1935–36 Stoke City F.C. season
Introduction The 1935–36 season was Stoke City's 36th season in the Football League and the 22nd in the First Division.In June 1935 long-serving defender Bob McGrory replaced Tom Mather as first-team manager and in his first season in charge Stoke went on to record their finest season up to this point finishing in 4th position in the First Division. They were never out of the top four for the last three months of the season and whilst they never really threatened runaway leaders Sunderland, Stoke were considered to be one of the best teams in the country. The 1935–36 season finish of 4th is only matched by the performance by the Stoke team of the 1946–47 season.
Season review ===League===After last season Stoke went on a tour of Denmark winning all three matches against local opposition. On their return to England in June 1935, Bob McGrory replaced Tom Mather as manager. Mather had been at the helm for over eleven years and did well in taking Stoke from Third Division football to the First. It also spelt the end of McGrory's playing career in which he made 510 appearances for the club, a total not to be surpassed for 24 years.The first signing McGrory made was that of Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Norman Wilkinson he would prove to be a sound addition. Despite this McGrory gave the squad a vote of confidence and indeed few clubs in the country showed little alteration to their squads than Stoke City. Whilst it was 'as you were' on the playing side, Stoke appointed a host of new backroom staff and Arthur Turner was made club captain. The supporters were disappointed that despite there being money available no new players arrived and their concerns were increased when the reserves beat the first team in a public friendly match.The supporters need not have worried as McGrory's first season turned out to be one of the finest in the club's history as they achieved fourth place in the First Division. They were never out of the top four for the last three months of the season and were generally accepted as one of the countries most impressive sides. With more players being promoted from the youth ranks Stoke looked set for a bright future.===FA Cup===Stoke required replays to beat lower league Millwall and Manchester United but Barnsley knocked Stoke out 2–1 in the fifth round.
Final league table
Results ''Stoke's score comes first''===Legend===WinDrawLoss===Football League First Division===MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 31 August 1935 Leeds UnitedH3–122,549Johnson (2), Davies2 4 September 1935 ChelseaA5–327,000Johnson, Davies, Sale (2), Matthews3 7 September 1935 West Bromwich AlbionA0–225,0004 9 September 1935 ChelseaH3–021,306Sale, Steele, Turner  (pen)5 14 September 1935 SunderlandH0–234,5096 18 September 1935 LiverpoolA0–235,0007 21 September 1935 BirminghamA5–012,000Matthews (3), Johnson (2)8 28 September 1935 ArsenalH0–345,4709 5 October 1935 Manchester CityA2–140,000Sale, Westland10 12 October 1935 Preston North EndH2–121,876Sale, Turner (pen)11 19 October 1935 BrentfordA0–030,00012 26 October 1935 Derby CountyH0–027,38413 2 November 1935 EvertonA1–534,000Johnson14 9 November 1935 Bolton WanderersH1–221,668Sale15 16 November 1935 Huddersfield TownA1–212,000Johnson16 23 November 1935 PortsmouthH2–016,470Sale (2)17 30 November 1935 Aston VillaA0–425,00018 7 December 1935 Wolverhampton WanderersH4–116,000Sale (2), Liddle (2)19 14 December 1935 Sheffield WednesdayA1–014,000Sale20 21 December 1935 MiddlesbroughH1–18,374Matthews21 25 December 1935 Blackburn RoversA1–021,976Matthews22 26 December 1935 Blackburn RoversH2–023,000Sale (2)23 28 December 1935 Leeds UnitedA1–412,000Steele24 4 January 1936 West Bromwich AlbionH3–220,188Steele, Matthews, Liddle25 18 January 1936 SunderlandA0–114,00026 1 February 1936 ArsenalA0–147,00027 6 February 1936 BirminghamH3–111,485Davies (2), Westland28 8 February 1936 Manchester CityH1–027,386Westland29 19 February 1936 Preston North EndA1–110,000Turner (pen)30 22 February 1936 BrentfordH2–215,000Sale, Liddle31 29 February 1936 Bolton WanderersA2–110,204Steele, Matthews32 7 March 1936 Aston VillaH2–318,344Steele (2)33 14 March 1936 Derby CountyA1–020,000Steele34 21 March 1936 Huddersfield TownH1–022,000Matthews35 28 March 1936 PortsmouthA0–217,00036 4 April 1936 EvertonH2–118,717Turner, Matthews37 10 April 1936 Grimsby TownA0–39,00038 11 April 1936 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–120,000Steele39 13 April 1936 Grimsby TownH1–022,770Hodgson (o.g. )40 18 April 1936 Sheffield WednesdayH0–316,36241 25 April 1936 MiddlesbroughA0–010,00042 2 May 1936 LiverpoolH2–113,231Westland, Bradshaw (o.g. )===FA Cup===RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR311 January 1936 MillwallA0–025,000R3 Replay15 January 1936 MillwallH4–018,000Steele (3), LiddleR425 January 1936 Manchester UnitedH0–025,000R4 Replay28 January 1936 Manchester UnitedA2–035,000Sale, RobsonR515 February 1936 BarnsleyA1–240,245Davies
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Norman Lewis17000170GK Norman Wilkinson25050300DF Billy Spencer15000150DF Charlie Scrimshaw42050470DF Bill Winstanley26050310MF Harry Sellars600060MF Horace Smith000000MF Frank Soo35050400MF Arthur Turner42450474MF Arthur Tutin42050470FW John Almond200020FW George Antonio100010FW Harry Davies29451345FW Syd Fursland100010FW Joe Johnson31700317FW Bobby Liddle33451385FW Stanley Matthews4010504510FW Billy Robson001111FW Tommy Sale3214513715FW Freddie Steele298433311FW James Westland14400144–Own goals–2–0–2
References