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1973–74 Stoke City F.C. season

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Stoke City
1973–74 season
ChairmanAlbert Henshall
ManagerTony Waddington
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League First Division5th (46 Points)
FA CupThird Round
League CupFourth Round
Texaco CupFirst Round
Watney CupWinners
Top goalscorerLeague: John Ritchie
(14)

All: Geoff Hurst
& John Ritchie
(15)
Highest home attendance39,598 vs Leeds United
(23 February 1974)
Lowest home attendance13,843 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
(15 December 1973)
Average home league attendance21,587

The 1973–74 season was Stoke City's 67th season in the Football League and the 43rd in the First Division.

The season started well for Stoke as they won the short lived Watney Cup prior to the start of the new campaign. But their league form was poor and by January they were in the bottom six. But the signing of Alan Hudson from Chelsea sparked an upturn in results which accumulated in beating Leeds United 3–2 in February ending their 29 match un-beaten run. Stoke continued to climb the table and after remaining unbeaten in their final nine fixtures they took 5th position in the table and qualified for the UEFA Cup.[1]

Season review

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League

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Stoke, with no major summer signings, kicked off the 1973–74 season with George Eastham as assistant manager and the team got off to a fine start, winning the Watney Cup by beating Hull City 2–0 in the final.[1] The opening league form though, was poor although there was a glimmer of hope as Nantwich born Dave Goodwin made a goal-scoring debut against West Ham United.[1] By January 1974 Stoke were struggling in 17th position and the home support was slowly falling and Tony Waddington decided to sell the promising Stewart Jump to Malcolm Allison's Crystal Palace for £75,000 which raised a few questions from the supporters.[1]

But there was method to the manager's apparent madness as he pulled off another major transfer swoop when he paid £240,000 for Chelsea's Alan Hudson.[1] Hudson was an instant hit with the Stoke fans and in his debut against Liverpool he was named as man of the match, helping Stoke to a 1–1 draw.[1] Stoke's next home match against Hudson's old team Chelsea was the first League match to be played on a Sunday, Stoke winning 1–0 in front of 31,985.[1] Another big attendance, saw City's next home match against high-flying Leeds United who had gone 29 matches without defeat. At the time Don Revie's side were nine points clear at the top and they looked to be increasing their lead as they raced into a 2–0 lead, but Stoke rising to the challenge levelled before half time before Denis Smith grabbed the winner and Leeds' magnificent run was over, but they still took the First Division title.[1] Stoke lost just twice in the final 23 matches and raised up the table to claim 5th place and so qualifying for next season's UEFA Cup.[1]

FA Cup

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Despite scoring twice at Bolton Wanderers Stoke lost 3–2 in the third round.[1]

League Cup

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After narrow wins over Chelsea and Middlesbrough, Coventry City knocked Stoke out with a narrow victory of their own.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
3 Derby County 42 17 14 11 52 42 1.238 48 Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4 Ipswich Town 42 18 11 13 67 58 1.155 47
5 Stoke City 42 15 16 11 54 42 1.286 46
6 Burnley 42 16 14 12 56 53 1.057 46
7 Everton 42 16 12 14 50 48 1.042 44
Source: World Football
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 First Division

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Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 25 August 1973 Liverpool A 0–1 52,938
2 29 August 1973 Manchester United A 0–1 43,614
3 1 September 1973 Manchester City H 1–1 22,436 Greenhoff 21'
4 5 September 1973 Everton H 0–0 22,435
5 8 September 1973 Queens Park Rangers A 3–3 18,118 Hurst (2) 26', 67', Smith 64'
6 11 September 1973 Everton A 1–1 20,242 Greenhoff 65'
7 15 September 1973 Ipswich Town H 1–1 17,096 Hurst 72'
8 22 September 1973 Arsenal A 1–2 30,578 Greenhoff 35'
9 29 September 1973 West Ham United H 2–0 16,395 Goodwin 40', Hurst 68'
10 6 October 1973 Leeds United A 1–1 36,562 Smith 89'
11 13 October 1973 Sheffield United H 1–2 17,975 Colquhoun 30' (o.g.)
12 20 October 1973 Southampton A 0–3 15,521
13 27 October 1973 Coventry City H 3–0 17,421 Greenhoff (2) 6', 75', Hurst 72' (pen)
14 3 November 1973 Newcastle United A 1–2 27,941 Ritchie 52'
15 10 November 1973 Norwich City H 2–0 15,363 Ritchie 33', Goodwin 87'
16 17 November 1973 Birmingham City H 5–2 19,179 Ritchie (2) 10' 83', Robertson 25', Hurst 60', Mahoney 70'
17 24 November 1973 Burnley A 0–1 14,478
18 8 December 1973 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–2 14,034 Ritchie 62'
19 15 December 1973 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 2–3 13,843 Smith 63', Robertson 62'
20 22 December 1973 West Ham United A 2–0 16,513 Robertson 49', Greenhoff 84'
21 26 December 1973 Derby County H 0–0 24,045
22 29 December 1973 Queens Park Rangers H 4–1 18,910 Mahoney 49', Pejic 60', Ritchie 79', Greenhoff 85'
23 1 January 1974 Manchester City A 0–0 35,009
24 12 January 1974 Ipswich Town A 1–1 18,581 Hurst 70'
25 19 January 1974 Liverpool H 1–1 32,789 Hurst 67'
26 27 January 1974 Chelsea H 1–0 31,985 Hurst 80' (pen)
27 2 February 1974 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–1 30,128 Ritchie 68'
28 16 February 1974 Sheffield United A 0–0 19,972
29 23 February 1974 Leeds United H 3–2 39,598 Pejic 27', Hudson 35', Smith 68'
30 2 March 1974 Derby County A 1–1 28,176 Ritchie 55'
31 9 March 1974 Coventry City A 0–2 25,136
32 16 March 1974 Southampton H 4–1 20,415 Hurst 13', Ritchie (3) 50', 75', 80'
33 23 March 1974 Norwich City A 0–4 19,842
34 30 March 1974 Arsenal H 0–0 18,532
35 3 April 1974 Newcastle United H 2–1 16,437 Greenhoff 23', Mahoney 57'
36 6 April 1974 Burnley H 4–0 19,253 Ritchie 28' 80' (2 pen), Greenhoff 31', Hudson 77'
37 13 April 1974 Birmingham City A 0–0 29,467
38 15 April 1974 Leicester City H 1–0 21,468 Hurst 87'
39 16 April 1974 Leicester City A 1–1 21,682 Hurst 40'
40 20 April 1974 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–0 20,189 Haslegrave 44'
41 27 April 1974 Chelsea A 1–0 17,150 Hudson 50'
42 29 April 1974 Manchester United H 1–0 27,392 Ritchie 30'

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 6 January 1974 Bolton Wanderers A 2–3 39,138 Ritchie 65', Haslegrave 84'

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 8 October 1973 Chelsea H 1–0 17,281 Smith 48'
R3 31 October 1973 Middlesbrough H 1–1 19,194 Pejic 50'
R3 Replay 6 November 1973 Middlesbrough A 2–1 (aet) 26,063 Greenhoff 39', Pejic 106'
R4 20 November 1973 Coventry City A 1–2 17,483 Hurst 35'
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R1 1st leg 19 September 1973 Birmingham City H 0–0 9,530
R1 2nd leg 2 October 1973 Birmingham City A 0–0 (1–3 pens) 13,433
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
Quarter Final 11 August 1973 Plymouth Argyle A 1–0 17,500 Hurst 62'
Semi Final 15 August 1973 Bristol City H 4–1 13,812 Hurst, Pejic, Greenhoff, Conroy
Final 18 August 1973 Hull City H 2–0 18,159 Greenhoff (2) 16', 67'

Friendlies

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Game Opponent Venue Result
1 Manchester United H 1–2
2 Manchester City A 1–3
3 Hamilton Academical A 2–1
4 Anorthosis A 7–1
5 Aris Limassol A 3–2
6 EPA Larnaca A 5–1
7 Levski Spartak A 0–1

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Texaco Cup Watney Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England John Farmer 38 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 3 0 46 0
GK Scotland Mike McDonald 4 0 0 0 1 0 1(1) 0 0 0 6(1) 0
DF England Alan Bloor 27 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 31 0
DF England Alan Dodd 31 0 1 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 38 0
DF England Jackie Marsh 31 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 3 0 40 0
DF England Mike Pejic 41 2 1 0 4 2 2 0 3 1 51 5
DF England Eric Skeels 15 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0(1) 0 17(1) 0
DF England Denis Smith 41 4 1 0 3 1 2 0 3 0 50 5
MF Republic of Ireland Terry Conroy 5(4) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 1 10(4) 1
MF England George Eastham 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 4 0
MF England Sean Haslegrave 27 1 0(1) 1 4 0 2 0 3 0 36(1) 2
MF England Alan Hudson 18 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 3
MF England Stewart Jump 2(1) 0 0 0 1 0 0(1) 0 0 0 3(2) 0
MF England Terry Lees 3(1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3(1) 0
MF Wales John Mahoney 35 3 1 0 4 0 1 0 3 0 44 3
MF England Kenny Raper 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MF Scotland Jimmy Robertson 37 3 1 0 2 0 1 0 3 0 44 3
FW England Dave Goodwin 4(1) 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 6(1) 2
FW England Jimmy Greenhoff 39 9 1 0 4 1 1 0 2 3 47 13
FW England Geoff Hurst 35 12 1 0 4 1 2 0 3 2 45 15
FW England Ian Moores 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
FW England John Ritchie 26(4) 14 1 1 4 0 2 0 0 0 33(4) 15
Own goals 1 0 0 0 0 1

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.