Stoke City Football Club: History Of The Club Formation

It’s over 105 years since Stoke City Football Club regained its place in the Football League after a twelve-year absence due to bankruptcy. Their re-admission is unique in that they were the only club to gain re-election to the Football League.

Early History Of Stoke City Football Club

Stoke Ramblers was founded in 1863.  The story told these days is that the Charterhouse School pupils formed a football club in 1863 while working as apprentices at the North Staffordshire Railway in Stoke.

Even though the headmaster of Stoke St Peter’s School, J. Thomas, was an active sportsman and secretary of the local Victoria Athletic Club, little evidence remains of any official matches taking place at that time.

The club was officially founded in 1868 by Henry Almond, who too attended the famous Charterhouse school. Stoke Ramblers began in 1868. To continue playing the game he had enjoyed at school, he established the first association football club in the area as an apprentice with the North Staffordshire Railway Company.

First Official Match

The club’s first official match was against a scratch team brought together in October 1868. The first goal scored by Stoke Ramblers was scored by Harry Almond, the club’s founder, and captain.

In December 1868, the club played its first away match at Congleton, a rugby club that was convinced to play a one-off fixture under association rules. The club played at the Victoria Cricket Club ground until 1875 when they moved to Sweetings Field due to increased attendances.

Change Of Team Name

The club changed its name to Stoke Football Club in 1870 after dropping the suffix. The club changed its name to Stoke City Football Club in 1925 after the town Stoke On Trent was granted city status.

The club became closely affiliated with Stoke Victoria Cricket Club and shared facilities and administrative responsibilities. Athletic Club’s ground became Victoria Ground, where the club played.

The club played in their first FA Cup in 1883/84. In the first round, they were beaten by Manchester 2-1 at home. This match acknowledged that the club could not compete against professional teams.  The club became professional in August 1885.

It took another three years before 1886 that Stoke enjoyed their first success in the competition. The Potters defeated Caernarfon Wanderers 10-0 at the Victoria Ground.

When Stoke lost to Crewe in the next round, the joy was short-lived, but in 1887-88 came the first cup run.

FA Cup First Round

As a result of qualifying round victories over Burslem Port Vale, The Wanderers, Oswestry and a bye, the Club reached the First Round proper for the first time. They were beaten by eventual winners West Bromwich Albion 4-1.

Red-and-white stripes became the club’s traditional uniform around this time.

In 1888, they became a founding member of the Football League. They finished bottom of the table in the first two seasons.

After two seasons, Stoke City was outvoted (being replaced by Sunderland) and had to play in the Football Alliance. After a season in the Football Alliance, they were elected back in for the 1891-92 season and remained in the top flight until relegated in 1906-07.

Stoke City Football Club Bankruptcy

Several years of mid-table stagnation later, the Stoke City Football Club was relegated to Division Two at the end of the 1906/07 season.  During that season, attendance plummeted.

Unfortunately, it didn’t improve the year after, with attendances dropping to as low as 3,000, 2,000, and even 1,500 by the end of 1907/08. As a result of this rapid decline, there were financial complications, and the player salaries and running costs were more than gate receipts, and Stoke Football Club went bankrupt in 1908.

After the club lost its Football League status in 1908, it re-registered as a new company and played in the Birmingham & District League for the next season. Then from 1909-10, they entered the Southern League Second Division, initially playing in both competitions.

Although there was a brief stay in the Southern League First Division, they were back in the Southern League Second Division for 1914-15.

Hostile AGM

The Stoke City Football Club annual general meeting in the summer of 1914 had been a stormy affair.

The directors appear to have expected an easy ride. However, the team finished in fifth position in 1913-14. They had obtained 16 votes in the re-election for a place back in the Football League (just nine short), while there had been a profit on the year’s trading of £348.

The meeting was a thrice-run affair, with opposition led by Alf Barker, one of the individuals who had helped reform the club in 1908. Two directors failed to retain their places on the board in the show-of-hands vote but then won the ballot based on shareholdings.

Allegations of a missile being thrown turned out to be nothing more than a crumpled piece of paper. The board narrowly won through at a third meeting, winning an open vote by 48 to 47 and the shareholders’ ballot more comfortably, by 378 to 168.

New Secretary Manager

The new secretary-manager Peter Hodge had previously spent five years in charge of Raith Rovers. He had achieved three consecutive top-two positions in the Scottish League Division Two before gaining promotion to the First Division.

A knowledgeable and effective manager, he went on to take charge of Leicester City and Manchester City after the First World War was over.

There was little transfer activity over the summer, and the squad that started 1914-15 was more or less the same as had finished the previous campaign.

The Southern League Division, Two of 1914-15, was dysfunctional.

Of the 17 clubs set to take part, 12 were based in South Wales, two in the London area (Leyton and Brentford), two in the Midlands (Stoke and Coventry City), and one in the North West (Stalybridge Celtic). The presence of Stalybridge was not the first occasion a Northern club had joined the competition, for Bradford Park Avenue had been members in 1907-08.

1914-15 Southern League

The clubs were essentially a mixture of Football League (or at least Southern League Division One) hopefuls and teams recruited as part of an expansion move by the Southern league to bring professional football to the Welsh Valleys, plus the newly formed Essex professional outfit Leyton who had yet to play a game.

One of the skills a secretary-manager required was to arrange the best possible fixture list with at least one attractive home fixture over the Christmas period.

In the Southern League Division Two, other considerations were to be considered. The state of many of the Welsh grounds was appalling, and these were best negotiated in the summer months when there was more daylight, enabling later kick-off times, and the pitches were likely to be slightly better.

Time and time again, comments appeared in the Staffordshire Evening Sentinel along the following lines: “Frequenters of the Victoria Ground can have no conception of the state of some of these Welsh enclosures” (30 January 1915). Ton Pentre was probably the worst “cramped, uneven, composed for the most part of clinker, and positively dangerous to players owing to the presence of so much glass and clinker” (Staffordshire Evening Sentinel, 13 February 1915).

For good measure, there was also a significant slope to the soccer field. Players described the Llanelly pitch as “a fearful handicap” to players, while Barry Town’s ground was “a terrible enclosure…almost knee-deep in the mud”.

Pontypridd’s Taff Vale Park boasted the fastest sprint track in the British Isles; the only problem was it ran down the middle of the pitch, from goal to goal. It was about 10 meters wide and, for football, was covered with a light layer of peat. The MidRhondda pitch was described as “more underwater than above it.”

Long Journeys For Stoke City Football Club

The long distances to be traveled meant very long journeys and often 4.00 pm (sometimes 5.00 pm) kick-offs for Saturday afternoon matches. As the war progressed, travel became more complicated, and train journeys were often a problem.

Perhaps the most challenging journey for Stoke Football Club was their trip to Brentford for a Christmas Day fixture. The players left Stoke at 8.15 pm on Christmas Eve but did not reach Euston Station in London until 3.20 am.

After traveling to their hotel, they had supper at 5.30 am and were in bed for 6.  At 8.30 am, they were up again and made their way to Brentford, arriving just in time for the 11.15 kick-off. After only a couple hours of sleep, the team played well and ended with a 2-2 draw.

Railway Trips To Wales And Beyond

There were also delays on some of the trips to Wales. Despite leaving for Merthyr before 8.30 am, the players arrived only in time for the 4.00 pm kick-off and changed en route, going straight to the pitch for the start.

Mid Rhondda (based at Tonypandy) was a similar story; the party left before 8.00 am, arrived at 4.30 pm (the scheduled kick-off time,) and the match eventually started at 5.00 pm.

Stoke Football Club had wisely decided to begin the season with a trip to South Wales, with fixtures scheduled at Mardy on 1 September and Caerphilly the following day. Unfortunately, the opening game at Mardy was lost, but as Caerphilly had withdrawn from the competition a couple of days beforehand, the players could travel back to the Midlands.

The next fixture was home to newcomers Leyton Orient, resulting in a 3-1 win. A successful run through to that Christmas Day visit to Brentford followed, with 12 out of 13 games won and just a single defeat away promotion rivals Stalybridge Celtic.

Stoke City Football Club Poor Cup Run

The 1914-15 FA Cup campaign began with a record 11-0 win over Stourbridge in the preliminary qualifying round but ended with a disappointing defeat at Walsall, members of the Birmingham League, in which Stoke City Football Club reserve team competed.

However, the promotion campaign received an unexpected boost towards the end of November with the withdrawal of Leyton and Mardy, thus removing the opening day defeat from the league records.

A third club, Abertillery, also dropped out in the New Year, leaving 13 clubs to complete the season. As a result, the division was split into two: those with promotion ambitions (Stoke, Swansea, Merthyr, Stalybridge, Brentford, and Coventry) and the rest.

Coventry effectively ran out of money in the second half of the season and was not always able to field an entire team in Birmingham League matches. Brentford, too, drifted away, leaving the remaining four clubs in contention.

Ultimately Stoke City Football Club’s championship success was built on an impressive home record: 11 wins out of 12 and a goals tally of 49 for and just five against. However, even after that New Year points boost, it was not all plain sailing.

The Championship Race

There were two tough fixtures to overcome in March. Firstly, on 6 March, there was a tricky visit to Merthyr Town, who were also in the championship race. Delays on the rail journey meant the team had to change into their kit en route and go straight into the match on arrival. Nevertheless, a valuable point was obtained in a 0-0 draw.

The following Saturday came the decisive fixture at home to Stalybridge Celtic. Stalybridge might seem an unusual name to be found in the Southern League.

Still, the competition was seen as a route to football league membership, and they are not the most northern to have taken part in the competition – Bradford Park Avenue did so in 1907-08. Stalybridge seems to have misjudged the strength of opposing teams and lost four games in the first half of the season, which effectively cost them the title.

They were the only team to have beaten Stoke City Football Club to date and did not lose a game after mid-December.

The revival in fortunes was undoubtedly linked to their signing almost an entirely new forward line during the season: Laurie Burkinshaw (Sheffield Wednesday), Walter Anthony (Blackburn), Andy Nelson (Port Vale), and Norman Wood (Stockport).

They arrived at the Victoria Ground looking for a win, but in front of a 6,000 crowd, Stoke City Football Club held firm with Arthur Watkin’s goal earning another valuable draw.

Closing Stages

The closing stages of the season were marred by ill-feeling. Stoke’s 4-2 loss at Mid Rhondda on Good Friday, followed by their Easter Monday thrashing of Ebbw Vale by a 10-0 margin to clinch the title, led to some raised eyebrows in South Wales.

This was mainly so as the small contingent of Ebbw Vale professionals hailed from the Potteries (notably Amos Baddeley, a former Stoke player), as did their manager, Arthur Shallcross, who later went on to become manager of Stoke Football Club after the war.

However, Mid Rhondda’s pitch was noted as poor, and the team arrived late, delaying the kick-off, which probably explains the result. It was also the case that close rivals Merthyr and Stalybridge still had to meet each other, which meant there was little chance of Stoke Football club losing out on the title.

Merthyr’s chances were further reduced following a 1-0 defeat at Llanelly on 10 April. Allegations were made that the Llanelly players had been bribed to perform at their best.

The Mid Rhondda and former Leeds City winger George Cunningham were banned from the FA of Wales following investigations. However, Stalybridge, the obvious beneficiaries, seems to have escaped punishment.

Applying For The Football League (Once Again)

Stoke Football Club’s primary aim of achieving promotion to the First Division of the Southern League had been completed. They now set out to better this by applying to join the Football League. They did so in defiance of the Southern League authorities, having decided not to resign their membership before applying.

There were seven applications: Leicester Fosse and Glossop, both seeking re-election after finishing in the bottom two places of Division Two, plus Chesterfield Town, Coventry City, Darlington, South Shields, and Stoke City Football Club. The process was that a representative from each club stated their case for membership, and the member clubs then voted on the issue.

Playing strength was not a significant factor. When Stoke Football Club’s turn finally came (the clubs appear to have gone in alphabetical order), their representative’s main point was that the club had a ground that could hold 45,000 spectators.

However, their position as founder members would have held them in good stead too. Coventry withdrew their application, and the outcome was decisive: Leicester Fosse 33, Stoke 21, South Shields 11, Chesterfield Town 8, Darlington 4, Glossop 1.

Stoke City Football Club Re-Elected

Stoke Football Club was therefore elected to the Football League, although it was not until August 1919 that they could take their place. Like many clubs, Stoke Football Club seems to have almost ignored the war despite this dominating life in the town.

When pressed, towards the end of November 1914, the club produced a list of 15 players who had enlisted; not 15 current players but 15 men who had played for the club in the last three seasons.

The War Years

Ray, only one of these was a current player, being the regular outside right for the reserve team. That, it seems, is how it remained until the season ended when several players did enlist, including Reg Forrester (Mounted Machine Gun Section), Arthur Watkin (Transport Section), and Briscoe (the reserve team center-forward).

Apart from this, most players who served in the military during the war were conscripted. Goalkeeper Dick Herron managed to hold this off at a tribunal in March 1917 due to his work as a blacksmith in a local colliery but was called up in the autumn. Unfortunately, he was killed in action fighting with the Sherwood Foresters on 19 September 1918.

The only other fatality from the players from 1914-15 was Stan Ripley, who had made a solitary Southern League appearance during the season, otherwise turning out for the ‘A’ and reserve teams. He died on 10 March 1917. Two wartime players, Tom Kinson and George Limer, also lost their lives.

Conscription

Players conscripted included Harry Hargreaves, George Turner, Billy Tompkinson, Charlie Parker, and George Clarke. Hargreaves was reported as a prisoner of war in October 1918, while Turner lost a leg, ending his career.

Stoke City Football Club took their place in the wartime emergency competitions, attracting 7,000 fans to their opening game with Preston North End in September 1915. Had they not been elected back into the Football League, they may have faced serious problems regarding their future existence.

Gates throughout the country were down significantly, and while many football clubs cut their wage bill to match their reduced income, Stoke City Football Club does not appear to have done so. The season may have been successful on the pitch.

Still, it was a different story financially, and a substantial loss of over £2,300 was made, leaving the club in a deficit of almost £3,000 – significant amounts for this period.

Stoke City Football Club Between The Wars

The club acquired Victoria Ground in 1919. As a result, the Butler Street stand was constructed, increasing the ground’s capacity to 50,000. Due to the city status granted to Stoke On Trent in 1925, the club changed its name to Stoke City Football Club.

Stanley Matthews, the club’s most celebrated player, debuted in the 1930s. Hanley-born Matthews made his debut for the club in March 1932 as a 17-year-old apprentice.

Matthews became an England international and one of the best players of his generation by the end of the decade. He scored his first goal in a 3–1 win against local rivals Port Vale. He would end his playing career with Stoke City Football Club in 1965.

Second Division Champions

The club won the Second Division title in 1932–33 and was promoted to the First Division the following season.

Over 23,000 fans attended the club on average by 1934, which enabled the club to provide increased transfer funds to manager Tom Mather. Now, the club ranked among the best in the country.

An 11–3 win over West Bromwich Albion in February 1937 was the club’s record league win in this period.

A record 51,373 attended the club’s match against Arsenal in April that year. Freddie Steele set a Stoke City Football Club record of 33 league goals during the 1936–37 season. It is still the record to this day.

Football Club Honors

Football Alliance

• 1890–91: League Champions

Southern League Division Two

• 1909–10 and 1914–15: Champions

Birmingham & District League

• 1910–11: League Champions

Third Division North (Now known as League One – 3rd tier)

• 1926–27 and 1992–93: Champions

Second Division

• 1932–33 and 1962–63: League Champions

League Cup

• 1972: Winners

FA Cup

• Best Result: 2010-11 Runners Up

Stoke City Official Website: stokecityfc.com

Ground Location: Is Located In Stoke On Trent

Stadium: Bet365 stadium (Previously known as Brittania Stadium)

Nickname: The Potters