1 July 1986 – After one season at Everton, Gary Lineker departs to Barcelona of Spain in a £2.75 million deal, where he will play alongside former Manchester United striker Mark Hughes in a side managed by Terry Venables.

25 July 1986 – Ipswich Town, relegated to the Second Division at the end of last season, sell England international defender Terry Butcher to Rangers, managed by former Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness, in a £700,000 deal – a record for a Scottish club.

30 July 1986 – Wolverhampton Wanderers win a High Court appeal against their winding-up order, enabling them to compete in the Fourth Division campaign – the first time they have played at this level.

[11] 21 September 1986 – The pressure mounts on Manchester United manager Ron Atkinson after a 3–1 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park, with his side still second from bottom with one win and four points from their first seven league games.

[15] 28 September 1986 – Manchester United's dismal start to the season continues as they lose 1–0 at home to Chelsea in the league at Old Trafford – their sixth defeat from their opening eight games.

[29] 4 November 1986 – Southampton beat Manchester United 4–1 in the League Cup third round replay clash at The Dell, with 18-year-old striker Matt Le Tissier scoring his first two goals for the club.

21 November 1986 – Wolverhampton Wanderers continue their rebuilding process and bid for promotion from the Fourth Division by signing midfielder Andy Thompson and striker Steve Bull from neighbours West Bromwich Albion for £35,000 each.

[2] Oldham Athletic and Portsmouth continue to lead the way in the Second Division, with Plymouth Argyle and Leeds United still occupying the play-off zone, joined by Derby County.

[54] 13 January 1987 – Winger Peter Barnes becomes the second Manchester United player to transfer to neighbours City this season when he completes his £30,000 return to the club where he started his career more than a decade ago.

[citation needed] 20 January 1987 – The country's biggest anti-hooliganism police operation sees 26 suspected football hooligans arrested in raids in the West Midlands and Southern England.

[citation needed] 23 January 1987 – Liverpool's £250,000 move for West Bromwich Albion defender Derek Statham falls through after the player fails a fitness test.

31 January 1987 – In the FA Cup fourth round, Coventry City win 1–0 away to Manchester United, while Arsenal put six goals past Plymouth Argyle at Highbury.

[60] 14 February 1987 – In a thrilling game between one side challenging for the title and the other battling to avoid relegation, Liverpool beat Leicester City 4–3 at Anfield, Ian Rush scoring a hat-trick.

[62] England under-21s beat Spain 2–1 in a friendly in Burgos, with goals from 19-year-old Arsenal midfielder David Rocastle and 21-year-old West Ham United striker Tony Cottee.

21 February 1987 – Wigan Athletic, currently in the Third Division and in only their ninth season as Football League members, reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history by beating Hull City 3–0 in the fifth round at Springfield Park.

[69] 7 March 1987 – Charlton Athletic boost their First Division survival hopes and climb out of the bottom four with a 2–1 home win over London rivals West Ham, who drop to 14th.

[62] 2 April 1987 – Former Aston Villa and Wales midfielder Trevor Hockey dies of a heart attack at the age of 43 after collapsing during a charity football match in West Yorkshire.

[84] 9 April 1987 – Fourth Division side Halifax Town become the first Football League members to be run by their local council as part of a rescue package to save the club from bankruptcy.

[87] 15 April 1987 – Tottenham's title hopes are left hanging by a thread after they are held to a 1–1 draw by Manchester City at Maine Road, while the lost two points are a major blow to the hosts in their battle for survival.

Derby County beat Sheffield United 1–0 at Bramall Lane and now need just one point to secure automatic promotion, as do Portsmouth after a 2–0 win over Grimsby Town at Blundell Park.

Charlton move into the relegation playoff place by beating Newcastle 3–0 on Tyneside, with Leicester dropping into the bottom three after being held to a 1–1 draw at home by local rivals Coventry.

During his time at Watford, Taylor took the club from the Fourth Division to the First, finishing league runners-up in their first top flight season and reaching the FA Cup final in their second.

[104] 25 May 1987 – More than 31,000 fans watch Leeds United beat Charlton Athletic 1–0 in the second leg of the contest for a place in next season's First Division, forcing a replay at a neutral venue.

29 May 1987 – Charlton Athletic stay in the First Division after Peter Shirtliff scores twice in extra time to beat Leeds United 2–1 in the play-off final replay at St Andrew's.

Liverpool were faced with a future without Ian Rush following his move to Juventus, but used the windfall to sign Peter Beardsley from Newcastle United for a national record fee of £1.9million, and pay nearly £1million for Watford and England winger John Barnes.

Alex Ferguson paid Celtic £850,000 for prolific striker Brian McClair, who was originally valued at £2million, and bolstered his defence with a £250,000 move for Arsenal and England defender Viv Anderson.

The first team to miss out on automatic promotion from 3rd place under the new play-off system was Oldham Athletic, seeking top-flight football for the first time since 1923, who then lost to 4th-place Leeds United on a last-minute aggregate-equalizer and deciding away goal.

Billy Bremner enjoyed a good first full season as manager of the Leeds United side he had once captained as a player, taking them to the FA Cup semi-finals as well as the playoffs, where only a defeat to Charlton Athletic in the final prevented them from reclaiming the First Division place they had last held in 1982.

The fourth and final relegation place went to Bolton Wanderers, the second illustrious Football League side this season to reach its lowest ebb as victims of the new playoffs.

A season after having to apply to stay in the Football League, Preston North End enjoyed a fantastic turnaround in fortunes and won promotion from the Fourth Division as runners-up under new manager John McGrath.