Wikipedia

1968–69 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1968–69 season was Stoke City's 62nd season in the Football League and the 38th in the First Division.

Stoke City
1968–69 season
ChairmanAlbert Henshall
ManagerTony Waddington
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League First Division19th (33 Points)
FA CupFifth Round
League CupSecond Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Peter Dobing
(8)
All: Peter Dobing
(10)
Highest home attendance30,630 vs Manchester United
(23 November 1968)
Lowest home attendance8,826 vs Sheffield Wednesday
(22 April 1969)
Average home league attendance18,984

Stoke failed to improve on last season's near miss and again were involved in a relegation scrap. Stoke won just nine matches all season and scored just 40 goals as they narrowly avoided relegation by three points.[1]

Season review edit

League edit

To address last season's lack of goals Waddington brought in Scottish international David Herd on a free transfer from Manchester United.[1] There was tragedy in October 1968 as reserve team goalkeeper Paul Shardlow suffered a heart attack in a training match and died.[1]

As the 1968–69 season began, once again Stoke found goals hard to come by, they only scored eight in their opening eleven league matches and although the feeling amongst the supporters was that the team was too good to be relegated they were lucky in the fact that Queens Park Rangers and Leicester City had poor seasons.[1] Stoke could only manage 19th place in a very uneventful season which saw champions Leeds United gain revenge for last season by beating Stoke 5–1 at the Victoria Ground.[1] It had been a nerve-racking season with Stoke seemingly involved in a relegation battle from the start, and thanks to some determined performances Stoke scrambled three points clear of the drop zone.[1] The 1968–69 season did, however mark the debut of Denis Smith who was later to become club captain and would have a major impact on the club's fortunes during the 1970s.[1]

At the end of the season in May 1969 Stoke City embarked on an end of season tour which saw them play against Congo Kinshasa (drew 1–1) and then on to Spain where they played against Catalonia giants Barcelona.[1] The match was played in front of 65,000 at the Camp Nou and Stoke shocked the prestigious hosts with a 3–2 victory.[1] David Herd scored twice and Harry Burrows hit a third to put Stoke into a 3–0 lead at half-time. Barcelona fought back scoring twice through Carles Rexach and Pedro Zabalza but a Stoke held on for a splendid victory.[2]

FA Cup edit

After unspectacular wins over Fourth Division sides York City and Halifax Town, Stoke lost 3–2 away at Chelsea.[1]

League Cup edit

Blackburn Rovers eliminated Stoke in a second round replay 1–0 after a 1–1 draw at Ewood Park, John Mahoney scoring for the "Potters".[1]

Final league table edit

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
17 Sunderland 42 11 12 19 43 67 0.642 34
18 Nottingham Forest 42 10 13 19 45 57 0.789 33
19 Stoke City 42 9 15 18 40 63 0.635 33
20 Coventry City 42 10 11 21 46 64 0.719 31
21 Leicester City (R) 42 9 12 21 39 68 0.574 30 Relegation to the Second Division
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(R) Relegated

Results edit

Stoke's score comes first

Legend edit

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division edit

Main article: 1968–69 Football League
Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 10 August 1968 Sunderland H 2–1 22,475 Dobing, Stevenson
2 14 August 1968 West Ham United H 0–2 22,131
3 17 August 1968 Leeds United A 0–2 30,383
4 20 August 1968 Liverpool A 1–2 46,674 Conroy
5 24 August 1968 Leicester City H 1–0 16,633 Mahoney
6 28 August 1968 Southampton A 0–2 20,712
7 31 August 1968 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–1 31,034 Elder
8 7 September 1968 Manchester City H 1–0 22,013 Conroy
9 14 September 1968 Arsenal A 0–1 28,273
10 21 September 1968 Queens Park Rangers H 1–1 15,273 Skeels
11 28 September 1968 Ipswich Town A 1–3 20,943 Dobing
12 5 October 1968 Nottingham Forest A 3–3 21,510 Stevenson, Burrows, Herd
13 9 October 1968 Southampton H 1–0 14,105 Allen
14 12 October 1968 Burnley H 1–3 14,160 Mahoney
15 19 October 1968 Everton A 1–2 42,887 Herd
16 26 October 1968 Chelsea H 2–0 16,786 Herd, Dobing
17 2 November 1968 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–1 33,309 Herd
18 9 November 1968 Coventry City H 0–3 16,117
19 16 November 1968 West Bromwich Albion A 1–2 22,134 Dobing
20 23 November 1968 Manchester United H 0–0 30,630
21 30 November 1968 Sheffield Wednesday A 1–2 23,027 Burrows
22 7 December 1968 Newcastle United H 1–0 11,594 Herd
23 14 December 1968 Burnley A 1–1 10,003 Herd
24 21 December 1968 Everton H 0–0 20,491
25 26 December 1968 Nottingham Forest H 3–1 20,331 Dobing, Conroy, Eastham
26 11 January 1969 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–1 21,728 Conroy
27 1 February 1969 West Bromwich Albion H 1–1 20,567 Conroy
28 1 March 1969 Sunderland A 1–4 16,092 Conroy
29 5 March 1969 Chelsea A 0–1 19,856
30 8 March 1969 Leeds United H 1–5 24,327 Burrows (pen)
31 15 March 1969 Leicester City A 0–0 24,987
32 18 March 1969 Coventry City A 1–1 25,097 Herd
33 22 March 1969 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 4–1 19,574 Herd, Conroy, Dobing (2)
34 24 March 1969 Manchester United A 1–1 39,931 Stevenson
35 29 March 1969 Manchester City A 1–3 27,311 Marsh
36 5 April 1969 Ipswich Town H 2–1 15,022 Herd, Dobing
37 7 April 1969 Liverpool H 0–0 27,389
38 8 April 1969 West Ham United A 0–0 26,577
39 12 April 1969 Queens Park Rangers A 1–2 12,489 Hunt (o.g.)
40 19 April 1969 Arsenal H 1–3 14,989 Burrows
41 22 April 1969 Sheffield Wednesday H 1–1 8,826 Vernon
42 30 April 1969 Newcastle United A 0–5 27,526

FA Cup edit

Main article: 1968–69 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 4 January 1969 York City A 2–0 11,129 Burrows (2)
R4 25 February 1969 Halifax Town H 1–1 30,283 Dobing
R4 Replay 28 February 1969 Halifax Town A 3–0 24,981 Conroy (2), Burrows
R5 12 February 1969 Chelsea A 2–3 39,191 Burrows, Dobing

League Cup edit

Main article: 1968–69 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 4 September 1968 Blackburn Rovers A 1–1 12,464 Mahoney
R2 Replay 11 September 1968 Blackburn Rovers H 0–1 13,747

Friendlies edit

Match Opponent Venue Result
1 Oldham Athletic A 3–1
2 Exeter City A 1–0
3 Plymouth Argyle A 1–0
4 Derby County H 1–3
5 Blackpool A 5–8
6 Congo Kinshasa A 1–1
7 Granada A 4–1
8 Pontevedra A 0–2
9 Barcelona A 3–2

Squad statistics edit

Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Gordon Banks 30 0 4 0 0 0 34 0
GK   John Farmer 12 0 0 0 2 0 14 0
DF   Tony Allen 17(3) 1 0 0 2 0 19(3) 1
DF   Bill Bentley 3(1) 0 0 0 0 0 3(1) 0
DF   Alan Bloor 29 0 4 0 2 0 35 0
DF   Alex Elder 38 1 4 0 2 0 44 1
DF   Tony Lacey 2(1) 0 0 0 1 0 3(1) 0
DF   Jackie Marsh 28(2) 1 4 0 1 0 33(2) 1
DF   Mike Pejic 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DF   Eric Skeels 35(1) 1 4 0 0(1) 0 39(2) 1
DF   Denis Smith 14 0 0 0 0 0 14 0
MF   Mike Bernard 21(3) 0 4 0 0 0 25(3) 0
MF   Gerry Bridgwood 4(2) 0 0 0 1 0 5(2) 0
MF   Terry Conroy 30(1) 7 4 2 1 0 35(1) 9
MF   George Eastham 26(1) 1 4 0 2 0 32(1) 1
MF   John Mahoney 23(3) 2 0 0 2 1 25(3) 3
MF   Willie Stevenson 30(2) 3 0 0 2 0 32(2) 3
FW   Harry Burrows 35 4 4 4 0 0 39 8
FW   Peter Dobing 40 8 4 2 2 0 46 10
FW   David Herd 35 9 4 0 0 0 39 9
FW   Roy Vernon 5(3) 1 0 0 2 0 7(3) 1
FW   John Worsdale 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
– Own goals – 1 – 0 – 0 – 1

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ Smith, Peter. "Barcelona 2 Stoke City 3: Yes, it really happened - and Nou Camp stood and clapped". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1968–69_Stoke_City_F.C._season&oldid=1111373450"