1990–91 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1990–91 season was Stoke City's 84th season in the Football League and 2nd in the Third Division.

Stoke City
1990–91 season
ChairmanPeter Coates
ManagerAlan Ball,
Graham Paddon
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League Third Division14th (60 Points)
FA CupSecond Round
League CupSecond Round
League TrophySecond Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Wayne Biggins
(12)

All: Wayne Biggins
(12)
Highest home attendance16,009 vs Birmingham City
(8 September 1990)
Lowest home attendance6,946 vs Bradford City
(27 April 1991)
Average home league attendance11,565

Stoke City entered the 1990–91 season in the Third Division for only the second time in their history and the feeling from the supporters was that a club of Stoke's size should be able to easily gain an instant return to the second tier. However Stoke experienced their worst ever season in terms of league position as they could only muster a 14th-place finish. Alan Ball was sacked in February and his assistant Graham Paddon took over for the remainder of the season.[1]

Season review

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League

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The 1990–91 season will long be remembered by Stoke supporters as the club finished in its lowest ever league position of 14th in the third tier.[1] Manager Alan Ball was dismissed in late February after a 4–0 defeat at Wigan Athletic with Graham Paddon filling the gap until the end of the season.[1] The overall team performances were of a low standard with some embarrassing defeats being suffered against the likes of Shrewsbury Town, Leyton Orient, Cambridge United and Bournemouth.[1]

It was all meant to be so different when the season started with Stoke beating Rotherham United 3–1 on the opening day which was followed by a commanding away victory at Tranmere Rovers.[1] The club were in the top three until the start of December, but as the first half of the season came to an end Stoke's form began to suffer and after exiting the FA Cup Stoke had two awful performances against Exeter City and Preston North End and their form completely dropped off. Results briefly improved after Paddon took over, and following a victory over Mansfield Town in late March, the club were in 9th place, just three points outside the play-offs. After that win however, Stoke earned just 4 points from their last 9 matches, ending both any remaining promotion hopes and Paddon's chance of becoming permanent manager; he resigned after the season ended and returned to former club Portsmouth as a coach.[1] Stoke had an abysmal disciplinary record this season and at times the attitude of the players on the pitch left lot to be desired.[1] And so, despite boasting the largest supporter base and wage budget, Stoke had a season to forget in the Third Division.[1]

FA Cup

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Stoke overcame non-league Telford United in a replay but were knocked out 2–0 at Burnley in the second round.[1]

League Cup

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A dull two legs against Swansea City was finally ended with minutes remaining thanks to a goal from Tony Kelly.[1] However Stoke were well beaten by West Ham United 5–1 on aggregate in the next round.[1]

League Trophy

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Stoke's first Football League Trophy campaign saw them fail to get out of a group containing Mansfield Town and Northampton Town.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
12 Birmingham City 46 16 17 13 45 49 −4 65
13 Leyton Orient 46 18 10 18 55 58 −3 64
14 Stoke City 46 16 12 18 55 59 −4 60
15 Reading 46 17 8 21 53 66 −13 59
16 Exeter City 46 16 9 21 58 52 +6 57
Source: [citation needed]

Results

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Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League Third Division

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Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 25 August 1990 Rotherham United H 3–1 12,748 Blake 15', Kennedy 44' (pen), Thomas 49'
2 31 August 1990 Tranmere Rovers A 2–1 10,327 Ellis 36', Kennedy 43' (pen)
3 8 September 1990 Birmingham City H 0–1 16,009
4 15 September 1990 Bournemouth A 1–1 6,374 Statham 84'
5 18 September 1990 Chester City A 1–1 3,759 Thomas 7'
6 22 September 1990 Southend United H 4–0 11,901 Ware 38', Biggins (2) 41', 49', Cornwell 68' (o.g.)
7 29 September 1990 Shrewsbury Town H 1–3 12,672 Sandford 26'
8 2 October 1990 Crewe Alexandra A 2–1 7,200 Biggins 42', Ware 77'
9 6 October 1990 Bolton Wanderers A 1–0 8,521 Evans 61'
10 13 October 1990 Fulham H 2–1 12,394 Ellis (2) 26', 68'
11 20 October 1990 Cambridge United H 1–1 12,673 Biggins 54'
12 24 October 1990 Bradford City A 2–1 8,068 Kelly 58', Thomas 88'
13 27 October 1990 Grimsby Town A 0–2 10,799
14 3 November 1990 Reading H 0–1 12,245
15 10 November 1990 Wigan Athletic H 2–0 12,756 Biggins 20', Kennedy 68'
16 24 November 1990 Bury A 1–1 5,118 Thomas 47'
17 1 December 1990 Exeter City A 0–2 5,377
18 16 December 1990 Brentford H 2–2 10,995 Hilaire 10', Sandford 65'
19 22 December 1990 Preston North End A 0–2 7,532
20 26 December 1990 Swansea City H 2–2 12,534 Biggins 44', Thomas 70'
21 29 December 1990 Huddersfield Town H 2–0 11,869 Ellis (2) 15', 48'
22 1 January 1991 Leyton Orient A 2–0 6,371 Ellis 9', Thomas 59'
23 12 January 1991 Tranmere Rovers H 1–1 13,461 Butler 77'
24 19 January 1991 Rotherham United A 0–0 6,236
25 2 February 1991 Chester City H 2–3 11,037 Kelly 60', Hilaire 68'
26 5 February 1991 Southend United A 0–1 5,164
27 16 February 1991 Bury H 2–2 9,885 Biggins (2) 45', 65'
28 23 February 1991 Wigan Athletic A 0–4 3,728
29 27 February 1991 Bournemouth H 1–3 7,797 Biggins 50'
30 2 March 1991 Exeter City H 2–1 8,536 Biggins (2) 27', 85'
31 5 March 1991 Mansfield Town A 0–0 2,941
32 9 March 1991 Brentford A 4–0 7,249 Thomas 64', Blake 69', Beeston 86', Clarke 90'
33 13 March 1991 Crewe Alexandra H 1–0 15,455 Devlin 90'
34 16 March 1991 Shrewsbury Town A 0–2 6,210
35 19 March 1991 Fulham A 1–0 3,131 Biggins 61'
36 23 March 1991 Bolton Wanderers H 2–2 13,869 Devlin 47', Kelly 55'
37 26 March 1991 Mansfield Town H 3–1 9,113 Clarke (2) 30', 60', Blake 53'
38 30 March 1991 Swansea City A 1–2 4,418 Ellis 88'
39 1 April 1991 Preston North End H 0–1 11,524
40 6 April 1991 Huddersfield Town A 0–3 6,520
41 13 April 1991 Leyton Orient H 1–2 7,957 Beeston 27'
42 16 April 1991 Birmingham City A 1–2 6,726 Ellis 45'
43 20 April 1991 Cambridge United A 0–3 5,726
44 27 April 1991 Bradford City H 2–1 6,943 Ellis 17', Butler 45'
45 4 May 1991 Grimsby Town H 0–0 11,832
46 11 May 1991 Reading A 0–1 4,101

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R1 17 November 1990 Telford United A 0–0 3,709
R1 Replay 21 November 1990 Telford United H 1–0 11,880 Sandford 14'
R2 12 December 1990 Burnley A 0–2 12,949

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R1 1st Leg 29 August 1990 Swansea City H 0–0 7,806
R1 2nd Leg 4 September 1990 Swansea City A 1–0 4,464 Kelly 86'
R2 1st Leg 26 September 1990 West Ham United A 0–3 15,870
R2 2nd Leg 10 October 1990 West Ham United H 1–2 8,411 Evans 37'

League Trophy

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
PR1 16 November 1990 Northampton Town H 1–1 4,339 Barnes 60'
PR2 8 January 1990 Mansfield Town A 0–3 1,600

Friendlies

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Match Opponent Venue Result
1 Port Vale H 1–0
2 Burton Albion A 5–1
3 Fleetwood Town A 2–0
4 Congleton Town A 2–1
5 Worcester City A 4–0
6 Rocester A 2–0
7 Newcastle Town A 2–1
8 West Bromwich Albion H 1–1

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup League Trophy Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Peter Fox 44 0 3 0 4 0 2 0 53 0
GK   Dan Noble 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
DF   Noel Blake 44 3 3 0 4 0 1 0 52 3
DF   John Butler 31 2 1 0 4 0 1 0 37 2
DF   Cliff Carr 15(5) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 17(5) 0
DF   Ian Cranson 7(2) 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 11(2) 0
DF   Lee Fowler 14(3) 0 0(2) 0 1(1) 0 1 0 16(6) 0
DF   Tony Gallimore 4(3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4(3) 0
DF   Paul Rennie 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
DF   Derek Statham 22 1 3 0 3 0 0 0 28 1
DF   Lee Sandford 32 2 3 1 3 0 2 0 40 3
DF   Ian Wright 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
MF   Carl Beeston 37 2 2(1) 0 3 0 1 0 43(1) 2
MF   Mark Devlin 18(3) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 18(3) 2
MF   Mick Kennedy 32 3 3 0 3 0 1 0 39 3
MF   Dave Kevan 4(1) 0 0 0 1 0 1(1) 0 6(2) 0
MF   Chris Male 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0(1) 0
MF   Brian Rice 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0
MF   Ian Scott 1(1) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3(1) 0
MF   Mickey Thomas 32(6) 7 3 0 2(1) 0 1 0 38(7) 7
MF   Paul Ware 29(5) 2 1 0 3 0 2 0 35(5) 2
FW   Paul Baines 1(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1(1) 0
FW   Paul Barnes 3(3) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4(3) 1
FW   Wayne Biggins 36(2) 12 3 0 4 0 1 0 44(2) 12
FW   Darren Boughey 0 0 0 0 0(2) 0 1 0 1(2) 0
FW   David Bright 0(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(1) 0
FW   Wayne Clarke 9 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 3
FW   Tony Ellis 33(5) 9 1(2) 0 3 0 2 0 39(7) 9
FW   Gareth Evans 5 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 7 2
FW   Vince Hilaire 10 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 12 2
FW   Tony Kelly 16(13) 3 0 0 2(1) 1 0(1) 0 18(15) 4
FW   Billy Whitehurst 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Own goals 1 0 0 0 1

References

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