1936–37 Stoke City F.C. season
Introduction The 1936–37 season was Stoke City's 37th season in the Football League and the 23rd in the First Division.After the club's best ever season last campaign Stoke struggled to live up to their previous success and finished the season in a mid-table position of 10th. However it was a to be a season of record making with three being set during the 1936–37 season. A record attendance of 51,373 made it into the Victoria Ground on 29 March to watch a 0–0 draw with Arsenal. However the most remarkable achievement was that of a 10–3 victory over Staffordshire rivals West Bromwich Albion and thirdly, Freddie Steele finished the season with 33 league goals.
Season review ===League===During the summer of 1936 there was a change at boardroom level with Mr H. Booth replacing Mr A. Sherwin as chairman. After the club's best ever season in 1935–36 Stoke found it difficult in the 1936–37 season to improve and a disappointing 10th-place finish was the final outcome. Stoke were hampered by a poor away record with only three wins forthcoming during the season and an equal record of 15 wins and defeats a mid-table finish was the obvious outcome.During the 1936–37 season Stoke made three new club records which all still stand. A record attendance of 51,373 made it into the Victoria Ground on 29 March to watch a 0–0 draw with Arsenal. However the most remarkable achievement was that of a 10–3 victory over Staffordshire rivals West Bromwich Albion and thirdly, Freddie Steele finished the season with 33 league goals.===Record league victory===A 10–3 win over West Bromwich Albion is Stoke City's record League victory here is a summary of the match.Stoke gave debuts to Scottish keeper Douglas Westland and full-back James Harbot. Stoke went into the match as narrow favourites but went on to outclass Albion in all positions. The first goal came after 10 minutes as Steele headed in a Stanley Matthews cross. Albion levelled just a minute later through Richardson following a fine move. Stoke re-took the lead through a copy of their first on 20 minutes as Albion struggled to contain Matthews. After 32 minutes Stoke went 3–1 up, Steele was brought down in the area by Bill Richardson and Arthur Turner scored from the spot. Four minutes before half-time Steele claimed his hat-trick. In the second half Stoke made it 5–1 through England winger Joe Johnson before Steele missed an open goal. Wally Boyes pulled one back to 5–2 however Steele got his fourth and fifth to make it 7–2 on 67 minutes. Richardson made it 7–3 before Johnson again and George Antonio got on the score sheet. With 15 minutes left the score line was 9–3 and with the crowd chanting for more it duly arrived when Antonio made it 10–3 to complete a historic result.===FA Cup===Stoke beat Birmingham 4–1 in the third round with Freddie Steele bagging a hat trick. However Stoke were on the end of a heavy defeat themselves in the next round as they lost 5–1 to eventual runners-up Preston North End.
Final league table
Results ''Stoke's score comes first''===Legend===WinDrawLoss===Football League First Division===MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 29 August 1936 LiverpoolA1–223,000Johnson2 31 August 1936 Charlton AthleticH1–123,524Steele3 5 September 1936 Leeds UnitedH2–119,080Liddle, Milburn (o.g. )4 7 September 1936 Charlton AthleticA0–220,0005 12 September 1936 BirminghamA4–210,000Steele (3), Matthews6 14 September 1936 Grimsby TownH2–018,229Steele (2)7 19 September 1936 MiddlesbroughH6–229,106Steele (3), Matthews, Johnson (2)8 26 September 1936 West Bromwich AlbionA2–227,086Steele, Johnson9 3 October 1936 Manchester CityH2–236,292Steele, Matthews10 10 October 1936 PortsmouthA0–118,00011 17 October 1936 Preston North EndH0–219,51812 24 October 1936 Sheffield WednesdayA0–018,00013 31 October 1936 Manchester UnitedH3–022,464Davies, Matthews, Johnson14 7 November 1936 Derby CountyA2–220,000Johnson, Steele15 14 November 1936 Wolverhampton WanderersH2–121,349Johnson, Steele16 21 November 1936 SunderlandA0–325,00017 28 November 1936 Huddersfield TownH1–113,644Fursland18 5 December 1936 EvertonA1–115,000Robson19 12 December 1936 Bolton WanderersH2–28,359Matthews (2)20 19 December 1936 BrentfordA1–225,000Robson21 25 December 1936 ChelseaH2–024,789Johnson (2)22 26 December 1936 LiverpoolH1–138,940Robson23 28 December 1936 ChelseaA0–118,00024 2 January 1937 Leeds UnitedA1–220,000Johnson25 9 January 1937 BirminghamH2–015,211Turner (pen), Westland26 23 January 1937 MiddlesbroughA0–114,00027 4 February 1937 West Bromwich AlbionH10–38,224Steele (5), Turner (pen), Johnson (2), Antonio (2)28 6 February 1937 Manchester CityA1–230,000Turner (pen)29 13 February 1937 PortsmouthH2–418,237Steele (2)30 24 February 1937 Preston North EndA1–08,000Steele31 6 March 1937 Manchester UnitedA1–215,000Steele32 13 March 1937 Derby CountyH1–220,106Steele33 20 March 1937 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–220,000Steele34 26 March 1937 ArsenalA0–040,00035 27 March 1937 SunderlandH5–329,292Westland, Tutin, Steele (3)36 29 March 1937 ArsenalH0–051,37337 3 April 1937 Huddersfield TownA1–212,000Steele38 5 April 1937 Sheffield WednesdayH1–011,573Westland39 10 April 1937 EvertonH2–117,646Westland, Mercer (o.g. )40 17 April 1937 Bolton WanderersA0–012,00041 24 April 1937 BrentfordH5–118,349Steele (3), Antonio, Matthews42 1 May 1937 Grimsby TownA3–18,000Steele (2), Johnson===FA Cup===RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR316 January 1937 BirminghamH4–131,480Steele (3), JohnsonR430 January 1937 Preston North EndA1–523,866Johnson
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Norman Wilkinson41020430GK Douglas Westland100010DF Harry Brigham21020230DF James Harbot101020DF Charlie Scrimshaw41010420DF Bill Winstanley21000210MF Jock Kirton12020140MF Bill Moore200020MF Frank Soo31000310MF Arthur Turner42320443MF Arthur Tutin39120411FW George Antonio20320223FW Frank Baker400040FW Harry Davies23100231FW Syd Fursland210021FW Joe Johnson3613223815FW Owen Johnson000000FW Bobby Liddle20100201FW Stanley Matthews40720427FW Syd Peppitt300030FW Billy Robson630063FW Freddie Steele3533233736FW James Westland21420234–Own goals–2–0–2
References