1927–28 Stoke City F.C. season
Introduction The 1927–28 season was Stoke City's 28th season in the Football League and the eighth in the Second Division.Record season ticket sales were recorded prior to the start of the 1927–28 season as supporters were buoyed following last season's Third Division North title win. Stoke had a good return to the Second Division, finishing 5th in the table, five points from promotion, and also reached the quarter final of the FA Cup losing to Arsenal. Charlie Wilson top-scored this season with a club-record 38 goals.
Season review ===League===The 1927–28 season saw Stoke back within one Division of the top flight, although a heavy bank overdraft of £13,000 meant that they couldn't go out and bolster the squad, Mather being forced to rely on the players who had served him well last season. However, chairman Sherwin assured the fans that he would spend the money if weakness became apparent but he stated that he would not be able to join in the transfer fee spiral that was gathering pace elsewhere. On a brighter note Stoke reported record season ticket sales for the new campaign.Stoke made a fantastic start back in the Second Division beating Southampton 6–3 in the first match, this was followed up with 4–2 and 3–0 victories as Stoke started the season in fine form. Performances did eventually drop off and the team hit an inconsistent spell just before Christmas but then won six matches back to back. Stoke enjoyed a successful end to the campaign finishing in 5th position. Stoke's cup run perhaps cost them a genuine promotion challenge but nevertheless it was a good season with the club's bank balance improving and the team showing great consistency with six players playing 40 or more League games. The reserves also had a fine season, winning the Central League title for the first time.===FA Cup===After a number of pretty terrible performances in the FA Cup in the past few seasons, the 1927–28 season saw a marked improvement as Stoke beat Gillingham 6–1, Bolton Wanderers 4–2, Manchester City 1–0 before losing 4–1 to Arsenal in the quarter final stage. Nevertheless, the board were happy with the club's performance and income which the cup run generated.
Final league table
Results ''Stoke's score comes first''===Legend===WinDrawLoss===Football League Second Division===MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 27 August 1927 SouthamptonA6–312,000Archibald, Williamson, Eyres, Wilson, Davies (2)2 31 August 1927 West Bromwich AlbionA4–220,000Wilson (3), Armitage (pen)3 3 September 1927 Notts CountyH3–021,941Wilson (2), Archibald4 5 September 1927 West Bromwich AlbionH1–120,623Wilson5 10 September 1927 Oldham AthleticA1–38,000Wilson6 17 September 1927 Grimsby TownH0–015,4807 24 September 1927 ReadingA1–15,700Wilson8 1 October 1927 BlackpoolH2–012,014Davies (2)9 8 October 1927 ChelseaA0–116,00010 15 October 1927 Clapton OrientH2–013,002Wilson, Williams11 22 October 1927 BarnsleyH0–09,32012 29 October 1927 Wolverhampton WanderersA2–120,000Wilson (2)13 5 November 1927 Port ValeH0–224,97214 12 November 1927 FulhamA5–110,000Wilson, Davies, Shirley (2), Barrett (o.g. )15 19 November 1927 Swansea TownH1–19,937Sellars16 26 November 1927 Manchester CityA0–439,89717 3 December 1927 Hull CityH3–19,632Wilson, Armitage, Johnson18 10 December 1927 Preston North EndA0–212,00019 17 December 1927 Nottingham ForestH1–39,090Wallace (o.g. )20 24 December 1927 Leeds UnitedA1–520,000Williamson21 27 December 1927 South ShieldsH3–113,987Sellars, Shirley (2)22 31 December 1927 SouthamptonH2–18,251Wilson, Davies23 2 January 1928 South ShieldsA3–24,640Archibald, Cull, Bussey24 7 January 1928 Notts CountyA2–19,908Wilson (2)25 21 January 1928 Oldham AthleticH3–013,446Wilson, Bussey (2)26 4 February 1928 ReadingH4–111,806Bussey, Cull, Davies (2)27 11 February 1928 BlackpoolA1–36,309Wilson28 20 February 1928 ChelseaH1–010,223Bussey29 25 February 1928 Clapton OrientA2–36,140Wilson, Campell (o.g. )30 6 March 1928 Grimsby TownA2–15,076Wilson, Sellars31 10 March 1928 Wolverhampton WanderersH2–213,273Wilson, Davies32 17 March 1928 Port ValeA0–025,08433 19 March 1928 BarnsleyA1–36,000Williams34 24 March 1928 FulhamH5–110,117Armitage (pen), Davies, Wilson (3)35 31 March 1928 Swansea TownA1–15,460Armitage36 6 April 1928 Bristol CityA0–48,11237 7 April 1928 Manchester CityH2–027,453Wilson, Archibald38 9 April 1928 Bristol CityH1–012,547Wilson39 14 April 1928 Hull CityA0–16,55240 21 April 1928 Preston North EndH3–211,233Wilson (2), Archibald41 28 April 1928 Nottingham ForestA2–09,043Wilson, Davies42 5 May 1928 Leeds UnitedH5–112,306Wilson (2), Bussey, Archibald, Cull===FA Cup===RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR314 January 1928 GillinghamH6–15,234Wilson (2), Archibald, Williamson, Bussey, DaviesR4 28 January 1928 Bolton WanderersH4–224,868Davies, Archibald, Wilson (2)R518 February 1928 Manchester CityA1–050,132WilsonQuarter final3 March 1928 ArsenalA1–441,974Wilson
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Bob Dixon41040450GK Dick Williams100010DF Bob McGrory42040460DF Billy Spencer42040460MF Len Armitage38430414MF Cecil Eastwood700070MF Thomas Godfrey601070MF Peter Jackson400040MF Harry Sellars33340373MF Harry Watson200020MF Tom Williamson40241443FW Bobby Archibald41642458FW Walter Bussey21841259FW John Cull19340233FW Harry Davies4011424413FW Jack Eyres610061FW Dick Johnson14100141FW Bob Lister100010FW John Shirley420042FW Joey Williams20200202FW Charlie Wilson4032464438–Own goals–3–0–3
References