The following are the association football events of the year 1885 throughout the world.

Events

During the summer of 1885, there was pressure put on the Football Association

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

 to accept professionalism in English football, culminating in a special meeting on 20 July, after which it was announced that it was "in the interests of Association Football, to legalise the employment of professional football players, but only under certain restrictions". Clubs were allowed to pay players provided that they had either been born or had lived for two years within a six-mile radius of the ground. There were also rules preventing professional players playing for more than one club in a season, without obtaining special permission, and all professional players had to be registered with the F.A.

• 12 September: Arbroath F.C.
  Arbroath F.C.
  Arbroath F.C. are a Scottish football club currently playing in the Scottish Second Division. They were founded in 1878 and currently play their home matches at Gayfield, Arbroath, Angus. They play in maroon strips, and are nicknamed "The Red Lichties" due to the red light that used to guide...
  
   beat Bon Accord F.C.
  Bon Accord F.C.
  Bon Accord were a football team from Aberdeen, Scotland who suffered the worst defeat in any British senior football match, losing 36–0 to Arbroath on 12 September 1885 in a first round match of the Scottish Cup...
  
   (of Aberdeen) 36-0, a record which stands to this day. On the same day, Dundee Harp
  Dundee Harp F.C.
  Dundee Harp F.C. are a defunct Scottish football club that were based in the city of Dundee. Founded in 1879, the team went out of business in 1897.-History:...
  
   beat Aberdeen Rovers 35-0.

Clubs founded in 1885

• Aalborg BK
• Bromsgrove Rovers F.C.
  Bromsgrove Rovers F.C.
  Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. were a non-League football club from the town of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. The peak of the club's success was in 1993 when Rovers finished runner-up in the Football Conference...
  
  
• Bury F.C.
  Bury F.C.
  Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...
  
  
• Chester City F.C.
  Chester City F.C.
  Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...
  
  
• Dunfermline Athletic F.C.
  Dunfermline Athletic F.C.
  Dunfermline Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football team based in Dunfermline, Fife, commonly known as just Dunfermline. They currently compete in the Scottish Premier League....
  
  
• Hailsham Town F.C.
  Hailsham Town F.C.
  Hailsham Town F.C. is a football club based in Hailsham, East Sussex, England. They were established in 1885 and joined the Sussex County League in 1955 as Hailsham F.C., changing to their present name in 1970...
  
  
• Kingstonian F.C.
  Kingstonian F.C.
  Kingstonian Football Club are an English, semi-professional football club that are playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division for the 2011–12 season. The club has played at Kingsmeadow in Kingston upon Thames since 1989, after leaving their traditional Richmond Road ground...
  
  
• Lewes F.C.
  Lewes F.C.
  Lewes Football Club is an English football team based in Lewes, East Sussex. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at the Dripping Pan.-History:...
  
  
• Luton Town F.C.
  Luton Town F.C.
  Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
  
  
• Millwall Rovers F.C.
  Millwall F.C.
  Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
  
  
• Southampton F.C.
  Southampton F.C.
  Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
  
  
• St Johnstone F.C.
  St Johnstone F.C.
  St. Johnstone F.C. is a professional football club based in Perth, Scotland. Although it is officially recorded as being formed in 1884, the club did not play its first game until February 1885. The club's home since 1989 has been McDiarmid Park....
  
  

International tournaments

• 1885 British Home Championship
  1885 British Home Championship
  The 1885 British Home Championship was the second football tournament between the Home Nations and was, like the previous competition, won by a Scottish team which completely dominated proceedings. The English also performed well, beginning with a strong victory over Ireland but failing to...
  
  (February 28 – April 11, 1885)