1920–21 Stoke F.C. season

Stoke
1920–21 season
Chairman	Mr E.Reynish
Manager	Arthur Shallcross
Stadium	Victoria Ground
Football League Second Division	20th (35 Points)
FA Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Arthur Watkin ; (15); All: Arthur Watkin ; (16)
Highest home attendance	27,455 vs Port Vale ; (2 October 1920)
Lowest home attendance	5,000 vs Barnsley ; (2 March 1921)
Average home league attendance	13,315
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1919–20 1921–22 →

Last updated June 21, 2022 • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

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

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

League

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

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

Pos	Team v t e	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

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League Second Division

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

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

Squad statistics

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	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

Related Research Articles

Frank Soo was an English professional football player and manager of mixed Chinese and English parentage. He was the first player of Chinese origin to play in the English Football League, and the first player of an ethnic minority background to represent England, though in unofficial wartime matches.

Stoke City Football Club has its origins in Stoke Ramblers. A team formed by former pupils of the Charterhouse School whilst they were apprentices at the North Staffordshire Railway. The club dropped the Ramblers from their name and Stoke Football club was formed in 1878, and in 1888 they were founding members of the Football League. In 1925, the club's name was changed for the final time to Stoke City Football Club when Stoke-on-Trent was granted city status.

Thomas Sale was an English footballer who played as a forward. Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Sale had two spells at his home town club, Stoke City, amassing 483 appearances, either side of a two-year stint at Blackburn Rovers. Later in his career, he had brief spells at Northwich Victoria and Hednesford Town, before opting to retire at the age of 39.

Robert Gerald McGrory was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League for Burnley and Stoke City with whom he later had a long spell as manager.

Harold Augustus Davies MM was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Huddersfield Town, Port Vale and most notably, Stoke City. A creative inside-forward, he played 513 games in the league and FA Cup, scoring 122 goals. His father, also called Harry, was also a professional footballer.

John Thomas Brittleton was a professional footballer. He was one of the pioneers of the long throw-in. With a career spanning over 30 years, including 24 seasons in the Football League, he is the oldest person to play for Sheffield Wednesday in a competitive game.

Joseph Alfred Schofield was an English footballer and football manager.

Arthur J. Shallcross was an English association football manager who managed Stoke City between February 1919 and March 1923.

The 1921–22 season was Stoke's 22nd season in the Football League and the fourth in the Second Division.

Harold Sellars was an English footballer and football manager, who played in the English Football League for Stoke City. He made 395 appearances for Stoke in all competitions, and helped the club to win the Third Division North title in 1926–27 and the Second Division title in 1932–33. He went on to briefly manage League of Ireland side Dundalk in 1947. His son John also played for Stoke in the 1950s. Together, father and son played 808 league and cup games for the club.

The 1929–30 season was Stoke City's 30th season in the Football League and the tenth in the Second Division.

The 1933–34 season was Stoke City's 34th season in the Football League and the 20th in the First Division.

The 1935–36 season was Stoke City's 36th season in the Football League and the 22nd in the First Division.

The 1937–38 season was Stoke City's 38th season in the Football League and the 24th in the First Division.

The 1938–39 season was Stoke City's 39th season in the Football League and the 25th in the First Division. It was the final full season of league football until 1946 due to World War II.

The 1946–47 season was Stoke City's 40th season in the Football League and the 26th in the First Division.

The 1949–50 season was Stoke City's 43rd season in the Football League and the 29th in the First Division.

The 1952–53 season was Stoke City's 46th season in the Football League and the 32nd in the First Division.

The 1931–32 season was Port Vale's 26th season of football in the English Football League, and their second successive season in the Second Division. Aiming to build on their fifth place finish in 1930–31 and to win promotion, they finished in 20th place, only avoiding relegation on the last day thanks to their superior goal average – having a 0.048 better average than Barnsley. Their one highlight of the season was a 3–0 home win over rivals Stoke City that helped to deny Stoke a promotion place – however City comfortably took revenge at the last end of season North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup match, beating Vale 7–0. Manager Tom Morgan was also let go at this time, replaced by former manager Tom Holford. The season was notable for the debut of Tom Nolan, whose goalscoring exploits at the club would be a point of pride in an otherwise miserable pre-war period.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
↑ "Season 1920–21". English Football League Tables. Retrieved 28 March 2019.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[The_Encyclopaedia_of_Stoke_City-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 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.

[1]

[2]

v t e Stoke City F.C. seasons
1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
00 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900
1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10
1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
00 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26 2026–27 2027–28 2028–29 2029–30

1920–21 Stoke F.C. season

Contents

Season review

League

FA Cup

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League Second Division

FA Cup

Squad statistics

Related Research Articles

References