The 2009–10 season was Stoke City's second season in the Premier League and the 54th in the top tier of English football.
After a successful first season in the Premier League, Stoke were looking to establish themselves in the top tier and spent just over £20 million on Diego Arismendi, Danny Collins, Robert Huth, Tuncay and Dean Whitehead. Stoke began the season with victories over Burnley, Sunderland, and West Ham United, and a 1–0 win at Tottenham Hotspur in October. Their form dropped off in December as they managed just a point and two goals in five matches.
Stoke began 2010 in fine form, going eleven matches unbeaten, which included wins against Fulham, Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth, whilst draws were earned against Liverpool and Manchester City. The run also included FA Cup wins against York City, Arsenal and Manchester City before City lost to Chelsea at the quarter-final stage. Stoke had no relegation battle to be concerned with and finished the campaign in 11th position with 47 points.
Pre-season Stoke began their preparation for the 2009–10 season with two Stoke XIs playing matches simultaneously against local non-league sides Newcastle Town and Nantwich Town. Both matches were surprisingly lost, 2–1 at Newcastle and 2–0 at Nantwich. Stoke then spent a week at a training camp in Austria where they played twice. Firstly against German side St Pauli in Irdning, Dave Kitson scoring in a 3–1 defeat. The other match was against Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv where Stoke had to play in a green strip due to a colour clash, Salif Diao scored Stoke's goal in a 1–1 draw, a lob from 40-yards. On their return to England, Stoke completed the signing of Sunderland midfielder Dean Whitehead for a fee of £5 million. Two goals from Neil Mellor saw Preston North End beat Stoke 2–1 with Richard Cresswell scoring for the Potters against his former employers.
Stoke then played back-to-back games against East Midlands opposition. Firstly, they drew 1–1 at Nottingham Forest on 29 July, with Dave Kitson cancelling out a strike from Nathan Tyson. Then, against Derby County, despite taking the lead twice via Liam Lawrence and Ricardo Fuller goals from Stephen Pearson and Arnaud Mendy earned Derby a 2–2 draw. Stoke's final match of pre-season was against Spanish side Real Valladolid at the Britannia Stadium, where they made a bright start, scoring through Abdoulaye Faye after two minutes before Dave Kitson converted a 32nd-minute penalty. However, goals from Borja and Alberto Bueno saw that match end in a 2–2 draw and leave Stoke without a victory in pre-season. On 14 October 2009, a Stoke City XI lost 1–0 in a friendly against American sister club Austin Aztex at Nantwich Town's Weaver Stadium.
MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport112 July 2009Newcastle TownA1–23,317Etherington 37'Report212 July 2009Nantwich TownA0–2784Report317 July 2009St PauliA1–3Kitson 72'Report421 July 2009Hapoel Tel AvivA1–1Diao 33'Report525 July 2009Preston North EndA1–23,121Cresswell 78'Report629 July 2009Nottingham ForestA1–15,542Kitson 48'Report71 August 2009Derby CountyA2–223,259Lawrence 7', Fuller 65'Report87 August 2009Real ValladolidH2–29,465Faye 2', Kitson (pen) 32'Report914 October 2009Austin AztexH0–1554Report
Premier League
August For the season opener against newly promoted Burnley, Stoke gave new signing Dean Whitehead his debut. The Clarets started brightly and went close early on through Robbie Blake. However, City soon took control of the match and went in front after 19 minutes through Ryan Shawcross, before a trademark Rory Delap long throw-in was glanced into his own net by defender Stephen Jordan to put Stoke into a 2–0 lead. The away side improved in the second half but failed to trouble Sørensen and Stoke could have added a third, with Dave Kitson hitting the post and Richard Cresswell narrowly shooting wide.
Stoke travelled to Liverpool for the first of three away games back-to-back. Stoke lined up in a defensive 4–5–1 formation in an attempt to stop the threat of Liverpool's attacking full-backs. The change in tactics backfired as Liverpool comfortably won the game 4–0, with the goals coming from Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Glen Johnson and David Ngog.
Another newly promoted side were the next opponents for Stoke in the form of Birmingham City at St Andrew's. Stoke suffered an early blow as James Beattie was forced to come off due to injury, meaning that Dave Kitson would have a chance to impress. There were few chances during the match, with both sides cancelling each other out, and the match finished 0–0.
New signings from Middlesbrough, Robert Huth and Tuncay, were on the bench for the visit of Steve Bruce's Sunderland at the end of August. Stoke opened the scoring just before half-time through a goalmouth scramble which Kitson managed to score past Craig Gordon. Both sides continued to create chances in the second half but Stoke were the stronger of the two teams and were able to see out the win.
September
For the visit of Chelsea, Pulis decided to play a 5–3–2 formation with new signing Danny Collins making his debut. Stoke suffered an early setback as James Beattie was again forced to come off after falling awkwardly. Stoke took the lead after 32 minutes after a mix-up in the Chelsea defence allowed captain Abdoulaye Faye to head into an empty net. Stoke were dealt another injury, this time keeper Sørensen, who was replaced by Steve Simonsen. Chelsea equalised in stoppage time in the first half through a goal by Didier Drogba. Chelsea dominated the second half without troubling Simonsen and it looked as though it would finish all level. but Florent Malouda gave Chelsea the three points deep into injury time to leave Stoke with a sense of déjà vu as Chelsea beat them in similar fashion last season.
Stoke then made the trip to the Reebok Stadium looking to avenge last season's 3–1 defeat in what was City's first game in the Premier League. Stoke were the better side in the first half as they dominated possession and created a number of half chances; Bolton on the other hand were awful and were booed off at half-time by their supporters. Stoke took the lead early in the second half through Kitson, Wanderers then brought on Ricardo Gardner and Ivan Klasnić to try and rescue a point for the home side. They did get a draw via the penalty spot after Danny Collins carelessly tripped Sam Ricketts in the final minute.
Following the epic 4–3 League Cup win over Blackpool, Stoke faced the league champions, Manchester United. Pulis decided to go with the same formation and system he used against Chelsea, however the change didn't work as the visitors were able to claim a comfortable 2–0 win.
October
Stoke reverted to their usual formation for the trip to Everton and gave a surprise start to Salif Diao after the midfielder's injury. Everton were the better team in the first 45 minutes without troubling Sørensen. Stoke improved in the second period and took the lead through Robert Huth's powerful header, his first goal for the club. The lead didn't last long as Leon Osman scored from long range and the match ended all square.
The next match was against Gianfranco Zola's West Ham United at the Britannia Stadium. James Beattie scored twice for Stoke in a 2–1 win. The first came via the penalty spot after Etherington had been brought down in the area by Julien Faubert. West Ham levelled through a Matthew Upson header before Beattie tapped in from close range following good work by Fuller. Huth was given a retrospective three-match ban by the FA after video footage showed him hitting Upson in the face.
Stoke then made the trip to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham and were handed a blow before kick-off with Thomas Sørensen unable to play, meaning that number two Steve Simonsen started in goal. Tottenham were also hit by injuries, with Jonathan Woodgate being forced off after 14 minutes. Tottenham dominated the match and had numerous chances to open the scoring, but they were repeatedly denied by Simonsen. With the match looking to be heading to a goalless draw, Stoke scored via a counter-attack with Glenn Whelan curling a shot past Heurelho Gomes to secure a 1–0 victory.
In the match against local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke dominated the first half and scored through Beattie, and a volley by Matthew Etherington, his first league goal for the club, put Stoke 2–0 up before half-time. In the second half, Wolves were the dominant side and also scored twice with two identical goals from former City player Jody Craddock as the match ended in a 2–2 draw.
November
Stoke made the trip to Hull looking for a second consecutive away win; despite a slow start City took the lead through Etherington's powerful drive past Matt Duke. Stoke could have extended their lead through Shawcross but his header clipped the crossbar. Hull then equalised through former City player Seyi Olofinjana and Stoke were on the back foot even more when Abdoulaye Faye was sent off for two bookable offences, meaning Tuncay, who had just come on, had to be replaced by Wilkinson in order to fill the gap in defence. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink scored in the final minute to condemn Stoke to a disappointing defeat.
Paul Hart's relegation threatened Portsmouth were next to arrive in Staffordshire and had the chance to take the lead early on after Delap had fouled Aruna Dindane, but Kevin-Prince Boateng's penalty was saved by Sørensen. It turned out to be a very poor game and Stoke scored the only goal through a well-worked move resulting in Fuller scoring his first goal of the season.
Stoke travelled to Blackburn and had a number of chances to win the match with Whitehead and Beattie both missing from just 5 yards; Blackburn were also guilty of poor finishing and the match ended in a 0–0 draw.
December
The first match in December came away against Arsenal; Stoke started the match brightly and looked comfortable, but Delap again gave away a penalty after fouling Andrey Arshavin in the area, but Sørensen saved Cesc Fàbregas' spot kick. However, Arsenal were not to be denied and went on to win the match 2–0 with goals from Arshavin and Aaron Ramsey. The result was, however, overshadowed by media reports of a dressing room argument between Pulis and Beattie.
Stoke then faced Wigan Athletic in an early kick-off at the Britannia Stadium it what turned out to be an entertaining match. Wigan took the lead in confusing circumstances; Emmerson Boyce headed the ball past Sørensen taking out the keeper in the process, and Salif Diao unavoidably kicked Boyce in the head, and after lengthy treatment the referee belatedly awarded the goal. Stoke equalised through Tuncay's first goal for the club just before half-time. Wigan went back in front via a 50-yard strike by Maynor Figueroa, but Stoke scored instantly through a Shawcross header. Wigan had the chance to win the match in the final minute when Huth was adjudged to have fouled Jordi Gómez despite the Wigan player being offside, but Sørensen saved Hugo Rodallega's spot kick.
City travelled to Villa Park and thought they had taken the lead when Sidibé out-jumped Stephen Warnock, but referee Lee Probert gave a free-kick to Villa. Stoke were the better side and created a number of chances to score but were unable to find the net. Villa claimed all three points when John Carew headed past Sørensen.
The Boxing Day fixture saw Stoke make the trip to Manchester City, where Roberto Mancini was taking his first game in charge for the home side. His new side made a bright start, and two goals from Martin Petrov and Carlos Tevez gave Man City a 2–0 win.
City ended 2009 on a disappointing note as they were defeated 1–0 by Birmingham City at home. Stoke were the dominant team throughout the match and only some top-class saves from Joe Hart kept Stoke out. Birmingham took advantage through a scrappy goal from Cameron Jerome.
January