Accies won the First Division Championship in 1985-86 , this is a look back at an amazing season
PART TWO – JANUARY TO MAY 1986
January 1986
The bad weather at the start of 1986 saw Accies first two matches at Airdrie and Brechin postponed before a return to action on 11th January at home to Falkirk. A tough afternoon saw second half goals from Tommy O’Neill and a first in Accies colours by Adrian Sprott.
Accies run of 6 consecutive wins was brought to a halt at Somerset Park where again Adrian Sprott scored in a 1-1 draw , the fifth consecutive match between the teams in Ayr with the same 1-1 result.
Accies Scottish Cup tie with Forfar Athletic at Douglas Park was postponed as the weather continued to bite.
February 1986
Accies played Clyde on 1st February at Douglas Park and really clicked into gear scoring two tremendous volleys by John McNaught and John Brogan in a 3-0 win.
Two days later Forfar Athletic visited Douglas Park in the Scottish Cup tie previously postponed with two John Brogan goals securing a 2-1 win.
The freezing conditions meant Accies didn’t play another game in February. Home games against Alloa and then the Fourth Round Scottish Cup tie at home to Premier Division leaders Hearts were postponed. The cup tie was postponed on multiple occasions as well as league games at East Fife and Forfar.
March 1986
A capacity crowd packed Douglas Park on the evening of Monday 3rd March 1986 and witnessed the most extraordinary start , as John McNaught galloped down the right wing and crossed for John Brogan to put Accies 1-0 ahead after 21 seconds.
The lead was sadly short lived as Hearts John Robertson soon equalised.
Hearts goalkeeper Henry Smith produced numerous saves to keep Accies at bay and won the match of the match on the night , but it was Hearts Gary Mackay who scored the only goal of the second half to win the game 2-1 for the Edinburgh side.
Accies retuned to Douglas Park the following Saturday on a blustery day against Kilmarnock. Three Accies first half goals threatened to sweep the Ayrshire side away, but the change of ends with the wind advantage saw a Kilmarnock comeback , however Accies held out to win 3-2. Accies were four points ahead at the top of the league with two games in hand.
This was followed by two games in seven days against Brechin City , the re-arranged midweek visit to Angus where Accies won 3-1 was followed by the teams meeting at Douglas Park. Joe Reid scored after 35 seconds and despite John Pelosi missing a penalty shortly afterwards , the goal was enough to secure a 1-0 win.
A tough week with three away fixtures began with a 1-0 win at Ayr and then a trip on the Monday evening to Airdrie saw Accies race into a 3-0 lead before a late Joe Reid goal won the game 4-0.
Firhill was the next stop for the Accies bandwagon. A John McNaught first half goal gave Accies a platform to build a 2-0 victory where captain Graeme Mitchell netted in the second half.
Accies despite the cup defeat to Hearts followed this up with six consecutive wins in March which opened a substantial gap at the top of the league with Dumbarton who had played two games more were 8 points behind with 7 games left.
Accies ended March having won 13 leagues games from 14 since the end of November victory at Cappielow.
Accies announced the arrival of Brazilian trialist Jorge Fernandez but his time in Lanarkshire was short lived with TV pictures showing him missing the whole goal as they tried to stage him scoring for the cameras.
April – May 1986
On 2nd April 1986 Accies drew 1-1 at home to Alloa , a game in which goalkeeper Rikki Ferguson made his 500th appearance for the club , a true Accies legend.
Accies were on the verge of promotion and Champions elect however the second promotion spot was wide open going into the final month of the season. although Dumbarton looked favourites.
Hamilton 31 +38 48
Dumbarton 32 +14 39
Falkirk 33 +13 36
Kilmarnock 33 +8 36
Forfar 31 +5 34
East Fife 32 +1 33
A John Brogan goal at home to Montrose coupled with their penalty miss meant Accies won 1-0 and secure promotion to the Premier League.
The following midweek there were some shock results with Dumbarton losing at home to Forfar 2-0 in an early kick off , which put Accies on the verge of the title.
Accies with promotion secured played a Falkirk team with the motivation of chasing promotion and the Bairns ran out surprise 3-0 winners.
Hamilton 33 +36 50
Dumbarton 34 +12 40
Falkirk 35 +17 40
Kilmarnock 35 +12 40
Forfar 33 +6 36
East Fife 34 -1 34
The Hamilton fans travelled in numbers to Shawfield as Accies faced Clyde in the hope of the securing the league title. It was something of an anti-climax with Clyde winning 4-2. Alex Hamill’s late red card was Accies only sending off of the season. Robin Rae was given his debut in goal, as was young Gerry McGuigan.
However news filtered through from Broomfield that a late goal by former Accies player Jamie Fairlie had given Airdrie a 2-1 win over Dumbarton which meant Accies were Champions.
Shawfield saw the Accies fans invade the pitch in celebration.
A day of shocks also saw Falkirk lose 3-2 at home to Morton while Forfar beat Kilmarnock 1-0 at Station Park.
Hamilton 34 +34 50
Falkirk 36 +16 40
Dumbarton 35 +12 40
Kilmarnock 36 +11 40
Forfar 34 +7 38
East Fife 35 0 36
Accies travelled to Methil for a midweek 6.30pm kick off and Robin Rae again played and conceded another four goals in a 4-0 defeat.
Dumbarton once again seized second place winning 3-1 at Alloa
Hamilton 35 +30 50
Dumbarton 36 +14 42
Falkirk 36 +16 40
Kilmarnock 36 +11 40
Forfar 35 +7 39
East Fife 36 +4 38
With captain Graham Mitchell in hospital , vice captain Willie Jamieson was presented with the First Division Championship trophy, the players took the trophy on a lap of honour prior to the 2-1 win over Morton at Douglas Park.
Kilmarnock’s 3-0 home win over Dumbarton put them firmly in the promotion hunt as Falkirk beat Brechin 2-1 at Brockville
Hamilton 36 +31 52
Falkirk 37 +17 42
Dumbarton 37 +11 42
Kilmarnock 37 +14 42
Forfar 36 +8 41
East Fife 37 +6 40
Accies ended the season with three away games , a midweek 2-0 defeat at Forfar, moved the Angus side into second place with two games remaining.
Hamilton 37 +29 52
Forfar 37 +10 43
Falkirk 37 +17 42
Dumbarton 37 +11 42
Kilmarnock 37 +14 42
East Fife 37 +6 40
Accies then followed up with a 4-1 win at Dumbarton where Gerry Phillips was given a rare start and scored twice as John McNaught played his final game for Accies before his £92,000 transfer to Chelsea. This was a game Dumbarton had to win , and Accies ended their promotion hopes.
Forfar lost 2-0 at Morton and Kilmarnock lost 2-0 at Partick , so it was Falkirk with a 2-1 win at Ayr who moved into pole position for the second automatic promotion place going into the final day.
A Falkirk defeat at home to East Fife on the final day could open the door to Forfar or even Dumbarton , Kilmarnock or East Fife.
Hamilton 38 +32 54
Falkirk 38 +18 44
Forfar 38 +13 43
Dumbarton 38 +8 42
Kilmarnock 38 +12 42
East Fife 38 +7 42
The final day of the season saw John McNaught join the fans on the terracing at Broomfield as Accies beat Airdrie 2-1.
Falkirk secured promotion behind Accies with as 2-2 draw against East Fife at Brockville . while Forfar also drew 2-2 . at Alloa
FINAL TABLE 1986/86
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Hamilton Academical 39 24 8 7 77 44 +33 56
2 Falkirk 39 17 11 11 57 39 +18 45
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
6 Dumbarton 39 16 11 12 59 52 +7 43
7 Morton 39 14 11 14 57 63 −6 39
8 Partick Thistle 39 10 16 13 53 64 −11 36
9 Airdrieonians 39 12 11 16 51 50 +1 35
10 Brechin City 39 13 9 17 58 64 −6 35
11 Clyde 39 9 17 13 49 59 −10 35
12 Montrose 39 10 14 15 43 54 −11 34
13 Ayr United 39 10 11 18 41 60 −19 31
14 Alloa Athletic 39 6 14 19 49 74 −25 26
Accies were First Division Champions and top scorer John Brogan won the First Division Player of Year
Football is Academical 