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1968–69 Stoke City F.C. season

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2015}}

{{Infobox Football club season

| club = Stoke City

| season = 1968–69

| manager = Tony Waddington

| chairman = Albert Henshall

| stadium = Victoria Ground

| league = Football League First Division

| league result = 19th (33 Points)

| cup1 = FA Cup

| cup1 result = Fifth Round

| cup2 = League Cup

| cup2 result = Second Round

| league topscorer = Peter Dobing
(8)

| season topscorer = Peter Dobing
(10)

| highest attendance = 30,630 vs Manchester United
(23 November 1968)

| lowest attendance = 8,826 vs Sheffield Wednesday
(22 April 1969)

| average attendance = 18,984

| prevseason = 1967–68

| nextseason = 1969–70

| kit_alt1 =

| pattern_la1 = _red_stripes

| pattern_b1 = _red_stripes

| pattern_ra1 = _red_stripes

| pattern_sh1 =

| pattern_so1 =

| leftarm1 =

| body1 =

| rightarm1 =

| shorts1 = FFFFFF

| socks1 = FFFFFF

}}

The 1968–69 season was Stoke City's 62nd season in the Football League and the 38th in the First Division.

Stoke failed to improve on last season's near miss and again were involved in a relegation scrap. Stoke won just nine matches all season and scored just 40 goals as they narrowly avoided relegation by three points.{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Tony|title=The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City|year=1994|publisher=Lion Press|isbn=0-9524151-0-0}}

Season review

=League=

To address last season's lack of goals Waddington brought in Scottish international David Herd on a free transfer from Manchester United. There was tragedy in October 1968 as reserve team goalkeeper Paul Shardlow suffered a heart attack in a training match and died.

As the 1968–69 season began, once again Stoke found goals hard to come by, they only scored eight in their opening eleven league matches and although the feeling amongst the supporters was that the team was too good to be relegated they were lucky in the fact that Queens Park Rangers and Leicester City had poor seasons. Stoke could only manage 19th place in a very uneventful season which saw champions Leeds United gain revenge for last season by beating Stoke 5–1 at the Victoria Ground. It had been a nerve-racking season with Stoke seemingly involved in a relegation battle from the start, and thanks to some determined performances Stoke scrambled three points clear of the drop zone. The 1968–69 season did, however mark the debut of Denis Smith who was later to become club captain and would have a major impact on the club's fortunes during the 1970s.

At the end of the season in May 1969 Stoke City embarked on an end of season tour which saw them play against Congo Kinshasa (drew 1–1) and then on to Spain where they played against Catalonia giants Barcelona. The match was played in front of 65,000 at the Camp Nou and Stoke shocked the prestigious hosts with a 3–2 victory. David Herd scored twice and Harry Burrows hit a third to put Stoke into a 3–0 lead at half-time. Barcelona fought back scoring twice through Carles Rexach and Pedro Zabalza but a Stoke held on for a splendid victory.{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Peter |title=Barcelona 2 Stoke City 3: Yes, it really happened - and Nou Camp stood and clapped |url=https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-city-barcelona-nou-camp-4134965 |website=Stoke Sentinel |access-date=15 May 2020}}

=FA Cup=

After unspectacular wins over Fourth Division sides York City and Halifax Town, Stoke lost 3–2 away at Chelsea.

=League Cup=

Blackburn Rovers eliminated Stoke in a second round replay 1–0 after a 1–1 draw at Ewood Park, John Mahoney scoring for the "Potters".

Final league table

{{:1968–69 Football League First Division|only_totals=y|showteam=STK}}

Results

Stoke's score comes first

=Legend=

class="wikitable"

|style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"|Win

|style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"|Draw

|style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"|Loss

=Football League First Division=

{{Main|1968–69 Football League}}

class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center"

!Match!!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers

style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"

|1

10 August 1968SunderlandH2–122,475Dobing, Stevenson
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|2

14 August 1968West Ham UnitedH0–222,131
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|3

17 August 1968Leeds UnitedA0–230,383
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|4

20 August 1968LiverpoolA1–246,674Conroy
style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"

|5

24 August 1968Leicester CityH1–016,633Mahoney
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|6

28 August 1968SouthamptonA0–220,712
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|7

31 August 1968Wolverhampton WanderersA1–131,034Elder
style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"

|8

7 September 1968Manchester CityH1–022,013Conroy
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|9

14 September 1968ArsenalA0–128,273
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|10

21 September 1968Queens Park RangersH1–115,273Skeels
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|11

28 September 1968Ipswich TownA1–320,943Dobing
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|12

5 October 1968Nottingham ForestA3–321,510Stevenson, Burrows, Herd
style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"

|13

9 October 1968SouthamptonH1–014,105Allen
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|14

12 October 1968BurnleyH1–314,160Mahoney
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|15

19 October 1968EvertonA1–242,887Herd
style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"

|16

26 October 1968ChelseaH2–016,786Herd, Dobing
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|17

2 November 1968Tottenham HotspurA1–133,309Herd
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|18

9 November 1968Coventry CityH0–316,117
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|19

16 November 1968West Bromwich AlbionA1–222,134Dobing
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|20

23 November 1968Manchester UnitedH0–030,630
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|21

30 November 1968Sheffield WednesdayA1–223,027Burrows
style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"

|22

7 December 1968Newcastle UnitedH1–011,594Herd
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|23

14 December 1968BurnleyA1–110,003Herd
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|24

21 December 1968EvertonH0–020,491
style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"

|25

26 December 1968Nottingham ForestH3–120,331Dobing, Conroy, Eastham
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|26

11 January 1969Tottenham HotspurH1–121,728Conroy
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|27

1 February 1969West Bromwich AlbionH1–120,567Conroy
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|28

1 March 1969SunderlandA1–416,092Conroy
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|29

5 March 1969ChelseaA0–119,856
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|30

8 March 1969Leeds UnitedH1–524,327Burrows (pen)
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|31

15 March 1969Leicester CityA0–024,987
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|32

18 March 1969Coventry CityA1–125,097Herd
style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"

|33

22 March 1969Wolverhampton WanderersH4–119,574Herd, Conroy, Dobing (2)
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|34

24 March 1969Manchester UnitedA1–139,931Stevenson
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|35

29 March 1969Manchester CityA1–327,311Marsh
style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"

|36

5 April 1969Ipswich TownH2–115,022Herd, Dobing
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|37

7 April 1969LiverpoolH0–027,389
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|38

8 April 1969West Ham UnitedA0–026,577
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|39

12 April 1969Queens Park RangersA1–212,489Hunt (o.g.)
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|40

19 April 1969ArsenalH1–314,989Burrows
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"

|41

22 April 1969Sheffield WednesdayH1–18,826Vernon
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"

|42

30 April 1969Newcastle UnitedA0–527,526

=FA Cup=

{{Main|1968–69 FA Cup}}

class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center"

!Round!!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers

style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"R34 January 1969York CityA2–011,129Burrows (2)
style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"R425 February 1969Halifax TownH1–130,283Dobing
style="background-color: #CCFFCC;"R4 Replay28 February 1969Halifax TownA3–024,981Conroy (2), Burrows
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"R512 February 1969ChelseaA2–339,191Burrows, Dobing

=League Cup=

{{Main|1968–69 Football League Cup}}

class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center"

!Round!!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Scorers

style="background-color: #FFFFCC;"R24 September 1968Blackburn RoversA1–112,464Mahoney
style="background-color: #FFCCCC;"R2 Replay11 September 1968Blackburn RoversH0–113,747

=Friendlies=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center"

!Match!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result

style="background: #CCFFCC;"

|align="center"|1

Oldham AthleticA3–1
style="background: #CCFFCC;"

|align="center"|2

Exeter CityA1–0
style="background: #CCFFCC;"

|align="center"|3

Plymouth ArgyleA1–0
style="background: #FFCCCC;"

|align="center"|4

Derby CountyH1–3
style="background: #FFCCCC;"

|align="center"|5

BlackpoolA5–8
style="background: #FFFFCC;"

|align="center"|6

Congo KinshasaA1–1
style="background: #CCFFCC;"

|align="center"|7

GranadaA4–1
style="background: #FFCCCC;"

|align="center"|8

PontevedraA0–2
style="background: #CCFFCC;"

|align="center"|9

BarcelonaA3–2

Squad statistics

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
rowspan="2" valign="bottom"|Pos.

!rowspan="2"|Name

!colspan="2" width="85"|League

!colspan="2" width="85"|FA Cup

!colspan="2" width="85"|League Cup

!colspan="2" width="85"|Total

Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

align="left"|GKalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Gordon Banks

|30

04000340
align="left"|GKalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} John Farmer

|12

00020140
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Tony Allen

|17(3)

1002019(3)1
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Bill Bentley

|3(1)

000003(1)0
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Alan Bloor

|29

04020350
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|NIR}} Alex Elder

|38

14020441
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Tony Lacey

|2(1)

000103(1)0
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Jackie Marsh

|28(2)

1401033(2)1
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Mike Pejic

|1

0000010
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Eric Skeels

|35(1)

1400(1)039(2)1
align="left"|DFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Denis Smith

|14

00000140
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Mike Bernard

|21(3)

0400025(3)0
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Gerry Bridgwood

|4(2)

000105(2)0
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|IRE}} Terry Conroy

|30(1)

7421035(1)9
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} George Eastham

|26(1)

1402032(1)1
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|WAL}} John Mahoney

|23(3)

2002125(3)3
align="left"|MFalign="left"|{{flagicon|SCO}} Willie Stevenson

|30(2)

3002032(2)3
align="left"|FWalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Harry Burrows

|35

44400398
align="left"|FWalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} Peter Dobing

|40

842204610
align="left"|FWalign="left"|{{flagicon|SCO}} David Herd

|35

94000399
align="left"|FWalign="left"|{{flagicon|WAL}} Roy Vernon

|5(3)

100207(3)1
align="left"|FWalign="left"|{{flagicon|ENG}} John Worsdale

|4

0000040
align="left"|–align="left"|Own goals

|–

1–0–0–1

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Stoke City F.C. seasons}}

{{1968–69 in English football}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1968-69 Stoke City F.C. season}}

Category:Stoke City F.C. seasons

Stoke