List of Stoke City F.C. players

Stoke City F.C. is an English association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The club was formed in 1863 as Stoke Ramblers F.C., and played their first competitive match in November 1883, when they entered the First Round of the 1883–84 FA Cup. In 1888 they joined the inaugural Football League thus becoming founding members. The club was renamed Stoke City F.C. in 1925, and they moved to Britannia Stadium in 1997. Since playing their first competitive match, more than 1000 players have made a competitive first-team appearance for the club, many of whom have played 100 matches+ (including substitute appearances); those players are listed here.

Despite a lack of success Stoke have had a number of famous players over the years such as Stanley Matthews, Gordon Banks, Jimmy Greenhoff and Denis Smith. Stoke City's record appearance-maker is Eric Skeels who made 596 appearances between 1959 and 1976. Stoke's top senior goalscorer is John Ritchie with 176 goals.

List of players edit

Appearances and goals are for first-team competitive matches only, including Premier League, Football League, Football Alliance, Birmingham & District League, Southern League, FA Cup, League Cup, League Trophy, UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League, Anglo-Italian Cup, Birmingham League Cup, Full Members' Cup, United Counties League, Texaco Cup and Watney Cup. Wartime matches are regarded as unofficial and are excluded.
The list is ordered first by number of appearances in total.
Highlighted players members of the current squad.

Statistics correct as of match played 13 April 2024

Table headers

Nationality – If a player played international football, the country/countries he played for are shown. Otherwise, the player's nationality is given as their country of birth.
Stoke City career – The year of the player's first appearance for Stoke City to the year of his last appearance.
Starts – The number of games started.
Sub – The number of games played as a substitute.
Total – The total number of games played, both as a starter and as a substitute.

Positions key
Pre-1960s		Post-1960s
GK	Goalkeeper
FB	Full back	DF	Defender
HB	Half back	MF	Midfielder
FW	Forward
U	Utility player¹

Name	Nationality	Position	Stoke City career	Starts	Subs	Total	Goals
Name	Nationality	Position	Stoke City career	Appearances			Goals
Eric Skeels	England	DF	1959–1976	579	18	597	7
John McCue	England	DF	1946–1960	542	0	542	2
Bob McGrory	Scotland	FB	1921–1935	511	0	511	0
Denis Smith	England	DF	1968–1982	492	1	493	42
Alan Bloor	England	DF	1961–1977	478	4	482	19
Peter Fox	England	GK	1978–1993	477	0	477	0
Tony Allen	England	DF	1957–1970	470	3	473	4
Ryan Shawcross	England	DF	2007–2021	444	9	453	25
Jackie Marsh	England	DF	1967–1979	435	9	444	3
Frank Bowyer	England	FW	1937–1960	436	0	436	149
Frank Mountford	England	U	1946–1957	425	0	425	24
Alan Dodd	England	DF	1972–1982	409	8	417	4
John Sellars	England	HB	1946–1958	413	0	413	15
Harry Davies	England	FW	1922–1937	411	0	411	101
Harry Sellars	England	HB	1923–1935	395	0	395	19
Peter Dobing	England	FW	1963–1973	372	5	377	95
Stanley Matthews	England	MF	1932–1947 1961–1965	355	0	355	62
Billy Spencer	England	FB	1926–1936	354	0	354	0
John Ritchie	England	FW	1962–1975	340	11	351	176
Harry Oscroft	England	FW	1950–1959	349	0	349	107
Jimmy Greenhoff	England	FW	1969–1976	346	0	346	103
Mike Pejic	England	DF	1968–1976	344	0	344	9
Bill Asprey	England	FB	1954–1965	341	0	341	26
Glenn Whelan	Republic of Ireland	MF	2008–2017	287	51	338	8
John Mahoney	Wales	MF	1967–1977	322	15	337	28
Terry Conroy	Republic of Ireland	FW	1967–1979	304	31	335	67
Lee Sandford	England	DF	1989–1996	321	3	324	13
John Butler	England	DF	1988–1995	314	5	319	9
Bobby Liddle	England	MF	1928–1938	316	0	316	64
Arthur Turner	England	DF	1930–1939	312	0	312	17
Johnny King	England	FW	1953–1961	311	0	311	113
Ken Thomson	Scotland	DF	1952–1960	302	0	302	7
Brendan O'Callaghan	Republic of Ireland	FW	1977–1984	284	10	294	47
Harry Burrows	England	FW	1965–1974	276	9	285	77
Ian Cranson	England	MF	1989–1996	277	4	281	12
Bobby Archibald	Scotland	FW	1925–1931	276	0	276	40
Alec Milne	England	FB	1912–1926	276	0	276	0
Carl Beeston	England	MF	1985–1997	258	13	271	17
Jonathan Walters	Republic of Ireland	FW	2010–2017	224	47	271	62
George Berry	Wales	DF	1982–1990	261	8	269	30
Tom Holford	England	MF	1898–1908	269	0	269	33
Clive Clarke	Republic of Ireland	DF	1999–2005	242	22	264	10
Peter Crouch	England	FW	2011–2019	163	98	261	62
Don Ratcliffe	England	MF	1954–1963	260	0	260	19
James Bradley	England	FB	1898–1915	256	0	256	6
Tommy Clare	England	FB	1883–1897	252	0	252	6
Freddie Steele	England	FW	1933–1949	251	0	251	159
Gordon Banks	England	GK	1967–1972	250	0	250	0
Bill Robertson	England	GK	1952–1960	250	0	250	0
Jock Kirton	Scotland	MF	1936–1952	249	0	249	2
Graham Kavanagh	Republic of Ireland	MF	1996–2001	235	10	245	45
George Eastham	England	MF	1966–1973	227	13	240	5
Lárus Sigurðsson	Iceland	DF	1994–1999	225	3	228	7
Joe Schofield	England	FW	1891–1899	227	0	227	93
George Baddeley	England	HB	1901–1908	225	0	225	19
Tommy Sale	England	FW	1930–1946	222	0	222	103
Joe Allen	Wales	MF	2016–2022	211	10	221	20
Billy Tempest	England	MF	1912–1924	217	0	217	31
Wayne Thomas	England	DF	2000–2005	215	2	217	8
Dennis Herod	England	GK	1946–1953	215	0	215	1
Vince Overson	England	DF	1991–1996	212	3	215	7
Davy Brodie	Scotland	HB	1889–1897	213	0	213	3
Steve Bould	England	DF	1980–1988	207	4	211	7
James O'Connor	Republic of Ireland	MF	1996–2003	209	2	211	22
Ray Wallace	England	DF	1994–1999	182	29	211	16
Rory Delap	Republic of Ireland	MF	2006–2013	188	20	208	8
Ricardo Fuller	Jamaica	FW	2006–2012	137	71	208	50
Nigel Gleghorn	England	FW	1992–1996	204	4	208	31
Dennis Viollet	England	FW	1962–1967	206	1	207	66
Erik Pieters	Netherlands	DF	2013–2019	199	7	206	3
Kevin Keen	England	MF	1994–2000	169	34	203	12
Len Armitage	England	HB	1924–1932	200	0	200	19
Bob Dixon	England	GK	1922–1928	200	0	200	0
Sam Baddeley	England	DF	1908–1915	199	0	199	9
Arthur Tutin	England	HB	1933–1939	198	0	198	3
Norman Wilkinson	England	GK	1935–1951	198	0	198	0
Walter Bussey	England	FW	1925–1932	197	0	197	50
Bobby Cairns	Scotland	MF	1954–1961	196	0	196	11
Freddie Johnson	England	FW	1895–1903	196	0	196	20
Calvin Palmer	England	MF	1963–1967	196	0	196	27
Charlie Burgess	England	FB	1901–1907	195	0	195	0
Billy Mould	England	DF	1937–1951	194	0	194	0
Andy Wilkinson	England	DF	2001–2015	152	42	194	0
Joe Johnson	England	FW	1931–1937	193	0	193	57
John Farmer	England	GK	1966–1974	192	1	193	0
Alexander Ormston	England	MF	1937–1951	192	0	192	30
Carl Saunders	England	FW	1982–1990	151	40	191	30
John Malkin	England	DF	1947–1956	190	0	190	27
George Turner	England	DF	1908–1914	189	0	189	17
Peter Thorne	England	FW	1997–2001	173	16	189	80
Robert Huth	Germany	DF	2009–2015	183	5	188	18
Ernest Mullineux	England	DF	1907–1914	189	0	187	0
Steve Simonsen	England	GK	2004–2010	180	7	187	0
Jack Eccles	England	FB	1890–1900	186	0	186	1
Carl Muggleton	England	GK	1993–2001	185	1	186	0
Mamady Sidibe	Mali	FW	2005–2013	164	22	186	26
Geoff Cameron	United States	MF	2012–2018	167	19	186	2
Frank Soo	England	FW	1933–1945	185	0	185	10
Darel Russell	England	MF	2003–2008	176	6	182	16
Wayne Biggins	England	FW	1989–1994	168	13	181	63
Mike Bernard	England	DF	1965–1972	169	12	181	11
Phil Heath	England	MF	1983–1988	166	13	179	19
Charlie Adam	Scotland	MF	2012–2019	107	72	179	21
Marc Wilson	Republic of Ireland	DF	2010–2016	159	19	178	1
Matthew Etherington	England	MF	2009–2014	153	24	177	16
Frank Baker	England	FW	1936–1949	174	0	174	33
William Maxwell	Scotland	FW	1895–1900	173	0	173	85
Arthur Watkin	England	FW	1913–1925	172	0	172	74
Asmir Begović	Bosnia and Herzegovina	GK	2010–2015	170	2	172	1
Norman Lewis	England	GK	1929–1935	170	0	170	0
Jack Butland	England	GK	2013–2020	168	1	169	0
Charlie Wilson	England	FW	1925–1930	167	0	167	120
George Clarke	England	HB	1919–1923	165	0	165	4
Graham Shaw	England	FW	1985–1995	124	41	165	29
Garth Crooks	England	FW	1976–1980	154	10	164	52
Neil Franklin	England	DF	1946–1950	162	0	162	0
Alan Hudson	England	MF	1974–1985	161	1	162	9
Tom Williamson	Scotland	HB	1926–1930	162	0	162	15
Bjarni Guðjónsson	Iceland	MF	2000–2003	143	18	161	16
Brynjar Gunnarsson	Iceland	MF	2000–2004	155	6	161	20
Tyrese Campbell	England	FW	2018–	95	66	161	34
Dean Whitehead	England	MF	2009–2013	117	43	160	5
Leigh Richmond Roose	Wales	GK	1901–1907	159	0	159	0
George Mountford	England	FW	1946–1950	158	0	158	29
Mame Biram Diouf	Senegal	FW	2014–2020	99	58	157	25
Peter Hampton	England	DF	1980–1984	152	4	156	4
Bobby Howitt	Scotland	HB	1958–1963	150	0	150	16
Alf Smith	England	FW	1903–1915	150	0	150	72
Jimmy O'Neill	Republic of Ireland	GK	1960–1964	149	0	149	0
Jordan Thompson	Northern Ireland	MF	2020–	100	49	149	4
Sean Haslegrave	England	MF	1970–1976	136	10	146	8
Marko Arnautović	Austria	FW	2013–2017	129	16	145	26
Sammy McIlroy	Northern Ireland	MF	1982–1985	143	1	144	14
Bill Rowley	England	GK	1887–1896	144	0	144	0
Cliff Carr	England	DF	1987–1991	134	9	143	1
Sam Clucas	England	MF	2018–2023	117	26	143	19
Paul Richardson	England	MF	1977–1981	137	5	142	11
Paul Bracewell	England	MF	1979–1983	135	6	141	6
William Smith	England	FW	1909–1913	141	0	141	62
Paul Ware	England	MF	1987–1994	115	26	141	14
Jacob Brown	Scotland	FW	2020–2023	106	35	141	30
Jimmy Robertson	Scotland	MF	1972–1977	121	19	140	14
Mart Watkins	Wales	FW	1900–1908	139	0	139	52
Andy Griffin	England	DF	1996–2010	126	11	137	5
Steve Parkin	England	DF	1983–1989	128	9	137	5
Bruno Martins Indi	Netherlands	DF	2016–2021	131	6	137	2
Arthur Beachill	England	FB	1926–1933	136	0	136	0
Davy Christie	Scotland	HB	1889–1894	136	0	136	3
Karl Henry	England	MF	2000–2006	75	61	136	1
William Dickson	Scotland	FW	1892–1896	135	0	135	48
Tony Ford	England	MF	1986–1989	135	0	135	14
Albert Sturgess	England	FB	1902–1908	135	0	135	4
Steve Foley	England	MF	1992–1994	134	0	134	13
Geoff Salmons	England	MF	1974–1977	131	3	134	16
Mark Stein	England	FW	1992–1997	134	0	134	72
Alf Wood	England	HB	1895–1901	134	0	134	10
Charlie Scrimshaw	England	FB	1929–1938	132	0	132	0
Alf Underwood	England	FB	1887–1893	131	0	131	0
Kenwyne Jones	Trinidad and Tobago	FW	2004–2005 2010–2014	93	37	130	31
Ron Andrew	England	DF	1957–1963	129	0	129	2
Joe Jones	Wales	DF	1911–1920	129	0	129	12
Kyle Lightbourne	Bermuda	FW	1998–2001	100	29	129	25
Thomas Sørensen	Denmark	GK	2008–2015	128	1	129	0
Mike Doyle	England	DF	1978–1981	128	0	128	6
Danny Higginbotham	Gibraltar	DF	2006–2013	125	3	128	14
Tom Robertson	Scotland	DF	1894–1900	128	0	128	3
Neville Coleman	England	FW	1953–1958	126	0	126	52
Geoff Hurst	England	FW	1972–1975	123	5	126	37
William Robertson	Scotland	DF	1929–1933	126	0	126	3
Liam Lawrence	Republic of Ireland	MF	2006–2010	108	17	125	24
Keith Bebbington	England	FW	1962–1966	123	1	124	22
Mark Chamberlain	England	MF	1982–1985	122	2	124	18
Tom Brittleton	England	FB	1920–1925	123	0	123	5
Paul Dyson	England	DF	1983–1986	123	0	123	5
Sam Higginson	England	U	1899–1904	123	0	123	23
Ian Painter	England	FW	1982–1986	114	9	123	24
Josh Tymon	England	DF	2017–2023	99	23	122	4
Arthur Griffiths	England	FW	1905–1912	121	0	121	51
Peter Shilton	England	GK	1974–1977	121	0	121	0
Paul Maguire	Scotland	MF	1980–1984	105	15	120	25
Mickey Thomas	Wales	MF	1983–1991	113	7	120	22
Steven Nzonzi	France	MF	2012–2015	117	3	120	7
Harry Brigham	England	FB	1936–1946	119	0	119	0
Martin Carruthers	England	FW	1993–1996	80	39	119	20
Adrian Heath	England	MF	1979–1982	115	3	118	17
Nick Powell	England	MF	2019–2023	90	28	118	28
Jimmy Broad	England	FW	1921–1923	116	0	116	67
Jimmy McIlroy	Northern Ireland	MF	1963–1965	114	2	116	19
Alan Martin	England	U	1951–1955	115	0	115	6
Nicky Mohan	England	DF	1999–2001	115	0	115	7
Dave Brammer	England	MF	2005–2007	96	16	112	3
Roger Jones	England	GK	1977–1980	112	0	112	0
Gerry Bridgwood	England	MF	1960–1968	106	5	111	8
George Kinnell	Scotland	DF	1963–1966	109	2	111	8
Toddy Orlygsson	Iceland	MF	1993–1995	107	4	111	19
Willie Stevenson	Scotland	MF	1967–1973	98	13	111	7
James McClean	Republic of Ireland	MF	2018–2021	92	19	111	12
Dickie Smith	England	HB	1919–1922	110	0	110	2
George Bourne	England	DF	1952–1956	109	0	109	1
Ross Fielding	England	MF	1902–1908	109	0	109	12
Dennis Wilshaw	England	FW	1957–1961	109	0	109	50
Richard Forsyth	England	MF	1996–1999	102	6	108	18
Chris Maskery	England	MF	1982–1987	96	12	108	5
Lee Chapman	England	FW	1978–1982	103	4	107	38
Danny Batth	England	DF	2019–2022	101	6	107	6
Salif Diao	Senegal	MF	2006–2012	82	24	106	1
Syd Peppitt	England	MF	1936–1950	106	0	106	29
Tommy Smith	England	DF	2019–2022	99	7	106	3
Ben Wilmot	England	DF	2021–	100	6	106	5
Ray Evans	England	DF	1979–1982	105	0	105	2
Chris Hemming	England	MF	1984–1989	96	9	105	2
Nicky Morgan	England	FW	1986–1990	88	16	104	26
Keith Bertschin	England	FW	1984–1987	93	10	103	33
Chris Iwelumo	Scotland	FW	2000–2004	52	51	103	22
Tom Ince	England	MF	2018–2022	80	23	103	14
Andy Cooke	England	FW	2000–2003	78	24	102	23
Michael Duberry	England	DF	2004–2007	102	0	102	1
Dave Kevan	Scotland	MF	1990–1993	96	6	102	2
Amos Baddeley	England	FW	1907–1912	101	0	101	56
Alex Elder	Northern Ireland	DF	1967–1972	95	6	101	1
Willie Naughton	Scotland	FW	1890–1895	101	0	101	25
Mark Prudhoe	England	GK	1993–1997	100	1	101	0
Roy Vernon	Wales	FW	1965–1970	97	3	100	24
Gavin Ward	England	GK	1999–2002	100	0	100	0

Notes edit

^ A utility player is one who is considered to play in more than one position.

References edit

Matthews, Tony (1997). Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 1-85983-100-1.
Lowe, Simon (2005). Stoke City The Modern Era – A Complete Record. Desert Island Books. ISBN 1-874287-39-2.

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