Britain and the allies fought a brutal war against Nazi Germany and the axis. Stoke-on-Trent was deemed a 'neutral and reception area' and so football throughout the war was permitted. However many players went off to war and the club could not compete in the war leagues due to financial limitations and the loss of players to the war effort. They did manage to sustain a youth team which enjoyed great success locally. The death of Major W.M.Huntbach, chairman of the club, left the greatly in debt. This left the club with no option but to sell The Old Recreation Ground to the city council. The deal went through on 31 October 1940 for £13,500, the council refusing the club's permission to rent the ground. The club were therefore left homeless and without any professional players in the middle of a world war. However the council had a change of heart and decided to permit the club to rent the ground until a few seasons after the end of the war, eventually extending the deal to 20 June 1950. By the summer of 1944 the club had revived their first team, had found a location in Hamil Road, Burslem for their new stadium and had started a fund to raise £30,000 for this purpose. Jack Diffin was appointed team manager to supervise the 1944–45 roster of games. With Germany and Japan's defeat peace was restored and the 1946–47 season began. Morris Jones bagged 26 goals as the club finished in a respectable tenth place. It was also the club's most successful year financially up to that point, with a net profit of over £4,000 recorded. Jones lost his scoring touch in 1947–48 and was sold to Swindon Town for £2,500 in November 1947. The club finished in eighth, but made a loss in the transfer market and over the season as a whole. The 1948–49 was largely forgettable, though the club made record profits of just over £7,000. The five figure sum received for Bill Pointon played a big part in this profit. The club started 1949–50 with 86 players, though only 27 of these were full-time professionals. A pre-season acquisition of a young Ray King from Ashington would later prove significant, though the signing of defender Lol Hamlett would be of greater short team importance. The season saw another mid-table finish, though most of the talk was on the