1983–84 Stoke City F.C. season

Stoke City
1983–84 season
ChairmanFrank Edwards
ManagerRitchie Barker,
Bill Asprey
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League First Division18th (50 Points)
FA CupThird Round
League CupFourth Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Paul Magurie
(9)
All: Paul Magurie
(10)
Highest home attendance24,372 vs Liverpool
(14 April 1984)
Lowest home attendance8,435 vs Everton
(14 January 1984)
Average home league attendance13,900

The 1983–84 season was Stoke City's 77th season in the Football League and the 51st in the First Division.

Manager Ritchie Barker decided to change his tactics prior to the start of the season which was seen a strange decision as Stoke played well in the previous season playing good football. He change to the long ball style of play and whilst it worked with other sides in the Division it didn't with Stoke and results were poor. Barker was sacked and his assistant Bill Asprey took over and he brought back club legend Alan Hudson which sparked a revival with a 4–0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on the final day of the season seeing Stoke stay up by two points.[1][2]

Season review

League

It was apparent during the summer of 1983 at a coaching course at Lilleshall that manager Ritchie Barker was converted to the long ball game.[1] In truth it was used by several sides with great success in 1983–84, but not with Stoke.[1] Another youth team product Paul Bracewell was sold to Sunderland for £250,000 and that money was spent on Paul Dyson and Robbie James.[1] Stoke used their new style of play in their pre-season friendlies which drew some interesting results but was quite clear that the players were unhappy at the change and once the season started they struggled desperately out on the pitch.[1] In their first 24 matches they managed just three wins and in deep relegation trouble and it was no surprise to see Barker sacked by the board.[1]

Bill Asprey was put in charge of the team and his task was to get Stoke out of trouble and his first move was to bring back Alan Hudson and sell Mickey Thomas.[1] Hudson inspired a great recovery and Stoke's latter season performances were of a high standard yet the threat of relegation was still there but Stoke's fine efforts saw them take the relegation battle all the way to the final day of the season.[1] Stoke came up against already relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers.[1] It turned out to be an easy game for Stoke as they won 4–0 with Paul Magurie scoring all the goals leaving Stoke safe in 18th place with 50 points two more than Birmingham City.[1]

FA Cup

No progress was made in the FA Cup, Stoke losing 2–0 at home to Everton who would go on to lift the cup.[1]

League Cup

Stoke beat Peterborough United and Huddersfield Town before losing to Sheffield Wednesday in the fourth round.[1]

Final league table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
16 Luton Town 42 14 9 19 53 66 −13 51
17 West Bromwich Albion 42 14 9 19 48 62 −14 51
18 Stoke City 42 13 11 18 44 63 −19 50
19 Coventry City 42 13 11 18 57 77 −20 50
20 Birmingham City (R) 42 12 12 18 39 50 −11 48 Relegation to the Second Division
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(R) Relegated

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

Main article: 1983–84 Football League
Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 27 August 1983 Everton A 0–1 22,658
2 29 August 1983 West Bromwich Albion H 3–1 16,156 Painter (2) 26', 35', Maguire 57'
3 3 September 1983 Manchester United H 0–1 23,704
4 6 September 1983 Birmingham City A 0–1 13,728
5 10 September 1983 Ipswich Town A 0–5 16,315
6 17 September 1983 Watford H 0–4 12,619
7 24 September 1983 Leicester City A 2–2 10,215 Painter 11', Maguire 25'
8 1 October 1983 West Ham United H 3–1 13,825 McAughtrie 30', Chamberlain 70', Thomas 80'
9 15 October 1983 Sunderland A 2–2 11,923 James (2) 27', 70'
10 22 October 1983 Notts County A 1–1 7,684 Bould 74'
11 29 October 1983 Coventry City H 1–3 11,836 Thomas 40'
12 5 November 1983 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–1 14,727 Thomas 25'
13 12 November 1983 Aston Villa A 1–1 19,272 Chamberlain 44'
14 19 November 1983 Liverpool A 0–1 26,529
15 26 November 1983 Nottingham Forest H 1–1 11,655 Chamberlain 7'
16 3 December 1983 Southampton A 1–3 15,301 James 13'
17 10 December 1983 Luton Town H 2–4 10,329 James (2) 36', 65', (1 pen)
18 17 December 1983 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 0–0 8,679
19 26 December 1983 Norwich City H 2–0 12,049 Maguire 23', James 82'
20 31 December 1983 Manchester United A 0–1 40,164
21 2 January 1984 Leicester City H 0–1 13,728
22 14 January 1984 Everton H 1–1 8,435 Heath 68'
23 17 January 1984 Queens Park Rangers A 0–6 9,320
24 21 January 1984 Watford A 0–2 14,076
25 28 January 1984 Arsenal H 1–0 12,840 Maguire 75' (pen)
26 4 February 1984 West Ham United A 0–3 18,775
27 11 February 1984 Ipswich Town H 1–0 10,315 Painter 87'
28 18 February 1984 Coventry City A 3–2 7,937 Hampton 41', Chamberlain 67', O'Callaghan 81'
29 25 February 1984 Notts County H 1–0 11,725 Chamberlain 8'
30 3 March 1984 Tottenham Hotspur A 0–1 18,271
31 10 March 1984 Aston Villa H 1–0 13,967 Painter 73'
32 17 March 1984 Birmingham City H 2–1 13,506 Dyson 21', Bould 56'
33 24 March 1984 West Bromwich Albion A 0–3 13,681
34 31 March 1984 Sunderland H 2–1 11,047 Painter 22', Dyson 28'
35 7 April 1984 Arsenal A 1–3 21,211 Chamberlain 70'
36 14 April 1984 Liverpool H 2–0 24,372 Painter 21', Russell 50'
37 21 April 1984 Norwich City A 2–2 16,084 McIlroy 5', Chamberlain 70'
38 23 April 1984 Queens Park Rangers H 1–2 13,735 Russell 2'
39 28 April 1984 Nottingham Forest A 0–0 13,625
40 5 May 1984 Southampton H 1–1 12,171 Maguire 80'
41 7 May 1984 Luton Town A 1–0 9,867 Painter 5'
42 12 May 1984 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 4–0 18,977 Maguire (4) 17', 41', 49', 89' (2 pens)

FA Cup

Main article: 1983–84 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 7 January 1984 Everton H 0–2 16,462

League Cup

Main article: 1983–84 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 1st Leg 5 October 1983 Peterborough United H 0–0 11,085
R2 2nd Leg 26 October 1983 Peterborough United A 2–1 9,898 O'Callaghan 41', James 61'
R3 1st Leg 8 November 1983 Huddersfield Town H 0–0 14,175
R3 2nd Leg 22 November 1983 Huddersfield Town A 2–0 14,191 Bould 8', Magurie 52'
R4 30 November 1983 Sheffield Wednesday H 0–1 18,633

Friendlies

Match Opponent Venue Result
1 Parkway Clayton A 4–0
2 Wokingham A 8–4
3 Oswestry Town A 1–0
4 Shrewsbury Town A 1–1
5 IFK Mariehamn A 7–2
6 Lydsdal A 4–0
7 Oviksalliansen A 4–4
8 Strömsund A 10–0
9 Kramfors A 6–1

FA Youth Cup

Round Opponent Venue Result
Round 2 Chester City A 2–1
Round 3 Walsall H 3–0
Round 4 Luton Town H 3–2
Quarter Final Chelsea A 2–1
Semi Final 1st Leg Arsenal H 3–2
Semi Final 2nd Leg Arsenal A 3–0
Final 1st Leg Everton A 2–2
Final 2nd Leg Everton H 0–2

Squad statistics

Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Mervyn Cawston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GK England Richard Dawson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GK England Peter Fox 42 0 1 0 5 0 48 0
DF England Steve Bould 38 2 1 0 4 1 43 3
DF England Paul Dyson 38 2 1 0 5 0 44 2
DF England Peter Hampton 31(1) 1 1 0 5 0 37(1) 1
DF England Chris Hemming 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
DF Wales Robbie James 40 6 1 0 5 1 46 7
DF Scotland David McAughtrie 17 1 1 0 5 0 23 1
DF England Robbie Savage 5(2) 0 0 0 0 0 5(2) 0
MF Wales George Berry 8 0 0 0 1 0 9 0
MF England Peter Griffiths 3(1) 0 0 0 0(1) 0 3(2) 0
MF England Alan Hudson 16 0 0 0 0 0 16 0
MF England Chris Maskery 16(3) 0 0(1) 0 2(1) 0 18(5) 0
MF Northern Ireland Sammy McIlroy 39(1) 1 1 0 3 0 43(1) 1
MF England Steve Parkin 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
MF England Dennis Tueart 2(1) 0 0 0 1 0 3(1) 0
FW England Mark Chamberlain 39(1) 7 1 0 5 0 45(1) 7
FW England Neville Chamberlain 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
FW England Phil Heath 3(1) 1 0 0 0 0 3(1) 1
FW Scotland Paul Maguire 24(9) 9 1 0 3(1) 1 28(10) 10
FW Republic of Ireland Brendan O'Callaghan 37(1) 1 1 0 5 1 43(1) 2
FW England Ian Painter 30(4) 8 1 0 1 0 32(4) 8
FW England Colin Russell 11 2 0 0 0 0 11 2
FW Wales Mickey Thomas 16 3 0 0 5 0 21 3

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ Lowe, Simon (2000). Stoke City The Modern Era - A Complete Record. Desert Island Books. ISBN 1-874287-39-2.