1952–53 Stoke City F.C. season

Stoke City
1952–53 season
Chairman Mr E. Henshall
Manager Frank Taylor
Football League First Division 21st (34 Points)
FA Cup Round 4
Top goalscorer Harry Oscroft (10)
Highest home attendance 35,006 vs Manchester City (23 August 1952)
Lowest home attendance 19,611 vs Sunderland(28 March 1953)

The 1952–53 season was Stoke's 53rd season of league football and the 32nd in the First Division.

Contents

Overview

With Bob McGrory resigning and Frank Taylor taking over. Taylor was a 'new breed' of tracksuit manager and was regarded as potential great manager by the Stoke board. The first act Taylor did was to erect a sign above the players dressing room which read: Are you 90 minutes fit? It's the last 20 minutes that count – train for it.

The 1952–53 season was obviously going to be a transitional period for the club. However by Christmas time Stoke found themselves in the relegation zone and that is where they stayed. Relegation to the Second Division was a major disappointment for Stoke and ended the club's 20 years stay in the First Division.

Final league table

First Division

P W D L F A GA Pts
1 Arsenal 42 21 12 9 97 64 1.516 54
2 Preston North End 42 21 12 9 85 60 1.417 54
3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 19 13 10 86 63 1.365 51
4 West Bromwich Albion 42 21 8 13 66 60 1.100 50
5 Charlton Athletic 42 19 11 12 77 63 1.222 49
6 Burnley 42 18 12 12 67 52 1.288 48
7 Blackpool 42 19 9 14 71 70 1.014 47
8 Manchester United 42 18 10 14 69 72 0.958 46
9 Sunderland 42 15 13 14 68 82 0.829 43
10 Tottenham Hotspur 42 15 11 16 78 69 1.130 41
11 Aston Villa 42 14 13 15 63 61 1.033 41
12 Cardiff City 42 14 12 16 54 46 1.174 40
13 Middlesbrough 42 14 11 17 70 77 0.909 39
14 Bolton Wanderers 42 15 9 18 61 69 0.884 39
15 Portsmouth 42 14 10 18 74 83 0.892 38
16 Newcastle United 42 14 9 19 59 70 0.843 37
17 Liverpool 42 14 8 20 61 82 0.744 36
18 Sheffield Wednesday 42 12 11 19 62 72 0.861 35
19 Chelsea 42 12 11 19 56 66 0.848 35
20 Manchester City 42 14 7 21 72 87 0.828 35
21 Stoke City 42 12 10 20 53 66 0.803 34
22 Derby County 42 11 10 21 59 74 0.797 32
Key
League Champions
FA Cup Winners
Relegated

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 23 August 1952 Manchester City H 2 – 1 35,006 Smyth, Oscroft
2 26 August 1952 Burnley A 2 – 3 29,087 Smyth, Oscroft
3 30 August 1952 Liverpool A 2 – 3 40,062 Bowyer, Johnston
4 1 September 1952 Burnley H 1 – 3 40,062 Oscroft
5 6 September 1952 Middlesbrough H 1 – 0 32,061 Johnston
6 10 September 1952 Preston North End A 0 – 3 35,275
7 13 September 1952 West Bromwich Albion A 2 – 3 27,028 Johnston, Mountford (Pen)
8 15 September 1952 Preston North End H 0 – 0 28,436
9 20 September 1952 Newcastle United H 1 – 0 32,359 Johnston
10 27 September 1952 Cardiff City A 0 – 2 40,271
11 4 October 1952 Sheffield Wednesday H 1 – 3 29,627 Sellars
12 11 October 1952 Manchester United A 2 – 0 28,968 Siddall, Finney
13 18 October 1952 Portsmouth H 2 – 4 29,057 Finney, Smyth
14 25 October 1952 Bolton Wanderers A 1 – 2 25,294 Finney
15 1 November 1952 Aston Villa H 1 – 4 26,652 Smyth
16 8 November 1952 Sunderland A 1 – 1 43,444 Mountford (Pen)
17 15 November 1952 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1 – 2 28,410 Smyth
18 22 November 1952 Charlton Athletic A 1 – 5 12,143 Mountford (Pen)
19 29 November 1952 Arsenal H 1 – 1 24,033 Malkin
20 6 December 1952 Derby County A 0 – 4 17,484
21 13 December 1952 Blackpool H 4 – 0 19,382 Oscroft (2), Mountford, Fenton (o.g.)
22 20 December 1952 Manchester City A 1 – 2 13,562 Whiston
23 26 December 1952 Chelsea H 1 – 1 30,846 Malkin
24 27 December 1952 Chelsea A 0 – 0 17,173
25 3 January 1953 Liverpool H 3 – 1 23,488 Oscroft (2), Whiston
26 17 January 1953 Middlesbrough A 0 – 0 20,320
27 24 January 1953 West Bromwich Albion H 5 – 1 35,226 Oscroft (2), Martin (2), Bowyer
28 7 February 1953 Newcastle United A 2 – 1 25,115 Martin, Finney
29 14 February 1953 Cardiff City H 0 – 0 21,619
30 21 February 1953 Sheffield Wednesday A 0 – 1 40,209
31 28 February 1953 Manchester United H 3 – 1 30,219 Brown (2), Martin
32 7 March 1953 Portsmouth A 1 – 1 25,370 Oscroft
33 14 March 1953 Bolton Wanderers H 1 – 2 28,232 Brown
34 25 March 1953 Aston Villa A 1 – 1 15,056 Thomson
35 28 March 1953 Sunderland H 3 – 0 19,611 Brown (2), Connor
36 3 April 1953 Tottenham Hotspur A 0 – 1 35,606
37 4 April 1953 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0 – 3 38,000
38 6 April 1953 Tottenham Hotspur H 2 – 0 25,346 Brown, Thomson
39 11 April 1953 Charlton Athletic H 1 – 0 27,087 Brown
40 15 April 1953 Blackpool A 1 – 1 13,280 Mountford
41 18 April 1953 Arsenal A 1 – 3 47,376 Brown
42 25 April 1953 Derby County H 1 – 2 29,597 Bowyer

FA Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 10 January 1953 Wrexham H 2 – 1 36,361 Finney, Whiston
R4 31 January 1953 Halifax Town A 0 – 1 34,788

Appearances

Pos. Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK Bill Robertson 19 0 0 0 19 0
GK Dennis Herod 11 0 1 0 12 0
GK Frank Elliott 12 0 1 0 13 0
DF Roy Beckett 4 0 0 0 4 0
DF John McCue 36 0 2 0 38 0
DF John Sellars 37 1 2 0 39 1
DF Frank Mountford 37 5 2 0 36 5
DF George Bourne 20 0 0 0 20 0
DF Ken Thomson 38 2 2 0 40 2
DF Des Farrow 3 0 0 0 3 0
DF Brian Doyle 17 0 2 0 19 0
MF Alfred Siddall 21 1 0 0 21 1
MF Frank Bowyer 29 3 2 0 31 3
MF Roy Brown 16 8 0 0 16 8
MF John Malkin 24 2 2 0 26 2
MF George Mountford 4 0 0 0 4 0
MF Derek Ward 2 0 0 0 2 0
MF Jock Kirton 3 0 0 0 3 0
MF Harold Connor 2 1 0 0 2 1
FW Alan Martin 29 4 1 0 30 4
FW Leslie Johnston 14 4 0 0 14 4
FW Sammy Smyth 14 5 0 0 14 5
FW Harry Oscroft 37 10 2 0 39 10
FW Billy McIntosh 2 0 0 0 2 0
FW Jack McClelland 4 0 0 0 4 0
FW Bill Finney 21 4 1 1 22 5
FW Donald Whiston 6 2 2 1 8 3

References

See also