1979–80 Stoke City F.C. season

Stoke City
1979–80 season
ChairmanThomas Degg
ManagerAlan Durban
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League First Division18th (35 Points)
FA CupThird Round
League CupThird Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Garth Crooks
(12)
All: Garth Crooks
(15)
Highest home attendance31,996 vs Liverpool
(23 April 1980)
Lowest home attendance14,333 vs Norwich City
(15 March 1980)
Average home league attendance20,176

The 1979–80 season was Stoke City's 73rd season in the Football League and the 47th in the First Division.

With Stoke now back in the First Division after a two-year absence the main aim of 1979–80 was to remain there. It was a difficult season for Stoke but they managed to achieve their aim finishing in a safe position of 18th five points away from relegation.[1]

Season review

League

Durban recognised the need to strengthen his squad for the challenges of top-flight football and with veteran Denis Smith skippering the side he added to it Ray Evans a former Tottenham Hotspur right back, and goalkeeper Eric McManus.[1] It was around his time that the introduction of foreign players from across Europe began to influence English football.[1] And in keeping with the times Stoke signed their first player from the continent, Dutch midfielder Loek Ursem from AZ '67 for the equivalent of £85,000 in Dutch guilders.[1] The players Durban brought to the Victoria Ground were respected more for their work rate than their flair but Ursem was something of an inspiration. Whilst he never fully commanded a regular place in the side he was a very popular player with the fans but at times lacked that extra bit of class to make him a top player.[1]

Stoke also unveiled the new Stoke End stand in the summer of 1979, capable of seating 4,250 it was built from the proceeds of the club's successful commercial department whose lotteries were key to their success.[1] After a good start to the season with two home wins the tough task of First Division football began to cause Stoke problems and they remained in the bottom six all season.[1] They avoided an instant return to the Second Division with little to spare finishing in 18th position with 36 points.[1]

FA Cup

Stoke had two men controversially sent-off as Burnley won 1–0 at Turf Moor.[1] With the match seemingly destined for a replay referee Kevin McNally caused controversy as he sent off Denis Smith for time-wasting as he was going off injured. He then awarded Burnley a penalty after Billy Hamilton was fouled by Ray Evans, Martin Dobson scoring from the spot. Stoke were then reduced to nine men as Evans was then sent-off for dissent.[2]

League Cup

This season saw the introduction of two legged matches in the early rounds of the League Cup, Stoke beating Swansea City but then losing to Swindon Town.[1]

Final league table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
16 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 11 15 16 47 57 −10 37
17 Manchester City 42 12 13 17 43 66 −23 37
18 Stoke City 42 13 10 19 44 58 −14 36
19 Everton 42 9 17 16 43 51 −8 35
20 Bristol City (R) 42 9 13 20 37 66 −29 31 Relegation to the Second Division
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(R) Relegated

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

Main article: 1979–80 Football League
Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 18 August 1979 Coventry City H 3–2 23,151 Busby 34', Crooks (2) 50', 55'
2 22 August 1979 Nottingham Forest A 0–1 26,147
3 25 August 1979 Tottenham Hotspur H 3–1 22,832 Crooks (2) 35', 41' (1 pen), O'Callaghan 60'
4 1 September 1979 Ipswich Town A 1–3 17,539 Butcher 20' (o.g.)
5 8 September 1979 Everton H 2–3 23,460 O'Callaghan 17', Smith 35'
6 15 September 1979 Bristol City A 0–0 16,662
7 22 September 1979 Crystal Palace H 1–2 19,225 Smith 7'
8 29 September 1979 Manchester United A 0–4 52,327
9 6 October 1979 Norwich City A 2–2 17,060 Irvine 13', Richardson 73' (pen)
10 10 October 1979 Nottingham Forest H 1–1 28,514 O'Callaghan 63'
11 13 October 1979 Middlesbrough H 0–0 18,406
12 20 October 1979 Arsenal A 0–0 31,501
13 27 October 1979 Derby County H 3–2 18,530 Richardson 11', Heath 31', Crooks 67'
14 3 November 1979 Coventry City A 3–1 16,761 Jones (o.g.) 24', Heath 26', Crooks 75'
15 10 November 1979 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 0–1 26,061
16 17 November 1979 Aston Villa A 1–2 27,056 Scott 10'
17 24 November 1979 Bolton Wanderers H 1–0 14,435 O'Callaghan 44'
18 1 December 1979 Southampton A 1–3 20,095 Irvine 67'
19 8 December 1979 West Bromwich Albion H 3–2 19,865 Crooks (3) 11', 14', 78'
20 15 December 1979 Brighton & Hove Albion A 0–0 18,392
21 21 December 1979 Leeds United H 0–2 16,878
22 26 December 1979 Manchester City A 1–1 36,286 Dodd 5'
23 29 December 1979 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–1 28,810
24 12 January 1980 Ipswich Town H 0–1 15,253
25 2 February 1980 Bristol City H 1–0 14,510 Rodgers 55' (o.g.)
26 9 February 1980 Crystal Palace A 1–0 21,181 Chapman 70'
27 16 February 1980 Manchester United H 1–1 28,068 Irvine 48'
28 23 February 1980 Middlesbrough A 3–1 15,953 Cook 4', Crooks (2) 28', 87'
29 1 March 1980 Arsenal H 2–3 19,752 Cook 12', Chapman 74'
30 8 March 1980 Derby County A 2–2 22,695 Cook 12', 24'
31 15 March 1980 Norwich City H 2–1 14,333 Heath 22', Bond 35' (o.g.)
32 18 March 1980 Everton A 0–2 23,848
33 22 March 1980 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0–3 27,968
34 29 March 1980 Aston Villa H 2–0 16,234 Evans 16' (pen), Chapman 65'
35 1 April 1980 Liverpool A 0–1 36,475
36 5 April 1980 Manchester City H 0–0 20,451
37 8 April 1980 Leeds United A 0–3 15,451
38 12 April 1980 Southampton H 1–2 15,030 O'Callaghan 12'
39 19 April 1980 Bolton Wanderers A 1–2 11,304 Crooks 44'
40 23 April 1980 Liverpool H 0–2 31,996
41 26 April 1980 Brighton & Hove Albion H 1–0 14,422 Heath 35'
42 3 May 1980 West Bromwich Albion A 1–0 18,470 Heath 57'

FA Cup

Main article: 1979–80 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 5 January 1980 Burnley A 0–1 13,478

League Cup

Main article: 1979–80 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 1st Leg 29 August 1979 Swansea City H 1–1 18,004 Smith 90'
R2 2nd Leg 4 September 1979 Swansea City A 3–1 (aet) 20,030 Crooks (2) 55', 120', Randall 93'
R3 1st Leg 26 September 1979 Swindon Town H 2–2 15,255 Irvine 6', O'Callaghan 40'
R3 2nd Leg 2 October 1979 Swindon Town A 1–2 15,823 Chapman 68'

Friendlies

Match Opponent Venue Result
1 Port Vale A 2–0
2 Bournemouth A 2–1
3 Portsmouth A 3–0
4 Reading A 3–2
5 NEC Nijmegen A 4–1
6 Macclesfield Town A 2–2
7 OFI Crete A 1–0
8 Chelsea A 1–0
9 Shrewsbury Town A 1–1
10 Stoke City 1970s XI H 5–2

Squad statistics

Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Peter Fox 23 0 1 0 1 0 25 0
GK England Roger Jones 19 0 0 0 3 0 22 0
DF England Stuart Eccleston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF England Alan Dodd 36(1) 1 1 0 3 0 40(1) 1
DF England Ray Evans 40 1 1 0 3 0 44 1
DF England Paul Johnson 25 0 0 0 0 0 25 0
DF England Paul Anthony Johnson 15 0 0 0 0 0 15 0
DF England Denis Smith 34 2 1 0 4 1 39 3
DF England Geoff Scott 16 1 0 0 3 0 19 1
DF England Mel Pejic 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
MF England Paul Bracewell 4(2) 0 0 0 0 0 4(2) 0
MF England Jeff Cook 13(1) 4 0 0 0 0 13(1) 4
MF England Mike Doyle 28 0 1 0 4 0 33 0
MF England Adrian Heath 38 5 1 0 4 0 43 5
MF Scotland Sammy Irvine 26 3 1 0 4 1 31 4
MF England Paul Richardson 34(2) 2 1 0 2(1) 1 37(3) 3
MF England Kevin Sheldon 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
MF England Gary Simpson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MF Netherlands Loek Ursem 7 0 0 0 1 0 8 0
FW England Simon Bullock 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FW England Viv Busby 4(6) 1 0 0 2(2) 0 6(8) 1
FW England Lee Chapman 14(3) 3 0 0 1 1 15(3) 4
FW England Garth Crooks 40 12 1 0 4 2 45 14
FW Scotland John Lumsden 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0
FW Republic of Ireland Brendan O'Callaghan 32(4) 5 1 0 3 1 36(4) 6
FW England Paul Randall 12(4) 0 1 0 2 1 15(4) 1
– Own goals – 4 – 0 – 0 – 4

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ "Kevin McNally sends off injured Denis Smith as he is being subbed". Stoke Sentinel. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.