
Stoke City Football Club is an English professionalfootball club based in the city ofStoke-on-Trent,Staffordshire. The club was formed in 1863 and played their first competitive match in November 1883 in theFA Cup. They were founder members ofthe Football League in 1888, in which they struggled finishing bottom in the first two seasons and failed to gain re-election for the1890–91 meaning that they played in theFootball Alliance.[1] They won the Alliance and re-joined the league. Stoke continued to struggle financially and in 1908 the club wasliquidated and had to resign from the league. They re-branded as Stoke F.C. (1908) and joined theBirmingham & District League andSouthern Football League before regaining their league status for the1919–20 season.[1]
As a Football League team Stoke have won two divisional titles at the second and third levels of theEnglish football league system. They have been promoted eight times and suffered relegation on seven occasions. They played in the2011 FA Cup Final, losing toManchester City and their best achievement is in theLeague Cup which they beatChelsea in the1972 Final.[1] As of the end of the 2024–25 season, the club has spent 62 seasons in the top tier of theEnglish football league system, 48 in the second and 8 in the third.
Stoke were formed as Stoke Ramblers F.C. in 1863 they soon dropped the 'Ramblers' name and simply became known as Stoke F.C., and they played in friendlies against local and national sides as well as competing in theStaffordshire Senior Cup which was a prestigious competition at the time.[1] Stoke entered theFA Cup in the1883–84 season and their first competitive fixture was againstManchester which they lost 2–1.[1] They continued with this type of fixture list until in 1888the Football League was founded and Stoke became founder members.[1] In the first league season Stoke finished bottom of the table and again took bottom spot in the second season leading to the club being replaced bySunderland. Stoke joined theFootball Alliance and claimed the title and were re-elected back into the league.[1] Stoke continued to struggle and had a number of narrow escapes from relegation in the early 1900s. Eventually the club's fortunes ran out and they were relegated to theSecond Division in the1906–07.[1] The next season Stoke's finances dried up and the club wasliquidated and they had to resign from the league. They were saved by a number of local business men and incredibly they were able to apply for re-election but they failed to gain enough votes and had to enter theBirmingham & District League andSouthern Football League.[1]
Stoke re-entered the League afterWorld War I and during the 1920s the club added 'City' to their name and had the highs of being promoted to the First Division and the lows of being relegated to theThird Division North.[1] Despite the divisional changes Stoke brought through a number of promising youth players most notably that ofStanley Matthews.[1] Stoke went on to gain promotion to the First Division in the1932–33 season and went on to finished in 4th place in the1935–36 season, their highest position until that point.[1] Immediately afterWorld War II Stoke were involved in a title race and they had the chance to become champions of England for the first time on the final day of the1946–47 season they needed to beatSheffield United to claim the title, but they lost 2–1 and ended up finishing 4th for the second time.[1]
Relegation to the Second Division was suffered in the1952–53 season and it took Stoke ten season to get back into the First Division withTony Waddington helping Stoke to gain promotion.[1] He had a successful time at Stoke leading the club to their first major trophy in1972, winning theFootball League Cup as well as reaching the semi-final of the FA Cup and competed in European football on two occasions.[1] However Stoke'sVictoria Ground was damaged by gale-force winds in January 1976 and the club had to sell their best players to cover the cost for the repairs.[1] This eventually led to Stoke being relegated the following1976–77 season, Stoke soon made a return though gaining promotion in1978–79 season. In the1984–85 season Stoke experienced a terrible season finishing bottom after picking up a record low of 17 points. Five seasons of Second Division obscurity followed before the club slipped into the third tier for the second time.[1]
Lou Macari got Stoke out of the Third Division at the second time of asking and guided the club to the1995–96 play-offs but lost out toLeicester City.[2] Stoke moved to the all-seaterBritannia Stadium in 1997 but were relegated to the third tier in the first season at the new ground.[2] Four seasons in Division Two followed during which time the club had won their secondFootball League Trophy and entered the play-offs three times eventually gaining promotion at the third attempt.Tony Pulis became Stoke manager in November 2002 and lead the club to safety on the final day of the2002–03 season. He was sacked at the end of the2004–05 season but was re-appointed by returning chairmanPeter Coates in July 2006.[2] He led the club to promotion to thePremier League in2007–08 season and has since helped the club to establish themselves back in English football's top tier. Stoke reached theFA Cup Final for the first time in the2010–11 season losing 1–0 toManchester City. On reaching the final Stoke qualified for theUEFA Europa League where they reached the last 32, losing out toValencia. Pulis was replaced byMark Hughes in May 2013 and he guided the club to their highest Premier League position of 9th in three successive seasons2013–14,2014–15 and2015–16. Decline set in under Hughes in2016–17 which led to relegation in2017–18.
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