The 2011–12 season was Stoke City's fourth season in the Premier League and the 56th in the top tier of English football. Because FA Cup winners Manchester City qualified for the UEFA Champions League via their third-place finish in the Premier League, as FA Cup runners-up, Stoke qualified for the UEFA Europa League.
Stoke's first excursion into European football for the first time since 1975 was a main talking point leading up to the 2011–12 season. Stoke were drawn against Croatian side Hajduk Split and after two legs ran out 2–0 winners. After beating FC Thun, Stoke were handed a tough group containing Beşiktaş, Dynamo Kyiv and Maccabi Tel Aviv which Stoke managed to progress through finishing in second position. City's reward was a tie against Spanish giants Valencia and despite putting up a spirited second leg performance Stoke went out 2–0 on aggregate.
With 12 fixtures in Europe, Stoke's Premier League form took a hit with some indifferent performances. The season started well with Stoke going four matches unbeaten and breaking the club's transfer record with the £10 million signing of Peter Crouch from Tottenham Hotspur. European football soon began to take its toll and with some poor defeats against the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Sunderland, Queens Park Rangers, Stoke failed to really cement their position in the top half of the table, and after picking up just four wins in the final half of the season, Stoke finished in 14th position with 45 points.
Pre-season The Stoke City squad returned to the club on 7 July before flying out to Austria for their annual training camp. Upon their return they played two of Tony Pulis's old clubs Newport County and Newport YMCA. Games against Football League sides Brentford, Aldershot Town and Sheffield Wednesday had also been arranged as well as the traditional match against Newcastle Town.
Whilst in Austria Stoke played a match against local part-time side SV Thal. Stoke won with three goals in the second half through Michael Tonge, Jonathan Walters and a very rare goal from Andy Wilkinson; Thal scored a consolation via Erik Bischtand. Upon their return to England, Stoke travelled to Tony Pulis's home town of Newport for two matches against his former clubs. The first match saw City draw 1–1 with Newport County, County scored through their captain Gary Warren before Kenwyne Jones equalised after 75 minutes, he had the ball in the back of the net later on but it was ruled out for offside. The following day Stoke fielded a different team for the match against Newport YMCA. Goals from Ben Marshall, Diego Arismendi, Matthew Lund and Rory Delap gave Stoke an easy 6–1 victory. After the trip to South Wales Pulis said he 'enjoyed his return home'.
Stoke then scored another six against Newcastle Town in what was the 30th meeting between the two clubs. Stoke's goals came from Australian trialist Robert Stambolziev, Jermaine Pennant, Glenn Whelan Jonathan Walters, and a brace from Kenwyne Jones. City then suffered two poor results losing 1–0 to both Brentford and Aldershot. City ended their pre-season schedule with a 0–0 draw against Sheffield Wednesday.
MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport114 July 2011SV ThalA3–1250Tonge 58', Walters 74', Wilkinson 86'Report216 July 2011Newport CountyA1–12,120Jones 75'Report317 July 2011Newport YMCAA6–1200Marshall (2) 19', 30', Lund 41', Arismendi (2) 65', 80', Delap 87'Report420 July 2011Newcastle TownA6–03,146Stambolziev 35', Jones (2) 47', 51', Pennant 54', Whelan 57', Walters 81'Report522 July 2011BrentfordA0–12,946Report623 July 2011Aldershot TownA0–11,684Report730 July 2011Sheffield WednesdayA0–03,959Report
Premier League
August For the season opener against Chelsea manager Tony Pulis gave a league debut to Jonathan Woodgate with Robert Huth moving to right-back. For Chelsea they had new manager André Villas-Boas in charge for his first Premier League match. After an even first half, Chelsea were the better side after the break with Asmir Begović making a number of important saves. After injuries to Matthew Etherington and Rory Delap, City went defensive and were able to claim a goalless draw.
After the Europa League match against Thun in Switzerland, Stoke travelled to Norfolk to take on newly promoted Norwich City. Stoke started the match the better side but suffered a huge blow when Jermaine Pennant was forced off due to injury after half an hour. Norwich took the lead through former Stoke reserve team player Ritchie De Laet as "The Canaries" went into the break in the lead. After half-time, Stoke were awarded a penalty when Leon Barnett fouled Jonathan Walters, however Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy saved Walters' effort. Stoke were able to get a result though as Kenwyne Jones headed in Whelan's cross in the 94th minute to deny Norwich the win.
Stoke's final match of August was against Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns. It turned to be a poor match with both teams struggleling to create clear goal scoring chances. With the match seemingly destined for a goalless draw, "Baggies" keeper Ben Foster hesitated when under pressure from Ryan Shotton, who was able to claim the ball and roll it into an empty net.
September Stoke's new record signing Peter Crouch made his debut against his old club Liverpool following the international break. City scored the only goal of the match after 20 minutes when Jamie Carragher brought down Walters in the penalty area, who fired the ball past Pepe Reina. Liverpool produced a dominant second half performance with Luis Suárez being a large threat to the Stoke defence. Stoke had to defend well to keep their 1–0 lead intact and due to some last ditch defending were able to come away with the three points.
After a 1–1 in Kyiv, "The Potters"' nine-match unbeaten run was then ended in emphatic style by Sunderland on Wearside as Steve Bruce's side scored four goals without reply. Sunderland scored through Titus Bramble following a mistake from Begović, an own goal from Woodgate, a deflected shot from Craig Gardner and a free-kick from Sebastian Larsson.
Manchester United arrived at the Britannia with a 100% winning start but had Wayne Rooney missing out due to injury. They suffered another injury early into the match when Javier Hernández was substituted after colliding with Begovic and Woodgate. They went into the lead through a low shot from Nani after 26 minutes. Stoke almost equalised soon after through Wilkinson, but David de Gea palmed his shot on to the post. Stoke's equaliser came after just half time with Peter Crouch scoring his first goal for "The Potters" since his move from Tottenham. Stoke had chances to win the match but De Gea made a number of fine saves. The final chance of the game fell to Ryan Giggs, but he could only volley wide of the goal. It was the first time Stoke had gained a result against Manchester United in the Premier League.
October Stoke made their first journey to Swansea City's Liberty Stadium following the Europa League win over Beşiktaş. It proved to be a very poor afternoon for "The Potters", however, as two defensive errors allowed "The Jacks" score to twice through Scott Sinclair and Danny Graham.
Following the international break Stoke returned to Premier League football with the visit of Martin Jol's Fulham side. In what was a quite first half, Stoke had two good chances to take the lead with Crouch and Pennant both guilty of poor finishing. In the second half, Stoke were the dominant side but were finding it difficult to break down a stubborn "Cottagers" defence. The breakthrough came after 80 minutes when Jon Walters tapped in Matthew Etherington's wayward shot, moments earlier John Arne Riise's hit a powerful free-kick that hit the Stoke crossbar. Three minutes from full-time Rory Delap scored a rare goal to seal a 2–0 win.
City's next game came at Arsenal on 23 October at the Emirates Stadium. After a quite opening half hour Gervinho broke the offside trap and put the ball past Begović. Stoke, however, were not behind for long as a well worked free kick was finished off by Crouch from all of two yards. Any hopes Stoke had of claiming their first points at the Emirates were ended in the second half by substitute Robin van Persie, who scored twice.
On Halloween, Stoke faced inform Newcastle United at the Britannia. It turned out to be a defensive "horror show" for City as former transfer target Demba Ba scored a hat-trick as both Shawcross and Wilson departed due to injury. Manager Pulis blamed his defence for conceding 'sloppy goals'.
November Stoke ended a busy period with a woeful defeat against Bolton Wanderers who reversed the scoreline from last season's FA Cup semi-final. Pulis branded his players performance as the worst since he returned to the club in 2006.
Following the two-week international break, Stoke had the opportunity to make amends for the Bolton defeat against newly promoted Queens Park Rangers. More poor defending, however, cost Stoke as goals from Luke Young and a brace from Heiðar Helguson earned Neil Warnock's team the points. Goals from Walters and Shawcross proved to be in vain for City as they fell to a fourth-straight league defeat.
Stoke ended their losing run with victory over struggling Blackburn Rovers at the Britannia. After a cagey opening to the match, Delap headed in a Pennant free-kick to put City in front. Rovers almost levelled soon after the break when Rubén Rochina weaved his way through the penalty area, though only to see his cross totally missed by Mauro Formica. Two goals from Whelan and Crouch put Stoke in a comfortable position with Rochina replying for Rovers.
December After securing European qualification against Dynamo Kyiv, Stoke travelled to an emotional Goodison Park where the Everton fans were mourning the recent death of Gary Speed. Stoke produced a more familiar defensive performance than what was on show in November and came away with a rare away win thanks to Robert Huth's first goal of the season. There was one concern for Stoke, however, as goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen had to be stretchered off with concussion.
In-form Tottenham travelled to the Britannia having gone 11 matches unbeaten. Stoke started with great pressure on the Spurs defence with Ryan Shotton's long throw-ins causing problems, and they led to both Stoke goals scored by Matthew Etherington to put City 2–0 in front at half time. Tottenham improved in the second half and pulled a goal back from the penalty spot, but Younès Kaboul was sent off and Stoke were able to claim the three points.
Stoke began the festive period with a short trip to Wolverhampton and received some early good fortune from referee Anthony Taylor. With Woodgate playing at right back, he came up against Matt Jarvis and was booked for a late challenge early into the match. Woodgate continued to have problems with Jarvis and he gave away a penalty after 17 minutes, however Taylor decided not to send him off, much to the fury of Mick McCarthy. Hunt scored from the spot and Pulis substituted Woodgate and brought on Pennant and Stoke began to take control of the play. In the second half, a Huth free-kick was deflected into the goal by Kevin Doyle, while Peter Crouch scored the winning goal for Stoke in a 2–1 win, marking the first time that Stoke had won four Premier League matches in a row.
Stoke's winning run came to an end in their next match away at league leaders Manchester City in what was difficult evening for the "Potters". Under constant pressure from the start of the match, Man City controlled the match and easily won 3–0 with a brace from Sergio Agüero and a trademark long-range effort from Adam Johnson. Stoke had a tough time and failed to trouble an underworked Joe Hart.