1953–54 Stoke City F.C. season

March 2015 March 2015 Stoke City 1953–54 Frank Taylor Mr T. Duddell Victoria Ground Football League Second Division 11th (41 Points) FA Cup Fourth Round Frank Bowyer (14) Frank Bowyer (18) 26,790 vs Leeds United (16 January 1953) 5,804 vs Plymouth Argyle (26 April 1954) 18,009 1952–53 1954–55 _red_stripes _red_stripes _red_stripes _hoops_red FFFFFF FFFFFF The 1953–54 season was Stoke City's 47th season in the Football League and the 14th in the Second Division. During the summer of 1953, Taylor began moving on a number of former favourites as he began at stamp his mark on the club; however, with not much money to spend the squad had a decidedly mid-table look. And so it turned out to be as Stoke were very average and with seventeen draws they finished in eleventh position as Taylor struggled to find his most successful team.Matthews Tony The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City 1994 Lion Press 0-9524151-0-0 Season review League With Stoke now in the Second Division manager Frank Taylor decided to clear out some of the long serving players. Dennis Herod and Leslie Johnston both joined Shrewsbury Town and Jock Kirton left for Bradford City. Taylor and a relatively new board, saw no quick way back into the First Division and there would be no panic buying. Taylor insisted that he would buy if necessary but would be looking to bring players through the youth and reserve ranks at the club. There was then, a distinct mid-table look about the Stoke City squad as the 1953–54 season got underway and Taylor like so many other managers heard of the impressive young duo at nearby Crewe Alexandra that of Johnny King and Frank Blunstone. In September he made his move for the pair and signed King for £8,000 but could not afford Blunstone who went on to Chelsea. He also signed Scottish pair Bobby Cairns and Joe Hutton to boost his midfield. However, it was very dull season for the supporters as there was seventeen draws during the season with 1–1 being the most popular scoreline. The season's average attendance fell to 18,000, 10,000 down on the previous season. Stoke did however manage to record their highest league away win beating Bury 6–0 on 13 March 1954 at Gigg Lane. However, there was great sadness at the end of the season as in May 1954 former long serving defender and manager Bob McGrory died at the age of 62 just two years after he ended his 31-year association with the club. FA Cup After soundly beating Hartlepool United 6–2 in the third round with Frank Bowyer scoring four Stoke lost to Leicester City after a replay. Final league table Second Division y STK Results Stoke's score comes first Legend WinDrawLoss Football League Second Division 1953–54 Football League MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 19 August 1953 BrentfordH1–122,403Oscroft2 22 August 1953 FulhamA1–028,000Finney3 24 August 1953 Derby CountyH2–223,689Finney (2)4 29 August 1953 West Ham UnitedH1–120,744Connor5 2 September 1953 Derby CountyA1–118,222Finney6 5 September 1953 Leeds UnitedA1–127,000Oscroft7 7 September 1953 Leicester CityA0–425,0008 12 September 1953 Birmingham CityH3–222,853Oscroft, Bowyer, Mountford (pen)9 14 September 1953 Leicester CityH2–219,367Malkin (2)10 19 September 1953 Nottingham ForestA4–522,690Malkin (2), Bowyer, Sellars11 21 September 1953 Rotherham UnitedA2–213,161Malkin, Finney12 26 September 1953 Luton TownH1–124,082King13 3 October 1953 Plymouth ArgyleA1–116,000Oscroft14 10 October 1953 Blackburn RoversH3–023,329Bowyer, Thomson (2)15 17 October 1953 Doncaster RoversA0–110,00016 24 October 1953 BuryH4–019,250Bowyer, Malkin, Siddall, Oscroft17 31 October 1953 Oldham AthleticA0–115,70318 7 November 1953 EvertonH2–418,696Bowyer, Bourne19 14 November 1953 Hull CityA2–126,581Bowyer, Siddall20 21 November 1953 Notts CountyH0–117,39621 28 November 1953 Lincoln CityA1–114,674Siddall22 5 December 1953 Bristol RoversH3–213,178Siddall (2), Malkin23 12 December 1953 BrentfordA0–012,33824 19 December 1953 FulhamH1–313,884King25 26 December 1953 Swansea TownA2–218,239Oscroft, Finney26 28 December 1953 Swansea TownH5–017,785King (3), Bowyer, Hutton27 16 January 1954 Leeds UnitedH4–026,790Hutton, Oscroft (2), Malkin28 23 January 1954 Birmingham CityA0–125,19929 6 February 1954 Nottingham ForestH1–117,345Bowyer30 13 February 1954 Luton TownA1–015,000Malkin31 27 February 1954 Blackburn RoversA0–327,10032 6 March 1954 Doncaster RoversH2–213,061Bowyer, King33 13 March 1954 BuryA6–013,763Bowyer (2), King, Oscroft (2), Hart (o.g.)34 20 March 1954 Oldham AthleticH0–114,63235 27 March 1954 Notts CountyA1–215,632King36 3 April 1954 Lincoln CityH4–111,371King (2), Malkin, Bowyer37 10 April 1954 EvertonA1–146,411Oscroft38 12 April 1954 West Ham UnitedA2–210,523Coleman (2)39 17 April 1954 Hull CityH0–117,37140 19 April 1954 Rotherham UnitedH1–113,974Oscroft41 24 April 1954 Bristol RoversA2–322,687Oscroft, Bowyer42 26 April 1954 Plymouth ArgyleH3–25,804Bowyer, King, Coleman FA Cup 1953–54 FA Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR39 January 1954 Hartlepool UnitedH6–223,927Bowyer (4), King, HuttonR430 January 1954 Leicester CityH0–039,066R4 Replay2 February 1954 Leicester CityA1–320,000Malkin Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGKWAL 1953 Frank Elliott10000100GKWAL 1953 Peter Isaac000000GKENG Bill Robertson32030350DFENG Roy Beckett400040DFENG George Bourne42130451DFENG John Cotton200020DFENG John McCue36030390DFSCO Ken Thomson40230432MFENG Bill Asprey100010MFSCO Bobby Cairns500050MFENG Des Farrow500050MFENG Frank Mountford41130441MFENG John Sellars15100151FWENG Frank Bowyer4114344418FWENG Neville Coleman530053FWENG Harold Connor210021FWENG Bill Finney25600256FWSCO Joe Hutton7231103FWENG Johnny King2411312712FWENG John Malkin3910314211FWENG Alan Martin38030410FWENG Harry Oscroft3313303613FWENG Brian Siddall10500105FWENG Ron Smith000000FWENG Arthur Woodall100010FWENG Donald Whiston400040–Own goals–1–0–1 References Category:Stoke City F.C. seasons Stoke