The 1924–25 season was Stoke's 25th season in the Football League and the sixth in the Second Division.

Following the squad clear-out by manager Tom Mather and with a number of new useful signings Stoke had a decent looking squad on paper going into the 1924–25 season. However the performances out on the pitch were poor and the team was almost relegated staying up by a single point.

Season review

League A strong new chairman emerged with the arrival in August 1924 of Mr A. McSherwin who had already spent eleven years on the board and he would go on to hold his position for the next twelve years. After a period of real doubt, confidence started to emerge for the 1924–25 season and was certainly helped by Tom Mather replacing old players with new fresh talent. Under new skipper Vic Rouse, Stoke started the season reasonably well and seemed to have the basis of a useful side with the likes of goalkeeper Bob Dixon, Bob McGrory, Alec Milne, Bert Ralphs, Harry Davies and Len Armitage in the squad.

But overall performances on the pitch were below standard and the team went 12 matches without a win (1 January 1925 to 21 March 1925) and were almost relegated. Four wins and three draws in their last eight matches ensured survival by the narrowest of margins, a single point.

FA Cup Stoke exited the cup at the first round going down to a poor 3–0 defeat at Leicester City.

Final league table

Results Stoke's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League Second Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 30 August 1924 Stockport CountyA0–26,0002 1 September 1924 SouthamptonH2–014,806Davies (2)3 6 September 1924 Manchester UnitedH0–018,1054 8 September 1924 SouthamptonA0–310,0005 13 September 1924 Leicester CityA1–015,000Armitage6 20 September 1924 Port ValeH0–122,7477 22 September 1924 ChelseaH1–08,527Sellars8 27 September 1924 Coventry CityH4–111,338Davies, Watkin, Brough, Eyres9 4 October 1924 Oldham AthleticA0–27,00010 11 October 1924 The WednesdayH0–212,38811 18 October 1924 Clapton OrientA2–05,000Kelly (2)12 25 October 1924 MiddlesbroughA0–115,00013 1 November 1924 BarnsleyH1–15,281Rouse14 8 November 1924 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–115,00015 15 November 1924 FulhamH1–18,916Eyres16 22 November 1924 PortsmouthA0–010,00017 29 November 1924 Hull CityH2–07,136Jones, Ralphs18 6 December 1924 BlackpoolA2–110,000Kelly, Hallham19 13 December 1924 Derby CountyH1–113,317Watkin20 20 December 1924 South ShieldsA0–410,00021 26 December 1924 Bradford CityA0–112,00022 27 December 1924 Stockport CountyH3–010,993Hallham, Kelly (pen), Armitage23 1 January 1925 Bradford CityH0–04,80624 3 January 1925 Manchester UnitedA0–239,90725 17 January 1925 Leicester CityH1–111,705Watkin26 24 January 1925 Port ValeA0–217,21427 31 January 1925 Coventry CityA1–310,000Rouse28 7 February 1925 Oldham AthleticH0–17,65629 14 February 1925 The WednesdayA1–220,000Davies30 21 February 1925 Clapton OrientH0–110,12031 28 February 1925 MiddlesbroughH0–111,80732 7 March 1925 BarnsleyA1–18,500Davies33 14 March 1925 Wolverhampton WanderersH0–320,00034 21 March 1925 FulhamA0–110,00035 28 March 1925 PortsmouthH2–19,920Clennell, Johnson36 4 April 1925 Hull CityA0–07,00037 10 April 1925 Crystal PalaceA1–010,000Johnson38 11 April 1925 BlackpoolH3–115,912Johnson, Davies, Jones (o.g.)39 13 April 1925 Crystal PalaceH1–112,000Johnson40 18 April 1925 Derby CountyA2–110,000Davies (2)41 25 April 1925 South ShieldsH0–013,87542 27 April 1925 ChelseaA1–210,000Ralphs

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR110 January 1925 Leicester CityA0–330,000

Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Kenny Campbell900090GK Bob Dixon33010340DF Tommy Howe19000190DF Bob McGrory40010410DF Alec Milne18010190MF Tom Brittleton800080MF Harry Brough35100351MF Tommy Dawson500050MF Peter Jackson10000100MF Sam Johnson800080MF Alec McClure24010250MF Vic Rouse31210322MF Frank Searle000000MF George Stentiford300030MF John Walker9010100FW Len Armitage17210182FW Sid Blackie200020FW Joe Clennell910091FW Harry Davies26800268FW John Evans12000120FW Jack Eyres14200142FW Charles Hallam19200192FW Dick Johnson13400134FW Alfred Jones510051FW Charles Kelly17410184FW Dai Nicholas700070FW Edgar Powell200020FW Bert Ralphs42210432FW Harry Sellars811091FW Arthur Watkin14310153FW Bob White300030FW William Wood000000–Own goals–1–0–1

References