| Season: | 1984–85 |
| League Topscorer: | Ian Allinson Brian Talbot Tony Woodcock (10 each) |
| Season Topscorer: | Tony Woodcock (13 goals) |
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| Nextseason: | 1985–86 |
The 1984–85 season was Arsenal Football Club's 59th consecutive season in the top flight of English football.[1] [2] After a promising start to the season, they slipped to seventh in the Football League First Division.
After the previous season's League Cup exit to Walsall, Arsenal once-again exited cup competition to lower-division opponents. The team lost to second-division Oxford United in the League Cup and third-division York City in the FA Cup.
Viv Anderson was one important addition to the squad, strengthening their defense when he joined Arsenal for £250,000.[3] 18-year old Tony Adams made sixteen league appearances after his debut the previous season.[4]
Midway through the season, Pat Jennings was replaced by John Lukic as the first choice keeper.
Arsenal's start to the 1984/85 season had been relatively promising, with eight wins in the first eleven league matches. Don Howe had taken over from Terry Neill in December 1983 and results had improved. At the end of October 1984 saw Arsenal looking like a team that could challenge for the title; they had reclaimed their place at the top of Division One. However, that good form soon dipped. After a 4-2 defeat at Old Trafford, Arsenal slowly began to fall. The season overall was a disappointment.
Some decent league performances were undermined by a complete lack of consistency, and two embarrassing cup exits, to Second Division Oxford United in the League Cup, and Third Division York City in the FA Cup.[5] [6] York City's victory over Arsenal in the fourth round, still resonates as one of the competition's big shocks. A star-studded Arsenal-side, put together at a cost of more than £4.5 million and featuring eight internationals, arrived at Bootham Crescent on January 26, 1985. But on a snow-bound day in York, Arsenal met their match against a heroic side that defied the odds to record a 1–0 victory, with a last minute penalty by Keith Houchen.[7] [8]
The 1984-85 season was Pat Jennings' final season in his long and illustrious career. On Halloween night in 1984, Arsenal played Oxford United away in the League Cup, where Jennings and the team had a particularly rough night. Arsenal were beaten 3-2 and eliminated from the competition. John Lukic played the next game, but Jennings returned to the side for three more matches. The last being up at Hillsborough, against Sheffield Wednesday on 25 November 1984. Lukic returned to the side against Luton Town 1 December 1984, and Jennings never played for Arsenal again.[9] Jennings played in a farewell match against Tottenham Hotspur 8 May 1985 at Highbury.
See main article: 1984–85 Football League Cup.
See main article: 1984–85 FA Cup. Arsenal entered the FA Cup in the third round proper, in which they were drawn to face Hereford United.