The 1920–21 season was Stoke's 21st in the Football League and the third in the Second Division.

Despite strengthening the Stoke squad with veteran Tom Brittleton the most notable signing Stoke struggled all season and were involved in a fight against relegation. With one team being relegated this season, Stoke finished five points from bottom place Stockport County which was too close for comfort.

Season review League For the 1920–21 season efforts were made to strengthen the pool of players and the first of these was former England international Tom Brittleton who made the move from Sheffield Wednesday and immediately became club captain. Competition for places or not manager Arthur Shallcross maintained a settled side that is until in October when he transferred Charlie Parker to Sunderland. He had spent six years at Stoke and became a fan favourite.

A shortage of goals saw Stoke slip dangerously towards the lower regions of the Second Division as the 1920–21 season progressed and with only one club being relegated to the newly formed Third Division North the margin of five points and a 20th-place finish out of 22 was too close for comfort. Arthur Watkin top scored with 15 and Billy Tempest scored 10 however other than those two there was a lack of goals in the side.

A most significant signing in April 1921 was that of Bob McGrory, a full-back from Burnley. Rumours has it that McGrory had reservations about joining Stoke as he did not like the look of the place. Whether this was true or not, he went on to spend 31 years with the club as a player and manager eventually leaving the club in May 1952.

FA Cup Stoke again exited the competition at the first hurdle losing 3–2 away at eventual runners-up Wolverhampton Wanderers in front of 35,000 spectators.

Final league table

Results Stoke's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League Second Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 28 August 1920 Nottingham ForestA2–221,000Brown, Parker2 30 August 1920 Rotherham CountyH2–010,000Watkin, McColl3 4 September 1920 Nottingham ForestH4–019,000Watkin (3), McColl4 6 September 1920 Rotherham CountyA1–115,000Tempest5 11 September 1920 The WednesdayA3–125,000Tempest (2), Brown6 18 September 1920 The WednesdayH0–130,0007 25 September 1920 Port ValeA1–219,967McColl8 2 October 1920 Port ValeH0–127,4559 9 October 1920 Notts CountyH1–010,000Watkin10 16 October 1920 Notts CountyA0–38,50011 23 October 1920 Coventry CityH4–112,000Tempest (2), McColl, Maddock12 30 October 1920 Coventry CityA0–118,00013 6 November 1920 Leeds UnitedH4–014,000Watkin (3), Brown14 13 November 1920 Leeds UnitedA0–020,00015 20 November 1920 BirminghamH1–215,000Brown16 27 November 1920 BirminghamA0–312,00017 4 December 1920 West Ham UnitedH1–010,000Brittleton18 11 December 1920 West Ham UnitedA0–115,00019 18 December 1920 FulhamH1–27,000Brittleton20 25 December 1920 Leicester CityA1–320,000Watkin21 27 December 1920 Leicester CityH1–115,000Tempest22 1 January 1921 FulhamA3–18,500Watkin (2), Brittleton23 15 January 1921 South ShieldsA1–115,000Burton24 22 January 1921 South ShieldsH0–05,00025 5 February 1921 Cardiff CityA1–028,000Watkin26 12 February 1921 Hull CityA1–15,000Watkin27 14 February 1921 Cardiff CityH0–012,00028 26 February 1921 Wolverhampton WanderersA3–320,000Watkin, McColl, Smith29 10 March 1921 Wolverhampton WanderersH1–08,000Tempest30 12 March 1921 Stockport CountyA0–24,00031 19 March 1921 Stockport CountyH1–07,000Watkin32 25 March 1921 BlackpoolA1–314,000Whitehurst33 26 March 1921 Clapton OrientH0–114,00034 28 March 1921 BlackpoolH1–112,000Tempest35 2 April 1921 Clapton OrientA2–36,000Whitehurst, Little36 9 April 1921 BuryH0–17,00037 11 April 1921 Hull CityH1–35,000Tempest38 16 April 1921 BuryA0–35,00039 23 April 1921 Bristol CityH0–07,00040 30 April 1921 Bristol CityA0–56,00041 2 May 1921 BarnsleyH3–25,000Tempest (pen), Brittleton, Helme42 7 May 1921 BarnsleyA0–17,000

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR18 January 1921 Wolverhampton WanderersA2–335,000Watkin, Burton

Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Tom Kay27010280GK Percy Knott12000120GK Edwin Steventon300030DF Percy Brooke701080DF Jack Maddock810081DF Bob McGrory200020DF Alec Milne42010430DF Billy Twemlow300030MF Tom Brittleton41410424MF George Clarke41010420MF Bill Dickie200020MF Reg Forester700070MF Jack Moorwood900090MF Charlie Parker910091MF David Parkes600060MF Dickie Smith38110391FW David Brown19410204FW Matthew Burton511162FW Harry Crossthwaite18010190FW Jack Helme410041FW George Jarvis200020FW Tommy Little17100171FW James Martin300030FW Wally Masterman000000FW Jimmy McColl27500275FW Syd Mellor300030FW Tom Orpe000000FW Louis Page800080FW John Spencer16000160FW Billy Tempest3710103810FW Arthur Watkin3515113616FW Albert Whitehurst11200112

References