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.

Football Conference
Season1986–87[1]
ChampionsScarborough (1st Football Conference title)
Promoted to the Football LeagueScarborough
Conference League Cup winnersKettering Town
FA Trophy winnersKidderminster Harriers
Relegated to
Level 6
Frickley Athletic,
Gateshead,
Nuneaton Borough
Matches played462
Goals scored1,403 (3.04 per match)
Top goalscorerKim Casey (Kidderminster Harriers), 38
Biggest home winSutton UnitedKettering Town 8–0
Biggest away winGatesheadBarnet 1–5;
Nuneaton BoroughBoston United 1–5;
Kidderminster HarriersTelford United 0–4;
Nuneaton BoroughWeymouth 0–4;
WealdstoneBoston United 0–4
Highest scoringRuncornNorthwich Victoria 7–3
Longest winning run?
Longest unbeaten run?
Longest losing run?
Highest attendance?
Lowest attendance?
Average attendance917

Overview

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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

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Final league table

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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[a] 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[b]
19 Wealdstone 42 7 5 9 26 34 4 5 12 24 36 −20 43
20 Welling United[a] 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[a] 42 3 7 11 26 45 3 6 12 22 50 −47 31
Source: [1]
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c New club in the Conference
  2. ^ Nuneaton Borough were relegated due to financial irregularities.

Results

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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
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Peter Dunk (ed.), Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. Queen Anne Press, Macdonald Futura Publishers, London & Sydney, 1987.[1]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Locations of the Football Conference teams 1986–1987

Topscorers

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Rank Player Club League FA Cup FA Trophy League Cup Total[1]
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

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Relegated

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Peter Dunk (ed.), Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. Queen Anne Press, Macdonald & Co., London & Sydney, 1987.
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