1969–70 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1969–70 season was Stoke City's 63rd season in the Football League and the 39th in the First Division.

Stoke City
1969–70 season
ChairmanAlbert Henshall
ManagerTony Waddington
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League First Division9th (45 Points)
FA CupFourth Round
League CupSecond Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Harry Burrows
& John Ritchie
(14)

All: John Ritchie
(16)
Highest home attendance38,740 vs Manchester United
(28 February 1970)
Lowest home attendance11,804 vs West Bromwich Albion
(15 April 1970)
Average home league attendance24,165

Stoke seemingly had an abundance of talent emerging as the 1960s gave way for the 1970s and Waddington addressed the past two seasons lack of goals by bringing back John Ritchie from Sheffield Wednesday and Jimmy Greenhoff from Birmingham City. It was a promising season with Stoke finishing in 9th position with 45 points.[1]

Season review

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League

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After two poor seasons, Tony Waddington recognised the goalscoring shortcomings and won over some of the worried supporters by bringing in former Leeds United forward Jimmy Greenhoff for a club record £100,000 and also brought back John Ritchie from Sheffield Wednesday.[1] There was certainly a feeling around Stoke, with the infusion of forward talent that the club was putting together a side that could cause a few raised eyebrows in the First Division and whilst Alex Elder and Tony Allen were early season selections in defence they were soon drifting from the spotlight allowing local defenders Jackie Marsh and Mike Pejic to break into the team.[1]

With Gordon Banks in goals and the ever improving centre back pairing of 'hard men' Alan Bloor and Denis Smith, Stoke's back line looked solid.[1] In midfield Irish winger Terry Conroy had now settled in England and was beginning to show his skill and pace on the wide positions.[1] The improvements were there for all to see and the directors were keen to bring the best to the Victoria Ground and in September 1969 they achieved their aim.[1] Brazilian star Pelé came over with his team Santos to play Stoke in a friendly, Pelé starring in a 3–2 win for the South Americans.[1]

Early on in the 1969–70 season after winning six and drawing five for their first 15 matches, Stoke suffered a 6–2 reverse at Everton when John Farmer, making his only appearance of the season, was carried off due to injury and defender Denis Smith had to go in goal.[1] They quickly put that defeat behind them and lost only once of the next ten matches. But an absence of victories between 17 January and 28 March saw the team slip down into mid-table and finished up in 9th spot, their highest league finish for 22 years.[1]

FA Cup

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Stoke advanced past Oxford United 3–2 in a replay following a goalless draw at the Manor Ground before being knocked at Watford.[1]

League Cup

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There was no progress in this seasons league cup, as Stoke lost 2–0 at home to Burnley.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
7 Newcastle United 42 17 13 12 57 35 1.629 47 Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round
8 Manchester United 42 14 17 11 66 61 1.082 45 Qualification for the Watney Cup[a]
9 Stoke City 42 15 15 12 56 52 1.077 45
10 Manchester City 42 16 11 15 55 48 1.146 43 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round[b]
11 Tottenham Hotspur 42 17 9 16 54 55 0.982 43
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
Notes:
  1. ^ Derby County and Manchester United qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.
  2. ^ Manchester City qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1969–70 European Cup Winners' Cup winners.

Results

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Stoke's score comes first

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

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Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 9 August 1969 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–3 33,260 Burrows
2 12 August 1969 Nottingham Forest A 0–0 22,470
3 16 August 1969 West Ham United H 2–1 23,362 Dobing, Ritchie
4 20 August 1969 Nottingham Forest H 1–1 20,029 Burrows
5 23 August 1969 Derby County A 0–0 36,170
6 27 August 1969 Coventry City H 2–0 25,507 Conroy, Greenhoff
7 30 August 1969 Southampton H 2–1 22,037 Burrows, Dobing
8 6 September 1969 Crystal Palace A 1–3 26,745 Ritchie
9 13 September 1969 Sunderland H 4–2 16,939 Ritchie (2), Greenhoff, Herd
10 17 September 1969 West Bromwich Albion A 3–1 24,869 Ritchie, Greenhoff, Smith
11 20 September 1969 Liverpool A 1–3 45,745 Burrows (pen)
12 27 September 1969 Manchester City H 2–0 29,739 Ritchie, Greenhoff
13 4 October 1969 Leeds United A 1–2 35,860 Greenhoff
14 6 October 1969 West Ham United A 3–3 26,860 Burrows, Smith (2)
15 11 October 1969 Arsenal H 0–0 25,801
16 18 October 1969 Everton A 2–6 48,684 Burrows, Dobing
17 25 October 1969 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–1 19,550 Herd
18 1 November 1969 Manchester United A 1–1 54,061 Burrows
19 8 November 1969 Burnley H 2–1 18,434 Greenhoff, Eastham
20 15 November 1969 Sheffield Wednesday A 2–0 16,444 Greenhoff, Ritchie
21 22 November 1969 Ipswich Town H 3–3 19,285 Ritchie, Burrows (2) (1 pen)
22 6 December 1969 Newcastle United H 0–1 17,767
23 13 December 1969 Sunderland A 3–0 15,205 Dobing, Burrows (2), (1 pen)
24 20 December 1969 Crystal Palace H 1–0 12,426 Greenhoff
25 26 December 1969 Derby County H 1–0 37,456 Burrows (pen)
26 27 December 1969 Southampton A 0–0 23,215
27 10 January 1970 Liverpool H 0–2 30,038
28 17 January 1970 Manchester City A 1–0 31,565 Conroy
29 31 January 1970 Leeds United H 1–1 36,506 Dobing
30 7 February 1970 Arsenal A 0–0 26,363
31 14 February 1970 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1–1 28,862 Pejic
32 21 February 1970 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–1 29,972
33 28 February 1970 Manchester United H 2–2 38,740 Burrows, Smith
34 7 March 1970 Ipswich Town A 1–1 16,139 Burrows
35 17 March 1970 Chelsea A 0–1 28,996
36 20 March 1970 Newcastle United A 1–3 28,460 Ritchie
37 27 March 1970 Burnley A 1–1 16,127 Stevenson
38 28 March 1970 Sheffield Wednesday H 2–1 16,632 Ritchie (2) (1 pen)
39 30 March 1970 Everton H 0–1 33,083
40 4 April 1970 Coventry City A 3–0 27,754 Ritchie (2), Dobing
41 13 April 1970 Chelsea H 1–2 22,707 Stevenson
42 15 April 1970 West Bromwich Albion H 3–2 11,804 Ritchie, Greenhoff, Bernard

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 4 January 1970 Oxford United A 0–0 15,686
R3 Replay 7 January 1970 Oxford United H 3–2 17,204 Stevenson, Ritchie (2)
R4 24 January 1970 Watford A 0–1 23,354

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 3 September 1969 Burnley H 0–2 19,296

Friendlies

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Match Opponent Venue Result
1 Asante Kotoko H 3–2
2 Glentoran A 2–0
3 Ards A 1–2
4 Oldham Athletic A 1–0
5 Norwich City A 1–2
6 Port Vale H 2–3
7 Bangor City A 7–2
8 Dallas Tornado H 6–1
9 DOS Utrecht A 3–2
10 PSV Eindhoven A 1–3
11 Santos H 2–3

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Gordon Banks 38 0 3 0 1 0 42 0
GK   Harry Dowd 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
GK   John Farmer 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DF   Tony Allen 8 0 0 0 1 0 9 0
DF   Alan Bloor 36 0 3 0 0 0 39 0
DF   Alex Elder 8(1) 0 0 0 1 0 9(1) 0
DF   Wyndham Evans 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF   Jackie Marsh 36 0 3 0 1 0 40 0
DF   Mike Pejic 32 1 3 0 0 0 35 1
DF   Eric Skeels 34(1) 0 0(1) 0 1 0 35(2) 0
DF   Denis Smith 40 4 3 0 1 0 44 4
MF   Mike Bernard 9(2) 1 0 0 0 0 9(2) 1
MF   Terry Conroy 27(4) 2 2 0 0 0 29(4) 2
MF   George Eastham 31(3) 1 2 0 1 0 34(3) 1
MF   John Mahoney 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
MF   Willie Stevenson 18(2) 2 3 1 0 0 21(2) 3
FW   Harry Burrows 31(3) 14 3 0 1 0 35(3) 14
FW   Peter Dobing 40 6 3 0 1 0 44 6
FW   Jimmy Greenhoff 33 9 3 0 1 0 37 9
FW   David Herd 4(5) 2 0 0 0 0 4(5) 2
FW   John Ritchie 31(1) 14 2 2 1 0 34(1) 16

References

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  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.