1985–86 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1985–86 season was Stoke City's 79th season in the Football League and 26th in the Second Division.

Stoke City
1985–86 season
ChairmanSandy Clubb
ManagerMick Mills
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League Second Division10th (57 Points)
FA CupThird Round
League CupThird Round
Full Members' CupSemi-final
Top goalscorerLeague: Keith Bertschin
(19)

All: Keith Bertschin
(23)
Highest home attendance11,872 vs Blackburn Rovers
(1 January 1986)
Lowest home attendance6,469 vs Norwich City
(16 November 1985)
Average home league attendance8,288

After the previous season's humiliating relegation, Stoke's new manager Mick Mills had the tough task of restoring the club's pride. An early 6–2 victory over Leeds United certainly helped to boost morale but with poor crowds Stoke were never going to be involved in the race for promotion and with the squad considered too good to be relegated again a mid-table position of 10th was the final outcome in a season of recovery.[1]

Season review

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League

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Following last season's debacle, Stoke had the chance to rebuild with their new manager Mick Mills and his assistant Sammy Chung.[1] The Victoria Ground was in a state of depression as there was no money available whatsoever and the fans had deserted the team in their droves.[1] The average attendance had dropped to below 10,000 and there was a genuine concern that the side could fall all the way to the Third Division and there was no doubt that Mills had an enormous task on his hands.[1]

Stoke had a surprisingly good pre-season reaching the final of the Isle of Man Trophy, losing to Blackburn Rovers.[1] But they suffered a 3–1 defeat at home to Sheffield United on the opening day in their first Second Division fixture for six years.[1] But the fans finally had something to cheer about in their next home match as Mark Chamberlain rediscovered his lost form and starred in a 6–2 victory over Leeds United.[1] Money was still a major problem and Sheffield Wednesday moved in to sign Chamberlain for £300,000.[1]

The board hoped that this money would be available for Mills to spend on new players but instead it had to be used to reduce the club's overdraft.[1] Alan Hudson, struggling with injury, decided to retire in November and Mills quickly brought in John Devine from Norwich City; he also promoted youth team player Neil Adams to the first team and he did well as results slowly started to improve.[1] Paul Dyson was sold to West Bromwich Albion and Tony Kelly was signed from Wigan Athletic before the March transfer deadline and with Stoke out of all three cups and no worry of a relegation or promotion race they played out the final league fixtures without any pressure and finished in 10th position.[1]

FA Cup

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For the third season running Stoke failed to make it past the third round losing to Notts County.

League Cup

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Stoke beat Fourth Division Welsh side Wrexham before losing away at Portsmouth.[1]

Full Members' Cup

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With English clubs banned from UEFA competitions due to the Heysel Stadium disaster the FA set up the Full Members' Cup as a replacement.[1] Stoke lost to Oxford United at the semi-final stage.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
8 Oldham Athletic 42 17 9 16 62 61 +1 60
9 Millwall 42 17 8 17 64 65 −1 59
10 Stoke City 42 14 15 13 48 50 −2 57
11 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 16 8 18 64 64 0 56
12 Barnsley 42 14 14 14 47 50 −3 56
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored

Results

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Stoke's score comes first

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League Second Division

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Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 17 August 1985 Sheffield United H 1–3 11,679 Heath 44'
2 24 August 1985 Barnsley A 0–0 6,598
3 26 August 1985 Leeds United H 6–2 7,047 Berry 15', Bertschin (2) 55', 83', Chamberlain (2) 77', 88', Maskery 75'
4 1 September 1985 Bradford City A 1–3 6,999 Painter 18'
5 4 September 1985 Grimsby Town H 1–1 7,362 Chamberlain 89'
6 7 September 1985 Millwall H 0–0 7,187
7 10 September 1985 Middlesbrough A 1–1 4,255 Parkin 80'
8 14 September 1985 Portsmouth A 0–3 13,720
9 21 September 1985 Charlton Athletic A 0–2 8,858
10 28 September 1985 Crystal Palace H 0–0 7,130
11 5 October 1985 Hull City A 2–0 6,890 Bertschin 10', Saunders 73'
12 12 October 1985 Brighton & Hove Albion H 1–1 7,662 Maskery 64'
13 19 October 1985 Fulham A 0–1 4,007
14 25 October 1985 Wimbledon H 0–0 6,708
15 2 November 1985 Huddersfield Town H 3–0 7,291 Heath 12', Shaw 43', Bertschin 66'
16 9 November 1985 Carlisle United A 0–3 2,813
17 16 November 1985 Norwich City H 1–1 6,469 Bertschin 53' (pen)
18 23 November 1985 Oldham Athletic A 4–2 4,817 Bertschin (2) 35', 60', Heath 44', Maskery 49'
19 30 November 1985 Sunderland H 1–0 9,034 Bertschin 80'
20 7 December 1985 Middlesbrough H 3–2 7,646 Berry 25', Adams 33', Bertschin 55'
21 14 December 1985 Sheffield United A 2–1 12,370 Adams 7', Shaw 46'
22 21 December 1985 Barnsley H 0–0 9,856
23 26 December 1985 Shrewsbury Town A 0–1 9,565
24 1 January 1986 Blackburn Rovers H 2–2 11,875 Bertschin 33' (pen), Adams 36'
25 11 January 1986 Millwall A 3–2 4,611 Donowa 15', Painter 17', Bertschin 71'
26 18 January 1986 Bradford City H 3–1 8,808 Shaw 41', Bertschin (2) 48', 82'
27 25 January 1986 Grimsby Town A 3–3 4,523 Shaw 10', Bertschin 22', Adams 44'
28 1 February 1986 Leeds United A 0–4 10,425
29 18 February 1986 Fulham H 1–0 6,449 Devine 9'
30 22 February 1986 Charlton Athletic H 0–0 9,297
31 8 March 1986 Hull City H 0–1 9,112
32 15 March 1986 Brighton & Hove Albion A 0–2 8,783
33 18 March 1986 Crystal Palace A 1–0 4,501 Bertschin 36'
34 29 March 1986 Blackburn Rovers A 1–0 5,408 Saunders 76'
35 31 March 1986 Shrewsbury Town H 2–2 8,988 Bertschin (2) 13', 63' (1 pen)
36 5 April 1986 Huddersfield Town A 0–2 5,750
37 12 April 1986 Carlisle United H 0–0 7,159
38 19 April 1986 Norwich City A 1–1 17,757 Bertschin 65'
39 22 April 1986 Portsmouth H 2–0 8,529 Berry 17', Heath 45'
40 26 April 1986 Oldham Athletic H 2–0 8,585 Shaw 40', Bertschin 47'
41 29 April 1986 Wimbledon A 0–1 5,959
42 3 May 1986 Sunderland A 0–1 20,631

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 13 January 1986 Notts County H 0–2 12,219

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 1st Leg 24 September 1985 Wrexham A 1–0 5,241 Bertschin 49'
R2 2nd Leg 9 October 1985 Wrexham H 1–0 6,784 Bertschin 80'
R3 29 October 1985 Portsmouth A 0–2 13,319

Full Members' Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
Group match 1 18 September 1985 Coventry City H 3–0 3,516 Bertschin 44' (pen), Saunders 49', Beeston 56'
Group match 2 2 October 1985 Millwall A 2–2 1,741 Bertschin 54' (pen), Maskery 82'
Area semi final 6 November 1985 Oxford United H 0–1 5,820

Isle of Man Trophy

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Round Opponent Result
Group match 1 Wigan Athletic 3–0
Group match 2 Manchester City 2–1
Group match 3 Isle of Man 5–0
Semi Final Carlisle United 1–0
Final Blackburn Rovers 0–1

Friendlies

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Match Opponent Venue Result
1 Port Vale H 1–1
2 Crewe Alexandra A 0–2
3 Nottingham Forest A 2–1
4 Port Vale A 1–0
5 Stafford Rangers A 1–0
6 Congleton Town A 1–1

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Full Members' Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Peter Fox 37 0 1 0 3 0 3 0 44 0
GK   Barry Siddall 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
DF   Charlie Bishop 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF   Phil Bonnyman 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
DF   Steve Bould 33 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 38 0
DF   Aaron Callaghan 6(2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6(2) 0
DF   John Devine 15 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 16 1
DF   Paul Dyson 31 0 1 0 3 0 3 0 38 0
DF   Chris Hemming 23(1) 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 26(1) 0
DF   Mick Mills 31 0 1 0 3 0 2 0 37 0
MF   Neil Adams 31(1) 4 1 0 3 0 3 0 38(1) 4
MF   Carl Beeston 2(3) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3(3) 1
MF   George Berry 41 3 1 0 3 0 3 0 48 3
MF   Alan Hudson 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
MF   Tony Kelly 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
MF   Chris Maskery 19 3 0 0 2 0 3 1 24 4
MF   Steve Parkin 10(2) 1 0 0 3 0 3 0 16(2) 1
MF   Terry Williams 3(3) 0 0 0 1(1) 0 1(1) 0 5(5) 0
FW   Keith Bertschin 42 19 1 0 3 2 3 2 49 23
FW   Mark Chamberlain 7 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 3
FW   Alan Curtis 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
FW   Louie Donowa 4 1 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 4(1) 1
FW   Phil Heath 38 4 0 0 3 0 3 0 44 4
FW   Ian Painter 15(4) 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 16(4) 2
FW   Carl Saunders 33(4) 2 1 0 2 0 2(1) 1 38(5) 3
FW   Graham Shaw 19(1) 5 1 0 0 0 0(1) 0 20(2) 5
FW   Dave Sutton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

References

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