- https://www.fchd.info/CHELSEA.HTM
- https://www.fchd.info/lghist/fl1985.htm
- https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Summaries/1984.htm
- https://bounder.friardale.co.uk/Results/1984.htm
- https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Managers.htm
- https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Chelsea%20Managers/John%20Neal.htm
- https://www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk/stats/Report/gate/a1984-85.html
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea.htm
- https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Chelsea/Chelsea-change-kits.html