Stoke City F.C., considered to be the second-oldest English football league club, 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 five years later, in October 1868, against an EW May XV at the Victoria Cricket Club ground. Henry Almond, Stoke City's founder, was also captain, and coincidentally scored the club's first ever goal. During this period Stoke City played at the Victoria Cricket Ground; however, they switched to a ground located at nearby Sweetings Field in 1875 to cope with rising attendances.
In 1878, Stoke City merged with Stoke Victoria Cricket Club, it was at this time that they became simply known as Stoke Football Club. Stoke City moved from their previous ground, Sweetings Field, to the Athletic Club ground, which would soon became known as the Victoria Ground. It was around this time that Stoke City adopted their traditional red-and-white striped kit. In August 1885, 15 years after it was initially founded, Stoke City turned professional.
Stoke City became one of the twelve founding members of The Football League when it was introduced in 1888. Stoke City struggled in their first two seasons, 1888-89 and 1889-90, finishing bottom on both occasions. In 1914, the First World War meant the league was suspended for a period of four years, until it eventually recommenced in August 1919. During this wartime period, Stoke City entered the Lancashire Primary and Secondary leagues.
Stoke City became owners of their stadium, the Victoria Ground, around 1919. This followed by the construction of the new 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 for the final time to Stoke 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 City 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 Stoke City 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. Stoke City was now considered one of the top teams in the country. It was in this period that Stoke City recorded its record league win, a 10–3 win over West Brom in February 1937. In the April of that year Stoke City achieved their record league crowd - 51,373 against Arsenal. Freddie Steele's 33 league goals in 1936-37 remains a club record to this date.
The outbreak of World War II prevented any further progress as the league was suspended during the 1939-40 season for a period of 6 years. Following the resumption of the FA Cup, tragedy struck as 33 fans died and 520 were injured during 6th round tie away against Bolton Wanderers. In 1946-47, Stoke City mounted a serious title challenge. Stoke City needed a win in their final game of the season to win the First Division title, however a 2–1 to Sheffield United F.C. defeat meant the title went to Liverpool instead. Stanley Matthews left Stoke City with 3 games remaining of the 1946-47 season, opting to join Blackpool at the age of 32.
Stoke City succumbed to relegation from the First Division in 1952-53, during the season Bob McGory resigned as the club's manager after 17 years in the role.
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 - now 46 years old - back to Stoke City, 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 next season, with Stoke City finishing as champions. In their first season back in the 1st Division, 1963-64, Waddington guided Stoke City to a mid-table finish. Matthews remained influential, as he helped the club to the League Cup final in 1964, although this followed by defeat to Leicester City over two legs.
Waddington counted on experience; Dennis Viollet, Jackie Mudie, Roy Vernon, Maurice Setters and Jimmy McIlroy were 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.
Stoke City won their 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 City 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 match 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. This was Stoke's best cup run for some time, as the club haven't beaten top-flight opposition in the FA Cup since 1975. Stoke City also became the first First Division side to play a match on a Sunday, when they faced Chelsea on 27 January 1974
The Butler Stand Roof was blown off in a storm, in January 1976. The repair bill, in the region of £250,000, put the club in financial trouble, which was only eased by the sales of Alan Hudson, Mike Pejic and Jimmy Greenhoff for a combined sum of £440,000. With the team depleted, relegation proved inevitable in 1976-77. Waddington, after a spell of 17 years in charge, left Stoke City after a 1–0 home defeat to Leicester in March 1977.
Waddington was replaced by George Eastham in March 1977, however he could not halt the club's slide to the Second Division in 1976-77. Eastham did not last long in the job, leaving Stoke City during the 1977-78 season, in January 1978, after only 10 months in charge. Alan Durban, arriving from Shrewsbury Town, was selected as the club's new manager in February 1978. Durban achieved promotion to the First Division in his first full season in charge, 1978-79, on the last day of the season. After consolidating the club's position in the First Division, Durban left for Sunderland in 1981. Ritchie Barker, who was appointed for 1981-82, had a short spell in charge, but was sacked in December 1983. The club's new manager, Bill Asprey decided to bring back veteran Alan Hudson. The decision paid off as an improved second-half of the season led to Stoke City avoiding relegation on the final day of the 1983-84 season.
The next season, commonly referred to as The Holocaust Season by fans, proved to be disastrous. Stoke City finished the season with only 17 points, with just 3 wins all season. Mick Mills was appointed player-manager for the 1985-86 season. Mills was unable to sustain a challenge for promotion however, and was sacked in November 1989 following a poor start to the 1989-90 season, after spending £1m on players. 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 his Stoke City were 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 the midst of 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 - now known as Division Two with Stoke City finishing as league champions. Macari left in October 1993; Stein also departed, in a club record £1.5m move to Chelsea.
Joe Jordan's tenure in charge was short; as he departed Stoke City less than a year after joining. Following Jordan's departure, Stoke City opted to reappoint Lou Macari only 12 months after he had left. Stoke City finished 4th in 1995-96 but were defeated in the play-off 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.
1997-98 saw Stoke City move to their 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 City 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 Stoke City 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 City became the first Icelandic owned football club outside of Iceland. The new owners moved to appoint the club's first foreign manager, Icelander Gudjon Thordarson, in November 1999. Thordarson had, in fact, been the primus motor in getting the consortium together.
The Auto Windscreens trophy was won in the 1999-2000 season, in April 2000, with a win over Bristol City in front of a crowd of 75,057 at Wembley. Thordarson achieved promotion at the third time of asking in 2000-01. 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 Stoke City won promotion.
Steve Cotterill was drafted in as Thordarson's replacement prior to the start of the 2002-03 season. Cotterill quit in October 2002, after only 4 months in charge. Tony Pulis was appointed as Stoke's new manager shortly after.[7][38] 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. 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. Despite his spending on new players, 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 is a former shareholder of the catering company which supplies to the majority of Northern England's football grounds, Stadia Catering, as well as being the chairman of Bet365, the betting company which provides services in many sporting venues, albeit not including the Britannia Stadium. 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.
Stoke City won promotion to the Premier League after a goalless draw with Leicester City on the last day of the 2007–08 season, which was enough to keep them in 2nd place of The Championship and earn automatic promotion. The promotion will earn Stoke £35 million for the 2008–09 season, and a minimum of £60 million over the space of three seasons.
Their first top flight match was at the Reebok Stadium where they were beaten by a dominant Bolton Wanderers team 3–1, with Ricardo Fuller scoring Stoke's only goal in the last minute. Following the result, bookmaker Paddy Power paid out on Stoke to be relegated after just one game. However, in their first Premier League home match, Stoke picked up all three points against Aston Villa in a close 3-2 win.[52] Following defeats against Middlesbrough and Everton, Stoke managed to pick up a surprise point against Liverpool at Anfield. Stoke further added to their points tally almost a month later in a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur: successive wins at home to Sunderland and Arsenal saw them reach a league high of twelfth place.
Stoke City picked up eight points in November with a further win against West Brom and draws against Hull City and Wigan Athletic, though they also suffered a 5-0 defeat away to Manchester United, their worst defeat of the season.
In December, the club were knocked out of the Carling Cup by Derby County in the Quarter-Finals, but then claimed an unlikely point away at Newcastle United as they came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2: the result saw them climb to 13th in the table. The following month they were knocked out of the FA Cup by League One side Hartlepool United in the 3rd Round. More recently Stoke drew with Portsmouth and Aston Villa. They also beat Bolton Wanderers and went up to 15th after a 2-0 win. |