The 1922–23 season was Stoke's 23rd season in the Football League and the 19th in the First Division.

With Stoke's achievements last season they found themselves back in the First Division for the first time since 1907; however it would prove to be a short stay. In their opening eight matches, Stoke collected just two points and found themselves bottom of the table. Despite spending money on improving the squad, results were still poor and manager Arthur Shallcross was sacked in April 1923. He was replaced with former England international Jock Rutherford, but he was unable to avoid relegation. Rutherford then completed the shortest managerial spell in the club's history as a heated argument with the directors led him to resign just four weeks into his tenure.

Season review

League With the club's First Division ambitions achieved, there was more than the usual air of optimism for the 1922–23 season, but things did not go according to plan and from their opening eight matches, Stoke claimed just two points (both draws) and found themselves anchored to the bottom of the table. Stoke's first win of the season came away at West Bromwich Albion when Harry Davies scored the only goal in his second appearance. Again the director's ambition and determination to maintain First Division status showed through with the arrivals of Joe Kasher and Bert Ralphs to name a few. This belated heavy expenditure on players cost the finance's dearly, but good crowds were able to cover the cost. Unfortunately relegation was not avoided and Stoke made an instant return to the Second Division.

Former England international Jock Rutherford was appointed manager of Stoke in April 1923, taking over from Arthur Shallcross who had served the club for the previous four years. However his stay was brief and after a heated row with directors the quickly left leaving Stoke without a manager going into the 1923–24 season.

FA Cup In the Cup Stoke beat Blyth Spartans 3–0 in the first round before being knocked out 3–1 to Bury.

Final league table

Results Stoke's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League First Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 26 August 1922 Oldham AthleticA1–419,000Groves2 28 August 1922 ChelseaH1–220,000Watkin3 2 September 1922 Oldham AthleticH2–225,000J Broad (2)4 4 September 1922 ChelseaA2–320,000J Broad (2)5 9 September 1922 Huddersfield TownH2–222,000J Broad, Watkin6 13 September 1922 BirminghamA0–220,0007 16 September 1922 Huddersfield TownA0–110,0008 23 September 1922 West Bromwich AlbionH0–220,0009 30 September 1922 West Bromwich AlbionA1–025,000Davies10 7 October 1922 Manchester CityH1–120,000J Broad11 14 October 1922 Manchester CityA1–218,000J Broad12 21 October 1922 Sheffield UnitedA0–210,00013 28 October 1922 Sheffield UnitedH4–015,000Davies (2), J Broad, Nicholas14 4 November 1922 Bolton WanderersA1–112,000J Broad15 11 November 1922 Bolton WanderersH2–016,000J Broad, Seddon (o.g.)16 18 November 1922 Blackburn RoversH1–118,000T Broad17 2 December 1922 Cardiff CityA1–220,000J Broad18 9 December 1922 Cardiff CityH3–110,000J Broad (pen) (2), Tempest19 16 December 1922 MiddlesbroughA1–35,000Tempest20 23 December 1922 MiddlesbroughH0–015,11221 26 December 1922 SunderlandH1–244,000J Broad22 30 December 1922 ArsenalA0–316,00023 1 January 1923 SunderlandA0–230,00024 6 January 1923 ArsenalH1–022,000Brittleton25 20 January 1923 EvertonA0–423,00026 22 January 1923 Blackburn RoversA5–110,000J Broad (3), Nicholas, Ralphs27 27 January 1923 EvertonH4–115,000J Broad, Nicholas, Watkin (2)28 8 February 1923 Preston North EndA2–412,000J Broad (2)29 10 February 1923 Preston North EndH4–210,000J Broad (pen) (3), Davies30 17 February 1923 Aston VillaA0–620,00031 24 February 1923 Aston VillaH1–119,850Watkin32 3 March 1923 BurnleyA2–310,000Davies, Eyres33 10 March 1923 BurnleyH0–120,00034 17 March 1923 Tottenham HotspurH0–020,00035 24 March 1923 Tottenham HotspurA1–328,000Watkin36 31 March 1923 Nottingham ForestH0–110,00037 2 April 1923 BirminghamH0–020,00038 7 April 1923 Nottingham ForestA1–012,000Richardson39 14 April 1923 Newcastle UnitedH1–020,000Watkin40 21 April 1923 Newcastle UnitedA0–113,00041 28 April 1923 LiverpoolH0–018,00042 5 May 1923 LiverpoolA0–115,000

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR113 January 1923 Blyth SpartansA3–09,121J Broad (2), NicholasR23 February 1923 BuryA1–332,000J Broad

Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Gilbert Brookes12020140GK Kenny Campbell800080GK Bob Dixon200020GK Leslie Scott20000200DF Tommy Howe600060DF George Lennon200020DF Bob McGrory32020340DF Alec Milne36020380DF Tommy Weston400040MF Ewart Beswick300030MF Tom Brittleton16120181MF Harry Brough12000120MF George Clarke25010260MF Joe Kasher29020310MF Billy Poole600060MF Vic Rouse37010380MF Dickie Smith100010FW Jimmy Broad3023233226FW Tommy Broad21110221FW Harry Davies24500245FW Jack Eyres410041FW Fred Groves13100131FW Dai Nicholas32321344FW Joe Pointon000000FW Bert Ralphs22110231FW Frank Richardson810081FW Jock Rutherford000000FW Andy Smith200020FW Victor Staley000000FW Billy Tempest20220222FW Arthur Watkin34720367FW Albert Whitehurst100010–Own goals–1–0–1

References