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1914–15 Stoke F.C. season

Field	Value
club	Stoke
season	1914–15
manager	Peter Hodge
chairman	Mr E. Reynish
stadium	Victoria Ground
league	Southern League Division Two
league result	1st (38 points)
cup1	FA Cup
cup1 result	Third Qualifying Round
league topscorer	Arthur Watkin
(24)
season topscorer	Arthur Watkin
(31)
highest attendance	8,000 vs Brentford
(25 December 1914)
lowest attendance	3,000 vs Swansea Town
(17 September 1914)
average attendance	4,625
prevseason	1913–14
nextseason	1915–16
pattern_la1	_navy_stripes
pattern_b1	_navystripes
pattern_ra1	_navy_stripes
pattern_so1	_color_3_stripes_red
leftarm1	ff2000
body1	ff2000
rightarm1	ff2000
shorts1	002060
socks1	002060
pattern_la2	_white_stripes
pattern_b2	_whitestripes
pattern_ra2	_white_stripes
pattern_so2	_2 white stripes
leftarm2	ff0000
body2	ff0000
rightarm2	ff0000
socks2	ff0000

(24) (31) (25 December 1914) (17 September 1914) The 1914–15 season was Stoke's sixth and final season in the Southern Football League.

After the resignation of chairman Hurst and manager Alfred Barker, the board elected Mr E. Reynish as the new chairman and brought in Scotsman Peter Hodge as the club's new manager. With war on the horizon, there was debate as to whether football should be cancelled; it was not, but a number of clubs in the Southern League Division Two withdrew, claiming it to be 'unpatriotic'. Stoke had a good season and won the division with 38 points, which prompted the club to seek re-election to the Football League. They were successful in their efforts and after seven seasons Stoke could finally reclaim their place in the Football League. However, at the end of the season the league was indeed cancelled due to the war and Stoke would have to wait until 1919 to play league football.

Season review

League

The 1914–15 season opened up against the backdrop of World War I and there was a lot of debate to whether the football should continue. The season started but after a number of games several clubs resigned from the Southern League claiming it to be unpatriotic. These teams were Abertillery, Caerphilly, Leyton and Mardy. Their records were expunged and results against these clubs were void.

Stoke, now under the management of 39-year-old Peter Hodge the former boss of Raith Rovers, led the Division from virtually from the start. There was a familiar feeling to the squad with Dick Hope and Fred McCarthy the only players to come from outside the local area. Two departures in 1914 were William Smith whose long term leg injury got the better of him and skipper Ernest Mullineux. An impressive start was made to the 1914–15 season and a draw against Brentford on Christmas Day was only the third point Stoke had dropped. Stoke went on to comfortably claim the league title. There was also the emergence of Arthur Watkin who top scored with 24 league goals.

Stoke's success prompted them to apply for election to the Football League at the annual general meeting held on 19 July 1915. The bottom two clubs Leicester Fosse and Glossop North End, were obliged to seek re-election, but Glossop only secured one vote, while Stoke took 21 and saw them duly re-instated in the league. Later on in the meeting it was also announced that the League would be cancelled due to World War I and Stoke would have to wait longer to re-claim their place in the Football League.

FA Cup

Stoke recorded their largest FA Cup victory this season an 11–0 victory over Stourbridge albeit in the preliminary round. Stoke went on to beat Birmingham Corporation Tramways and Brierley Hill Alliance before losing to Walsall.

Final league table

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Southern Football League Division Two

Main article: 1914–15 Southern Football League

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
1	12 September 1914	Coventry City	A	3–1	2,000	McCarthy, Herbert, Hargreaves
2	17 September 1914	Swansea Town	H	1–0	3,000	McCarthy
3	19 September 1914	Ebbw Vale	A	1–0	2,000	Hargreaves
4	22 September 1914	Barry	H	2–0	5,000	Tempest, Jones
5	3 October 1914	Ton Pentre	H	4–1	5,000	McCarthy, Parker, Watkin (2)
6	17 October 1914	Stalybridge Celtic	A	0–1	4,000
7	21 October 1914	Merthyr Town	H	4–0	5,000	McCarthy, Herbert, Tempest, Bradley
8	14 November 1914	Llanelli	H	3–1	4,000	Watkin (3)
9	21 November 1914	Pontypridd	A	1–0	2,000	Watkin
10	28 November 1914	Mid Rhondda	H	8–0	4,000	Watkin (3), A Smith, Tempest, D Smith (2), Holmes (o.g.)
11	5 December 1914	Newport County	A	1–0	3,000	Watkin
12	12 December 1914	Pontypridd	H	5–0	4,000	Watkin (2), D Smith (2), Murray (o.g.)
13	25 December 1914	Brentford	A	2–2	3,000	D Smith (2)
14	26 December 1914	Brentford	H	3–0	8,000	Jones, A Smith, Watkin
15	9 January 1915	Newport County	H	3–1	3,500	Watkin, Tempest, Hargreaves
16	16 January 1915	Coventry City	H	5–1	5,000	Watkin (3), Tempest, A Smith
17	23 January 1915	Barry	A	0–0	2,000
18	6 February 1915	Ton Pentre	A	1–0	1,000	D Smith
19	6 March 1915	Merthyr Town	A	0–0	3,000
20	13 March 1915	Stalybridge Celtic	H	1–1	6,000	Watkin
21	20 March 1915	Llanelli	A	2–1	2,000	Watkin, Jones
22	3 April 1915	Mid Rhondda	A	2–4	1,000	D Smith (2)
23	5 April 1915	Ebbw Vale	H	10–0	3,000	D Smith, A Smith (4), Watkin (5)
24	24 April 1915	Swansea Town	A	0–1	4,000

FA Cup

Main article: 1914–15 FA Cup

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
PR	26 September 1914	Stourbridge	H	11–0	1,500	Herbert (2), Watkin (5), Hargreaves, McCarthy (3)
1QR	10 October 1914	Birmingham Corporation Tramways	A	3–2	1,000	Parker, Watkin (2)
2QR	24 October 1914	Brierley Hill Alliance	H	1–0	2,000	McCarthy
3QR	7 November 1914	Walsall	A	0–1	3,500

Squad statistics

Pos.	Name	League	FA Cup	Total	Apps	Goals	Apps
GK	ENG Bert Gadsden	6	0	2	0	8	0
GK	ENG Richard Herron	18	0	2	0	20	0
DF	ENG Alec Milne	24	0	4	0	28	0
DF	ENG George Turner	24	1	4	0	28	1
MF	ENG Sam Baddeley	1	0	1	0	2	0
MF	ENG James Bradley	18	1	4	0	22	1
MF	WAL Joe Jones	24	3	3	0	27	3
MF	ENG Charlie Parker	22	1	4	1	26	2
MF	ENG Stan Ripley	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	ENG Tom Bailey	6	0	0	0	6	0
FW	ENG Reg Forester	0	0	1	0	1	0
FW	ENG Henry Hargreaves	23	4	4	1	27	5
FW	SCO Dick Hope	2	0	0	0	2	0
FW	ENG Billy Herbert	7	2	4	2	11	4
FW	ENG Fred McCarthy	7	5	3	4	10	9
FW	ENG Alf Smith	18	7	0	0	18	7
FW	ENG Dick Smith	17	10	0	0	17	10
FW	ENG Billy Tempest	24	6	4	0	28	6
FW	ENG Billy Tompkinson	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	ENG Arthur Watkin	20	24	4	7	24	31
–	Own goals	–	2	–	0	–	2

References

Matthews, Tony. (1994). "The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City". Lion Press.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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