The 1967–68 season was Stoke City's 61st season in the Football League and the 37th in the First Division.
Since gaining promotion back to the First Division in 1963, Stoke had done well and managed to consistently finish in mid-table avoiding any fears of relegation. However, in 1967–68 Stoke did have a later than expected fight against relegation and after going seven straight matches without a win towards the end of the season it looked as if Stoke were heading back to the Second Division but a thrilling 3–2 win over Leeds set Stoke up to beat Liverpool on the final day ensuring survival by three points.
Season review
League Dennis Viollet left Stoke in May 1967 for Baltimore Bays in the United States, and Tony Waddington decided against signing a replacement, making just one transaction prior to the start of the 1967–68 season, purchasing Burnley left back Alex Elder for £50,000. Elder had a fine career at Turf Moor but at Stoke after an early injury he never produced the form expected of him and is considered to be one of Waddington's worst signings. After a decent enough start to the campaign by Christmas results did not go well at all and the side slipped down the table and into the relegation places. Results continued to be poor and after a 3–0 defeat away at West Bromwich Albion on 13 March, Stoke went and lost the next six matches.
Consequently, a lot of 'wheeling a dealing' was done in the transfer market with Alan Philpott leaving for Oldham, Maurice Setters to Coventry and the popular Calvin Palmer moving to Sunderland for £70,000. To fill the gap Waddington brought in Willie Stevenson from Liverpool for £30,000. Thanks to three fine results late on in the season, including a thrilling 3–2 win over Don Revie's Leeds and a decisive 2–1 victory over Liverpool, Stoke managed to finish in 18th place three points away from the relegation places.
FA Cup After beating Welsh side Cardiff City in the third round Stoke were knocked out by West Ham United who won 3–0 at the Victoria Ground.
League Cup Stoke made it through to the quarter-final of the 1967–68 League Cup losing 2–0 to Leeds United at Elland Road after knocking out Watford, Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday.
Final league table
Results
Stoke's score comes first
Legend WinDrawLoss
Football League First Division
MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 19 August 1967 ArsenalA0–227,0482 23 August 1967 Sheffield UnitedH1–120,823Bloor3 26 August 1967 Manchester CityH3–022,456Bloor, Palmer, Burrows (pen)4 29 August 1967 Sheffield UnitedA0–117,0995 2 September 1967 Newcastle UnitedA1–138,470Mahoney6 6 September 1967 Leicester CityH3–219,032Palmer, Burrows (pen), Conroy7 9 September 1967 West Bromwich AlbionH0–021,0368 16 September 1967 ChelseaA2–226,614Dobing, Burrows (pen)9 23 September 1967 SouthamptonH3–218,618Burrows (2) (1 pen), Vernon10 30 September 1967 LiverpoolA1–250,120Dobing11 7 October 1967 West Ham UnitedA4–324,471Dobing (2), Burrows (2)12 14 October 1967 BurnleyH0–219,53213 23 October 1967 Sheffield WednesdayA1–133,002Burrows14 28 October 1967 Tottenham HotspurH2–126,341Burrows (2)15 4 November 1967 Manchester UnitedA0–151,04116 11 November 1967 SunderlandH2–119,554Dobing, Bloor17 18 November 1967 Wolverhampton WanderersA4–334,544Bloor, Mahoney, Burrows, Palmer18 25 November 1967 FulhamH0–118,34419 2 December 1967 Leeds UnitedA0–229,95820 9 December 1967 EvertonH1–017,154Dobing21 16 December 1967 ArsenalH0–116,11022 23 December 1967 Manchester CityA2–440,121Dobing, Burrows23 26 December 1967 Nottingham ForestA0–337,57724 30 December 1967 Nottingham ForestH1–320,948Mahoney25 6 January 1968 Newcastle UnitedH2–117,623Burrows (2)26 20 January 1968 ChelseaH0–121,75127 3 February 1968 SouthamptonA2–120,880Burrows, Palmer28 26 February 1968 West Ham UnitedH2–016,092Dobing, Mahoney29 13 March 1968 West Bromwich AlbionA0–320,50030 16 March 1968 Sheffield WednesdayH0–115,78531 23 March 1968 Tottenham HotspurA0–329,53032 30 March 1968 Manchester UnitedH2–432,549Eastham, Dobing33 6 April 1968 SunderlandA1–327,813Harris (o.g.)34 13 April 1968 Wolverhampton WanderersH0–226,29035 15 April 1968 Coventry CityA0–231,38036 16 April 1968 Coventry CityH3–320,170Bentley, Dobing, Mahoney37 20 April 1968 BurnleyA0–413,18838 23 April 1968 Leeds UnitedH3–224,518Dobing (3)39 1 May 1968 FulhamA2–012,523Dobing, Vernon40 4 May 1968 EvertonA0–343,30241 11 May 1968 Leicester CityA0–023,85242 15 May 1968 LiverpoolH2–127,693Dobing, Mahoney
FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR327 January 1968 Cardiff CityH2–123,563Stevenson, VernonR417 February 1968 West Ham UnitedH0–336,704
League Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR213 September 1967 WatfordH2–010,126Allen, PalmerR311 October 1967 Ipswich TownH2–114,815Burrows, BridgwoodR41 November 1967 Sheffield WednesdayA0–026,001R4 Replay15 November 1967 Sheffield WednesdayH2–121,185Bentley, PalmerQuarter-final13 December 1967 Leeds UnitedA0–224,558
Friendlies MatchOpponentVenueResult1Stockport CountyA2–22Asante KotokoH1–33PortsmouthA1–2
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Gordon Banks3902040450GK John Farmer20000020GK Paul Shardlow10001020DF Tony Allen3802051451DF Bill Bentley30(2)1104135(2)2DF Alan Bloor3742040434DF Micky Bloor00000000DF Alex Elder2402030290DF Tony Lacey0(1)000000(1)0DF Jackie Marsh2(2)000103(2)0DF John Moore12(1)0000012(1)0DF Calvin Palmer2342052306DF Eric Skeels3402040400MF Mike Bernard11(6)0002013(6)0MF Gerry Bridgwood14(1)0001115(1)1MF Terry Conroy8(1)1002010(1)1MF George Eastham38(1)10(1)05043(2)1MF John Mahoney27(1)6202031(1)6MF Geoff Nulty00000000MF Alan Philpott10000(1)01(1)0MF Maurice Setters30000030MF Willie Stevenson1802100201FW Harry Burrows421520514916FW Peter Dobing371510504315FW Bob Hulse20000020FW Roy Vernon1922120233–Own goals–1–0–0–1
References