Stoke City History
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Chart showing the progress of Stoke City F.C. through the English Football League system from t he inaugural season in 1888–89 to 2007–08 whe n Stoke won promotion to the Premier League |
Formation and the early years
Stoke City F.C. was formed in 1863 under the name Stoke Ramblers, when pupils of Charterhouse School formed a football club while apprentices at the North Staffordshire Railway works in Stoke-on-Trent. The club's first documented match was in October 1868, against an EW May XV at the Victoria Cricket Club ground.Henry Almond, the club's founder, was also captain, and scored the club's first ever goal. During this period they played at the Victoria Cricket Ground; however, they switched to a nearby ground at Sweetings Field in 1875 to cope with rising attendances.
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The Stoke team, pictured during the 1870s. |
Stoke was one of the twelve founding members of The Football League when it was introduced in 1888. The club struggled in their first two seasons, 1888–89 and 1889–90, finishing bottom on both occasions. In 1890 Stoke failed to be re-elected and joined the Football Alliance, which they won and thus were re-elected to the Football League. Stoke spent the next 15 seasons in the First Division and reached the FA Cup Semi-Final in the 1898–99 season before being relegated in 1907. Stoke went bankrupt and entered non-league football until 1914, when the First World War meant the Football League was suspended for four years. During the wartime period, Stoke entered the Lancashire Primary and Secondary leagues. When football recommenced in August 1919, Stoke re-joined the league.
The Victoria Ground and Stanley Matthews
The club became owners of the Victoria Ground in 1919. This was followed by the construction of the Butler Street stand, which increased the overall capacity of the ground to 50,000. In 1925, Stoke-on-Trent was granted "city status" and this led the club to change its name toStoke City F.C. in 1928.
The 1930s saw the début of club's most celebrated player, Stanley Matthews. Matthews, who grew up in Hanley, was an apprentice at the club and made his first appearance in March 1932, against Bury, at the age of 17. By end of the decade, Matthews had established himself as an England international and as one of the best footballers of his generation. Stoke achieved promotion from the 2nd Division in 1932–33 – as champions – however Matthews only featured in fifteen games in this season. He did however score his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win against local rivals Port Vale.
By 1934, the club's average attendance had risen to over 23,000, which in turn allowed the club to give the manager Tom Mather increased transfer funds. The club was now considered one of the top teams in the country. It was in this period that the club recorded its record league win, a 10–3 win over West Bromwich Albion in February 1937. In April of that year, the club achieved its record league crowd – 51,373 against Arsenal. Freddie Steele's 33 league goals in the 1936–37 season remains a club record.
Title challenge and league decline
Following the resumption of the FA Cup after WWII, tragedy struck on 9 March 1946, as 33 fans died and 520 were injured during a 6th round tie away against Bolton Wanderers. This came known as the Burnden Park disaster. In 1946–47, Stoke mounted a serious title challenge. The club needed a win in their final game of the season to win the First Division title. However, a 2–1 defeat to Sheffield United meant the title went to Liverpool instead. Stanley Matthews left with 3 games remaining of the 1946–47 season, opting to join Blackpool at the age of 32. John Malkin replaced him in the number 7 shirt.
Stoke were relegated from the First Division in 1952–53; during the season Bob McGrory resigned as the club's manager after 17 years in the role.
The Tony Waddington years
Tony Waddington was appointed as the club's manager in June 1960. He first joined the club in 1952 as a coach, before being promoted to assistant manager in 1957. Waddington pulled off a significant coup by enticing Stanley Matthews – then 46 years old – back to the club, 14 years after he had departed. The return of Matthews helped Stoke to an improved 8th position in 1961–62. Promotion was achieved in the following season, with Stoke finishing as champions. In their first season back in the 1st Division, 1963–64, Waddington guided Stoke to a mid-table finish. Matthews remained influential, as he helped the club to the League Cup final in 1964, which they lost to Leicester City over two legs.
Waddington counted on experience; Dennis Viollet, Jackie Mudie, Roy Vernon, Maurice Setters and Jimmy McIlroy were all players signed in the latter stages of their careers. Matthews was awarded a knighthood for services to football in the 1965 New Year's Honours list. This was followed by his 701st, and final, league appearance for the club against Fulham in February 1965, shortly after his 50th birthday. Gordon Banks, England's 1966 World Cup-winning goalkeeper, joined in 1967 for £52,000 from Leicester. Regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world, Banks proved to be a shrewd signing for Waddington as he helped the club maintain stability in the 1st Division. For one season in 1967, Stoke City F.C. was imported as the Cleveland Stokers of Cleveland, Ohio playing in the United Soccer Association. The team emerged as runner-up of the Eastern Division, failing one point short of the championship final.
The club won its first significant trophy on 4 March 1972 in the League Cup Final. Stoke beat favourites Chelsea 2–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium in front of a crowd of 97,852 spectators. Preceding this victory, Stoke had progressed through 11 games in order to reach the final. This included four games with West Ham United in the semi-final; the two-legged tie was replayed twice. Stoke fared well in the FA Cup; the club progressed to the semi-final stage in both the 1970–71 and 1971–72 seasons. However, on both occasions Stoke lost to Arsenal in a replay. Stoke City also became the first First Division side to play a match on a Sunday, when they faced Chelsea on 27 January 1974.
In January 197 the roof of the Butler Street Stand was blown off in a storm. The repair bill of nearly £250,000 put the club in financial trouble; key players such as Alan Hudson, Mike Pejic and Jimmy Greenhoff were sold to cover the repairs. With the team depleted, Stoke were relegated in the 1976–77 season. Waddington, after a spell of 17 years in charge, left the club after a 1–0 home defeat to Leicester in March 1977.
The managerial roundabout
Waddington was replaced by George Eastham in March 1977; however, he could not prevent the club's relegation to the Second Division in 1976–77. Eastham left in January 1978, after only 10 months in charge, and was replaced by Alan Durban from Shrewsbury Town. Durban achieved promotion to the First Division in the 1978–79 season, but after consolidating the club's position in the First Division he left to manage Sunderland in 1981. Ritchie Barker was appointed for the 1981–82 season but was sacked in December 1983. and replaced by Bill Asprey. Asprey decided to bring back veteran Alan Hudson, and the decision paid off as an improved second-half of the season saw Stoke avoid relegation on the final day of the 1983–84 season.
The 1984–85 season proved to be disastrous. Stoke finished the season with only 17 points, with just 3 wins all season. Mick Mills was appointed player-manager for the 1985–86 season, but was unable to sustain a challenge for promotion and was sacked in November 1989. His successor, Alan Ball, Jr. became the club's 5th manager in 10 years.
Ball struggled in his first season in charge, 1989–90, and Stoke was relegated to the third tier of English football after finishing bottom of the Second Division. Ball kept his job for the start of the following season, 1990–91, but departed during February 1991, in an indifferent season that saw Stoke finish 15th in the Third Division.
Ball's successor, Lou Macari, was appointed in May 1991, prior to the start of the 1991–92 season. He clinched silverware for the club; the Football League Trophy was won with a 1–0 victory against Stockport County at Wembley, with Mark Stein scoring the only goal of the game. The following season, 1992–93, promotion was achieved from the third tier. Macari left in October 1993 to be replaced by Joe Jordan; Stein also departed, in a club record £1.5m move to Chelsea.
Jordan's tenure in charge was short, leaving the club less than a year after joining, and Stoke opted to reappoint Lou Macari only 12 months after he had left. Stoke finished 4th in 1995–96 but were defeated in the play-off semi-final by Leicester City. Macari left the club at the end of the season; his last game in charge was the final league game at the Victoria Ground. Mike Sheron, who was signed two years previously from Norwich City, was sold for a club record fee of £2.5m in 1997.
The Britannia Stadium and the Icelandic takeover
1997–98 saw Stoke move to its new ground, the Britannia Stadium, after 119 years at the Victoria Ground. Chic Bates, Macari's assistant, was appointed manager for the club's first season in the new ground. He did not last long though, and was replaced by Chris Kamara in January 1998. Kamara could not improve the club's fortunes either, and he too left in April. Alan Durban, previously Stoke's manager two decades earlier, took charge for the remainder of season. Despite his best efforts, Durban was unable to keep the club up, as defeat on the final day of the season consigned Stoke to relegation from Division One. Brian Little, formerly manager of Aston Villa, took charge for the 1998–99 season. Despite an impressive start, the team's form tailed off dramatically in the latter stages of the season, which led to Little leaving the club at the end of the season. His successor, Gary Megson, was only in the job for four months. Megson was forced to depart following a takeover by Stoke Holding, an Icelandic consortium, who purchased a 66% share in Stoke City F.C. for the sum of £6.6m. Stoke became the first Icelandic owned football club outside of Iceland. Stoke appointed the football club's first overseas manager, Gudjon Thordarson, who helped Stoke City win the Auto Windscreens Trophy and earn promotion to the First Division in 2001–02. Thordarson had also been a prime mover in getting the consortium together.
The Auto Windscreens Shield was won in the 1999–2000 season, in April 2000, with a win over Bristol City in front of a crowd of 85,057 at Wembley. Thordarson achieved promotion at the third time of asking in 2001–02. A second successive 5th-place finish ensured a play-off spot. Cardiff City were defeated in the semi-final before a 2–0 win against Brentford at the Millennium Stadium secured promotion. Despite achieving the goal of promotion, Thordarson was sacked by Gunnar Gislason only days after the club won promotion.
Steve Cotterill was drafted in as Thordarson's replacement prior to the start of the 2002–03 season, but quit in October 2002 after only 4 months in charge. Tony Pulis was appointed as Stoke's new manager shortly after. Pulis steered Stoke clear of relegation, with a 1–0 win over Reading on the final day of the season keeping the club in the division. However, Pulis was sacked at the end of the 2004–05 season, following disagreement between himself and the club's owners.
Dutch manager Johan Boskamp was named as Pulis' successor on 29 June 2005, only a day after Pulis was sacked. Boskamp broke the club's transfer record in signing Sambégou Bangoura for a fee in the region of £1m, but despite his spending Boskamp's side was inconsistent, and only a mid-table finish was achieved. Boskamp left at the end of the 2005–06 season, amidst a takeover bid by former-chairman Peter Coates. On 23 May 2006, Coates completed his takeover of Stoke City, marking the end of Gunnar Gislason's chairmanship of the club. Coates chose former manager Tony Pulis as Boskamp's successor in June 2006. Pulis took Stoke close to a play-off place, however an eventual 8th-place finish was achieved in the 2006–07 season.
Return to top flight football
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Stoke City fans celebrate following promotion to the Premier League, 4 May 2008 |
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Tony Pulis became the first manager ever to take Stoke City to an FA Cup Final |
Despite poor runs in the FA Cup and Carling Cup, the club exceeded expectations in terms of 2008–09 League performance. A defeat to Bolton Wanderers on the opening day of the season meant bookmaker Paddy Power paid out on Stoke to be relegated, but the team's fortunes quickly changed. Stoke managed to turn the Britannia Stadium into a "fortress", making it difficult for teams to pick up points there. In their first home game, Stoke managed to beat Aston Villa 3-2, and wins also came against Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion. In November, league-champions Manchester United gave Stoke their largest defeat of the season, with a full-time score of 5–0. After a 2–1 win at Hull City, Stoke confirmed their place in the Premier League 2009–10. A defeat to Arsenal away meant that the Potters finished 12th in their return to the top flight, with a total of 45 points.
Stoke finished the following 2009–10 season in a respectable 11th place, with 47 points. Stoke also made it to the quarter finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 1972, beating York City, Arsenal and Manchester City before losing out to eventual winners Chelsea.
A 3–0 win over West Bromwich Albion in the 2010–11 season gave Stoke two new records; the largest away win in the Premier League, the largest top division away win since 1982. It was also the first time since the 1983–84 season that Stoke had won three top-flight matches in a row., with manager Pulis hailed the new records as "a fantastic achievement".
Stoke also reached the FA Cup Final for the first time, beating Cardiff City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brighton & Hove Albion, West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers for a place in the final. However, they lost the final 1–0 to Manchester City. By reaching the final, Stoke qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, after Manchester City confirmed a place in the Champions League.
STADIA
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Stoke moved to the all-seater Britannia Stadiumin 1997. |
However, through Stoke's Naughty Forty firm, they also have a history of football hooliganism along with Cardiff City and Millwall. In 2003 the BBC described Stoke City as having "one of the most active and organised football hooligan firms in England". During the late 1980s and 1990s, hooliganism was routinely expected at any games where Stoke City fans attended. In response to these criticisms, the club introduced an Away Travel ID scheme; this was subsequently suspended in 2008 as a result of improved behaviour and an enhanced reputation. More recently, Stoke City's fans and their stadium have been perceived as loud, friendly, passionate and modern, welcoming as guests Sugar Ray Leonard and Diego Maradona. There is in the media now "genuine admiration for the volume and volatility of the club's loyal support".
In November 2008 a group of Stoke fans were forced by the Greater Manchester Police to leave Manchester before a league match against Manchester United. The Human Rights group Liberty took up the case of the fans, and Manchester police eventually apologized for their actions and the fans were awarded compensation.
Stoke's local rivals are Port Vale, based in the Burslem area of Stoke-on-Trent. As the two clubs have regularly been in different divisions there have only been 46 league matches between the two sides, with the last match being in 2002. Regardless of the lack of games, the Potteries derby is often a tight and close game of football with few goals being scored. Stoke has won 19 matches whilst Vale have won 15.
With Stoke City's rise to the Premier League coinciding with traditional rival Port Vale's relegation to League Two, and a hard-fought promotion battle with another West Midlands outfit West Bromwich Albion, rivalry with West Brom fans has increased. Another rivalry exists with fellow West Midlands club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
