1900–01 Stoke F.C. season
Introduction The 1900–01 season was Stoke's 12th season of in the Football League.It was a hard season for Stoke as they were almost relegated to the Second Division but survived after winning their final match of the season 4–2 away at Notts County.
Season review ===League===By now Stoke had lost the valuable services of Tom Robertson, Jack Kennedy and Joe Turner while dedicated full-back Jack Eccles made only two appearances and later became club trainer as the team slowly broke up. Only two points were collected from their first eight games and a disjointed Stoke side slipped to the bottom of the table. The situation improved slightly with the arrival of Welsh forward Mart Watkins from Oswestry Town but Stoke were involved in a relegation dog-fight until the final day of the season.On Good Friday (5 April 1901) Stoke went to Bury and were denied two blatant penalties and lost 3–2.This defeat left Stoke in 17th position, three points and one place above West Bromwich Albion who had three games in hand, while Preston and Wolves were just above them. Stoke's remaining two games were both away - to Wolves and Notts County. Preston ended their season with a home clash with West Brom who were struggling to find any form and looked doomed. Remarkably, Stoke upped their game and won both matches while Preston lost and went down with Albion leaving Stoke safe in 16th place. It had been a tense and difficult season and the club's finances were now in a very precarious state, both manager and chairman recognized this and the club would now look at the local leagues for players.Unfortunately ace marksman William Maxwell bid farewell to Stoke at the end of the season joining Third Lanark for £250 after scoring 85 goals in 173 games for the "Potters" and he would be sorely missed.===FA Cup===The 1900–01 season saw Stoke having to play in the Intermediate Round which was a consequence of their secretary failing to get their entry to the competition to the FA by the required time. Stoke beat Second Division Glossop 1–0.In the first round Stoke lost 2–1 in a replay to Small Heath after a 1–1 draw at the Victoria Ground.
Final league table
Results ''Stoke's score comes first''===Legend===WinDrawLoss===Football League First Division===MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 1 September 1900 Aston VillaA0–215,0002 8 September 1900 LiverpoolH1–212,000Maxwell3 10 September 1900 Notts CountyH1–15,000Jones4 15 September 1900 Newcastle UnitedA1–220,000Wood5 22 September 1900 Sheffield UnitedH0–17,0006 29 September 1900 Manchester CityA0–215,0007 6 October 1900 BuryH1–24,000Maxwell8 13 October 1900 Nottingham ForestA1–19,000Johnson9 20 October 1900 Blackburn RoversH2–010,000Jones, Maxwell10 27 October 1900 The WednesdayH2–16,000Jones (2)11 3 November 1900 West Bromwich AlbionA2–212,052Maxwell, Watkins12 10 November 1900 EvertonH0–28,00013 12 November 1900 Bolton WanderersH2–13,000Watkins, Wood14 17 November 1900 SunderlandA1–65,000Johnson15 24 November 1900 Derby CountyH0–13,00016 1 December 1900 Bolton WanderersA0–15,00017 22 December 1900 Wolverhampton WanderersH3–05,000Maxwell (3)18 25 December 1900 Preston North EndA2–46,000Maxwell, Higginson19 26 December 1900 Preston North EndH5–07,500Maxwell (3), Higginson, Watkins20 29 December 1900 Aston VillaH0–012,00021 1 January 1901 LiverpoolA1–310,000Higginson22 12 January 1901 Newcastle UnitedH2–06,000Benbow (2)23 19 January 1901 Sheffield UnitedA4–04,000Maxwell (2), Johnson, Watkins24 26 January 1901 Manchester CityH2–13,000Johnson, Watkins25 16 February 1901 Nottingham ForestH0–37,00026 23 February 1901 Blackburn RoversA2–35,000Maxwell, Watkins27 2 March 1901 The WednesdayA0–43,00028 9 March 1901 West Bromwich AlbionH2–05,000Maxwell, Leech29 16 March 1901 EvertonA0–310,00030 23 March 1901 SunderlandH0–09,00031 30 March 1901 Derby CountyA1–45,000Leech32 5 April 1901 BuryA2–32,000Watkins, Whitehouse33 9 April 1901 Wolverhampton WanderersA2–04,000Watkins, Higginson34 13 April 1901 Notts CountyA4–26,000Watkins, Higginson, Maxwell, Johnson===FA Cup===RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersIR5 January 1901 GlossopH1–05,000BenbowR19 February 1901Small HeathH1–112,000WatkinsR1 Replay13 February 1901 Small HeathA1–2 (aet)10,000Benbow
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Arthur Cartlidge700070GK Tom Wilkes27030300FB Bill Capewell33030360FB Peter Durber33020350FB Jack Eccles201030HB John Bowman200020HB James Bradley34030370HB Tom Holford601070HB Billy Leech33220352HB Edward Parsons501060HB Alf Wood29220312FW Len Benbow21232244FW George Harris100010FW Sam Higginson18520205FW Freddie Johnson34530375FW Jimmy Jones12410134FW Arthur Lockett16000160FW William Maxwell2716303016FW Tom Simpson000000FW Mart Watkins289313110FW Frank Whitehouse610061
References