1977–78 Stoke City F.C. season

March 2015 March 2015 Stoke City 1977–78 George Eastham, Alan A'Court, Alan Durban Thomas Degg Victoria Ground Football League Second Division 7th (42 Points) FA Cup Fourth Round League Cup Second Round Garth Crooks (18) Garth Crooks (19) 21,012 vs Tottenham Hotspur (29 October 1977) 10,613 vs Bristol Rovers (10 December 1977) 15,038 1976–77 1978–79 _red_stripes _red_stripes _red_stripes _red_stripes FFFFFF FFFFFF The 1977–78 season was Stoke City's 71st season in the Football League and the 24th in the Second Division. With Stoke back in the Second Division for the first time since 1963, morale around the area was low, and was not helped by a poor start to the season away at Mansfield Town. George Eastham was sacked in January 1978, with Alan A'Court taking over as caretaker manager. A'Court was in charge of just one match, which was one of the most infamous in the club's history, a 3–2 defeat at home to non-league Blyth Spartans in the FA Cup. Alan Durban was appointed manager and his new signings brought life back into the squad, guiding Stoke to a respectable 7th position.Matthews Tony The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City 1994 Lion Press 0-9524151-0-0 Season review League With Mr T.Degg now Chairman and the club in the Second Division, with little or no money at his disposal and rumblings that Peter Shilton wanted to leave the picture was far from rosy. George Eastham, who was now given the managers job on a permanent basis sold veteran John Mahoney to Middlesbrough for £130,000. Into the club came experienced midfielder Howard Kendall from Birmingham City for £165,000, full-back Alec Lindsay from Liverpool, Paul Richardson from Chester City and David Gregory from Peterborough United. These new arrivals would go on to have mixed success at Stoke. Stoke's first match in the Second Division for 14 years was against Third Division champions Mansfield Town on 20 August 1977. They lost 2–1 at Field Mill where the fans let the club down badly, as after the match there was a riot. The disenchantment was patently obvious and it was no surprise when Shilton moved on to Nottingham Forest for £240,000. Eastham was starting to become a worried man and with goalscoring still a major problem he brought in Viv Busby for £50,000 but he also failed to impress. It was becoming obvious that Eastham could not make it as a manager and he was sacked in early January. Alan A'Court took over as caretaker manager and in his only match in charge, Stoke lost to Blyth Spartans. The Stoke board decided to appoint Shrewsbury Town's Alan Durban as the club's new manager. Durban, an ex-Wales international, had made over 600 appearances in the Football League and he immediately introduced some much needed discipline into the club. His first signing was Brendan O'Callaghan, brought from Doncaster Rovers for £40,000. O'Callaghan made a dream start to his Stoke career coming on as a substitute in the home match against Hull City, and he scored from a corner with his first touch. Goalkeeper Peter Fox also arrived as Stoke ended the season in decent enough form finishing in 7th place which was respectable considering at one stage they were lying in 18th. However it was a strange season as despite finishing in 7th Stoke were only five points away from relegation. FA Cup After easily defeating non-league Tilbury 4–0 in the third round Stoke were drawn again at home to non-league opponents, Blyth Spartans. Stoke struggled to cope with the part-timers on a terrible pitch and with the match seemingly heading for a replay, Terry Johnson scored the winning goal for Blyth to complete an FA Cup giant-killing. League Cup Bristol City's Kevin Mabbutt scored the only goal as Stoke exited this season's League Cup at the first stage. Final league table Second Division y STK Results Stoke's score comes first Legend WinDrawLoss Football League Second Division 1977–78 Football League MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 20 August 1977 Mansfield TownA1–214,077Lindsay 88' (pen)2 24 August 1977 SouthamptonH1–013,867Crooks 77'3 27 August 1977 BurnleyH2–112,835Lindsay 10' (pen), Crooks 80'4 3 September 1977 MillwallA0–09,6795 10 September 1977 Sheffield UnitedH4–014,217Gregory 26', Kendall 30', Lindsay 43' (pen), Crooks 60'6 17 September 1977 Hull CityA0–09,1267 24 September 1977 SunderlandH0–018,8208 1 October 1977 Bolton WanderersA1–120,799Kendall 20'9 4 October 1977 Oldham AthleticA1–18,458Smith 6'10 8 October 1977 Crystal PalaceH0–217,74911 15 October 1977 Brighton & Hove AlbionH1–016,290Gregory 53'12 22 October 1977 Blackburn RoversA1–210,221Hird 31' (o.g.)13 29 October 1977 Tottenham HotspurH1–321,012Crooks 75'14 5 November 1977 Cardiff CityA0–28,42815 12 November 1977 FulhamH2–014,155Waddington 25', Crooks 40'16 19 November 1977 Luton TownA2–19,384Kendall 26', Crooks 38'17 26 November 1977 BlackpoolH1–215,132Cook 90'18 3 December 1977 Notts CountyA0–29,30919 10 December 1977 Bristol RoversH3–210,613Richardson 2', Crooks 38', Kendall 82' (pen)20 17 December 1977 FulhamA0–38,01421 26 December 1977 Charlton AthleticH4–014,345Busby 68', Crooks 72', Scott 73', Conroy 80'22 27 December 1977 OrientA0–26,19223 31 December 1977 SouthamptonA0–123,46024 2 January 1978 Mansfield TownH1–113,834McGroarty 26'25 14 January 1978 BurnleyA0–111,28226 25 February 1978 Bolton WanderersH0–019,28027 4 March 1978 Crystal PalaceA1–014,702Busby 55'28 8 March 1978 Hull CityH1–013,890O'Callaghan 78'29 11 March 1978 Brighton & Hove AlbionA1–224,797Richardson 60'30 14 March 1978 Sheffield UnitedA2–112,950Kendall 39', Crooks 72'31 18 March 1978 Blackburn RoversH4–218,989Scott 55', Crooks (3) 66', 67', 90' (1 pen)32 22 March 1978 Tottenham HotspurA1–330,646Crooks 16'33 25 March 1978 OrientH5–114,595Kendall 3', Crooks 9', Gregory 20', Waddington (2) 35', 73'34 28 March 1978 Charlton AthleticA2–37,956O'Callaghan 30', Crooks 48'35 1 April 1978 Cardiff CityH2–014,804Waddington 5', O'Callaghan 32'36 4 April 1978 SunderlandA0–111,16137 8 April 1978 BlackpoolA1–112,261O'Callaghan 15'38 12 April 1978 MillwallH2–112,370O'Callaghan 40', Crooks 66'39 15 April 1978 Luton TownH0–015,54440 22 April 1978 Bristol RoversA1–48,182Crooks 32'41 26 April 1978 Oldham AthleticH3–011,260Kendall 44', O'Callaghan 70', Busby 80'42 29 April 1978 Notts CountyH1–113,789Crooks 84' FA Cup 1977–78 FA Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR37 January 1978 TilburyH4–016,301Cook (2) 5', 85', Gregory 25', Waddington 29'R46 February 1978 Blyth SpartansH2–318,765Busby 56', Crooks 58' League Cup 1977–78 Football League Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR229 August 1977 Bristol CityA0–117,872 Friendlies MatchOpponentVenueResult1Cádiz CFA2–12UD SalamancaA0–23Finn HarpsA2–14Port ValeH3–25Stafford RangersA3–26Thurles TownA7–2 Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGKENG Trevor Dance00000000GKENG Roger Jones3902000410GKENG Peter Shilton30001040DFENG Alan Bloor5(1)010107(1)0DFENG Danny Bowers6(1)010007(1)0DFENG Alan Dodd4202010450DFENG Howard Kendall4272010457DFENG Paul Johnson3(2)000003(2)0DFENG Alec Lindsay2032000223DFENG John Lumsdon50000050DFENG Jackie Marsh3402010370DFENG Geoff Scott23(1)2200025(1)2DFENG Denis Smith4110010421MFENG Jeff Cook5(3)11(1)2006(4)3MFIRE Terry Conroy20(2)1100021(2)1MFENG David Gregory22(1)3111024(1)4MFENG Paul Richardson32(1)2001033(1)2MFENG Steve Waddington36(2)4211039(2)5MFENG Steve Wilshaw00000000FWSouth Africa 1928 Desmond Backos1(1)000001(1)0FWENG Viv Busby21(1)3210023(1)4FWENG Garth Crooks41(1)181(1)11043(2)19FWENG Dave Goodwin40001050FWNIR Jimmy McGroarty31000031FWIRE Brendan O'Callaghan13(2)6000013(2)6FWENG Geoff Salmons10000010FWENG Dennis Thorley0(1)000000(1)0–Own goals–1–0–0–1 References Category:Stoke City F.C. seasons Stoke