1966–67 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1966–67 season was Stoke City's 60th season in the Football League and the 36th in the First Division.

Stoke City
1966–67 season
ChairmanAlbert Henshall
ManagerTony Waddington
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League First Division12th (41 Points)
FA CupThird Round
League CupSecond Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Peter Dobing
(19)

All: Peter Dobing
(19)
Highest home attendance44,337 vs Manchester United
(7 September 1966)
Lowest home attendance14,606 vs Arsenal
(1 April 1967)
Average home league attendance25,933

England won the 1966 World Cup and one of the winners, Gordon Banks joined Stoke in April 1967 in what was a master stroke signing by Tony Waddington he also brought in Arsenal winger George Eastham. On the pitch Stoke continued to finish in mid table this time in 12th spot.[1]

Season review

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League

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1966 saw Albert Henshall return to the club as chairman and England won the World Cup, two of Alf Ramsey's squad would sign for Stoke within the next twelve months.[1] In the summer of 1966 Waddington secured the services of former Newcastle United winger George Eastham from Arsenal for £35,000.[1] The other was goalkeeper Gordon Banks who was snapped up for a bargain £52,000 from Leicester City in April 1967. Matt Gillies, the Leicester manager was coming under considerable pressure to play his young reserve Peter Shilton and decided to sell the 29-year-old Banks to Stoke. It is widely considered that this was a 'steal' as Banks carried on to play for England for another five years.[1] Banks left English football in 1972 and ironically Stoke signed Shilton as his replacement.[1]

Stoke had a fine, enterprising squad in 1966–67 and they ran up some fine results, beating eventual champions Manchester United 3–0 as well as Tottenham Hotspur, Nottingham Forest, Everton and West Bromwich Albion all before October.[1] However, with Stoke looking forward to a potentially great season the fans were shocked when John Ritchie was sold to Sheffield Wednesday for £70,000 in November 1966.[1] Whilst Wednesday paid a lot of money for Ritchie it came as a surprise as a month before Stoke had sold unsuccessful reserve striker John Woodward to Aston Villa for £30,000.[1] But Ritchie's departure was soon forgotten as the team battled on holding on to a mid-table position.[1]

FA Cup

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Stoke failed to make it past the third round losing by two goals to nil against Manchester United at Old Trafford.[1]

League Cup

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Walsall again proved to Stoke's cup bogey side beating Stoke 2–1 at Fellows Park.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
10 Sheffield United 42 16 10 16 52 59 0.881 42
11 Sheffield Wednesday 42 14 13 15 56 47 1.191 41
12 Stoke City 42 17 7 18 63 58 1.086 41
13 West Bromwich Albion 42 16 7 19 77 73 1.055 39
14 Burnley 42 15 9 18 66 76 0.868 39
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored

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 20 August 1966 Nottingham Forest A 2–1 21,949 Dobing, Palmer
2 24 August 1966 Tottenham Hotspur H 2–0 33,086 Burrows, Ritchie
3 27 August 1966 Fulham H 1–2 26,333 Burrows
4 31 August 1966 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–2 37,983
5 3 September 1966 Everton A 1–0 44,005 Dobing
6 7 September 1966 Manchester United H 3–0 44,337 Ritchie (2), Palmer
7 10 September 1966 West Ham United H 1–1 27,274 Dobing
8 17 September 1966 Sheffield United H 3–0 21,374 Dobing (2), Wagstaff (o.g.)
9 24 September 1966 West Bromwich Albion A 1–0 25,483 Ritchie
10 1 October 1966 Leeds United H 0–0 28,987
11 8 October 1966 Sheffield Wednesday A 3–1 28,047 Dobing, Ritchie, Burrows
12 15 October 1966 Southampton H 3–2 25,554 Dobing, Ritchie, Palmer
13 25 October 1966 Sunderland A 1–2 23,320 Viollet
14 29 October 1966 Liverpool H 2–0 37,933 Dobing, Ritchie
15 5 November 1966 Southampton A 2–3 23,270 Viollet, Ritchie
16 12 November 1966 Manchester City H 0–1 27,803
17 19 November 1966 Blackpool A 1–0 16,172 Burrows
18 26 November 1966 Chelsea H 1–1 28,446 Dobing
19 3 December 1966 Leicester City A 2–4 26,079 Burrows, Vernon
20 10 December 1966 Aston Villa H 6–1 20,232 Burrows (3), Vernon, Dobing, Eastham
21 17 December 1966 Nottingham Forest H 1–2 23,304 Burrows
22 26 December 1966 Burnley A 2–0 29,990 Burrows, Setters
23 27 December 1966 Burnley H 4–3 38,402 Burrows (2), Dobing, Bridgwood
24 31 December 1966 Fulham A 1–4 24,851 Vernon
25 7 January 1967 Everton H 2–1 27,650 Dobing, Palmer
26 14 January 1967 West Ham United A 1–1 33,293 Burrows
27 22 January 1967 Sheffield United A 1–2 21,486 Dobing
28 4 February 1967 West Bromwich Albion H 1–1 26,211 Dobing
29 11 February 1967 Leeds United A 0–3 37,370
30 25 February 1967 Sheffield Wednesday H 0–2 27,164
31 4 March 1967 Liverpool A 1–2 48,591 Dobing
32 18 March 1967 Sunderland H 3–0 17,171 Palmer, Dobing, Burrows
33 24 March 1967 Newcastle United A 1–3 39,408 Burrows
34 25 March 1967 Aston Villa A 1–2 20,996 Mahoney
35 27 March 1967 Newcastle United H 0–1 17,802
36 1 April 1967 Arsenal H 2–2 14,606 Burrows, Dobing
37 12 April 1967 Manchester City A 1–3 25,753 Dobing
38 15 April 1967 Blackpool H 2–0 12,259 Burrows, Mahoney
39 22 April 1967 Chelsea A 0–1 23,973
40 29 April 1967 Leicester City H 3–1 17,870 Dobing, Burrows, Mahoney
41 6 May 1967 Arsenal A 1–3 24,611 Bridgwood
42 13 May 1967 Manchester United A 0–0 61,071

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 28 January 1967 Manchester United A 0–2 63,497

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 9 September 1966 Walsall A 1–2 13,600 Ritchie

Cleveland Stokers

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Stoke were one of a number of teams exported to the USA to play in the United Soccer Association in 1967 to help promote the sport in the country. Stoke represented Cleveland, Ohio and went under the name of the Cleveland Stokers and finished 2nd in their group.[2]

In the travelling Stoke party included the likes of Gordon Banks, Peter Dobing, George Eastham, Maurice Setters and Roy Vernon as well as manager Tony Waddington.[2] The team started well going undefeated in their first seven matches defeating Washington Whips 2–1, Boston Rovers 1–0, San Francisco Golden Gate Gales and Dallas Tornado both 4–1.[2] They then suffered back to back 2–1 defeats to New York Skyliners and Houston Stars before a 2–0 win over Toronto City put them back on track for a play-off place.[2] However a goalless draw with Detroit Cougars and a 3–1 defeat in the final match against Vancouver Royals saw the Stokers miss out on a play-off spot by a single point.[2]

Match Date Opponent Venue Result Scorers
1 27 May 1967 Washington Whips A 2–1 Setters, Vernon
2 31 May 1967 Chicago Mustangs H 1–1 Bernard
3 3 June 1967 Boston Rovers H 1–0 Setters
4 7 June 1967 Los Angeles Wolves H 0–0
5 10 June 1967 San Francisco Golden Gate Gales H 4–1 Dobing (2), Setters, Vernon
6 13 June 1967 Washington Whips H 2–2 Dobing, Eastham
7 17 June 1967 Dallas Tornado A 4–1 Dobing (2), Skeels, Burrows
8 25 June 1967 New York Skyliners H 1–2 Bloor
9 27 June 1967 Houston Stars A 1–2 Burrows
10 1 July 1967 Toronto City H 2–0 Dobing, Burrows
11 5 July 1967 Detroit Cougars A 0–0
12 9 July 1967 Vancouver Royals A 1–3 Dobing

Friendlies

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Match Opponent Venue Result
1 Home Farm A 2–1
2 Cork Celtic A 4–1
3 Limerick A 3–1
4 Portsmouth A 1–1
5 Oldham Athletic A 5–0
6 Millwall A 2–1
7 Exeter City A 2–2
8 Plymouth Argyle A 1–2
9 Rangers H 3–1
10 England XI H 5–7

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 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
GK   John Farmer 34 0 1 0 1 0 36 0
GK   Harry Gregg 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
GK   Paul Shardlow 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
DF   Tony Allen 22 0 0 0 0 0 22 0
DF   Bill Bentley 6(1) 0 0 0 0 0 6(1) 0
DF   Alan Bloor 30(1) 0 1 0 1 0 32(1) 0
DF   Calvin Palmer 38 5 1 0 1 0 40 5
DF   Eric Skeels 40 0 1 0 1 0 42 0
MF   Mike Bernard 4(1) 0 0 0 0 0 4(1) 0
MF   Gerry Bridgwood 24(1) 2 0 0 1 0 25(1) 2
MF   George Eastham 41 1 1 0 1 0 43 1
MF   John Mahoney 11 3 0 0 0 0 11 3
MF   Alan Philpott 23(3) 0 1 0 0 0 24(3) 0
MF   Maurice Setters 28 1 1 0 1 0 30 1
MF   John Woodward 1(1) 0 0 0 0 0 1(1) 0
FW   Harry Burrows 42 17 1 0 1 0 44 17
FW   Peter Dobing 41 19 1 0 1 0 43 19
FW   Gerry Jones 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW   John Ritchie 14 8 0 0 1 1 15 9
FW   Dennis Viollet 33(1) 2 1 0 1 0 35(1) 2
FW   Roy Vernon 20 4 1 0 0 0 21 4
Own goals 1 0 0 1

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.
  2. ^ a b c d e "The Stokers Summer". Oatcake wordpress. Retrieved 17 March 2015.