1976–77 Stoke City F.C. season

Stoke City
1976–77 season
Chairman	Albert Henshall
Manager	Tony Waddington, ; George Eastham
Stadium	Victoria Ground
Football League First Division	21st (34 Points)
FA Cup	Third Round
League Cup	Third Round
Top goalscorer	League: Garth Crooks ; (6); All: Garth Crooks ; (6)
Highest home attendance	29,905 vs Liverpool ; (11 April 1977)
Lowest home attendance	12,225 vs Coventry City ; (16 February 1977)
Average home league attendance	19,027
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1975–76 1977–78 →

Last updated May 05, 2023

The 1976–77 season was Stoke City's 70th season in the Football League and the 46th in the First Division.

The roof of the Butler Street Stand was rebuilt at a massive cost of £250,000 and with the club unable to pay off the insurers they turned to the playing staff to generate the required funds and with the likes of Jimmy Greenhoff, Alan Hudson and Mike Pejic being sold off Tony Waddington had a threadbare squad and he left the club in March 1977. Former player George Eastham took over but was unable to prevent Stoke losing their First Division status, going down by a single point.^[1]

Season review

League

The 1976–77 season opened with a new all steel Butler Street roof in place which would cost the sum of £250,000.^[1] With the club struggling to pay the cost they had to begin a fire sale of their best players. Those who left the club included Sean Haslegrave to Nottingham Forest for £35,000, Ian Moores to Tottenham Hotspur for £75,000, Jimmy Greenhoff to Manchester United for £100,000, Alan Hudson to Arsenal for £200,000 and Mike Pejic to Everton for £140,000.^[1] These were indeed, body blows none more so than Jimmy Greenhoff leaving after he scored just over 100 goals for the club and was idolised by the supporters.^[1]

The Stoke fans were totally confused at what was happening to their team and looked for someone to blame.^[1] Goals were again in short supply, Stoke failed to find the back of the net for five successive league matches from late November to early January and in fact they managed just 28 goals all season, 21 at home and seven away.^[1] Waddington's gambles on experienced player like John Tudor and Alan Suddick were not successful and after an awful defeat at home to Leicester City on 19 March 1977 Waddington's time at Stoke City was up.^[1] He had spent 25 years at the Victoria Ground as manager, assistant and coach and is considered to be the club's greatest manager having helped them win their first major trophy in 1972.^[1] He remained an avid supporter of the club until his death in 1994.^[1]

Waddington's assistant George Eastham was put in temporary charge with coach Alan A'Court his assistant.^[1] With the transfer deadline passed with no new players arrived, so Eastham turned towards the youth team to try to advert the drop, all to no avail and on a sad Monday evening at Villa Park in front of 29,000 fans, Stoke needing a win to stay up, lost 1–0 and were duly relegated to the second tier.^[1]

FA Cup

Everton beat Stoke 2–0 in the third round on their way to the semi-final.^[1]

League Cup

Stoke beat Leeds United 2–1 and then lost badly 3–0 to Newcastle United.^[1]

Final league table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Liverpool (C)	42	23	11	8	62	33	+29	57	Qualification for the European Cup second round
2	Manchester City	42	21	14	7	60	34	+26	56	Qualification for the UEFA Cup
3	Ipswich Town	42	22	8	12	66	39	+27	52
4	Aston Villa	42	22	7	13	76	50	+26	51
5	Newcastle United	42	18	13	11	64	49	+15	49
6	Manchester United	42	18	11	13	71	62	+9	47	Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round ^{[lower-alpha 1]}
7	West Bromwich Albion	42	16	13	13	62	56	+6	45
8	Arsenal	42	16	11	15	64	59	+5	43
9	Everton	42	14	14	14	62	64	−2	42
10	Leeds United	42	15	12	15	48	51	−3	42
11	Leicester City	42	12	18	12	47	60	−13	42
12	Middlesbrough	42	14	13	15	40	45	−5	41
13	Birmingham City	42	13	12	17	63	61	+2	38
14	Queens Park Rangers	42	13	12	17	47	52	−5	38
15	Derby County	42	9	19	14	50	55	−5	37
16	Norwich City	42	14	9	19	47	64	−17	37
17	West Ham United	42	11	14	17	46	65	−19	36
18	Bristol City	42	11	13	18	38	48	−10	35
19	Coventry City	42	10	15	17	48	59	−11	35
20	Sunderland (R)	42	11	12	19	46	54	−8	34	Relegation to the Second Division
21	Stoke City (R)	42	10	14	18	28	51	−23	34
22	Tottenham Hotspur (R)	42	12	9	21	48	72	−24	33

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated
Notes:

↑ Manchester United qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1976–77 FA Cup winners.

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
1	21 August 1976	Sunderland	H	0–0	27,244
2	24 August 1976	Bristol City	A	1–1	25,316	Smith 86'
3	28 August 1976	Manchester City	A	0–0	39,875
4	4 September 1976	West Ham United	H	2–1	19,131	Crooks 32', Conroy 52'
5	11 September 1976	Everton	A	0–3	22,277
6	18 September 1976	Ipswich Town	H	2–1	20,171	Tudor (2) 2', 19'
7	25 September 1976	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–2	21,621
8	29 September 1976	Leicester City	A	0–1	15,391
9	2 October 1976	Aston Villa	H	1–0	26,652	Conroy 37'
10	16 October 1976	Arsenal	A	0–2	28,507
11	23 October 1976	Derby County	H	1–0	20,916	Tudor 70'
12	30 October 1976	Newcastle United	A	0–1	28,251
13	6 November 1976	Middlesbrough	H	3–1	16,068	Waddington 20', Greenhoff (2) 47', 54'
14	10 November 1976	Leeds United	A	1–1	29,199	Dodd 86'
15	20 November 1976	Birmingham City	H	1–0	21,486	Crooks 70'
16	27 November 1976	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–2	22,230
17	18 December 1976	West Bromwich Albion	H	0–2	15,989
18	27 December 1976	Liverpool	A	0–4	50,371
19	1 January 1977	Middlesbrough	A	0–0	21,140
20	22 January 1977	Sunderland	A	0–0	22,901
21	29 January 1977	Norwich City	A	1–1	18,408	Salmons 48'
22	5 February 1977	Manchester City	H	0–2	27,139
23	12 February 1977	West Ham United	A	0–1	20,106
24	16 February 1977	Coventry City	H	2–0	12,255	Conroy (2) 1', 55' (pen)
25	19 February 1977	Everton	H	0–1	19,586
26	26 February 1977	Ipswich Town	A	1–0	25,865	Goodwin 37'
27	5 March 1977	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–0	15,454	Bowers 47'
28	15 March 1977	Newcastle United	H	0–0	12,708
29	19 March 1977	Leicester City	H	0–1	14,087
30	23 March 1977	Arsenal	H	1–1	13,951	Conroy 7'
31	2 April 1977	Derby County	A	0–2	23,161
32	9 April 1977	Manchester United	A	0–3	53,102
33	11 April 1977	Liverpool	H	0–0	29,905
34	12 April 1977	Leeds United	H	2–1	17,960	Crooks (2) 67', 76'
35	16 April 1977	Birmingham City	A	0–2	19,554
36	20 April 1977	Bristol City	H	2–2	12,277	Smith 56', Bloor 70'
37	23 April 1977	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–0	15,641
38	30 April 1977	Coventry City	A	2–5	15,720	Ruggiero (2) 40', 66' (pen)
39	7 May 1977	Norwich City	H	0–0	13,202
40	11 May 1977	Manchester United	H	3–3	24,632	Crooks (2) 40', 65', Bloor 49'
41	14 May 1977	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–3	22,772	Suddick 22'
42	16 May 1977	Aston Villa	A	0–1	28,931

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
R3	8 January 1977	Everton	A	0–2	32,981

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
R2	1 September 1976	Leeds United	H	2–1	22,550	Conroy 75', Greenhoff 89'
R3	22 September 1976	Newcastle United	A	0–3	25,126

Friendlies

Match	Opponent	Venue	Result
1	Śląsk Wrocław	A	1–0
2	Indonesia XI	A	1–1
3	Persebaya Surabaya	A	2–0
4	Ajax	A	1–2
5	AS Cannes	A	2–0
6	AS Monaco	A	0–1
7	Olympique Lyonnais	A	1–2
8	FC Porto	A	0–1
9	Genoa	A	0–0
10	Chirk AAA	A	6–0
11	Hibernian	A	1–0
12	Blackpool	A	4–2
13	Hereford United	A	0–1

Squad statistics

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Roger Jones	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
GK	Peter Shilton	40	0	1	0	2	0	43	0
DF	Alan Bloor	37	2	1	0	2	0	40	2
DF	Danny Bowers	13(2)	1	1	0	1(1)	0	15(3)	1
DF	Alan Dodd	42	1	1	0	2	0	45	1
DF	Paul Johnson	8	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
DF	John Lumsdon	12(1)	0	0	0	0	0	12(1)	0
DF	Jackie Marsh	16(1)	0	1	0	2	0	19(1)	0
DF	Mike Pejic	21	0	0	0	2	0	23	0
DF	Denis Smith	30	2	1	0	0	0	31	2
MF	Brian Bithell	16(1)	0	1	0	0	0	17(1)	0
MF	Terry Conroy	34(2)	5	0	0	2	1	36(2)	6
MF	Alan Hudson	11	0	0	0	2	0	13	0
MF	John Mahoney	22	0	0	0	2	0	24	0
MF	Jimmy Robertson	14	0	1	0	0	0	15	0
MF	Kevin Sheldon	7(2)	0	0	0	0	0	7(2)	0
MF	Alan Suddick	9	1	0	0	0	0	9	1
MF	John Tudor	28(2)	3	1	0	0	0	29(2)	3
MF	Steve Waddington	11(1)	1	1	0	0	0	12(1)	1
FW	Geoff Salmons	33(2)	1	1	0	2	0	36(2)	1
FW	Garth Crooks	20(3)	6	0(1)	0	1(1)	0	21(5)	6
FW	Dave Goodwin	12(1)	1	0	0	0	0	12(1)	1
FW	Jimmy Greenhoff	14	2	0	0	2	1	16	3
FW	John Ruggiero	9	2	0	0	0	0	9	2
FW	Dennis Thorley	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

Related Research Articles

Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in the 1860s, the club changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke-on-Trent was granted city status. Stoke's home ground is the 30,089 capacity bet365 Stadium. Before it was opened in 1997, the club was based at the Victoria Ground, which was their home ground since 1878. The club's nickname is The Potters, after the pottery industry in Stoke-on-Trent, and their traditional home kit is a red-and-white vertically striped shirt, white shorts and stockings. Their traditional rivals are Midlands clubs West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers, whilst their local rivals are Port Vale with whom they contest the Potteries derby.

Denis Smith is an English former professional footballer and manager. He made 531 appearances in all competitions in 15 seasons as a player in the Football League, and as a manager took charge for 1,195 competitive matches.

Brian Greenhoff was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Manchester United, Leeds United and Rochdale. He was capped 18 times for England.

James Greenhoff is an English former footballer. He was a skilful forward but, although capped five times at under-23 level, he never played for the full side, and is labelled as the finest English player never to play for England. He made nearly 600 appearances in league football. His younger brother Brian was also a professional footballer.

Michael Pejic is a former England international footballer who played in the English Football League for Stoke City, Everton and Aston Villa.

Alan Anthony Hudson is an English former footballer who played for Arsenal, Chelsea, Stoke City and the Seattle Sounders as well as the England national football team.

Anthony Waddington was an English football manager at both Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City.

Alan Bloor is an English former footballer and manager. He made 394 league appearances in the Football League for both Potteries teams.

Gerard Anthony Francis Conroy is an Irish former professional footballer. A winger and forward, he scored 74 goals in 372 league and cup appearances in a 14-year career in the English Football League from 1967 to 1981. He also scored two goals and won 27 caps for the Republic of Ireland in a seven-year international career from 1969 to 1977.

George Edward Eastham, OBE is an English former footballer. He is known for playing for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City, as well as a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad. However, he is also notable for his involvement in a 1963 court case which proved a landmark in improving players' freedom to move between clubs.

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, becoming Stoke Football Club 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.

The 1972 Football League Cup Final took place on 4 March 1972 at Wembley Stadium and was contested by Chelsea and Stoke City.

Steven Waddington is an English former footballer. His father is former Stoke City manager, Tony Waddington.

John Henry Marsh is an English former footballer who played for Stoke City. He played as a right back.

The 1960–61 season was Stoke City's 54th season in the Football League and the 21st in the Second Division.

The 1969–70 season was Stoke City's 63rd season in the Football League and the 39th in the First Division.

The 1972–73 season was Stoke City's 66th season in the Football League and the 42nd in the First Division.

The 1974–75 season was Stoke City's 68th season in the Football League and the 44th in the First Division.

The 1983–84 season was Stoke City's 77th season in the Football League and the 51st in the First Division.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.

External links

Stoke City 2–1 West Ham United on YouTube

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[table_note_res_ECWC1R0.29287815899257-2] Manchester United qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1976–77 FA Cup winners.

[The_Encyclopaedia_of_Stoke_City-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.

[1]

[lower-alpha 1]

v t e Stoke City F.C. seasons
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1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
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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

1976–77 Stoke City F.C. season

Contents

Season review

League

FA Cup

League Cup

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League First Division

FA Cup

League Cup

Friendlies

Squad statistics

Related Research Articles

References

External links