1974–75 Stoke City F.C. season

March 2015 March 2015 Stoke City 1974–75 Tony Waddington Albert Henshall Victoria Ground Football League First Division 5th (49 Points) FA Cup Third Round League Cup Fourth Round UEFA Cup First Round Jimmy Greenhoff (14) Jimmy Greenhoff (15) 45,954 vs Liverpool (31 March 1975) 20,646 vs Luton Town (16 November 1974) 27,011 1973–74 1975–76 _red_stripes _stoke7475h _red_stripes _blacksides FFFFFF FFFFFF The 1974–75 season was Stoke City's 68th season in the Football League and the 44th in the First Division. Stoke back in European competition were handed a tough tie against Dutch giants Ajax. After a 1–1 draw at home Stoke dominated the second leg in Amsterdam but failed to find the back of the net and were knocked out on the away goals rule. In the league Stoke continued from where they left off the previous season in good form and for the first time since the 1946–47 season they were in the race for the First Division title. However, so were a number of other clubs, and with three matches left Stoke were third and on course for their best ever finish, but they took just a point in those games and finished in 5th position. There was a double blow for Stoke as they missed out on a UEFA Cup place after West Ham United won the FA Cup.Matthews Tony The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City 1994 Lion Press 0-9524151-0-0 Season review League Before the start of the 1974–75 season Stoke signed Sheffield United forward Geoff Salmons and lined up for the opening match a 3–0 win over Leeds United. Despite exiting Europe Stoke's form in the First Division remained good, but Tony Waddington was worried to a certain extent about his last line of defence and in November he surprisingly decided to break the club transfer record with the signing of Peter Shilton for £325,000 which at the time was also a world record transfer for a goalkeeper. Within ten days of Shilton's arrival Stoke sat at the top of the table after beating his old club Leicester City 1–0. Stoke's progress in 1974–75, however was severely handicapped by a remarkable injury crisis, Already without Alan Bloor and John Ritchie, Jimmy Greenhoff broke his nose against Birmingham City and then Jimmy Robertson broke his leg against Coventry City on Boxing Day. Despite this Stoke kept on performing well and by February were again on top spot. A 2–2 draw at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers cost the team another broken leg, Mike Pejic which was followed by Denis Smith in the next home match against Ipswich Town. Yet Stoke still fought on with a reduced number of players, and after some fine results they lay in third with three games remaining If they won all three they would be champions of England for the first time. As it happened they failed to win any drawing twice and losing at Sheffield United and had to settle for fifth, four points behind champions Derby County. There was further disappointment for City as they lost out on a UEFA Cup place to Everton. FA Cup Stoke went down 2–0 against Liverpool in the third round. League Cup Stoke beat Third Division Halifax Town 3–0 before being paired with Chelsea. After two draws the tie went to a 2nd replay and thanks to two own goals Stoke recorded their biggest League Cup win, 6–2. But they were knocked out by Ipswich Town in the next round. UEFA Cup Stoke were also involved in the UEFA Cup and were paired with Dutch giants Ajax. In the first leg at the Victoria Ground Ajax dominated the match and went in front through star winger Ruud Krol. Stoke, despite being outplayed, managed to find an equaliser through Denis Smith. In the second leg it was a case of the roles being reversed: this time it was Stoke who dominated the match but couldn't find a way past Piet Schrijvers, with Stoke going out on the away-goal rule. Final league table First Division y STK Results Stoke's score comes first Legend WinDrawLoss Football League First Division 1974–75 Football League MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 17 August 1974 Leeds UnitedH3–033,534Mahoney 50', Greenhoff 85', Ritchie 87'2 20 August 1974 EvertonA1–235,817Salmons 17'3 24 August 1974 Queens Park RangersA1–021,117Hurst 86'4 28 August 1974 EvertonH1–127,594Mahoney 75'5 31 August 1974 MiddlesbroughH1–123,484Ritchie 17' (pen)6 7 September 1974 Carlisle UnitedA2–014,507Hudson 5', Ritchie 58'7 14 September 1974 Coventry CityH2–022,482Mahoney 59', Ritchie 84'8 21 September 1974 LiverpoolA0–351,4239 24 September 1974 Ipswich TownA1–324,470Salmons 90'10 28 September 1974 Derby CountyH1–123,589Hurst 28'11 5 October 1974 Sheffield UnitedH3–221,796Hurst 15', Greenhoff 38', Smith 57'12 12 October 1974 Newcastle UnitedA2–238,228Salmons 25', Mahoney 63'13 19 October 1974 BurnleyH2–023,466Marsh 13', Hurst 30'14 26 October 1974 ChelseaA3–324,718Greenhoff 13', Haslegrave 60', Robertson 85'15 2 November 1974 Tottenham HotspurH2–224,668Salmons 8', Greenhoff 35'16 9 November 1974 Manchester CityA0–136,96617 16 November 1974 Luton TownH4–220,646Hudson 3', Robertson 60', Greenhoff (2) 62', 68'18 23 November 1974 Wolverhampton WanderersA2–228,216Salmons 10', Robertson 58'19 27 November 1974 Queens Park RangersH1–022,403Hurst 9'20 30 November 1974 Leicester CityH1–029,793Smith 86'21 7 December 1974 Birmingham CityA3–033,999Greenhoff (2) 14', 36', Moores 29'22 14 December 1974 Leeds UnitedA1–334,685Moores 89'23 21 December 1974 ArsenalH0–223,29224 26 December 1974 Coventry CityA0–222,34525 28 December 1974 West Ham UnitedH2–133,498Salmons 70' (pen), Hurst 76'26 11 January 1975 Birmingham CityH0–026,15727 18 January 1975 Leicester CityA1–121,734Hurst 57'28 1 February 1975 Manchester CityH4–032,007Moores (2) 44', 84', Hudson 68', Hurst 87'29 8 February 1975 Tottenham HotspurA2–022,941Greenhoff 23', Hudson 32'30 15 February 1975 Wolverhampton WanderersH2–230,611Conroy 87', Skeels 88'31 22 February 1975 Luton TownA0–019,89432 1 March 1975 MiddlesbroughA0–225,76633 15 March 1975 Derby CountyA2–129,985Greenhoff (2) 75', 89'34 18 March 1975 Ipswich TownH1–228,589Greenhoff 67'35 22 March 1975 Carlisle UnitedH5–220,525Conroy (3) 8', 65', 73', Greenhoff 66', Salmons 88'36 28 March 1975 West Ham UnitedA2–229,811Conroy (2) 40', 49'37 29 March 1975 ArsenalA1–126,852Salmons 33'38 31 March 1975 LiverpoolH2–045,954Conroy (2) 20', 50' (1 pen)39 5 April 1975 ChelseaH3–026,375Conroy (2) 28', 87', Greenhoff 63'40 12 April 1975 Sheffield UnitedA0–233,25541 19 April 1975 Newcastle UnitedH0–025,78442 26 April 1975 BurnleyA0–019,191 FA Cup 1974–75 FA Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR34 January 1975 LiverpoolA0–248,723 League Cup 1974–75 Football League Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR211 September 1974 Halifax TownH3–017,805Conroy (3) 42', 67, 71'R39 October 1974 ChelseaA2–219,953Robertson 6', Hurst 47'R3 Replay16 October 1974 ChelseaH1–124,376Greenhoff 80'R3 2nd Replay22 October 1974 ChelseaH6–226,271Hurst 2', 67', Smith 10', Droy 37' (o.g.), Harris 44' (o.g.), Salmons 62'R412 November 1974 Ipswich TownA1–220,677Robertson 90' UEFA Cup 1974–75 UEFA Cup RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR1 1st leg18 September 1974 AjaxH1–137,398Smith 76'R1 2nd leg2 October 1974 AjaxA0–029,000 Stoke eliminated on away goal rule Friendlies MatchOpponentVenueResult1AS MonacoA2–02RhylA6–03Blackburn RoversA1–04KV TurnhoutA5–05KV MechelenA0–16Preston North EndA2–17Stafford RangersA3–28Bristol RoversA1–19Derby CountyA1–410Yeovil TownA2–211Aston VillaA1–312Morocco XIA3–113Israel XIA0–414Norway XIA2–0 Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupUEFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGKENG John Farmer170005020240GKENG Peter Shilton250100000260DFENG Alan Bloor2000000020DFENG Danny Bowers100000000100DFENG Alan Dodd390105020470DFENG Kevin Lewis5000100060DFENG Jackie Marsh37(1)110402044(1)1DFENG Mike Pejic280105020360DFENG Eric Skeels22(1)100000022(1)1DFENG Denis Smith302105121384MFIRE Terry Conroy11(5)1010231(1)015(6)13MFENG Sean Haslegrave18(1)1002(1)02022(2)1MFENG Alan Hudson424104020494MFWAL John Mahoney394105020474MFSCO Jimmy Robertson9(5)30(1)0320(2)012(8)5FWENG Jimmy Greenhoff39141051204715FWENG Geoff Hurst30(5)810331035(5)11FWENG Ian Moores10(7)400100011(7)4FWENG John Ritchie7400000074FWENG Geoff Salmons428105120509–Own goals–0–0–2–0–2 References External links pK8DEv2uAf4 Newcastle United 2–2 Stoke City fepp2wFs5ug Leicester City 1–1 Stoke City Category:Stoke City F.C. seasons Stoke