1940–41 Stoke City F.C. season

March 2015 March 2015 Stoke City 1940–41 Bob McGrory Mr H. Booth Victoria Ground South Regional Championship 25th Football League War Cup First Round 4,980 vs Birmingham (9 November 1940) 300 vs Notts County (25 January 1941) 1939–40 1941–42 _red_stripes _red_stripes _red_stripes _band_red FFFFFF 000000 The 1940–41 season was Stoke City's sixth season in the non-competitive War League.Matthews Tony The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City 1994 Lion Press 0952415100 In 1939 World War II was declared and the Football League was cancelled. In its place were formed War Leagues and cups, based on geographical lines rather than based on previous league placement. However, none of these were considered to be competitive football, and thus their records are not recognised by the Football League and thus not included in official records. Season review With so many players unable to get leave from the army on matchdays this gave the club a perfect opportunity to field several younger players and when Stoke kicked off the 1940–41 season against Notts County on 31 August 1940 they fielded a side with an average age of 21. Several clubs did not play as many matches as others during the season and Stoke, well below strength and lacking in form, conceded a remarkable 23 goals in just four games in December and January. Stoke's back line caved in regularly and seven goals were put past them on three occasions at Mansfield, Northampton and Walsall. Stoke finished 25th (out of 34) in the final South Regional League this season when a points average decided league placings rather than points simply because some teams did not play as many games as others e.g. Birmingham played 16 and Stoke 36. Final league table Note: Due to the inconsistent number of matches played by teams in 1940–41, positions were decided by goal-average. main WDL Q 2 y none STK CRY Crystal Palace WHU West Ham United COV Coventry City ARS Arsenal CAR Cardiff City REA Reading NWC Norwich City WAT Watford POR Portsmouth TOT Tottenham Hotspur MIL Millwall WAL Walsall WBA West Bromwich Albion LEI Leicester City NHT Northampton Town BRI Bristol City MAN Mansfield Town CHA Charlton Athletic ALD Aldershot BRE Brentford CHL Chelsea BIR Birmingham City FUL Fulham LUT Luton Town STK Stoke City QPR Queens Park Rangers BHA Brighton & Hove Albion NOT Nottingham Forest BOU Bournemouth NTC Notts County SUN Southend United SHP Southampton SWA Swansea Town CLA Clapton Orient 16 4 7 86 44 14 6 5 70 39 5 3 2 28 16 10 5 4 66 38 12 5 7 75 50 14 5 7 73 51 9 2 8 73 55 15 6 14 96 73 16 2 13 92 71 9 5 9 53 41 16 5 10 73 57 14 7 11 100 80 13 5 10 73 57 17 5 11 83 73 14 3 13 84 71 10 2 8 55 48 12 6 11 77 68 7 4 8 37 34 14 2 8 73 68 9 3 11 51 51 10 4 9 57 58 7 1 8 38 43 10 7 13 62 73 11 7 17 82 100 9 9 18 76 96 8 3 12 47 60 8 7 10 51 75 7 3 15 50 77 9 3 15 59 92 8 3 10 42 66 12 4 13 64 101 4 4 23 53 111 2 1 7 12 33 1 3 11 19 66 complete Results Stoke's score comes first Legend WinDrawLoss War League South Regional Championship MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 31 August 1940 Notts CountyH4–12,421Mountford (3), Sale2 7 September 1940 Notts CountyA2–33,000Sale, Bowyer3 14 September 1940 Mansfield TownA3–21,000Bowyer, Mountford, Liddle4 21 September 1940 Mansfield TownH5–02,000Bowyer (2), Mountford (2), Liddle5 28 September 1940 Leicester CityA0–13,0006 5 October 1940 Leicester CityH3–32,814Mountford (2), Sale7 12 October 1940 West Bromwich AlbionA1–04,091Bowyer8 19 October 1940 West Bromwich AlbionH1–33,392Soo9 26 October 1940 Nottingham ForestA3–31,500Mountford (2), Bowyer10 2 November 1940 Nottingham ForestH5–0714Mountford, Bowyer, Sale, Soo (2)11 9 November 1940 BirminghamH5–04,980Mountford (3), Ormston (2)12 16 November 1940 BirminghamA2–61,462Liddle, Smith13 30 November 1940 Tranmere RoversA2–21,000Mountford (2)14 7 December 1940 Cardiff CityH5–12,000Mountford, Sale (2), Steele, Bowyer15 14 December 1940 Cardiff CityA0–480016 21 December 1940 WalsallA2–2540Soo, Liddle17 25 December 1940 Mansfield TownA2–73,450Mountford, Smith18 28 December 1940 WalsallA1–53,518Steele19 4 January 1941Leicester CityA2–63,000Mountford, Sale20 11 January 1941Leicester CityH3–52,000Mountford (2), Sale21 25 January 1941 Notts CountyH2–2300Sale, Dunkley22 1 February 1941 Notts CountyA1–21,000Steele23 1 March 1941 WalsallH1–11,045Sale24 8 March 1941 WalsallA3–71,616Bowyer, Liddle, Longford25 15 March 1941 West Bromwich AlbionA2–22,086Liddle, Franklin26 22 March 1941 West Bromwich AlbionH0–279427 29 March 1941 Nottingham ForestH4–0500Mountford (3), Sale28 5 April 1941 Nottingham ForestA2–3200Basnett, Mitchell29 14 April 1941 Northampton TownA0–73,00030 26 April 1941 ChesterH1–2400Sale31 3 May 1941 ChesterH0–11,20032 10 May 1941 Northampton TownH2–1400Bowyer, Brigham33 17 May 1941 ChesterfieldH2–2500Steele, Brigham34 24 May 1941 ChesterfieldA1–51,000Sale35 2 June 1941 WrexhamA3–31,000Sale, Steele, Basnett36 7 June 1941 Leicester CityA1–21,000Brigham Football League War Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR1 1st Leg 15 February 1941Mansfield TownA1–62,000MountfordR1 2nd Leg 22 February 1941Mansfield TownH2–01,000Sale, Longford Friendlies MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 23 November 1940 Royal Air Force XIH3–2825Sale (2), Smith2 8 February 1941 Royal Air Force XIH9–1300Mountford (4), Steele (4), Sale3 12 April 1941 Army XIH7–2400Mitchell (4), Liddle, Mountford (2)4 21 April 1941 WrexhamA2–53,370Mitchell, Sale Squad statistics Pos.NameMatchesAppsGoalsGKENG Pat Bridges180GKENG Lionel Hayward10GKENG Dennis Herod130GKENG Tom Holden30GKWAL 1807 David Jones10GKENG Norman Wilkinson20DFENG Harry Brigham303DFENG Jack Challinor50DFENG Neil Franklin331DFENG Stanley Glover200DFENG Harry Griffiths10DFENG Jack Griffiths30DFENG Eric Hampson220DFENG Stanley Harrison110DFENG Eric Hayward10DFENG Bill Kinson20DFENG John McCue140DFENG Billy Mould20MFENG Edwin Blunt10MFENG Wally Gould10MFENG Len Howell10MFSCO Jock Kirton40MFENG Alfred Massey20MFENG Clement Smith62MFENG Arthur Turner110MFENG Frank Soo184MFENG Edward Wordley20FWENG Fred Basnett52FWENG Frank Bowyer2810FWENG C. Curtis10FWENG Robert Dunkley31FWENG John Jackson20FWENG Bobby Liddle327FWENG Eric Longford72FWENG Stanley Matthews120FWENG Bert Mitchell61FWENG Frank Mountford2923FWENG Alexander Ormston32FWENG Syd Peppitt40FWENG Tommy Sale3617FWENG Freddie Steele165FWENG George Stevens10FWENG Harry Ware10FWSCO James Westland10 References Category:Stoke City F.C. seasons Stoke City