1913–14 Stoke F.C. season

Stoke
1913–14 season
ChairmanMr Rev. A Hurst
ManagerAlfred Barker
StadiumVictoria Ground
Southern League Division Two5th (40 Points)
FA CupFirst Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Alf Smith
(16)
All: Billy Herbert
& Alf Smith
(16)
Highest home attendance18,000 vs Luton Town
(13 April 1914)
Lowest home attendance3,000 vs Aberdare
(3 January 1914)
Average home league attendance6,566

The 1913–14 season was Stoke's fifth season in the Southern Football League.

Stoke were now back in the poor quality Southern League Division Two and expectations were to gain an instant return to Division One. Stoke started the season well winning nine games in a row, however the team ran into poor form in the new year and ended up finishing 5th, 11 points from promotion.[1] It was a bad performance and in April 1914 both chairman Mr Rev. A Hurst and manager Alfred Barker stepped down.[1]

Season review

League

Division Two of the Southern League for the 1913–14 season was made up of selection of poor Welsh clubs and a smattering of sides from around the London area, namely Luton Town, Brentford and Croydon Common.[1] There was no money available, meaning the club had to rely on free transfers.[1] There were still a number of new faces with the likes of former England international Fred Pentland joining from Halifax, James Bradley returning from Liverpool and Billy Herbert from Glossop.[1] With Stoke doing well from the start of the season crowds were often good as Stoke embarked on a nine match winning run.[1] However long distance travelling eventually caused Stoke problems and they lost their form and ended up finishing in a poor position of fifth.[1]

The directors, obviously disappointed as were the players and supporters, at not winning promotion, vowed to continue to build the team despite having little money available.[1] Alfred Barker was now under pressure from supporters and indeed some directors who questioned his wisdom to employ part-time staff.[1] He and chairman A. Hurst both stepped down in April 1914.[1] It was a sad way to see such key figures, responsible for saving the club, leave in such circumstances.[1]

FA Cup

After progressing past Shrewsbury Town and Barrow, Stoke lost to Aston Villa in the first round.[1]

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
1 Croydon Common 30 23 5 2 76 14 5.429 51
2 Luton Town 30 24 3 3 92 22 4.182 51
3 Brentford 30 20 4 6 80 18 4.444 44
4 Swansea Town 30 20 4 6 66 25 2.640 44
5 Stoke 30 19 2 9 71 34 2.088 40
6 Newport County 30 14 8 8 49 38 1.289 36
7 Mid Rhondda 30 13 7 10 55 37 1.486 33
8 Pontypridd 30 14 5 11 43 38 1.132 33
9 Llanelly 30 12 4 14 45 37 1.216 28
10 Barry 30 9 8 13 44 70 0.629 26
11 Abertillery 30 8 4 18 44 51 0.863 20
12 Ton Pentre 30 8 4 18 33 61 0.541 20
13 Mardy 30 6 6 18 30 60 0.500 18
14 Caerphilly 30 4 7 19 21 103 0.204 15
15 Aberdare 30 4 5 21 33 87 0.379 13
16 Treharris 30 2 4 24 19 106 0.179 8
Source: [citation needed]

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Southern Football League Division Two

Main article: 1913–14 Southern Football League
Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 6 September 1913 Croydon Common H 1–1 7,000 Pentland
2 13 September 1913 Croydon Common A 0–2 6,000
3 20 September 1913 Mid Rhondda A 2–0 2,500 Pentland, A Smith
4 27 September 1913 Ton Pentre A 2–1 4,000 Pentland, Revill
5 4 October 1913 Abertillery H 3–0 4,000 A Smith (2), Revill
6 11 October 1913 Treharris Athletic A 5–0 3,000 Pentland, Herbert (3), Jones
7 18 October 1913 Llanelli H 2–1 10,000 Pentland, Herbert
8 1 November 1913 Treharris Athletic H 5–1 7,000 Revill (2), Herbert (pen), A Smith, Dyke
9 8 November 1913 Swansea Town A 3–2 3,000 Herbert (2), A Smith
10 15 November 1913 Barry H 7–1 4,500 Herbert, A Smith (2), Jones (2), Revill, D Smith
11 22 November 1913 Aberdare A 4–2 1,000 Herbert, A Smith (3)
12 6 December 1913 Newport County A 2–3 3,000 Turner (pen), A Smith
13 25 December 1913 Caerphilly A 5–1 3,000 A Smith (3), D Smith (2)
14 26 December 1913 Caerphilly H 4–0 10,000 Turner (pen), Revill, Bailey, Lean (o.g.)
15 3 January 1914 Aberdare H 4–1 10,000 Herbert (3), Jenkins (o.g.)
16 17 January 1914 Brentford A 0–2 5,000
17 24 January 1914 Ton Pentre H 2–0 5,000 Revill, Turner (pen)
18 14 February 1914 Mid Rhondda H 1–0 4,000 Revill
19 21 February 1914 Abertillery A 0–1 3,500
20 28 February 1914 Brentford H 2–1 6,000 D Smith, Turner (pen)
21 14 March 1914 Pontypridd H 5–1 4,000 D Smith (2), Revill, A Smith, Jones
22 17 March 1914 Llanelli A 0–2 4,000
23 21 March 1914 Barry A 1–1 3,500 Herbert
24 28 March 1914 Newport County H 2–0 4,000 D Smith, Tempest
25 4 April 1914 Mardy A 2–1 1,000 Hamnett (2)
26 10 April 1914 Luton Town A 1–2 5,000 D Smith
27 11 April 1914 Mardy H 4–0 3,000 D Smith (2), Watkin, Hargreaves
28 13 April 1914 Luton Town H 1–2 18,000 Bradley
29 18 April 1914 Pontypridd A 1–4 2,000 A Smith
30 25 April 1914 Swansea Town H 0–1 5,000

FA Cup

Main article: 1913–14 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
4QR 29 November 1913 Shrewsbury Town H 2–0 5,000 D Smith, Herbert
5QR 13 December 1913 Barrow H 3–1 10,000 Holmes, Herbert (2)
R1 10 January 1914 Aston Villa A 0–4 26,094

Squad statistics

Pos. Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Bert Gadsden 30 0 3 0 33 0
DF England Richard Burton 2 0 0 0 2 0
DF England Charles James 1 0 0 0 1 0
DF England Jimmy McVay 1 0 0 0 1 0
DF England Alec Milne 25 0 3 0 28 0
DF England Ernest Mullineux 5 0 1 0 6 0
DF England George Smart 3 0 0 0 3 0
DF England George Turner 29 4 3 0 32 4
MF England Sam Baddeley 7 0 1 0 8 0
MF England James Bradley 12 1 3 0 15 1
MF England Harry Davies 1 0 0 0 1 0
MF England Archie Dyke 15 1 3 0 18 1
MF England Reg Forester 1 0 0 0 1 0
MF England Bob Hamnett 5 2 0 0 5 2
MF England Henry Hargreaves 9 1 0 0 9 1
MF England Crop Hawkins 3 0 0 0 3 0
MF Wales Joe Jones 23 4 0 0 23 4
MF England Charles Parker 9 0 0 0 9 0
MF England Tancey Wharton 17 0 2 0 19 0
FW England Tom Bailey 15 1 2 0 17 1
FW England Albert Ellis 3 0 0 0 3 0
FW England Billy Herbert 24 13 3 3 27 16
FW England William Holmes 2 0 2 1 4 1
FW England Fred Pentland 7 5 0 0 7 5
FW England Tom Revill 22 9 2 0 24 9
FW England Walter Rowlands 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW England Alf Smith 22 16 3 0 25 16
FW England Dick Smith 15 10 1 1 16 11
FW England William Smith 4 0 0 0 4 0
FW England Billy Tempest 10 1 1 0 11 1
FW England Arthur Watkin 7 1 0 0 7 1
– Own goals – 2 – 0 – 2

References

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