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. 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 club moved in 1997 to the Britannia Stadium, a 28,383 all-seater stadium; having spent 119 years at the Victoria Ground.
Stoke were one of the twelve founding members of the Football League in 1888. They failed re-election in 1890, but were re-admitted after winning the 1890–91 Football Alliance title. The team were relegated from the First Division in 1907 and entered liquidation the following year. Though the club was saved, Stoke were not re-elected until 1915, and instead spent the intervening years in the Birmingham & District League and Southern League. Promoted from the Second Division in 1921–22, they were relegated twice in four years by 1926. Stoke won the Third Division North in 1926–27 and then the Second Division title in 1932–33. They remained in the top-flight for 20 years, competing for the league title in 1946–47, and then spent a decade in the Second Division, before winning promotion as champions in 1962–63.
Under the stewardship of Tony Waddington, Stoke won the League Cup in 1972 with a 2–1 victory over Chelsea, to date their only major honour. Stoke had also been beaten finalists in 1964. The club spent 14 years in the top-flight, and would secure promotion in 1978–79 after being relegated two years earlier. Stoke remained in the top-flight from 1979 to 1985, though were relegated to the Third Division in 1990. Having won the Football League Trophy in 1992, they were promoted as champions in 1992–93. Relegation in 1998 allowed the club to win another Football League Trophy title in 2000, before promotion was secured with victory in the 2002 play-off final. Manager Tony Pulis took Stoke into the Premier League at the end of the 2007–08 campaign. They played in the final of the FA Cup in 2011, finishing runners-up to Manchester City, which saw the club qualify for European football. Ten years of Premier League football culminated in relegation to the EFL Championship in 2018.
1863–1888: early years It is claimed that Stoke Ramblers was formed in 1863 when former pupils of Charterhouse School formed a football club while they were apprentices at the North Staffordshire Railway works in Stoke-on-Trent. However, Stoke Ramblers' first documented match was five years later, on 17 October 1868, at the club's original home, the Victoria Cricket Club ground against E.W May's XV, the 15-a-side match ended in a 1–1 draw. In the game, the club's first goal was scored by Henry Almond, Stoke's founder and captain. Stoke played four further fixtures in 1868, recording their first victory with a 2–0 win against Newcastle-under-Lyme. In 1875, to cope with rising attendances, the club switched to a ground at Sweetings Field, not far from the Victoria Cricket Ground. At this time, the only fixtures were friendly matches; this changed in 1877 when the Staffordshire Football Association was formed and created a new competition, the County Cup, which Stoke won in the inaugural season, beating Talke Rangers 1–0 in the final. In an earlier round, Stoke had recorded what is still the club's record victory, a 26–0 triumph over Mow Cop. Stoke retained the County Cup in the following season with a 2–1 win over Cobridge and established themselves as the largest club in the area.
In 1878, the club merged with Stoke Victoria Athletic Club and became known as Stoke Football Club. They moved from Sweetings Field to the Athletic Club ground, which soon became known as the Victoria Ground. It was around this time that the club adopted their red and white striped kit. Stoke entered the newly formed Birmingham Association Cup in 1879, being drawn against Hill Top, West Bromwich in the first round. They did not compete the following year but,Local & Country Intelligence The Staffordshire Sentinel and Commercial and General Advertiser, 27 September 1879, p5 in 1881, they were beaten 8–0 by Aston Villa in the first round. In the 1882–1883 season, Stoke reached the final of the Staffordshire Senior Cup but were beaten 3–2 by West Bromwich Albion. The club decided to enter the FA Cup for the first time in the 1883–84 season; the competition itself had been founded 12 years earlier. The threat of a rival football association, the British FA, forced the Football Association to legalise professionalism in 1885; Stoke subsequently turned professional in August of that year. The club were defeated again in the FA Cup in 1885–86 after a replay defeat to Crewe Alexandra. The club's first victory in the competition came in the 1886–87 season with a 10–0 win over Caernarfon Wanderers at the Victoria Ground.
1888–1900: founder members of the Football League Stoke became one of the twelve founding members of the Football League in 1888. Stoke's manager, Harry Lockett, represented the club at a meeting in London, where the league's formation was discussed. Lockett played an instrumental role in its inception and became the league's first secretary; however he resigned from his role of manager in August 1890, in order to concentrate on his league responsibilities. Stoke struggled in their first two seasons in the league, 1888–89 and 1889–90, finishing in last place on both occasions. The club failed to secure re-election to the league at the end of its second season, instead being replaced by Sunderland. As a consequence, Stoke started 1890–91 in the Football Alliance; they finished the season as champions. The Football League was expanded to include fourteen clubs in 1891–92, which ensured Stoke were re-elected to the league, where they remained for the rest of the decade. In 1897, Stoke appointed Horace Austerberry, who in 1898–99 became the first manager to lead the club to the semi-final of the FA Cup.
1900–1919: financial problems and rebirth Stoke suffered financial problems around 1900, which ultimately led to the loss of the club's Football League status in 1908. "Historical Football Kits" says that, "In 1908, having finished in mid-table, Stoke went into liquidation and resigned from the League. Ironically this galvanised local businessmen, the clergy (the Victoria Ground was owned by the Church of England) and supporters to form a new limited company and purchase the old club's assets." The club moved to the Birmingham & District League after its demotion. In 1909, the club opted to field teams in two league competitions, one in the Birmingham & District League and the other in the Southern League; Stoke won the latter in their first year in the competition. Stoke continued to participate in both leagues until 1915, when their application for election back into the Football League was approved. However, the outbreak of the First World War meant the league was suspended for four years; it recommenced in August 1919. During this time, Stoke entered the Lancashire Primary and Secondary leagues.
1919–1930: yo-yo years The club became owners of the Victoria Ground in 1919. The Butler Street stand was constructed shortly afterward, increasing the overall capacity of the ground to 50,000. Following the restart of the Football League, Stoke achieved promotion from the Second Division in the 1921–22 season under the stewardship of Arthur Shallcross, although this was followed by relegation in the 1922–23 season. Unable to prevent the club's bad form, Shallcross resigned in March 1923. Tom Mather was appointed manager later in 1923, although Stoke were unable to mount another promotion challenge. They were instead relegated from the Second Division four years later in the 1925–26 season. The club's stay in Third Division North was brief, as Stoke won the championship during their first season in that league. In 1925, Stoke-on-Trent was granted city status, and this led the club to change its name to Stoke City Football Club.
1930–1938: emergence of The Wizard of Dribble The 1930s saw the début of the club's most celebrated player, Stanley Matthews. Matthews, who grew up in Hanley, was an apprentice at the club and made his first appearance, aged 17, in March 1932 against Bury. By end of the decade, Matthews had established himself as an England international and one of the best footballers of his generation. Matthews won his first England cap in 1934, making him the first Stoke player in 30 years to play for England. Stoke achieved promotion from the Second Division in the 1932–33 season as champions, but Matthews only featured in 15 games, although he did score his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win against local rivals Port Vale.
By 1934, the club's average attendance had risen to over 23,000, which allowed the club manager, Tom Mather, more transfer funds. Despite this, the core of the side consisted of young local players, such as Matthews, Tommy Sale and Freddie Steele. Mathers resigned from his post in May 1935 to take the managerial job at Newcastle United, ending his 12-year tenure. Bob McGrory was appointed as the club's manager shortly afterward; he had previously played for the club for 14 years. In the 1935–36 season, the club finished fourth in the Football League First Division, nine points adrift of champions Sunderland. This was followed by two successive mid-table finishes, in 1936–37 and 1937–38. The club recorded its record league win, 10–3, over West Bromwich Albion in February 1937, in which Steele scored five goals. In April of that year, the club achieved its largest league crowd—51,373 against Arsenal. Steele's 33 league goals in the 1936–37 season remains a club record.
1938–1950: World War II and title challenge By 1938, rumours purported that Stanley Matthews wanted to leave Stoke to further his career. This led to a meeting at Kings Hall, attended by three thousand people with a further thousand outside. Matthews opted to stay with Stoke and helped the club to finish in seventh place in the 1938–39 season. The outbreak of the Second World War prevented further progress as the league was suspended for six years. After resumption of the FA Cup, 33 fans died and 520 were injured during a sixth round away game against Bolton Wanderers when the crush barriers gave way on the terraces.
At this time, the side was predominantly composed of local players who had come through the club's youth system, including Matthews, Sale, Steele and John McCue, all in their prime, as well as the newly discovered Neil Franklin, regarded as the country's best centre-half. In the 1946–47 season, Stoke mounted a serious title challenge: the club needed a win in their final game of the season to win the First Division title, but a 2–1 defeat to Sheffield United gave the title to Liverpool. Stanley Matthews left the club three games before the end of the 1946–47 season to join Blackpool at the age of 32 for a fee of £11,500. The team subsequently failed to mount a title challenge in the following two seasons, 1947–48 and 1948–49, finishing 15th and 11th respectively.
1950–1960: relegation and Second Division frustrations The 1950s did not start well for the club; having avoided relegation in the 1950–51 and 1951–52 seasons, Stoke succumbed in 1952–53, finishing second from bottom. Bob McGrory resigned as the club's manager in February 1952 after 17 years in the role. His successor, Frank Taylor, consolidated the club's position in the Second Division but was unable to mount a sustained challenge for promotion, although Stoke came close in the 1954–55 season, missing by two points. Taylor's failure to deliver promotion led to his dismissal in June 1960, after a 17th-place finish in the 1959–60 season.
1960–1977: the Waddington years