1949–50 Stoke City F.C. season

March 2015 March 2015 Stoke City 1949–50 Bob McGrory Mr H. Booth Victoria Ground Football League First Division 19th (34 Points) FA Cup Third Round Frank Bowyer (15) Frank Bowyer (15) 41,635 vs Sunderland (27 December 1949) 17,297 vs Middlesbrough (3 December 1949) 27,215 1948–49 1950–51 _red_stripes _red_stripes _red_stripes _band_white FFFFFF FF0000 The 1949–50 season was Stoke City's 43rd season in the Football League and the 29th in the First Division. In June 1949, Stoke legend Freddie Steele left after 17 years with the club, scoring 159 goals. Stoke failed to find a suitable replacement, struggled throughout the season and ended up in a relegation battle. There was no end of season improvement in results and Stoke only stayed up due to the poor form of the relegated bottom two Birmingham City and Manchester City.Matthews Tony The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City 1994 Lion Press 0-9524151-0-0 Season review League With Freddie Steele now moved on to Mansfield Town, the simmering unrest continued with Neil Franklin eager to move his family away from the Stoke-on-Trent area for health reasons. The local air at this time was far from clean due to the pottery industry at its peak and with kilns belching out smoke and fumes. With Steele gone manager Bob McGrory searched for a replacement and went out and spent £3,000 on Verdi Godwin from Manchester City, hoping that he would help the club find their goalscoring touch. Franklin re-signed for the club in time for the 1949–50 season and his presence bolstered the defence whilst the forward line was struggling. By the end of October Stoke had just two wins to their name and were in deep relegation trouble so McGrory smashed the club's transfer record by paying £9,000 to Celtic for Leslie Johnston. However whilst Johnston was a fine footballer in Scotland he was not really up to the standard in English football and although he scored 22 goals in 92 games he was not the right player for the number 9 shirt. On 15 October Frank Baker broke his leg for the fifth time in two years and he decided to retire. By January, there had been a modest improvement in performances out on the pitch and McGrory made his best signing for some time, persuading Freddie Steele who was now player-manager at Mansfield to part with young up and coming forward Harry Oscroft, Stoke handing over £8,000 plus Verdi Godwin who scored just twice in 23 matches. Soon after Oscroft's arrival, Stoke's defence started to leak goals and FA Cup finalists Arsenal put six past them at Highbury without a Stoke reply. Stoke managed just three points from their remaining eight matches this season and narrowly avoided relegation. FA Cup 47,000 fans saw Stoke's cup run end at the third round losing 1–0 at home to Second Division Tottenham Hotspur. Final league table First Division y STK Results Stoke's score comes first Legend WinDrawLoss Football League First Division 1949–50 Football League MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 20 August 1949 Bolton WanderersA0–429,3332 22 August 1949 LiverpoolH0–027,2053 27 August 1949 Birmingham CityH3–128,069Bowyer (2), Godwin4 31 August 1949 LiverpoolA1–138,097Bowyer5 3 September 1949 Derby CountyA3–229,305Bowyer, Sellars, Kirton6 5 September 1949 BurnleyA1–225,062Bowyer7 10 September 1949 West Bromwich AlbionH1–336,815G Mountford8 12 September 1949 BurnleyH1–125,077Bowyer9 17 September 1949 Manchester UnitedA2–242,614F Mountford (pen), Godwin10 24 September 1949 ChelseaH2–328,650G Mountford, F Mountford (pen)11 1 October 1949 Newcastle UnitedA1–449,903Bowyer12 8 October 1949 FulhamH0–224,90413 15 October 1949 Manchester CityA1–131,151F Mountford (pen)14 22 October 1949 Charlton AthleticH0–320,74015 29 October 1949 Aston VillaA1–130,000Sellars16 5 November 1949 Wolverhampton WanderersH2–140,111Sellars, F Mountford (pen)17 12 November 1949 PortsmouthA0–033,25718 19 November 1949 Huddersfield TownH0–020,03819 26 November 1949 EvertonA1–230,000Peppitt20 3 December 1949 MiddlesbroughH1–017,297Bowyer21 10 December 1949 BlackpoolA2–417,000Peppitt, Johnston22 17 December 1949 Bolton WanderersH3–219,023Johnston, Bowyer (2)23 24 December 1949 Birmingham CityA0–120,00024 26 December 1949 SunderlandA0–350,24625 27 December 1949 SunderlandH2–141,635Bowyer, F Mountford (pen)26 31 December 1949 Derby CountyH1–325,989Whiston27 14 January 1950 West Bromwich AlbionA0–034,84028 21 January 1950 Manchester UnitedH3–138,901G Mountford (2), Bowyer29 4 February 1950 ChelseaA2–245,097Johnston (2)30 18 February 1950 Newcastle UnitedH1–031,399Oscroft31 25 February 1950 FulhamA2–230,000G Mountford, Bowyer32 4 March 1950 Manchester CityH2–029,986G Mountford, Bowyer33 11 March 1950 Huddersfield TownA0–418,70234 18 March 1950 EvertonH1–022,125Bowyer35 25 March 1950 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–238,388Whiston36 1 April 1950 PortsmouthH0–126,45637 8 April 1950 Charlton AthleticA0–228,00038 10 April 1950 ArsenalA0–630,06439 15 April 1950 Aston VillaH1–020,590Meakin40 22 April 1950 MiddlesbroughA0–232,00041 29 April 1950 BlackpoolH1–117,797Johnston42 6 May 1950 ArsenalH2–522,225Oscroft (2) FA Cup 1949–50 FA Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR37 January 1950 Tottenham HotspurH0–147,000 Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGKENG Dennis Herod20010210GKENG Norman Wilkinson22000220DFENG Neil Franklin34010350DFENG Eric Hampson100010DFENG Roy Jones100010DFENG John McCue35000350DFENG Harry Meakin501060DFENG Billy Mould700070DFENG Cyril Watkin37010380MFENG Roy Brown001010MFSCO Jock Kirton15100151MFENG Frank Mountford37500375MFENG John Sellars40310413MFENG Edward Wordley100010MFENG Donald Whiston421052FWENG Frank Baker11000110FWENG Bill Barker100010FWENG Frank Bowyer4215104315FWENG Bill Caton900090FWENG Verdi Godwin22210232FWSCO Leslie Johnston27510285FWENG John Malkin28110291FWENG George Mountford32600326FWENG Alexander Ormston500050FWENG Harry Oscroft16300163FWENG Syd Peppitt920092FWENG Reginald Pickup100010 References Category:Stoke City F.C. seasons Stoke City