1970–71 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1970–71 season was Stoke City's 64th season in the Football League and the 40th in the First Division.

Stoke City
1970–71 season
ChairmanAlbert Henshall
ManagerTony Waddington
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League First Division13th (37 points)
FA CupSemi-final
League CupSecond round
Texaco CupFirst round
Anglo-Italian CupGroup Stage
Top goalscorerLeague: John Ritchie
(13)

All: John Ritchie
(19)
Highest home attendance39,889 vs Manchester United
(20 March 1971)
Lowest home attendance13,358 vs Manchester City
(14 April 1971)
Average home league attendance19,905

Stoke had a successful season making it to the semi-final of the FA Cup for only the second time in their history. Stoke made it through seven matches before facing Arsenal, where after building a 2–0 lead at Hillsborough Stoke let slip in the final few minutes and Arsenal levelled at 2–2. In the replay the "Gunners" won 2–0 at Villa Park. In the league Stoke finished in a mid-table position of 13th with 37 points, Stoke did record a famous win over Arsenal beating the eventual league champions 5–0 in September.[1]

Season review

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League

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Stoke had a good opening spell to the 1970–71 season, losing just three of their first 12 matches one of which was a crushing 5–2 defeat at Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion.[1] But generally the defence looked strong and solid and indeed six clean sheets were kept during that period.[1] Stoke's sixth home game of the season on 26 September was against Bertie Mee's impressive Arsenal side at the Victoria Ground.[1] Because of local travel difficulties (bus driver strike) just over 18,000 fans saw the match and those lucky enough to be there watch one of the best performances by a Stoke City side.[1]

Arsenal, who would go on to become First Division and FA Cup winners were well beaten 5–0 by Stoke in front of the Match of the Day cameras.[1] As the season wore on Stoke found it difficult to maintain a consistent run of form in the First Division and their attentions soon turned towards the FA Cup.[1] With the cup a distraction Stoke did well to finish in a mid table position of 13th.[1]

FA Cup

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After Christmas Stoke became heavily involved in the FA Cup and they came very close to making it to their first final.[1] Revenge was gained over Millwall in the third round and then Huddersfield Town proved to be difficult to get the better of, the tie finally being decided in a second replay at Old Trafford, Stoke winning 1–0 thanks to a goal from Jimmy Greenhoff.[1] In the fifth round Stoke met Ipswich Town and after a goalless draw, Denis Smith scoring the only goal at Portman Road to send Stoke through to face Hull City in the quarter-final.[1] The tie at Boothferry Park was a cracking encounter with Stoke winning 3–2 to claim a place in the semi-final for the first time since 1899, 75 years ago.[1]

Their opponents in the semi-final were Arsenal with the tie played at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield.[1] Stoke produced a dominant first half display and went into the half time break 2–0 up, with Smith and Ritchie scoring the goals that sent Stoke supporters ecstatic.[1] Alas it was not to be as Arsenal clawed their way back into the match thanks to two second half goals from Peter Storey with the last being a penalty in the last minute of the game. Stoke were left to rue only scoring two goals in their first half dominance as the "Gunners" earned a replay they hardly deserved.[1] Villa Park was the venue for 'part two' of the contest and in front of 62,356, Arsenal comfortably won 2–0 and went on to lift the trophy and complete a domestic double alongside their First Division league title.[1] On the eve of the final, Stoke won the third place play off against Everton 3–2.[1]

League Cup

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Millwall knocked Stoke out of the League Cup 2–1 in the second round.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
11 Manchester City 42 12 17 13 47 42 1.119 41
12 Newcastle United 42 14 13 15 44 46 0.957 41
13 Stoke City 42 12 13 17 44 48 0.917 37
14 Everton 42 12 13 17 54 60 0.900 37
15 Huddersfield Town 42 11 14 17 40 49 0.816 36
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 15 August 1970 Ipswich Town H 0–0 17,099
2 19 August 1970 Newcastle United H 3–0 15,197 Burrows 22', Ritchie (2) 38', 89'
3 22 August 1970 Derby County A 0–2 35,461
4 26 August 1970 West Bromwich Albion A 2–5 22,607 Ritchie 12', Conroy 55'
5 29 August 1970 Crystal Palace H 0–0 13,469
6 2 September 1970 Nottingham Forest H 0–0 13,951
7 5 September 1970 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–1 21,056 Greenhoff 25'
8 12 September 1970 Leeds United H 3–0 22,592 Ritchie (2) 20', 90', Burrows 47'
9 19 September 1970 Manchester City A 1–4 35,473 Bernard 80'
10 26 September 1970 Arsenal H 5–0 18,153 Ritchie (2) 28', 43', Conroy 62', Greenhoff 64', Bloor 84'
11 3 October 1970 Blackpool A 1–1 25,324 Dobing 56'
12 10 October 1970 West Ham United H 2–1 23,033 Greenhoff 36', Dobing 89'
13 17 October 1970 Ipswich Town A 0–2 18,159
14 24 October 1970 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–3 36,238
15 31 October 1970 Huddersfield Town H 3–1 17,625 Greenhoff 5', Conroy (2) 54', 75'
16 7 November 1970 Manchester United A 2–2 47,451 Conroy 1', Ritchie 72'
17 14 November 1970 Everton H 1–1 26,240 Ritchie 42'
18 18 November 1970 Leeds United A 1–4 25,004 Conroy 15'
19 21 November 1970 Chelsea A 1–2 36,227 T Smith 30'
20 28 November 1970 Southampton H 0–0 16,848
21 5 December 1970 Coventry City A 0–1 23,775
22 12 December 1970 Burnley H 0–0 13,299
23 19 December 1970 Derby County H 1–0 21,906 Burrows 60'
24 26 December 1970 Liverpool A 0–0 47,103
25 9 January 1971 Newcastle United A 2–0 25,680 Greenhoff 1', Burrows 62'
26 16 January 1971 West Bromwich Albion H 2–0 20,882 Conroy 23', 78'
27 30 January 1971 Southampton A 1–2 19,500 Greenhoff 20'
28 6 February 1971 Coventry City H 2–1 17,208 Mortimer (o.g.) 45', Greenhoff 50'
29 20 February 1971 Chelsea H 1–2 26,592 Conroy 47'
30 23 February 1971 Burnley A 1–1 12,209 Conroy 12'
31 27 February 1971 Huddersfield Town A 1–0 15,626 Conroy 78' (pen)
32 13 March 1971 Everton A 0–2 38,924
33 20 March 1971 Manchester United H 1–2 39,889 Ritchie 77'
34 3 April 1971 Crystal Palace A 2–3 16,963 Ritchie (2) 81', 90'
35 7 April 1971 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1–0 22,808 Burrows 61' (pen)
36 10 April 1971 Liverpool H 0–1 28,810
37 13 April 1971 Blackpool H 1–1 13,916 Jump 16'
38 17 April 1971 West Ham United A 0–1 26,269
39 24 April 1971 Manchester City H 2–0 13,358 Bernard 20', Ritchie 52'
40 27 April 1971 Nottingham Forest A 0–0 13,502
41 1 May 1971 Arsenal A 0–1 55,011
42 5 May 1971 Tottenham Hotspur H 0–1 14,019

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 2 January 1971 Millwall H 2–1 21,398 Ritchie 31', Greenhoff 77'
R4 23 January 1971 Huddersfield Town H 3–3 34,231 Greenhoff 3', Burrows 65', Conroy 75'
R4 Replay 26 January 1971 Huddersfield Town A 0–0 (aet) 40,231
R4 2nd Replay 8 February 1971 Huddersfield Town N 1–0 39,302 Greenhoff 68'
R5 13 February 1971 Ipswich Town H 0–0 36,809
R5 Replay 16 February 1971 Ipswich Town A 1–0 30,232 Smith 74'
Quarter-final 6 March 1971 Hull City A 3–2 41,452 Conroy 45', Ritchie (2) 70', 81'
Semi-final 27 March 1971 Arsenal N 2–2 54,770 Smith 22', Ritchie 31'
Semi-final Replay 31 March 1971 Arsenal N 0–2 62,356
3rd Place play-off 7 May 1971 Everton N 3–2 5,031 Bernard 27', Ritchie (2) 47' 80'

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 9 September 1970 Millwall H 0–0 10,230
R2 Replay 16 September 1970 Millwall A 1–2 12,789 Conroy 57'
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R1 1st Leg 14 September 1970 Motherwell A 0–1 14,450
R1 2nd Leg 30 September 1970 Motherwell H 2–1 (3–4 pens) 15,779 Bloor, Burrows
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
Group match 1 26 May 1971 Roma H 2–2 11,520 Greenhoff 13', Smith 58'
Group match 2 29 May 1971 Hellas Verona H 2–0 10,252 Ritchie 53', Jump 78'
Group match 3 1 June 1971 Roma A 1–0 37,450 Ritchie 56'
Group match 4 4 June 1971 Hellas Verona A 1–2 8,000 Ritchie 88'

Friendlies

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Match Opponent Venue Result
1 Ards A 1–0
2 Portadown A 5–0
3 Glentoran A 1–1
4 Finn Harps A 3–0
5 Crewe Alexandra A 3–1
6 Shrewsbury Town A 2–2
7 East Fife A 1–0
8 Marseille A 1–2
9 RCD Mallorca A 0–3

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Texaco Cup Anglo-Italian Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Gordon Banks 39 0 10 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 55 0
GK   John Farmer 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0(1) 0 5(1) 0
DF   Alan Bloor 36 1 8 0 2 0 2 1 4 0 52 2
DF   Alex Elder 3(2) 0 0(3) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4(5) 0
DF   Jackie Marsh 34(2) 0 8 0 2 0 1 0 4 0 49(2) 0
DF   Mike Pejic 42 0 10 0 2 0 2 0 4 0 60 0
DF   Eric Skeels 27(2) 0 9(1) 0 1 0 1(1) 0 4 0 42(4) 0
DF   Denis Smith 36 0 8 2 2 0 2 0 4 1 52 3
MF   Mike Bernard 40 2 10 1 1 0 2 0 2 0 55 3
MF   Terry Conroy 34 11 9 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 47 14
MF   George Eastham 16(3) 0 6 0 2 0 0(1) 0 0 0 24(4) 0
MF   Sean Haslegrave 15 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 26 0
MF   Stewart Jump 10(1) 1 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 12(2) 2
MF   Terry Lees 4(3) 0 1(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5(4) 0
MF   John Mahoney 15(3) 0 3(1) 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 22(4) 0
MF   Willie Stevenson 3(2) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4(2) 0
FW   Harry Burrows 33(1) 5 8 1 0(1) 0 2 1 0 0 43(2) 7
FW   Peter Dobing 11 2 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 15 2
FW   Jimmy Greenhoff 33 7 8 3 2 0 2 0 3 1 48 11
FW   John Ritchie 26(1) 13 5 6 1(1) 0 2 0 4 3 38(2) 22
FW   Terry Smith 2(1) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2(1) 1
Own goals 1 0 0 0 0 1

References

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