| 1966–67 season | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Albert Henshall | |
| Manager | Tony Waddington | |
| Stadium | Victoria Ground | |
| Football League First Division | 12th (41 Points) | |
| FA Cup | Third Round | |
| League Cup | Second Round | |
| Top goalscorer | League:Peter Dobing (19) All:Peter Dobing (19) | |
| Highest home attendance | 44,337 vsManchester United (7 September 1966) | |
| Lowest home attendance | 14,606 vsArsenal (1 April 1967) | |
| Average home league attendance | 25,933 | |
The1966–67 season wasStoke City's 60th season inthe Football League and the 36th in theFirst Division.
England won the1966 World Cup and one of the winners,Gordon Banks joined Stoke in April 1967 in what was a master stroke signing byTony Waddington he also brought in Arsenal wingerGeorge Eastham. On the pitch Stoke continued to finish in mid table this time in 12th spot.[1]
1966 saw Albert Henshall return to the club as chairman and England won theWorld Cup, two ofAlf Ramsey's squad would sign for Stoke within the next twelve months.[1] In the summer of 1966 Waddington secured the services of formerNewcastle United wingerGeorge Eastham fromArsenal for £35,000.[1] The other was goalkeeperGordon Banks who was snapped up for a bargain £52,000 fromLeicester City in April 1967.Matt Gillies, the Leicester manager was coming under considerable pressure to play his young reservePeter Shilton and decided to sell the 29-year-old Banks to Stoke. It is widely considered that this was a 'steal' as Banks carried on to play for England for another five years.[1] Banks left English football in 1972 and ironically Stoke signed Shilton as his replacement.[1]
Stoke had a fine, enterprising squad in 1966–67 and they ran up some fine results, beating eventual championsManchester United 3–0 as well asTottenham Hotspur,Nottingham Forest,Everton andWest Bromwich Albion all before October.[1] However, with Stoke looking forward to a potentially great season the fans were shocked whenJohn Ritchie was sold toSheffield Wednesday for £70,000 in November 1966.[1] Whilst Wednesday paid a lot of money for Ritchie it came as a surprise as a month before Stoke had sold unsuccessful reserve strikerJohn Woodward toAston Villa for £30,000.[1] But Ritchie's departure was soon forgotten as the team battled on holding on to a mid-table position.[1]
Stoke failed to make it past the third round losing by two goals to nil againstManchester United atOld Trafford.[1]
Walsall again proved to Stoke's cup bogey side beating Stoke 2–1 atFellows Park.[1]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Sheffield United | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 52 | 59 | 0.881 | 42 |
| 11 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 56 | 47 | 1.191 | 41 |
| 12 | Stoke City | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 63 | 58 | 1.086 | 41 |
| 13 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 16 | 7 | 19 | 77 | 73 | 1.055 | 39 |
| 14 | Burnley | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 66 | 76 | 0.868 | 39 |
Stoke's score comes first
| Win | Draw | Loss |
| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 August 1966 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–1 | 21,949 | Dobing,Palmer |
| 2 | 24 August 1966 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–0 | 33,086 | Burrows,Ritchie |
| 3 | 27 August 1966 | Fulham | H | 1–2 | 26,333 | Burrows |
| 4 | 31 August 1966 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–2 | 37,983 | |
| 5 | 3 September 1966 | Everton | A | 1–0 | 44,005 | Dobing |
| 6 | 7 September 1966 | Manchester United | H | 3–0 | 44,337 | Ritchie (2),Palmer |
| 7 | 10 September 1966 | West Ham United | H | 1–1 | 27,274 | Dobing |
| 8 | 17 September 1966 | Sheffield United | H | 3–0 | 21,374 | Dobing (2),Wagstaff (o.g.) |
| 9 | 24 September 1966 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–0 | 25,483 | Ritchie |
| 10 | 1 October 1966 | Leeds United | H | 0–0 | 28,987 | |
| 11 | 8 October 1966 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 3–1 | 28,047 | Dobing,Ritchie,Burrows |
| 12 | 15 October 1966 | Southampton | H | 3–2 | 25,554 | Dobing,Ritchie,Palmer |
| 13 | 25 October 1966 | Sunderland | A | 1–2 | 23,320 | Viollet |
| 14 | 29 October 1966 | Liverpool | H | 2–0 | 37,933 | Dobing,Ritchie |
| 15 | 5 November 1966 | Southampton | A | 2–3 | 23,270 | Viollet,Ritchie |
| 16 | 12 November 1966 | Manchester City | H | 0–1 | 27,803 | |
| 17 | 19 November 1966 | Blackpool | A | 1–0 | 16,172 | Burrows |
| 18 | 26 November 1966 | Chelsea | H | 1–1 | 28,446 | Dobing |
| 19 | 3 December 1966 | Leicester City | A | 2–4 | 26,079 | Burrows,Vernon |
| 20 | 10 December 1966 | Aston Villa | H | 6–1 | 20,232 | Burrows (3),Vernon,Dobing,Eastham |
| 21 | 17 December 1966 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–2 | 23,304 | Burrows |
| 22 | 26 December 1966 | Burnley | A | 2–0 | 29,990 | Burrows,Setters |
| 23 | 27 December 1966 | Burnley | H | 4–3 | 38,402 | Burrows (2),Dobing,Bridgwood |
| 24 | 31 December 1966 | Fulham | A | 1–4 | 24,851 | Vernon |
| 25 | 7 January 1967 | Everton | H | 2–1 | 27,650 | Dobing,Palmer |
| 26 | 14 January 1967 | West Ham United | A | 1–1 | 33,293 | Burrows |
| 27 | 22 January 1967 | Sheffield United | A | 1–2 | 21,486 | Dobing |
| 28 | 4 February 1967 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 1–1 | 26,211 | Dobing |
| 29 | 11 February 1967 | Leeds United | A | 0–3 | 37,370 | |
| 30 | 25 February 1967 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 0–2 | 27,164 | |
| 31 | 4 March 1967 | Liverpool | A | 1–2 | 48,591 | Dobing |
| 32 | 18 March 1967 | Sunderland | H | 3–0 | 17,171 | Palmer,Dobing,Burrows |
| 33 | 24 March 1967 | Newcastle United | A | 1–3 | 39,408 | Burrows |
| 34 | 25 March 1967 | Aston Villa | A | 1–2 | 20,996 | Mahoney |
| 35 | 27 March 1967 | Newcastle United | H | 0–1 | 17,802 | |
| 36 | 1 April 1967 | Arsenal | H | 2–2 | 14,606 | Burrows,Dobing |
| 37 | 12 April 1967 | Manchester City | A | 1–3 | 25,753 | Dobing |
| 38 | 15 April 1967 | Blackpool | H | 2–0 | 12,259 | Burrows,Mahoney |
| 39 | 22 April 1967 | Chelsea | A | 0–1 | 23,973 | |
| 40 | 29 April 1967 | Leicester City | H | 3–1 | 17,870 | Dobing,Burrows,Mahoney |
| 41 | 6 May 1967 | Arsenal | A | 1–3 | 24,611 | Bridgwood |
| 42 | 13 May 1967 | Manchester United | A | 0–0 | 61,071 |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R3 | 28 January 1967 | Manchester United | A | 0–2 | 63,497 |
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R2 | 9 September 1966 | Walsall | A | 1–2 | 13,600 | Ritchie |
Stoke were one of a number of teams exported to the USA to play in theUnited Soccer Association in 1967 to help promote the sport in the country. Stoke representedCleveland,Ohio and went under the name of theCleveland Stokers and finished 2nd in their group.[2]
In the travelling Stoke party included the likes ofGordon Banks,Peter Dobing,George Eastham,Maurice Setters andRoy Vernon as well as managerTony Waddington.[2] The team started well going undefeated in their first seven matches defeatingWashington Whips 2–1,Boston Rovers 1–0,San Francisco Golden Gate Gales andDallas Tornado both 4–1.[2] They then suffered back to back 2–1 defeats toNew York Skyliners andHouston Stars before a 2–0 win overToronto City put them back on track for a play-off place.[2] However a goalless draw withDetroit Cougars and a 3–1 defeat in the final match againstVancouver Royals saw the Stokers miss out on a play-off spot by a single point.[2]
| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 May 1967 | Washington Whips | A | 2–1 | Setters,Vernon |
| 2 | 31 May 1967 | Chicago Mustangs | H | 1–1 | Bernard |
| 3 | 3 June 1967 | Boston Rovers | H | 1–0 | Setters |
| 4 | 7 June 1967 | Los Angeles Wolves | H | 0–0 | |
| 5 | 10 June 1967 | San Francisco Golden Gate Gales | H | 4–1 | Dobing (2),Setters,Vernon |
| 6 | 13 June 1967 | Washington Whips | H | 2–2 | Dobing,Eastham |
| 7 | 17 June 1967 | Dallas Tornado | A | 4–1 | Dobing (2),Skeels,Burrows |
| 8 | 25 June 1967 | New York Skyliners | H | 1–2 | Bloor |
| 9 | 27 June 1967 | Houston Stars | A | 1–2 | Burrows |
| 10 | 1 July 1967 | Toronto City | H | 2–0 | Dobing,Burrows |
| 11 | 5 July 1967 | Detroit Cougars | A | 0–0 | |
| 12 | 9 July 1967 | Vancouver Royals | A | 1–3 | Dobing |
| Match | Opponent | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Home Farm | A | 2–1 |
| 2 | Cork Celtic | A | 4–1 |
| 3 | Limerick | A | 3–1 |
| 4 | Portsmouth | A | 1–1 |
| 5 | Oldham Athletic | A | 5–0 |
| 6 | Millwall | A | 2–1 |
| 7 | Exeter City | A | 2–2 |
| 8 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 1–2 |
| 9 | Rangers | H | 3–1 |
| 10 | England XI | H | 5–7 |
| Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| GK | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| GK | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 0 | |
| GK | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| GK | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| DF | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
| DF | 6(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6(1) | 0 | |
| DF | 30(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32(1) | 0 | |
| DF | 38 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 5 | |
| DF | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 0 | |
| MF | 4(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(1) | 0 | |
| MF | 24(1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25(1) | 2 | |
| MF | 41 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 1 | |
| MF | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | |
| MF | 23(3) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24(3) | 0 | |
| MF | 28 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 1 | |
| MF | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | |
| FW | 42 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 17 | |
| FW | 41 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 19 | |
| FW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| FW | 14 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 9 | |
| FW | 33(1) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35(1) | 2 | |
| FW | 20 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 4 | |
| – | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 1 |