1921–22 Stoke F.C. season

The 1921–22 season was Stoke's 22nd season in the Football League and the fourth in the Second Division.

Stoke
1921–22 season
ChairmanMr E.Reynish
ManagerArthur Shallcross
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League Second Division2nd (52 Points)
FA CupThird Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Jimmy Broad
(25)

All: Jimmy Broad
(27)
Highest home attendance27,015 vs Port Vale
(24 September 1921)
Lowest home attendance5,000 vs Bury
(21 January 1922)
Average home league attendance15,200

After almost being relegated to the third tier last season Stoke improved dramatically and finished in 2nd position gaining promotion to the First Division.[1] Key to Stoke's success was the early season signing of the Broad brothers Tommy and Jimmy with the later scoring 27 goals.[1]

Season review

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League

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After the disappointments of last season, there was another conscious effort to strengthen the squad for the 1921–22 season, and a wealthy director John Slater proved to be the most ambitious as he spent a lot of his own money to bring to the club the Broad brothers, Tommy and Jimmy.[1] Jimmy was an out-and-out centre forward who came in after having scored 37 goals in 48 matches for Millwall.[1] Tommy on the other hand was a pacey right winger who signed from Manchester City.[1] The idea of developing young talent was also coming to the fore, with the appointment of Tom Brittleton as player-coach, which was met with approval from the club's supporters.[1]

The season turned out to be one of the best the club had experienced up to that time and promotion was gained to the top-flight, Stoke finishing runners-up to Nottingham Forest.[1] Eleven home draws probably cost Stoke top spot but nevertheless their form throughout the season was very good and the team was well supported by the fans with an average attendance of 15,000.[1] Jimmy Broad was top scorer with 25 league goals and he also became the first Stoke player to score four goals in a Football League match, achieving this feat in a 5–1 home win over Crystal Palace in early December.[1] Stoke also achieved an unbeaten league run of 15 matches from 27 December to 8 April.[1]

FA Cup

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The Cup also provided Stoke with some success as they beat local rivals Port Vale 4–2 in an epic cup tie in Burslem.[1] Arthur Watkin scored a hat-trick in front of 14,471 tie at The Old Recreation Ground.[1] Stoke then saw off Northampton Town 3–0 in a replay before 43,689 fans turned out to see Stoke take on Aston Villa in the third round.[1] The match ended goalless and in the replay Villa ran away with it and scored four without reply.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Nottingham Forest 42 22 12 8 51 30 1.700 56 Champions, promoted
2 Stoke 42 18 16 8 60 44 1.364 52 Promoted
3 Barnsley 42 22 8 12 67 52 1.288 52
4 West Ham United 42 20 8 14 52 39 1.333 48
5 Hull City 42 19 10 13 51 41 1.244 48
Source: [citation needed]

Results

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Stoke's score comes first

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League Second Division

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Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 27 August 1921 West Ham United H 2–0 15,000 Watkin, J Broad
2 29 August 1921 South Shields A 1–1 4,000 J Broad
3 3 September 1921 West Ham United A 0–3 20,000
4 5 September 1921 South Shields H 2–1 8,500 J Broad (2)
5 10 September 1921 Clapton Orient H 0–0 15,000
6 17 September 1921 Clapton Orient A 0–1 10,000
7 24 September 1921 Port Vale H 0–0 27,015
8 1 October 1921 Port Vale A 1–0 24,996 J Broad
9 8 October 1921 Bradford Park Avenue H 0–1 12,000
10 15 October 1921 Bradford Park Avenue A 4–2 10,000 J Broad (2), Watkin, T Broad
11 22 October 1921 Leeds United A 2–1 10,000 J Broad, Tempest
12 29 October 1921 Leeds United H 3–0 15,000 J Broad, T Broad, Whitehurst
13 5 November 1921 Hull City H 0–0 10,000
14 12 November 1921 Hull City A 1–7 9,000 Watkin
15 19 November 1921 Notts County H 0–0 6,000
16 26 November 1921 Notts County A 0–0 10,000
17 3 December 1921 Crystal Palace H 5–1 9,000 J Broad (4), Groves
18 10 December 1921 Crystal Palace A 2–0 12,000 J Broad (2)
19 17 December 1921 Rotherham County A 0–0 6,000
20 24 December 1921 Rotherham County H 1–1 6,000 J Broad
21 26 December 1921 Fulham A 1–2 17,000 Clarke
22 27 December 1921 Fulham H 3–0 20,000 Tempest, Watkin, Groves
23 31 December 1921 The Wednesday H 1–1 12,000 Groves
24 14 January 1922 The Wednesday A 1–0 10,000 Groves
25 21 January 1922 Bury H 1–0 5,000 T Broad
26 4 February 1922 Leicester City H 1–1 9,000 T Broad
27 8 February 1922 Bury A 1–0 7,000 Watkin
28 11 February 1922 Leicester City A 4–3 21,000 Groves (2), J Broad, Tempest
29 25 February 1922 Derby County A 4–2 8,000 Groves, J Broad, Twemlow, Mellor
30 4 March 1922 Coventry City H 2–2 16,000 Groves, J Broad
31 6 March 1922 Derby County H 1–1 11,000 J Broad
32 11 March 1922 Coventry City A 1–0 25,000 Groves
33 18 March 1922 Barnsley A 2–2 10,000 J Broad, Watkin
34 25 March 1922 Barnsley H 1–0 14,000 Tempest
35 1 April 1922 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–1 20,000 Tempest
36 8 April 1922 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 3–0 10,000 Tempest, J Broad (2)
37 14 April 1922 Blackpool A 2–3 17,000 J Broad, Groves
38 15 April 1922 Nottingham Forest H 1–1 20,000 J Broad
39 17 April 1922 Blackpool H 1–1 20,000 Tempest
40 22 April 1922 Nottingham Forest A 1–3 12,000 Whitehurst
41 29 April 1922 Bristol City A 0–2 15,000
42 6 May 1922 Bristol City H 3–0 16,000 Groves, Watkin (2)

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R1 7 January 1922 Port Vale A 4–2 14,471 Watkin (3), Tempest
R2 28 January 1922 Northampton Town A 2–2 16,000 Watkin (2)
R2 Replay 2 February 1922 Northampton Town H 3–0 30,000 Tempest, J Broad (2)
R3 18 February 1922 Aston Villa H 0–0 43,689
R3 Replay 22 February 1922 Aston Villa A 0–4 26,540

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Tom Kay 6 0 0 0 6 0
GK   Percy Knott 15 0 2 0 17 0
GK   Jimmy Lee 21 0 3 0 24 0
DF   Tommy Howe 1 0 0 0 1 0
DF   Bob McGrory 41 0 5 0 46 0
DF   Alec Milne 41 0 5 0 46 0
MF   Ewart Beswick 17 0 4 0 21 0
MF   Tom Brittleton 14 0 5 0 19 0
MF   George Clarke 42 1 5 0 47 1
MF   Bill Dickie 12 0 0 0 12 0
MF   Billy Poole 6 0 0 0 6 0
MF   Dickie Smith 35 0 2 0 37 0
MF   Fred Wilkinson 3 0 0 0 3 0
FW   Jimmy Broad 41 25 5 2 46 27
FW   Tommy Broad 32 3 4 0 36 3
FW   Fred Groves 28 12 5 0 33 12
FW   Tommy Little 4 0 0 0 4 0
FW   Syd Mellor 8 1 0 0 8 1
FW   Albert Moore 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   Dai Nicholas 6 0 0 0 6 0
FW   Louis Page 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   Victor Shore 3 0 0 0 3 0
FW   Sam Spencer 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   Billy Tempest 41 7 5 2 46 9
FW   Charlie Twemlow 1 1 0 0 1 1
FW   Arthur Watkin 35 8 5 5 40 13
FW   Albert Whitehurst 6 2 0 0 6 2

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.