1979–80 Stoke City F.C. season

March 2015 March 2015 Stoke City 1979–80 Alan Durban Thomas Degg Victoria Ground Football League First Division 18th (35 Points) FA Cup Third Round League Cup Third Round Garth Crooks (12) Garth Crooks (15) 31,996 vs Liverpool (23 April 1980) 14,333 vs Norwich City (15 March 1980) 20,176 1978–79 1980–81 _red_stripes _red_stripes _red_stripes _red_stripes FFFFFF FFFFFF The 1979–80 season was Stoke City's 73rd season in the Football League and the 47th in the First Division. With Stoke now back in the First Division after a two-year absence the main aim of 1979–80 was to remain there. It was a difficult season for Stoke but they managed to achieve their aim finishing in a safe position of 18th five points away from relegation.Matthews Tony The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City 1994 Lion Press 0-9524151-0-0 Season review League Durban recognised the need to strengthen his squad for the challenges of top-flight football and with veteran Denis Smith skippering the side he added to it Ray Evans a former Tottenham Hotspur right back, and goalkeeper Eric McManus. It was around his time that the introduction of foreign players from across Europe began to influence English football. And in keeping with the times Stoke signed their first player from the continent, Dutch midfielder Loek Ursem from AZ '67 for the equivalent of £85,000 in Dutch guilders. The players Durban brought to the Victoria Ground were respected more for their work rate than their flair but Ursem was something of an inspiration. Whilst he never fully commanded a regular place in the side he was a very popular player with the fans but at times lacked that extra bit of class to make him a top player. Stoke also unveiled the new Stoke End stand in the summer of 1979, capable of seating 4,250 it was built from the proceeds of the club's successful commercial department whose lotteries were key to their success. After a good start to the season with two home wins the tough task of First Division football began to cause Stoke problems and they remained in the bottom six all season. They avoided an instant return to the Second Division with little to spare finishing in 18th position with 36 points. FA Cup Stoke had two men controversially sent-off as Burnley won 1–0 at Turf Moor. With the match seemingly destined for a replay referee Kevin McNally caused controversy as he sent off Denis Smith for time-wasting as he was going off injured. He then awarded Burnley a penalty after Billy Hamilton was fouled by Ray Evans, Martin Dobson scoring from the spot. Stoke were then reduced to nine men as Evans was then sent-off for dissent.Kevin McNally sends off injured Denis Smith as he is being subbed http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Stoke-City-archive-Kevin-McNally-sends-injured/story-26487424-detail/story.html https://web.archive.org/web/20150722025837/http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Stoke-City-archive-Kevin-McNally-sends-injured/story-26487424-detail/story.html dead 22 July 2015 Stoke Sentinel 15 May 2015 League Cup This season saw the introduction of two legged matches in the early rounds of the League Cup, Stoke beating Swansea City but then losing to Swindon Town. Final league table First Division y STK Results Stoke's score comes first Legend WinDrawLoss Football League First Division 1979–80 Football League MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 18 August 1979 Coventry CityH3–223,151Busby 34', Crooks (2) 50', 55'2 22 August 1979 Nottingham ForestA0–126,1473 25 August 1979 Tottenham HotspurH3–122,832Crooks (2) 35', 41' (1 pen), O'Callaghan 60'4 1 September 1979 Ipswich TownA1–317,539Butcher 20' (o.g.)5 8 September 1979 EvertonH2–323,460O'Callaghan 17', Smith 35'6 15 September 1979 Bristol CityA0–016,6627 22 September 1979 Crystal PalaceH1–219,225Smith 7'8 29 September 1979 Manchester UnitedA0–452,3279 6 October 1979 Norwich CityA2–217,060Irvine 13', Richardson 73' (pen)10 10 October 1979 Nottingham ForestH1–128,514O'Callaghan 63'11 13 October 1979 MiddlesbroughH0–018,40612 20 October 1979 ArsenalA0–031,50113 27 October 1979 Derby CountyH3–218,530Richardson 11', Heath 31', Crooks 67'14 3 November 1979 Coventry CityA3–116,761Jones (o.g.) 24', Heath 26', Crooks 75'15 10 November 1979 Wolverhampton WanderersH0–126,06116 17 November 1979 Aston VillaA1–227,056Scott 10'17 24 November 1979 Bolton WanderersH1–014,435O'Callaghan 44'18 1 December 1979 SouthamptonA1–320,095Irvine 67'19 8 December 1979 West Bromwich AlbionH3–219,865Crooks (3) 11', 14', 78'20 15 December 1979 Brighton & Hove AlbionA0–018,39221 21 December 1979 Leeds UnitedH0–216,87822 26 December 1979 Manchester CityA1–136,286Dodd 5'23 29 December 1979 Tottenham HotspurA0–128,81024 12 January 1980 Ipswich TownH0–115,25325 2 February 1980 Bristol CityH1–014,510Rodgers 55' (o.g.)26 9 February 1980 Crystal PalaceA1–021,181Chapman 70'27 16 February 1980 Manchester UnitedH1–128,068Irvine 48'28 23 February 1980 MiddlesbroughA3–115,953Cook 4', Crooks (2) 28', 87'29 1 March 1980 ArsenalH2–319,752Cook 12', Chapman 74'30 8 March 1980 Derby CountyA2–222,695Cook 12', 24' 31 15 March 1980 Norwich CityH2–114,333Heath 22', Bond 35' (o.g.)32 18 March 1980 EvertonA0–223,84833 22 March 1980 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–327,96834 29 March 1980 Aston VillaH2–016,234Evans 16' (pen), Chapman 65'35 1 April 1980 LiverpoolA0–136,47536 5 April 1980 Manchester CityH0–020,45137 8 April 1980 Leeds UnitedA0–315,45138 12 April 1980 SouthamptonH1–215,030O'Callaghan 12'39 19 April 1980 Bolton WanderersA1–211,304Crooks 44'40 23 April 1980 LiverpoolH0–231,99641 26 April 1980 Brighton & Hove AlbionH1–014,422Heath 35'42 3 May 1980 West Bromwich AlbionA1–018,470Heath 57' FA Cup 1979–80 FA Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR35 January 1980 BurnleyA0–113,478 League Cup 1979–80 Football League Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR2 1st Leg29 August 1979 Swansea CityH1–118,004Smith 90'R2 2nd Leg4 September 1979 Swansea CityA3–1 (aet)20,030Crooks (2) 55', 120', Randall 93'R3 1st Leg26 September 1979 Swindon TownH2–215,255Irvine 6', O'Callaghan 40'R3 2nd Leg2 October 1979 Swindon TownA1–215,823Chapman 68' Friendlies MatchOpponentVenueResult1Port ValeA2–02BournemouthA2–13PortsmouthA3–04ReadingA3–25NEC NijmegenA4–16Macclesfield TownA2–27OFIA1–08ChelseaA1–09Shrewsbury TownA1–110Stoke City 1970s XIH5–2 Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGKENG Peter Fox2301010250GKENG Roger Jones1900030220DFENG Stuart Eccleston00000000DFENG Alan Dodd36(1)1103040(1)1DFENG Ray Evans4011030441DFENG Paul Johnson2500000250DFENG Paul Anthony Johnson1500000150DFENG Denis Smith3421041393DFENG Geoff Scott1610030191DFENG Mel Pejic10000010MFENG Paul Bracewell4(2)000004(2)0MFENG Jeff Cook13(1)4000013(1)4MFENG Mike Doyle2801040330MFENG Adrian Heath3851040435MFSCO Sammy Irvine2631041314MFENG Paul Richardson34(2)2102(1)137(3)3MFENG Kevin Sheldon10000010MFENG Gary Simpson00000000MFNED Loek Ursem70001080FWENG Simon Bullock00000000FWENG Viv Busby4(6)1002(2)06(8)1FWENG Lee Chapman14(3)3001115(3)4FWENG Garth Crooks401210424514FWSCO John Lumsden0(1)000000(1)0FWIRE Brendan O'Callaghan32(4)5103136(4)6FWENG Paul Randall12(4)0102115(4)1–Own goals–4–0–0–4 References Category:Stoke City F.C. seasons Stoke City