1896–97 Stoke F.C. season
1896–97 season | |||
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Chairman | Mr S. Barker | ||
Manager | Bill Rowley | ||
Stadium | Victoria Ground | ||
Football League First Division | 13th (25 Points) | ||
FA Cup | Second Round | ||
Top goalscorer |
League: William Maxwell (13) All: William Maxwell (16) | ||
Highest home attendance | 8,000 vs Everton (2 January 1897) | ||
Lowest home attendance | 2,500 vs Bury (12 April 1897) | ||
Average home league attendance | 5,400 | ||
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The 1896–97 season was Stoke's eighth season in the Football League.
After last season's success of finishing in 6th position there was high hopes that it would signal a change in the club's fortunes. Alas it was a disappointing season for Stoke as little progress was made and they finished the season in 13th position with 25 points.[1]
Season review
League
As the 1896–97 season beckoned there was a lot of talk of Stoke purchasing the football pitch at the cricket ground in the town, with a considerable amount of financial backing promised.[1] However this never materialised much to the disappointment of chairman Mr S. Barker.[1] During the campaign itself a total of 16 players made their senior debuts for the club including Zeke Johnston, Stoke's first Irishman signed from Burnley.[1] There was little progress in the league with a 13th-place finish.[1] The best result of the season saw Stoke beat Liverpool 6–1 in February 1897.[1] Long serving forward Billy Dickson retired as did half-back Davy Brodie.[1]
FA Cup
After beating Glossop North End 5–0 in the first round Stoke lost 2–1 in the next to Preston North End.[1]
Final league table
Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GA | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Aston Villa | 30 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 73 | 38 | 1.921 | 47 |
2 | Sheffield United | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 42 | 29 | 1.448 | 36 |
3 | Derby County | 30 | 16 | 4 | 10 | 70 | 50 | 1.400 | 36 |
4 | Preston North End | 30 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 55 | 40 | 1.375 | 34 |
5 | Liverpool | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 46 | 38 | 1.211 | 33 |
6 | The Wednesday | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 42 | 37 | 1.135 | 31 |
7 | Everton | 30 | 14 | 3 | 13 | 62 | 57 | 1.088 | 31 |
8 | Bolton Wanderers | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 40 | 43 | 0.930 | 30 |
9 | Bury | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | 44 | 0.886 | 30 |
10 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 45 | 41 | 1.098 | 28 |
11 | Nottingham Forest | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 44 | 49 | 0.898 | 26 |
12 | West Bromwich Albion | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 33 | 56 | 0.589 | 26 |
13 | Stoke | 30 | 11 | 3 | 16 | 48 | 59 | 0.814 | 25 |
14 | Blackburn Rovers | 30 | 11 | 3 | 16 | 35 | 62 | 0.565 | 25 |
15 | Sunderland | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 34 | 47 | 0.723 | 23 |
16 | Burnley | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 43 | 61 | 0.705 | 19 |
Key: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points
Results
Stoke's score comes first
Legend
Win | Draw | Loss |
Football League First Division
Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 September 1896 | Aston Villa | A | 1–2 | 5,000 | Schofield |
2 | 5 September 1896 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–1 | 7,000 | Johnson, Wood |
3 | 12 September 1896 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–4 | 3,500 | |
4 | 19 September 1896 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 2–3 | 4,000 | Schofield, Eccles |
5 | 26 September 1896 | The Wednesday | A | 3–4 | 6,000 | Schofield, Wood, Johnson |
6 | 10 October 1896 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2–1 | 5,000 | Maxwell, Wood |
7 | 17 October 1896 | Nottingham Forest | H | 3–0 | 5,000 | Maxwell, Schofield, Johnson |
8 | 24 October 1896 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–4 | 4,000 | |
9 | 31 October 1896 | Aston Villa | H | 0–2 | 4,000 | |
10 | 7 November 1896 | Derby County | A | 1–5 | 3,000 | Maxwell |
11 | 9 November 1896 | Preston North End | H | 2–1 | 4,000 | Maxwell, Eardley |
12 | 14 November 1896 | Bury | A | 2–4 | 3,000 | A Maxwell, Wood |
13 | 21 November 1896 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2–2 | 6,200 | Maxwell (2) |
14 | 28 November 1896 | Preston North End | A | 0–3 | 5,000 | |
15 | 5 December 1896 | Derby County | H | 2–2 | 5,000 | Maxwell (2) |
16 | 12 December 1896 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 2–1 | 1,105 | Maxwell (2) |
17 | 19 December 1896 | Everton | A | 2–4 | 7,000 | Maxwell, Schofield |
18 | 2 January 1897 | Everton | H | 2–3 | 8,000 | Maxwell, Schofield |
19 | 9 January 1897 | Burnley | A | 3–1 | 3,000 | A Maxwell (2), Schofield |
20 | 16 January 1897 | Liverpool | A | 0–1 | 7,000 | |
21 | 23 January 1897 | The Wednesday | H | 0–0 | 5,000 | |
22 | 6 February 1897 | Liverpool | H | 6–1 | 7,000 | Schofield (2), Maxwell, Hill (2), Hingerty |
23 | 20 February 1897 | Sunderland | A | 1–4 | 2,000 | Schofield |
24 | 27 February 1897 | Burnley | H | 3–2 | 8,000 | Hill (2), Hingerty |
25 | 20 March 1897 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–2 | 8,000 | Hingerty |
26 | 27 March 1897 | Sheffield United | A | 0–1 | 2,000 | |
27 | 3 April 1897 | Sunderland | H | 0–1 | 5,000 | |
28 | 10 April 1897 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 1–0 | 5,000 | Hill |
29 | 12 April 1897 | Bury | H | 3–0 | 2,500 | Hill, Schofield, Darroch (o.g.) |
30 | 15 April 1897 | Sheffield United | H | 2–0 | 3,000 | Hingerty, Maxwell |
FA Cup
Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R1 | 30 January 1897 | Glossop | H | 5–2 | 2,000 | Maxwell (2), Schofield, Hingerty (2) |
R2 | 13 February 1897 | Preston North End | A | 1–2 | 6,000 | Maxwell |
Squad statistics
Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
GK | Albert Boardman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
GK | Zeke Johnston | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
GK | Fred Latham | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
GK | Bill Rowley | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
GK | Fred Sheldon | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
FB | Tommy Clare | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
FB | Peter Durber | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
FB | Jack Eccles | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
HB | Lucien Boullemier | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
HB | Davy Brodie | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
HB | Bill Fearns | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
HB | Jimmy Grewer | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
HB | Ted McDonald | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
HB | Jim Peacock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
HB | Harry Simpson | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
HB | Arthur Rowley | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
HB | Alf Wood | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 |
FW | Billy Baird | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
FW | Arthur Bentley | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
FW | Billy Dickson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
FW | Billy Eardley | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
FW | Billy Heames | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
FW | Jimmy Hill | 10 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 6 |
FW | Jim Hingerty | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 6 |
FW | Freddie Johnson | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 3 |
FW | Alan Maxwell | 23 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 3 |
FW | William Maxwell | 29 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 31 | 16 |
FW | Joe Schofield | 29 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 13 |
FW | Samuel Woods | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
– | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 1 |