1955–56 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1955–56 season was Stoke City's 49th season in the Football League and the 16th in the Second Division.

Stoke City
1955–56 season
ChairmanMr G. Taylor
ManagerFrank Taylor
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League Second Division13th (44 Points)
FA CupFifth Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Frank Bowyer
& Johnny King
(16)

All: Frank Bowyer,
Johnny King
& Harry Oscroft
(18)
Highest home attendance36,362 vs Port Vale
(31 March 1956)
Lowest home attendance11,227 vs Bury
(16 April 1956)
Average home league attendance19,850

It was a season of what might have been for Stoke as they often looked capable of challenging for promotion but then played badly the next match. In the end Stoke had to settle for a final position of 13th after picking up a modest 44 points in what was a frustrating season.[1]

Season review

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League

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Manager Frank Taylor now backed by his namesake Mr G. Taylor made only minor adjustments to his squad for the start of the 1955–56 season.[1] However, after a decent start to the season with Stoke looking capable of challenging for promotion the Stoke board showed their ambition.[1] In November Stoke made an ambitious approach for Blackpool legend Stan Mortensen and it seemed that Stoke had signed a forward with some reasonable credentials, however much to the disappointment of the board Mortensen instead joined Hull City.[1] So Stoke instead went and paid £11,000 to Lincoln City for their prolific forward Andy Graver.[1] However, despite the new arrival being met by approval by the fans Graver would have an unsuccessful spell at the Victoria Ground.[1]

It was a season of what might have been as Stoke failed to impress after their good start, and slid down the table finally ending up in a rather poor position of 13th.[1] They were often found wanting and their home form was very poor, a 3–2 win against Liverpool was the best of the season in what was a 'thrilling' contest.[1]

FA Cup

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Stoke beat Exeter City (3–0) and Leicester City (2–1) both in replays before losing 2–1 at Newcastle United in the fifth round.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
11 Bristol City 42 19 7 16 80 64 1.250 45
12 Port Vale 42 16 13 13 60 58 1.034 45
13 Stoke City 42 20 4 18 71 62 1.145 44
14 Middlesbrough 42 16 8 18 76 78 0.974 40
15 Bury 42 16 8 18 86 90 0.956 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 20 August 1955 Doncaster Rovers A 4–2 13,087 King (3), Malkin
2 22 August 1955 Bristol Rovers A 2–4 21,240 Bowyer, Lowell
3 27 August 1955 Sheffield Wednesday H 2–0 24,529 Bowyer, Lowell
4 29 August 1955 Bristol Rovers H 1–2 18,875 Lowell
5 3 September 1955 Nottingham Forest A 3–2 16,620 Bowyer (2), Oscroft
6 5 September 1955 Plymouth Argyle A 1–0 18,240 Oscroft
7 10 September 1955 Hull City H 4–1 19,971 Bowyer (2), Malkin, Lawton
8 12 September 1955 Plymouth Argyle H 4–1 17,179 King, Oscroft (2), Lawton
9 17 September 1955 Blackburn Rovers A 0–3 23,445
10 24 September 1955 Lincoln City H 3–0 20,533 Emery (o.g.), Lawton, King
11 1 October 1955 Leicester City A 1–3 26,831 Bowyer
12 8 October 1955 Port Vale A 0–1 36,271
13 15 October 1955 Rotherham United H 1–0 17,421 King
14 22 October 1955 Middlesbrough A 3–1 18,217 King, Oscroft (2)
15 29 October 1955 Notts County H 0–2 15,737
16 5 November 1955 Leeds United A 0–1 21,138
17 12 November 1955 Fulham H 1–2 18,972 Cairns
18 19 November 1955 Bury A 0–1 9,030
19 26 November 1955 Barnsley H 2–1 17,729 King (2)
20 3 December 1955 Swansea Town A 0–0 18,457
21 10 December 1955 Bristol City H 4–2 17,039 King, Bowyer, Oscroft, Graver
22 17 December 1955 Doncaster Rovers H 5–2 15,336 King (2), Bowyer, Graver, Coleman
23 24 December 1955 Sheffield Wednesday A 0–4 23,579
24 26 December 1955 Liverpool A 2–2 49,604 King (pen), Oscroft
25 27 December 1955 Liverpool H 3–2 29,108 Graver, Bowyer, Coleman
26 31 December 1955 Nottingham Forest H 1–1 22,381 Bowyer
27 21 January 1956 Blackburn Rovers H 1–2 18,731 King
28 11 February 1956 Leicester City H 2–0 21,091 Coleman (2)
29 3 March 1956 Middlesbrough H 2–5 20,134 Bowyer, Oscroft
30 10 March 1956 Bristol City A 1–0 28,046 Oscroft
31 17 March 1956 Leeds United H 2–1 16,007 Bowyer, Graver
32 24 March 1956 Fulham A 0–2 20,325
33 30 March 1956 West Ham United A 0–2 16,231
34 31 March 1956 Port Vale H 1–1 36,362 Oscroft
35 2 April 1956 West Ham United H 3–0 19,949 Graver, King, Coleman
36 7 April 1956 Barnsley A 0–1 9,590
37 14 April 1956 Swansea Town H 5–0 12,770 Bowyer (2), Oscroft, King, Graver
38 16 April 1956 Bury H 0–2 11,227
39 21 April 1956 Notts County A 3–1 11,355 Graver, Oscroft, Cairns
40 25 April 1956 Lincoln City A 1–2 12,015 Oscroft
41 28 April 1956 Rotherham United A 1–0 6,375 Oscroft
42 1 May 1956 Hull City A 2–3 5,232 Bowyer, Ward

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 7 January 1956 Exeter City A 0–0 16,860
R3 Replay 9 January 1956 Exeter City H 3–0 14,513 Oscroft, Bowyer, Coleman
R4 28 January 1956 Leicester City A 3–3 35,877 Bowyer, King, Graver
R4 Replay 30 January 1956 Leicester City H 2–1 34,120 Graver, Oscroft
R5 15 February 1956 Newcastle United A 1–2 61,540 King

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Wilf Hall 6 0 0 0 6 0
GK   Bill Robertson 36 0 5 0 41 0
DF   George Bourne 10 0 0 0 10 0
DF   John McCue 36 0 3 0 39 0
DF   Bobby Meadows 0 0 0 0 0 0
DF   Jack Short 30 0 3 0 33 0
DF   Ken Thomson 37 0 5 0 42 0
DF   Donald Whiston 12 0 3 0 15 0
MF   Bill Asprey 3 0 0 0 3 0
MF   Bobby Cairns 33 2 5 0 38 2
MF   Frank Mountford 15 0 1 0 16 0
MF   John Sellars 33 0 5 0 38 0
FW   Frank Bowyer 42 16 5 2 47 18
FW   John Clowes 2 0 0 0 2 0
FW   Neville Coleman 24 5 5 1 29 6
FW   Andy Graver 24 7 5 2 29 9
FW   Joe Hutton 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW   George Kelly 4 0 0 0 4 0
FW   Johnny King 36 16 5 2 41 18
FW   John Lawton 9 3 0 0 9 3
FW   Eric Lowell 7 3 0 0 7 3
FW   John Malkin 11 2 0 0 11 2
FW   Harry Oscroft 38 15 5 2 43 17
FW   Don Ratcliffe 8 0 0 0 8 0
FW   Derrick Ward 5 1 0 0 5 1
Own goals 1 0 1

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.