1961–62 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1961–62 season was Stoke City's 55th season in the Football League and the 22nd in the Second Division.

Stoke City
1961–62 season
ChairmanAlbert Henshall
ManagerTony Waddington
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League Second Division8th (42 Points)
FA CupFourth Round
League CupSecond Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Tommy Thompson
(16)

All: Tommy Thompson
(17)
Highest home attendance35,974 vs Huddersfield Town
(28 October 1961)
Lowest home attendance7,506 vs Luton Town
(7 April 1962)
Average home league attendance15,751

Attendances were now at a worrying all-time low and so the Stoke board and manager Tony Waddington decided something needed to be done to bring the supporters back to the Victoria Ground. And Waddington pulled off a master stroke after paying £3,000 to Blackpool for the returning 46-year-old Stanley Matthews. Crowds instantly arrived in large numbers with Matthews first match back against Huddersfield Town more than 35,000 turned up a good 15,000 more than the last home match. Stoke could not sustain a push for promotion, but the feeling around the club had changed dramatically.[1]

Season review

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League

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Attendances remained stubbornly poor as the 1961–62 season commenced, Stoke losing 2–1 at home to Rotherham United in front of 11,000 fans.[1] The club's finances were seriously in question with the worrying decline in support.[1] To regress the slide Stoke brought back Stanley Matthews at the age of 46 some 14 years after he left for Blackpool.[1] It certainly had the desired effect as the crowds quickly returned and traffic jams stretched for miles on the day he made his second debut for Stoke City at the Victoria Ground against Huddersfield Town when 35,974 fans assembled to welcome back their hero and see him inspire Stoke to a 3–0 win, the attendance in Stoke's previous home match was just 8,409.[1]

The resurgence was on as Stoke slowly but surely picked up some good results and climbed the table as they went on a seven match unbeaten run in December.[1] Dennis Viollet a fine centre forward joined from Manchester United for a fee of £22,000.[1] By March Stoke's form fell away and they ended the season in eighth spot but the feeling was that Stoke had renewed confidence for the future.[1]

FA Cup

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Stoke were drawn away at last season's winners Leicester City in the FA Cup. The match ended in a 1–1 draw but in the replay Stoke knocked out the "Foxes" 5–2 to set up a fourth round meeting with Blackburn Rovers. A crowd of 49,486 saw Rovers win 1–0 thanks to a controversial penalty, the referees decision enraged one Stoke supporter so much he started legal action against him.[1]

League Cup

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Stoke recorded their first victory in the League Cup at Roots Hall beating Southend United 1–0.[1] In the next round they were easily beaten 4–1 at Charlton Athletic.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
6 Southampton 42 18 9 15 77 62 1.242 45
7 Huddersfield Town 42 16 12 14 67 59 1.136 44
8 Stoke City 42 17 8 17 55 57 0.965 42
9 Rotherham United 42 16 9 17 70 76 0.921 41
10 Preston North End 42 15 10 17 55 57 0.965 40
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 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 19 August 1961 Rotherham United H 1–2 11,071 Thompson (pen)
2 22 August 1961 Charlton Athletic A 2–2 7,861 G Matthews, Mudie
3 26 August 1961 Sunderland A 1–2 34,183 Adam
4 28 August 1961 Charlton Athletic H 4–0 11,005 G Matthews, Thompson (2), Bullock
5 2 September 1961 Derby County H 1–1 13,834 Mudie
6 5 September 1961 Brighton & Hove Albion A 1–2 12,515 Skeels
7 9 September 1961 Bristol Rovers H 2–1 9,075 Thompson (2) (1 pen)
8 16 September 1961 Leeds United A 1–3 9,578 Thompson
9 18 September 1961 Brighton & Hove Albion H 0–1 9,135
10 23 September 1961 Norwich City H 3–1 8,646 Thompson, Adam (2)
11 29 September 1961 Scunthorpe United A 2–2 10,347 Thompson, Asprey
12 7 October 1961 Leyton Orient A 0–3 10,621
13 14 October 1961 Preston North End H 1–1 8,409 Adam
14 21 October 1961 Plymouth Argyle A 1–3 10,283 Adam
15 28 October 1961 Huddersfield Town H 3–0 35,974 Adam, Thompson (2) (1 pen)
16 4 November 1961 Swansea Town A 0–1 19,906
17 11 November 1961 Walsall H 2–1 24,869 Thompson, Bullock
18 18 November 1961 Luton Town A 0–0 15,163
19 25 November 1961 Newcastle United H 3–1 22,009 Thompson, Mudie, S Matthews
20 2 December 1961 Middlesbrough A 2–2 20,809 Thompson, Asprey
21 9 December 1961 Southampton H 3–2 18,353 Thompson (2) (1 pen), Ratcliffe
22 16 December 1961 Rotherham United A 2–1 15,537 Andrew, S Matthews
23 23 December 1961 Sunderland H 1–0 24,682 Asprey
24 26 December 1961 Bury A 2–0 15,699 Mudie, Ratcliffe
25 13 January 1962 Derby County A 0–2 18,937
26 20 January 1962 Bristol Rovers A 2–0 8,852 Pyle (o.g.), Sykes (o.g.)
27 3 February 1962 Leeds United H 2–1 21,921 Mudie, Allen
28 10 February 1962 Norwich City A 0–1 31,304
29 17 February 1962 Scunthorpe United H 1–0 16,569 Nibloe
30 24 February 1962 Leyton Orient H 0–1 21,846
31 3 March 1962 Preston North End A 2–1 19,091 Viollet, Mudie
32 10 March 1962 Plymouth Argyle H 2–0 18,033 Thompson, Asprey
33 17 March 1962 Huddersfield Town A 0–3 20,261
34 24 March 1962 Swansea Town H 0–0 14,752
35 30 March 1962 Walsall A 1–3 16,570 Nibloe
36 7 April 1962 Luton Town H 2–1 7,506 Nibloe, Adam
37 11 April 1962 Bury H 1–3 8,324 Nibloe
38 14 April 1962 Newcastle United A 0–2 20,580
39 21 April 1962 Middlesbrough H 2–0 8,369 Viollet (2)
40 23 April 1962 Liverpool A 1–2 41,005 Viollet
41 24 April 1962 Liverpool H 0–0 15,472
42 28 April 1962 Southampton A 1–5 9,558 Viollet

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 10 January 1962 Leicester City A 1–1 35,545 Mudie
R3 Replay 15 January 1962 Leicester City H 5–2 38,515 S Matthews, Allen, Bullock, Thompson, Nibloe
R4 27 January 1962 Blackburn Rovers H 0–1 49,486

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R1 13 September 1961 Southend United A 1–0 7,389 Bullock
R2 10 October 1961 Charlton Athletic A 1–4 6,119 Bullock

Friendlies

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Match Opponent Venue Result
1 John McCue's XI H 6–2
2 GVAV A 3–1
3 Fenerbahçe A 0–1
4 Fenerbahçe A 1–0
5 Galatasaray A 0–2
6 İzmirspor A 1–1
7 MKE Ankaragücü A 1–0

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Jimmy O'Neill 41 0 3 0 2 0 46 0
GK   Brian Sherratt 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DF   Tony Allen 42 1 3 1 2 0 47 2
DF   Ron Andrew 35 1 3 0 1 0 39 1
DF   Alan Bloor 6 0 0 0 1 0 7 0
DF   Eric Skeels 42 1 3 0 2 0 47 1
DF   Terry Ward 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
MF   Bill Asprey 42 4 3 0 2 0 47 4
MF   Gerry Bridgwood 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
MF   Tony Coleman 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MF   Bobby Howitt 40 0 3 0 2 0 45 0
MF   Alan Philpott 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW   Jimmy Adam 22 7 0 0 2 0 24 7
FW   Peter Bullock 11 2 2 1 2 2 15 5
FW   Jack Nibloe 18 4 3 1 0 0 21 5
FW   Graham Matthews 10 2 0 0 2 0 12 2
FW   Stanley Matthews 18 2 3 1 0 0 21 3
FW   Jackie Mudie 32 6 1 1 2 0 35 7
FW   Tommy Randles 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW   Don Ratcliffe 39 2 3 0 1 0 43 2
FW   Tommy Thompson 37 16 3 1 1 0 41 17
FW   Dennis Viollet 13 5 0 0 0 0 13 5
FW   Brian Westlake 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Own goals 2 0 0 2

References

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