1993–94 Stoke City F.C. season

Stoke City
1993–94 season
ChairmanPeter Coates
ManagerLou Macari,
Joe Jordan
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League First Division10th (67 Points)
FA CupFourth Round
League CupSecond Round
Anglo-Italian CupGroup Stage
Top goalscorerLeague: Dave Regis
& Toddy Örlygsson
(10)
All: Dave Regis
(14)
Highest home attendance22,576 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
(5 February 1994)
Lowest home attendance10,181 vs Peterborough United
(13 April 1994)
Average home league attendance15,968

The 1993–94 season was Stoke City's 87th season in the Football League and 31st in the second tier, now known as the First Division following the formation of the Premier League.

Stoke, now back in the second tier for the first time since 1990, were now looking to gain promotion back to English football's top tier and with Lou Macari in charge it seemed to be a real possibility. Icelandic international Toddy Örlygsson arrived from Nottingham Forest which signalled the club's intentions but they were rocked in October when manager Macari decided to join boyhood club Celtic and another Scotsman, Joe Jordan was appointed manager. Unlike Macari, Jordan was not a popular person with the supporters due to his lack of passion and style of play. Results were okay and a 10th-place finish was the final outcome.[1]

Season review

League

In the summer of 1993 brewer Carling was signed up as the new shirt sponsor and in the build-up to the 1993–94 season Macari sought out to strengthen his squad in readiness for a tough looking First Division.[1] In came Icelandic international midfielder Toddy Örlygsson and proven goalscorer Gary Bannister both from Nottingham Forest, Simon Sturridge from Birmingham City, goalkeeper Mark Prudhoe from Darlington and Martin Carruthers from Aston Villa, whilst Micky Gynn and Kenny Lowe arrived on free transfers.[1] Goalkeeper Carl Muggleton came in from Leicester City and Kevin Russell joined Burnley for £120,000.[1]

A good crowd of 18,766 attended the opening match of the season as Stoke fell to a poor 2–1 defeat to Millwall and questions were asked about the quality of Macari's players in the much tougher First Division.[1] And with Stoke failing to find any real form despite a fantastic victory against Manchester United in the League Cup the fans were shocked when star striker Mark Stein, who by October had already scored 13 goals, was allowed to join Chelsea for a club record fee of £1.4 million.[1] Stein had become an idol amongst the supporters and felt let down by the board for accepting Chelsea's offer.[1] Come November and Stoke were struggling in the bottom half of the table and soon after manager Lou Macari left for one of his former club's, Celtic.[1] The new manager was another former Scottish international with a similar career to that of Macari, Joe Jordan.[1] Stoke supporters felt that the appointment of Jordan was the wrong decision with club legend Denis Smith the preferred man to take the position.[1]

They eventually accepted Jordan as the new manager although his style of play soon began to cause grumblings from the terraces but the side slowly got results going if not the quality of football.[1] In early 1994 the club was rocked by news that former manager Tony Waddington had died and thousands of supporters lined the streets on the day of his funeral to pay their respects to Stoke's most successful manager.[1] Stoke huffed and puffed as they tried to claim a play-off place but missed out and finished an eventful season in 10th place.[1]

FA Cup

After overcoming plucky non-league Bath City in a third round replay, 4–1 at Twerton Park, Stoke lost to Premiership side Oldham Athletic.[1]

League Cup

Stoke knocked out Mansfield Town which set up a clash with Manchester United.[1] Stoke produced a fantastic first leg performance and won 2–1 thanks to two goals from Stein, but they could not repeat the feat in the second leg and lost 2–0.[1]

Final league table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
8 Wolverhampton Wanderers 46 17 17 12 60 47 +13 68
9 Middlesbrough 46 18 13 15 66 54 +12 67
10 Stoke City 46 18 13 15 57 59 −2 67
11 Charlton Athletic 46 19 8 19 61 58 +3 65
12 Sunderland 46 19 8 19 54 57 −3 65
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference

Results

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

Main article: 1993–94 Football League
Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 14 August 1993 Millwall H 1–2 18,766 McCarthy 28' (o.g.)
2 21 August 1993 Bolton Wanderers A 1–1 11,328 Stein 69'
3 28 August 1993 West Bromwich Albion H 1–0 17,948 Stein 68'
4 4 September 1993 Portsmouth A 3–3 12,552 Stein (2) 17', 65', Regis 84'
5 11 September 1993 Tranmere Rovers H 1–2 17,296 Martindale 25' (o.g.)
6 14 September 1993 Middlesbrough A 2–1 13,189 Carruthers 42', Foley 84'
7 19 September 1993 Nottingham Forest A 3–2 20,843 Regis 16', Stein (2) 25', 49' (pen)
8 25 September 1993 Southend United H 0–1 16,145
9 2 October 1993 Crystal Palace A 1–4 12,880 Stein 75'
10 10 October 1993 Oxford United A 0–1 6,489
11 16 October 1993 Grimsby Town H 1–0 14,696 Örlygsson 69'
12 23 October 1993 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–1 20,421 Stein 33'
13 30 October 1993 Barnsley H 5–4 14,674 (o.g.) (2), Gleghorn 50', Overson 55', Carruthers 64'
14 3 November 1993 Sunderland H 1–0 13,551 Örlygsson 86'
15 6 November 1993 Watford A 3–1 7,767 Örlygsson 10', Carruthers 53', Regis 84'
16 14 November 1993 Leicester City H 1–0 15,984 Gleghorn 43'
17 20 November 1993 Notts County A 0–2 9,815
18 27 November 1993 Luton Town A 2–6 7,384 Regis 3', Linton (o.g.) 41'
19 4 December 1993 Watford H 2–0 13,465 Bannister 53', Regis 63'
20 11 December 1993 Middlesbrough H 3–1 13,777 Bannister 18', Örlygsson (2) 32', 69'
21 19 December 1993 Millwall A 0–2 8,930
22 26 December 1993 Birmingham City H 2–1 16,584 Örlygsson 21', Sandford 69'
23 28 December 1993 Charlton Athletic A 0–2 8,416
24 1 January 1994 Derby County H 2–1 20,307 Foley 35', Örlygsson 49'
25 3 January 1994 Bristol City A 0–0 11,132
26 15 January 1994 Grimsby Town A 0–0 8,577
27 22 January 1994 Oxford United H 1–1 14,689 Regis 12'
28 5 February 1994 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1–1 22,579 Overson 53'
29 12 February 1994 Barnsley A 0–3 7,561
30 19 February 1994 Peterborough United A 1–1 7,428 Gleghorn 45'
31 23 February 1994 Bolton Wanderers H 2–0 14,257 Örlygsson 45', Regis 85'
32 26 February 1994 Portsmouth H 2–0 14,506 Örlygsson 45' (pen), Carruthers 84'
33 5 March 1994 West Bromwich Albion A 0–0 16,060
34 12 March 1994 Nottingham Forest H 0–1 20,550
35 15 March 1994 Tranmere Rovers A 0–2 6,346
36 19 March 1994 Southend United A 0–0 4,542
37 26 March 1994 Crystal Palace H 0–2 18,071
38 30 March 1994 Bristol City H 3–0 13,208 Adams (2) 8', 78', Biggins 59' (pen)
39 1 April 1994 Birmingham City A 1–3 13,568 Carruthers 33'
40 4 April 1994 Charlton Athletic H 1–0 13,569 Örlygsson 31'
41 9 April 1994 Derby County A 2–4 16,593 Biggins 77' (pen), Adams 81'
42 13 April 1994 Peterborough United H 3–0 10,181 Regis 14', Biggins 36', Walters 79'
43 16 April 1994 Sunderland A 1–0 17,406 Walters 28'
44 23 April 1994 Notts County H 0–0 16,470
45 30 April 1994 Leicester City A 1–1 19,291 Regis 48'
46 8 May 1994 Luton Town H 2–2 15,911 Biggins 16', Regis 32'

FA Cup

Main article: 1993–94 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 8 January 1994 Bath City H 0–0 14,159
R3 Replay 18 January 1994 Bath City A 4–1 6,213 Regis (2) 5', 57', Cranson 38', Örlygsson 83'
R4 29 January 1994 Oldham Athletic A 0–0 14,465
R4 Replay 9 February 1994 Oldham Athletic H 0–1 19,871

League Cup

Main article: 1993–94 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R1 1st Leg 18 August 1993 Mansfield Town H 2–2 8,976 Gleghorn 2', Carruthers 80'
R1 2nd Leg 24 August 1993 Mansfield Town A 3–1 (aet) 4,214 Stein (2) 17', 93', Regis 117'
R2 1st Leg 22 September 1993 Manchester United H 2–1 23,327 Stein (2) 32', 74'
R2 2nd Leg 6 October 1993 Manchester United A 0–2 41,387

Anglo-Italian Cup

Main article: 1993–94 Anglo-Italian Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
Qualifying Match 1 31 August 1993 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 3–3 9,092 Carruthers (2) 23', 38', Gleghorn 68'
Qualifying Match 2 7 September 1993 Birmingham City H 2–0 8,633 Cranson 4', Stein 51' (pen)
Group Match 1 12 October 1993 Cosenza H 2–1 5,183 Carruthers 18', Örlygsson 78'
Group Match 2 10 November 1993 Fiorentina H 0–0 8,616
Group Match 3 16 November 1993 Padova A 0–3 1,495
Group Match 4 22 December 1993 Pescara A 1–2 1,850 Regis 43'

Friendlies

Match Opponent Venue Result
1 Simba SC A 3–1
2 Pamba A 2–1
3 Young Africans A 4–0
4 Tanzamia Breweries A 3–2
5 Real Sociedad H 2–0
6 Newcastle Town A 4–0
7 Telford United A 11–1
8 Northwich Victoria A 1–1

Squad statistics

Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Anglo-Italian Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK Scotland Gordon Marshall 10 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 13 0
GK England Carl Muggleton 6 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 9 0
GK England Mark Prudhoe 30 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 38 0
DF England John Butler 34(1) 0 4 0 2 0 5 0 45(1) 0
DF Scotland John Clark 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0
DF England Ian Clarkson 14 0 1 0 2 0 1(1) 0 18(1) 0
DF Scotland Tom Cowan 14 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 18 0
DF England Ian Cranson 44 0 4 1 3 0 6 1 57 2
DF England Graham Harbey 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 0
DF England Graham Potter 2(1) 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4(1) 0
DF England Vince Overson 39 2 4 0 4 0 5 0 52 2
DF England Lee Sandford 41(1) 1 4 0 3 0 5 0 53(1) 1
MF England Micky Adams 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 3
MF England Steve Foley 42(1) 2 4 0 4 0 3 0 53(1) 2
MF England Nigel Gleghorn 38(2) 3 4 0 4 1 6 1 52(2) 5
MF England Micky Gynn 14(7) 0 0 0 2(2) 0 3(1) 0 19(10) 0
MF Scotland Dave Kevan 1 0 0 0 1 0 0(1) 0 2(1) 0
MF England Kenny Lowe 3(6) 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 7(6) 0
MF Iceland Toddy Orlygsson 42(3) 10 4 1 4 0 5 1 55(3) 12
MF England Paul Ware 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
MF England Brett Williams 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
MF England Simon Winstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FW England Gary Bannister 10(5) 2 2 0 0 0 0(1) 0 12(6) 2
FW England Wayne Biggins 10 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 4
FW England Martin Carruthers 24(10) 5 2 0 1(2) 1 4(1) 3 31(13) 9
FW England Tony Kelly 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0(1) 0
FW England Dave Regis 33(5) 10 4 2 2 1 4 1 43(5) 14
FW England Graham Shaw 2(2) 0 0(1) 0 0 0 0(1) 0 2(4) 0
FW England Mark Stein 12 8 0 0 4 4 3 1 19 13
FW England Simon Sturridge 5(8) 0 1(1) 0 1 0 2(2) 0 9(11) 0
FW England Mark Walters 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 2
– Own goals – 5 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 5

References

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