The 1981–82 season was Stoke City's 75th season in the Football League and the 49th in the First Division.
In the Summer of 1981 Alan Durban quit as Stoke manager to take up the same position at Sunderland. His former assistant at Shrewsbury Town, Ritchie Barker was appointed as manager and despite a good start the team were involved in a relegation battle. The arrival of Sammy McIlroy from Manchester United helped Stoke to scrape to survival finishing two points away from the drop zone.
Season review
League Alan Durban's ambitions were bigger than Stoke's and in the summer of 1981 he was tempted by Sunderland's cash to become their manager. Durban's former assistant at Shrewsbury Town, Ritchie Barker was appointed as manager at the Victoria Ground and he inherited a reasonable squad of players but he also knew that the club had financial problems, which to a certain extent were eased when for the first time players wore shirts with a sponsor's name across their chests, Ricoh. By this time Barker had sold Kevin Sheldon, Paul Johnson, Paul Richardson and Iain Munro.
The 1981–82 season saw the introduction of three points for a win and Stoke got their first trio of points on the opening day of the season away at Arsenal. This was followed by a 4–0 win at home against Coventry City. However results and performances declined and after picking up just four more wins by January Stoke found themselves in a fight against relegation. Youth team product Adrian Heath was fast becoming one of the most talked about midfielders in the division and so Barker allowed him to join Everton for a healthy £700,000. He brought in England international David Watson from Southampton for £50,000 to replace the ageing Denis Smith and Sammy McIlroy for £350,000. Mike Doyle left soon after Watson's arrival following an argument with Barker. Despite an upturn in the results in February Stoke managed just a point in their next nine matches. With Stoke looking destined for relegation McIlroy proved to be a calming influence and Stoke managed to survive by two points.
FA Cup A poor crowd of 12,805 saw Norwich City beat Stoke 1–0 in the third round.
League Cup Manchester City again knocked Stoke out of the League Cup at the second round this time on penalties.
Final league table
Results
Stoke's score comes first
Legend WinDrawLoss
Football League First Division
MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 29 August 1981 ArsenalA1–028,212Chapman 44'2 2 September 1981 Coventry CityH4–013,914Chapman (2) 5', 77', Heath (2) 12', 54'3 5 September 1981 Manchester CityH1–325,256Chapman 62'4 12 September 1981 West Ham UnitedA2–328,774O'Callaghan 29', Maguire 87' (pen)5 19 September 1981 Nottingham ForestH1–215,653Heath 5'6 23 September 1981 Aston VillaA2–225,637Griffiths 63', Maguire 65' (pen)7 26 September 1981 MiddlesbroughA2–311,604Griffiths 18', Chapman 80'8 3 October 1981 EvertonH3–116,007Chapman (2) 2', 90', Maguire 80'9 10 October 1981 Tottenham HotspurA0–230,52010 17 October 1981 Swansea CityH1–214,665Griffiths 35'11 24 October 1981 Birmingham CityH1–015,399Chapman 50'12 31 October 1981 Brighton & Hove AlbionA0–017,86213 7 November 1981 SouthamptonH0–213,88414 14 November 1981 West Bromwich AlbionA2–115,787Heath 25', Chapman 37'15 21 November 1981 Ipswich TownH2–013,802Chapman 60', Maguire 90'16 24 November 1981 Coventry CityA0–310,25017 28 November 1981 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–215,31418 5 December 1981 Leeds UnitedH1–213,901Heath 51'19 9 January 1982 Manchester CityA1–131,491O'Callaghan 39'20 20 January 1982 ArsenalH0–19,62521 23 January 1982 Manchester UnitedH0–319,66222 30 January 1982 Nottingham ForestA0–016,21923 6 February 1982 West Ham UnitedH2–111,987Chapman 10', Maguire 80'24 10 February 1982 SunderlandA2–014,317O'Callaghan 65', McIlroy 70'25 13 February 1982 EvertonA0–020,65626 20 February 1982 MiddlesbroughH2–010,473O'Callaghan 29', Chapman 46'27 27 February 1982 Tottenham HotspurH0–220,59228 6 March 1982 Swansea CityA0–311,81129 9 March 1982 LiverpoolH1–516,758McIlroy 56' 30 13 March 1982 Birmingham CityA1–212,018Chapman 79'31 20 March 1982 Brighton & Hove AlbionH0–09,12032 27 March 1982 SouthamptonA3–420,058Biley 49', Watson 75', McIlroy 75'33 10 April 1982 SunderlandH0–111,39934 13 April 1982 LiverpoolA0–230,41935 17 April 1982 Ipswich TownA0–220,30936 24 April 1982 Wolverhampton WanderersH2–113,797Maguire 35' (pen), Chapman 47'37 26 April 1982 Notts CountyA1–38,686Chapman 27'38 1 May 1982 Leeds UnitedA0–017,77539 5 May 1982 Aston VillaH1–010,363Bracewell 17'40 8 May 1982 Notts CountyH2–211,011Watson 25', Maguire 27'41 15 May 1982 Manchester UnitedA0–243,07342 20 May 1982 West Bromwich AlbionH3–019,698Watson 25', Chapman 38', O'Callaghan 73'
FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR32 January 1982 Norwich CityH0–112,805
League Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR2 1st Leg10 October 1981 Manchester CityA0–223,146R2 2nd Leg28 October 1981 Manchester CityH2–0 (8–9 pens)17,373Chapman 80', Evans 87'
Friendlies MatchOpponentVenueResult1Crewe AlexandraA1–02Shrewsbury TownA1–23Port ValeA6–14Blackburn RoversA0–05WrexhamA3–06Forest Green RoversA4–07Shrewsbury TownA0–08Sheffield WednesdayA0–09BidefordA4–010Port ValeH3–211PanathinaikosA2–312Tunisia XIA1–1
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Peter Fox3801020410GK Eric McManus40000040DF Steve Bould1(1)000001(1)0DF Alan Dodd4101020440DF Mike Doyle80100090DF Chris Evans00000000DF Ray Evans2201021251DF Peter Hampton3301020360DF Paul Anthony Johnson12(1)00(1)01013(2)0DF Steve Kirk1200000120DF Denis Smith1700020190DF Dave Watson2430000243DF David McAughtrie1300000130MF Alan Biley81000081MF Paul Bracewell4211020451MF Jeff Cook0(1)000000(1)0MF Robbie Earle00000000MF Peter Griffiths27(4)3100(1)028(5)3MF Adrian Heath1751020205MF Sammy McIlroy1830000183MF Derek Parkin1000000100MF Loek Ursem1(2)010103(2)0FW Lee Chapman40(1)16102143(1)17FW Steve Ford1(1)000001(1)0FW John Lumsden2(3)000002(3)0FW Paul Maguire32(3)7002034(3)7FW Brendan O'Callaghan39(2)5102042(2)5
References