[3][4] Rainer Ernst of BFC Dynamo was the league's top scorer for the second time in a row with 24 goals,[5] while Hans-Jürgen Dörner of Dynamo Dresden again took out the seasons East German Footballer of the year award.
[6] On the strength of the 1984–85 title BFC Dynamo qualified for the 1985–86 European Cup where the club was knocked out by FK Austria Wien in the first round.
Second-placed club Dynamo Dresden qualified for the 1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup as the seasons FDGB-Pokal winners and lost to Bayer Uerdingen in the quarter-finals, in a game dubbed the Miracle of the Grotenburg.
FC Lokomotive Leipzig qualified for the 1985–86 UEFA Cup where it was knocked out by AC Milan in the second round while fourth-placed BSG Wismut Aue lost to FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the first round.
[9] The 1984–85 season saw two newly promoted clubs, Stahl Brandenburg and BSG Motor Suhl.