1920–21 Stoke F.C. season

The 1920–21 season was Stoke's 21st in the Football League and the third in the Second Division.

Stoke
1920–21 season
ChairmanMr E.Reynish
ManagerArthur Shallcross
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League Second Division20th (35 Points)
FA CupFirst Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Arthur Watkin
(15)

All: Arthur Watkin
(16)
Highest home attendance27,455 vs Port Vale
(2 October 1920)
Lowest home attendance5,000 vs Barnsley
(2 March 1921)
Average home league attendance13,315

Despite strengthening the Stoke squad with veteran Tom Brittleton the most notable signing Stoke struggled all season and were involved in a fight against relegation. With one team being relegated this season, Stoke finished five points from bottom place Stockport County which was too close for comfort.[1]

Season review

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League

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For the 1920–21 season efforts were made to strengthen the pool of players and the first of these was former England international Tom Brittleton who made the move from Sheffield Wednesday and immediately became club captain.[1] Competition for places or not manager Arthur Shallcross maintained a settled side that is until in October when he transferred Charlie Parker to Sunderland.[1] He had spent six years at Stoke and became a fan favourite.[1]

A shortage of goals saw Stoke slip dangerously towards the lower regions of the Second Division as the 1920–21 season progressed and with only one club being relegated to the newly formed Third Division North the margin of five points and a 20th-place finish out of 22 was too close for comfort.[1] Arthur Watkin top scored with 15 and Billy Tempest scored 10 however other than those two there was a lack of goals in the side.[1]

A most significant signing in April 1921 was that of Bob McGrory, a full-back from Burnley. Rumours has it that McGrory had reservations about joining Stoke as he did not like the look of the place.[1] Whether this was true or not, he went on to spend 31 years with the club as a player and manager eventually leaving the club in May 1952.[1]

FA Cup

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Stoke again exited the competition at the first hurdle losing 3–2 away at eventual runners-up Wolverhampton Wanderers in front of 35,000 spectators.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Promotion or relegation
18 Nottingham Forest 42 12 12 18 48 55 0.873 36
19 Rotherham County 42 12 12 18 37 53 0.698 36
20 Stoke 42 12 11 19 46 56 0.821 35
21 Coventry City 42 12 11 19 39 70 0.557 35
22 Stockport County 42 9 12 21 42 75 0.560 30 Relegated
Source: [2]

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 28 August 1920 Nottingham Forest A 2–2 21,000 Brown, Parker
2 30 August 1920 Rotherham County H 2–0 10,000 Watkin, McColl
3 4 September 1920 Nottingham Forest H 4–0 19,000 Watkin (3), McColl
4 6 September 1920 Rotherham County A 1–1 15,000 Tempest
5 11 September 1920 The Wednesday A 3–1 25,000 Tempest (2), Brown
6 18 September 1920 The Wednesday H 0–1 30,000
7 25 September 1920 Port Vale A 1–2 19,967 McColl
8 2 October 1920 Port Vale H 0–1 27,455
9 9 October 1920 Notts County H 1–0 10,000 Watkin
10 16 October 1920 Notts County A 0–3 8,500
11 23 October 1920 Coventry City H 4–1 12,000 Tempest (2), McColl, Maddock
12 30 October 1920 Coventry City A 0–1 18,000
13 6 November 1920 Leeds United H 4–0 14,000 Watkin (3), Brown
14 13 November 1920 Leeds United A 0–0 20,000
15 20 November 1920 Birmingham H 1–2 15,000 Brown
16 27 November 1920 Birmingham A 0–3 12,000
17 4 December 1920 West Ham United H 1–0 10,000 Brittleton
18 11 December 1920 West Ham United A 0–1 15,000
19 18 December 1920 Fulham H 1–2 7,000 Brittleton
20 25 December 1920 Leicester City A 1–3 20,000 Watkin
21 27 December 1920 Leicester City H 1–1 15,000 Tempest
22 1 January 1921 Fulham A 3–1 8,500 Watkin (2), Brittleton
23 15 January 1921 South Shields A 1–1 15,000 Burton
24 22 January 1921 South Shields H 0–0 5,000
25 5 February 1921 Cardiff City A 1–0 28,000 Watkin
26 12 February 1921 Hull City A 1–1 5,000 Watkin
27 14 February 1921 Cardiff City H 0–0 12,000
28 26 February 1921 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 3–3 20,000 Watkin, McColl, Smith
29 10 March 1921 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 1–0 8,000 Tempest
30 12 March 1921 Stockport County A 0–2 4,000
31 19 March 1921 Stockport County H 1–0 7,000 Watkin
32 25 March 1921 Blackpool A 1–3 14,000 Whitehurst
33 26 March 1921 Clapton Orient H 0–1 14,000
34 28 March 1921 Blackpool H 1–1 12,000 Tempest
35 2 April 1921 Clapton Orient A 2–3 6,000 Whitehurst, Little
36 9 April 1921 Bury H 0–1 7,000
37 11 April 1921 Hull City H 1–3 5,000 Tempest
38 16 April 1921 Bury A 0–3 5,000
39 23 April 1921 Bristol City H 0–0 7,000
40 30 April 1921 Bristol City A 0–5 6,000
41 2 May 1921 Barnsley H 3–2 5,000 Tempest (pen), Brittleton, Helme
42 7 May 1921 Barnsley A 0–1 7,000

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R1 8 January 1921 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 2–3 35,000 Watkin, Burton

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Tom Kay 27 0 1 0 28 0
GK   Percy Knott 12 0 0 0 12 0
GK   Edwin Steventon 3 0 0 0 3 0
DF   Percy Brooke 7 0 1 0 8 0
DF   Jack Maddock 8 1 0 0 8 1
DF   Bob McGrory 2 0 0 0 2 0
DF   Alec Milne 42 0 1 0 43 0
DF   Billy Twemlow 3 0 0 0 3 0
MF   Tom Brittleton 41 4 1 0 42 4
MF   George Clarke 41 0 1 0 42 0
MF   Bill Dickie 2 0 0 0 2 0
MF   Reg Forester 7 0 0 0 7 0
MF   Jack Moorwood 9 0 0 0 9 0
MF   Charlie Parker 9 1 0 0 9 1
MF   David Parkes 6 0 0 0 6 0
MF   Dickie Smith 38 1 1 0 39 1
FW   David Brown 19 4 1 0 20 4
FW   Matthew Burton 5 1 1 1 6 2
FW   Harry Crossthwaite 18 0 1 0 19 0
FW   Jack Helme 4 1 0 0 4 1
FW   George Jarvis 2 0 0 0 2 0
FW   Tommy Little 17 1 0 0 17 1
FW   James Martin 3 0 0 0 3 0
FW   Wally Masterman 0 0 0 0 0 0
FW   Jimmy McColl 27 5 0 0 27 5
FW   Syd Mellor 3 0 0 0 3 0
FW   Tom Orpe 0 0 0 0 0 0
FW   Louis Page 8 0 0 0 8 0
FW   John Spencer 16 0 0 0 16 0
FW   Billy Tempest 37 10 1 0 38 10
FW   Arthur Watkin 35 15 1 1 36 16
FW   Albert Whitehurst 11 2 0 0 11 2

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ "Season 1920–21". English Football League Tables. Retrieved 28 March 2019.