This particular campaign provided much in the way of entertainment for the Rovers supporters, even though the team finished in fourteenth place in the old Third Division, a full thirty five points behind the Champions, Bradford City. There were memorable moments in the FA Cup, but more of that later.

Although the Rovers lost their opening fixture at Preston North End, it was felt that the team had played well, and five wins from the next six games supported this belief. Perhaps the best of these results was a 4-1 away win at Reading, where Alan Brown weight in with a hat-trick. By the first week in October, the Rovers were lying fourth in the table, and although Rotherham United came to Belle Vue and won by the only goal of the match at the end of that week, the Rovers soon got back into winning ways, ending the same month with a thrilling home victory over Plymouth Argyle, after being two goals down at half time.

By this stage of the season, Alan Brown had been out of the side for some weeks with an injury that eventually cost him his career, and apart from a comprehensive home win over Swansea City, the Rovers were struggling to score more than a goal a game, with the result that they began to drop down the table. By way of a change, whey went to table topping Bradford City on Boxing Day and won by a goal to nil, despite having two players sent off.

The New Year opened with a solid home win over Walsall, with both Ian and Glynn Snodin amongst the scorers, but the only other League game played that month ended in a heavy defeat at Reading. As the second half of the campaign progressed, the Rovers got their act together to a degree, and, boosted by the signing of Ray Deans, a raw but determined young striker from Scotland, started to put some decent performances together. The more notable of these were consecutive away successes at Burnley and Rotherham United, where Deans scored on both occasions. The victory at Millmoor was especially sweet with the Rovers winning by the odd goal in five.

However five of the next six games were lost before the Rovers won a remarkable game at Lincoln City, where John Buckley performed a passable impersonation of a one man forward line as the Rovers won despite having two players sent off as they had at Bradford, four months earlier. But the season ended in drab fashion with a further three defeats in the last four fixtures, making a total of twenty one losses in the campaign, which was a poor return for the calibre of the playing staff at Belle Vue.

The 1984/85 season is perhaps best remembered for the Rovers' FA Cup exploits. Away wins at Rochdale and Altrincham preceded a memorable Third Round home victory over QPR. The Rovers went out in Round Four, but only after a brave performance at Everton. The Milk Cup was less productive, with York City going through to the Second Round with the Rovers very much second best to the 'Minstermen'. The same opposition put the Rovers out of the Freight Rover Trophy later in the season.

Leading scorers: Snodin (G) 18, Douglas 10.

Player of the year standings at 14/4/1985: Ian Snodin 214, John Buckley 154, Glynn Snodin 134, Steve Lister 132, David Harle 114, Colin Douglas 89, Billy Russell 71, Dennis Peacock 70, Aidan Butterworth 58, Steve Yates 57, John Philliben 51, Ray Deans 46, Glenn Humphries 45, Tony Brown 39, Andy Kowalski 31, Alan Brown 22, Dave Travis 19, Nigel Saddington 16, Derrick Parker 8, Jim Dobbin 5, Neil Woods 4, George Berry 3,, Paul Allen 2, Gary Lee 2