1972–73 Stoke City F.C. season

March 2015 March 2015 Stoke City 1972–73 Tony Waddington Albert Henshall Victoria Ground Football League First Division 15th (38 Points) FA Cup Third Round League Cup Fourth Round UEFA Cup First Round Jimmy Greenhoff (16) Jimmy Greenhoff (20) 36,051 vs Manchester United (14 April 1973) 17,772 vs Southampton (11 November 1972) 23,800 1971–72 1973–74 _white_stripes _whitestripes _white_stripes ff0000 ff0000 ff0000 FFFFFF FFFFFF The 1972–73 season was Stoke City's 66th season in the Football League and the 42nd in the First Division. After the jubilation of last season's success the club was able to sign world cup winner Geoff Hurst which boosted season ticket sales. They also entered European competition for the first time losing 5–3 on aggregate to German side 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Stoke failed to build on last season and had to settle for a mid table position of 15th.Matthews Tony The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City 1994 Lion Press 0-9524151-0-0 Season review League After winning the League Cup last season there was a number of notable departures during the early part of the season. They sold Mike Bernard to Everton for a record £140,000, with the money being spent on Jimmy Robertson from Ipswich Town and World Cup winner Geoff Hurst from West Ham United. Stoke now had an abundance of attacking talent but both Harry Burrows and Peter Dobing decided to retire during the season. The arrival of Hurst certainly boosted season ticket sales and a record takings were banked before a ball was kicked prior to the start of the 1972–73 season. It proved that the public of Stoke-on-Trent were now right behind the team but despite high hopes and expectations, the "Potters" started the new campaign rather poorly and found themselves in the bottom six. Stoke's immediate plans were hit when on the Sunday morning of 22 October 1972 after visiting the Victoria Ground for treatment Gordon Banks crashed his car on the way home and effectively ended his career. Such was the scale of Banks' presence his condition was headline news. Realising that Banks was to be out of action for quite some time Waddington moved in for Scotland international Bobby Clark, but the deal fell through as he failed to impress the Stoke directors. Mike McDonald was signed instead from Clydebank as cover for John Farmer after it was learnt that Banks had lost an eye and would never play competitive football again. George Eastham returned to the club in February after spending time doing coaching work in South Africa, he added his experience to the cause as he helped Stoke to recover and take 15th place. Three players reached double figures in the league scoring charts this term, Jimmy Greenhoff (16), John Ritchie (14) and Geoff Hurst (10) as Stoke scored 61 goals. They ended the season with a tour of Oceania. FA Cup In the FA Cup Stoke went out in the third round losing 3–2 to Manchester City at Maine Road. League Cup As holders of the League Cup, Stoke started off with high hopes of retaining the trophy and they began with good wins over Sunderland (3–0) and Ipswich Town (2–1) but a bad night at Notts County (1–3) in the fourth round put paid to any hopes of a return to Wembley. UEFA Cup Their success in the 1972 Football League Cup Final, had placed them into a European competition for the first time, and they drew little known West German side 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the first round. A comfortable 3–1 home win was achieved in the first leg and two weeks later Waddington favoured a defensive team for the match at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion. The plan backed fired and Stoke were crushed 4–0 with John Ritchie being sent-off just seconds after being brought on as a substitute without even touching the ball. Final league table First Division y STK Results Stoke's score comes first Legend WinDrawLoss Football League First Division 1972–73 Football League MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 12 August 1972 Crystal PalaceH2–022,564Smith 32', Ritchie 64'2 15 August 1972 SouthamptonA0–118,2423 19 August 1972 ArsenalA0–242,1644 23 August 1972 Sheffield UnitedH2–220,402Smith 55', Hurst 68'5 26 August 1972 EvertonH1–126,360Ritchie 12'6 30 August 1972 Norwich CityA0–230,0697 2 September 1972 Coventry CityA1–214,317Pejic 85'8 9 September 1972 Leeds UnitedH2–226,709Hurst 59', Conroy 80'9 16 September 1972 Ipswich TownA0–217,81010 23 September 1972 Manchester CityH5–126,448Conroy 6', Greenhoff (3) 13', 68', 82', Hurst 57'11 30 September 1972 Wolverhampton WanderersA3–524,133Hurst 3' (pen), Greenhoff 24', Bloor 75'12 7 October 1972 Tottenham HotspurA3–431,951Ritchie 32', 51', Bloor 82'13 14 October 1972 Newcastle UnitedH2–021,205Hurst 77', Robertson 90'14 21 October 1972 LiverpoolA1–243,604Greenhoff 34'15 28 October 1972 Leicester CityH1–024,421Hurst 9'16 4 November 1972 Sheffield UnitedA0–019,32217 11 November 1972 SouthamptonH3–317,772Smith 5', Ritchie 45', Conroy 50'18 18 November 1972 Birmingham CityH1–223,046Greenhoff 3'19 25 November 1972 West Bromwich AlbionA1–213,316Hurst 38'20 2 December 1972 ChelseaH1–121,274Conroy 65'21 9 December 1972 Manchester UnitedA2–041,347Pejic 17', Ritchie 42'22 16 December 1972 West Ham UnitedA2–323,269Hurst 8', Ritchie 89'23 23 December 1972 Derby CountyH4–023,084Ritchie (2) 10', 58', Hurst 30', Greenhoff 36'24 26 December 1972 Manchester CityA1–136,334Mahoney 65'25 30 December 1972 ArsenalH0–024,58626 6 January 1973 EvertonA0–226,81827 27 January 1973 Leeds UnitedA0–133,48728 14 February 1973 Derby CountyA3–022,106Mahoney 19', Robertson 44', Greenhoff 80'29 17 February 1973 Crystal PalaceA2–332,099Greenhoff 56', Smith 68'30 24 February 1973 West Ham UnitedH2–021,885Greenhoff 4', Robertson 15'31 10 March 1973 Newcastle UnitedA0–123,57032 14 March 1973 Tottenham HotspurH1–123,351Greenhoff 87'33 17 March 1973 LiverpoolH0–133,54034 24 March 1973 Leicester CityA0–218,47335 26 March 1973 Coventry CityH2–120,218Ritchie 47', Haslegrave 64'36 31 March 1973 West Bromwich AlbionH2–021,296Greenhoff 68', Hurst 70'37 4 April 1973 Ipswich TownH1–018,319Ritchie 13'38 7 April 1973 ChelseaA3–119,706Greenhoff 23', Ritchie 39', Haslegrave 78'39 14 April 1973 Manchester UnitedH2–236,051Greenhoff 75', Ritchie 82'40 21 April 1973 Birmingham CityA1–332,513Robertson 85'41 24 April 1973 Wolverhampton WanderersH2–025,251Robertson 29', Greenhoff 87'42 28 April 1973 Norwich CityH2–019,350Greenhoff 25', Ritchie 58' FA Cup 1972–73 FA Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR313 January 1973 Manchester CityA2–338,648Greenhoff (2) 22', 55' League Cup 1972–73 Football League Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR26 September 1972 SunderlandH3–016,706Greenhoff (2) 8', 70', Hurst 90'R33 October 1972 Ipswich TownA2–114,602Hurst 64', Ritchie 88'R431 October 1972 Notts CountyA1–320,297Bloor 80' UEFA Cup 1972–73 UEFA Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1st Round 1st Leg13 September 1972 1. FC KaiserslauternH3–122,182Conroy 51', Hurst 72', Ritchie 85'1st Round 2nd Leg27 September 1972 1. FC KaiserslauternA0–418,000 Friendlies MatchOpponentVenueResult1Doncaster RoversA2–12Carlisle UnitedA3–33Wolverhampton WanderersA1–24Crewe AlexandraA4–25Brighton & Hove AlbionA2–06PersepolisA1–17Western AustraliaA3–08Southern AustraliaA2–29New South WalesA3–110AucklandA1–311WellingtonA5–112ChristchurchA4–213OtagoA8–114New CaledoniaA1–015TahitiA3–1 Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupUEFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGKENG Gordon Banks80002010110GKENG John Farmer330100010350GKSCO Mike McDonald1000100020DFENG Alan Bloor282102120333DFENG Alan Dodd3000000030DFNIR Alex Elder1000000010DFENG Kevin Lewis1000000010DFENG Jackie Marsh380103020440DFENG Mike Pejic382103020442DFENG Eric Skeels30(1)000201033(1)0DFENG Denis Smith38(1)410202043(1)4MFIRE Terry Conroy29(4)4102(1)02134(5)5MFENG George Eastham17(1)010000018(1)0MFENG Sean Haslegrave6200000062MFENG Stewart Jump7(3)00010008(3)0MFENG Terry Lees7(1)00010008(1)0MFWAL John Mahoney33(1)210202038(1)2MFSCO Jimmy Robertson27(4)510302033(4)5MFSCO Willie Stevenson1(1)00010002(1)0FWENG Harry Burrows0(2)00000000(2)0FWENG Peter Dobing8(2)0000(1)0008(3)0FWENG Jimmy Greenhoff41161222204620FWENG Geoff Hurst38100032214313FWENG John Ritchie29(2)1410312135(2)16 Notes References Category:Stoke City F.C. seasons Stoke