The 2013–14 season was Stoke City's sixth season in the Premier League and the 58th in the top tier of English football.
Stoke went into the 2013–14 season under new manager Mark Hughes following the departure of Tony Pulis at the end of last season. Hughes stated his intent to change the teams' style of play to a more possession based game but a lack of transfer activity before the season started saw Stoke installed as one of the bookies favourites for relegation. Stoke began well narrowly losing to Liverpool and then beating Crystal Palace and West Ham but the club failed to address their goalscoring problem in the transfer market with winger Marko Arnautović the only forward signed during the summer.
This proved problematic for Stoke as they went through September and October without a win, picking up just two points and scoring only three goals. Stoke improved in November and December going a run of one defeat in seven games which included a 3–2 win over Chelsea although they did end 2013 with heavy defeats at Newcastle and Tottenham. Stoke had a poor January picking up just one point and defeat at Sunderland left the side on the edge of the relegation places. However the arrival of Peter Odemwingie from Cardiff City in a swap deal with Kenwyne Jones saw Hughes able to change his formation and tactics which instantly paid off with a 2–1 victory over Manchester United on 1 February. Stoke's form and performances improved thereafter and they went through March unbeaten with four victories. Stoke maintained their form until the end of the season where they finished in 9th position with 50 points their best finish since the 1974–75 season.
Pre-season Stoke ended the 2012–13 season in 13th position with 42 points in what was a season of little excitement or progress and led to the departure of manager Tony Pulis. Another Welshman, Mark Hughes emerged as the boards favoured candidate to take over the job. News of his potential arrival was met with a largely negative reaction from the supporters who saw Hughes as an underwhelming choice mainly due to his poor spell in charge of Queens Park Rangers. Hughes was appointed Stoke manager on 30 May 2013 signing a three-year contract. Hughes's first task was to release Rory Delap, Mamady Sidibe, Matthew Upson, Dean Whitehead, Carlo Nash and Matthew Lund whilst he gave Jermaine Pennant a new contract. He made his first signing on 28 June 2013 with Dutch international left-back Erik Pieters arriving from PSV Eindhoven for a fee of €3.6 million (£3 million). This was followed by Spanish defender Marc Muniesa on a free transfer from Barcelona.
Stoke returned to training on 8 July where the squad met up with Mark Hughes at Clayton Wood for the first time. The next day they went to nearby St George's Park for fitness tests. The squad then travelled to Évian-les-Bains for a five-day training camp. They squad then spent a week at Clayton Wood, playing a match against Burton Albion, winning 2–0 before departing for the United States to play friendlies against Houston Dynamo, FC Dallas and Philadelphia Union. Stoke announced that they will offer supporters free bus travel to every Premier League away game in the 2013–14 season.
Stoke's first pre-season match against Houston ended in a 2–0 defeat with goals from Andrew Driver and Giles Barnes. Stoke performed better in their next match against FC Dallas, and won the match 1–0 thanks to a well worked goal scored by Walters. However, the match did end on a poor note as Cameron Jerome saw a penalty kick saved by Chris Seitz and then Andy Wilkinson was sent-off for a poor tackle. Stoke's final match in the United States saw them beat the Philadelphia Union 2–0 thanks to early goals from Michael Kightly and Brek Shea. However the match was overshadowed due to an injury sustained by Shea. On their return to the UK, Stoke took on Mark Hughes' hometown club Wrexham and won 1–0 with Walters scoring the goal. Stoke ended their pre-season with a goalless draw against Italian side Genoa.
MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport124 July 2013Houston DynamoA0–214,123Report227 July 2013FC DallasA1–010,000Walters 25'Report330 July 2013Philadelphia UnionA2–08,000Kightly 4', Shea 18'Report44 August 2013WrexhamA1–02,290Walters 51'Report510 August 2013GenoaH0–09,955Report
Premier League
August Stoke's first match of the 2013–14 saw them come up against Liverpool at Anfield and prior to the match Hughes spoke of his intentions of playing an attacking style of football. City suffered a blow before kick-off after Wilson Palacios pulled out after feeling ill in the warm-up and was taken to hospital where he underwent a "minor surgical procedure". A frantic opening 15 minutes saw Stoke hit the crossbar through Robert Huth and Kolo Touré did likewise for Liverpool who then saw Daniel Sturridge have a goal ruled out for offside. Asmir Begović was forced to make a number of fine saves to keep Liverpool out but he did conceded one after 37 minutes after a low shot from Sturridge found its way in to the bottom corner. Liverpool controlled most of the second half in particular Philippe Coutinho and only some more saves from Begović kept Stoke in the match. Stoke did have the chance to come away with a point after Daniel Agger handled in the area in the final moments but Jonathan Walters saw his spot kick saved by Simon Mignolet who also blocked Kenwyne Jones' rebound meaning that Hughes' first match ended in a defeat.
Hughes' first home match against Ian Holloway's Crystal Palace saw Stoke play poorly in the first half with Peter Crouch guilty of poor finishing. Palace took advantage with Marouane Chamakh getting the better of Ryan Shawcross to put the Eagles in front. Stoke improved greatly in the second half and won the match with goals from Adam and Shawcross to earn Stoke their first win of the season.
After beating Walsall in the League Cup Stoke made the trip to the capital to take on West Ham United. Stoke produced arguably their best away performance in the Premier League as they controlled the 90 minutes at Upton Park and won the match late on after substitute Jermaine Pennant curled in a free-kick past Jussi Jääskeläinen. After the match Hughes stated that it was a 'near-perfect' performance from his side.
September
On transfer deadline day Stoke brought in Stephen Ireland on loan from Aston Villa and Austrian forward Marko Arnautović from Werder Bremen while Michael Kightly, Ryan Shotton and Cameron Jerome all left the club on long-term loans. After the international break the Premier League returned with Hughes coming up against one of his former clubs, Manchester City. Stoke produced another solid and fluent performance and had a number of fine opportunities to win the match but were guilty of some poor finishing. Man City on the other hand were disappointing and rarely troubled the Stoke defence and the match ended in a goalless draw.
Stoke then travelled to Arsenal where they were defeated 3–1 with goals from Aaron Ramsey, Per Mertesacker and Bacary Sagna whilst Geoff Cameron scored his first goal for Stoke. It was a poor defensive performance from City as all of Arsenal goals came from set-pieces.
The following week saw Stoke produce an abject performance against Chris Hughton's Norwich City. The Canaries were on top for most of the match and earned a 1–0 win after Jonny Howson's 25-yard strike in the first half.
October
Stephen Ireland made his first start for Stoke away at Fulham on 5 October whose manager Martin Jol went into the match under great pressure. Stoke were the better team and had two penalty appeals dismissed by the referee Roger East in the first half. Huth then had two headers cleared off the line by the Fulham defence before Darren Bent scored to win the match for the Cottagers.
After the international break Stoke returned to action with a home match against Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion. Stoke went into the game with only four goals to their name in seven matches and again they failed to register a goal as the match ended in a 0–0 draw. Stoke were fortunate to get a point from the match as Begović had to make three saves to keep out Stéphane Sessègnon and Albion should have had a penalty when Charlie Adam tripped Youssouf Mulumbu.
Stoke then travelled to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United and made a great start with Peter Crouch, making his first start since 24 August, scoring in the fourth minute. Stoke had chances to extend their lead through Walters but David de Gea made a fine double save before Robin van Persie scored just before half time. Stoke did go into the break in front however as Marko Arnautović scored his first Stoke goal from a 25-yard free-kick. Arnautović went off injured early into the second half and Stoke were unable to hold on for victory as goals from Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernández meant that Stoke ended October just outside the relegation zone.
November
Strong winds greeted high flying Southampton at the Britannia Stadium and Stoke took the unusual step of deciding to swap ends after winning the toss. It was a decision which instantly paid off as Southampton gave the ball away from kick-off and Pieters passed the ball back to goalkeeper Begović whose long kick downfield deceived Artur Boruc after only 13 seconds, becoming the second Stoke 'keeper to score a goal with the other being Dennis Herod. It was not enough to earn Stoke the win as Jay Rodriguez's looping header earned the Saints a point.
Stoke then travelled to Swansea on 10 November and scored twice in the first half through Walters and Ireland. However, a second half collapse saw the Swans score three goals to make the score 3–2. Stoke rescued a point after Charlie Adam converted a penalty in the final minute and the match ended 3–3.
After the international break the Premier League returned with a match against Sunderland at the Britannia. The Potters took the lead through Charlie Adam just past the half-hour after being set-up by Steven Nzonzi. Sunderland's task was made harder when Wes Brown was sent-off for a sliding tackle on Adam although Brown clearly won the ball. In the second half Stoke created and missed a number of chances before Nzonzi chipped the ball past Vito Mannone to seal a 2–0 victory, ending a run of eight matches without a win.
Stoke were dealt a blow before their next match against Everton with Robert Huth being ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery. In his place came Marc Muniesa for his first Premier League start but Stoke went onto produce an abject performance and crashed to a 4–0 defeat.
December
Stoke began the festive period with a frustrating goalless draw against newly promoted Cardiff City at the Britannia. Stoke had good chances to win the match but were guilty of some very poor finishing, having 17 shots with only two on target.
José Mourinho's Chelsea side were next to arrive at the Britannia and they made a quick start taking the lead through German winger André Schürrle after 10 minutes. Chelsea continued to dominate but could not get a second goal and just before half time Peter Crouch took advantage of a mistake from Petr Čech from a corner. Stoke came back into the match after the break and Stephen Ireland scored with a placed shot only for Schürrle to score just three minutes later. He almost got a hat-trick but his long range effort cannoned off the crossbar. Ireland then wasted a good chance before Oussama Assaidi curled in a last minute winner to win the game 3–2. It was Stoke's first league win over Chelsea since the 1974–75 season.
The next match against Hull City was a dour 0–0 draw with both teams struggling to create clear goal scoring opportunities.