1889–90 Stoke F.C. season
Introduction The 1889–90 season was Stoke's second season in the Football League.It was another poor season for Stoke, as they again finished bottom of the Football League but this time they failed to gain re-election and their place was taken by Sunderland and Stoke joined the Football Alliance for the following season. Stoke's worst league and FA Cup defeat came during the 1889–90 season, a 10–0 reverse against Preston North End and an 8–0 cup defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Stoke won just three matches all season and picked up just ten points making it the club's worst performance in league football.
Season review ===League===After finishing bottom of the league last season Stoke failed to improve a great deal in the 1889–90 season and again took the wooden spoon. They were humiliated 10–0 in the second match of the season away at Preston North End where all the goals were scored by Scottish internationals as Stoke suffered their worst league defeat. Stoke also lost 8–0 away to both Everton and Blackburn Rovers and they also suffered a 6–1 reverse against Aston Villa. Stoke were awful throughout the season and went on a ten match losing streak stretching from 19 October 1889 to 4 January 1890.In a tough home fixture against Burnley just before Christmas, Bob McCormick, the Stoke inside-right, badly injured his collar bone in a challenge with the Burnley full-back and at the end of the match some supporters invaded the pitch and confronted the "Clarets" defender. Stoke won the match 2–1 but Burnley lodged an appeal claiming their players had been intimidated. The League decided in Burnley's favour and ordered the match to be replayed, this time Burnley won 4–3.Stoke won only three matches this season and amassed a mere ten points three fewer than Burnley and 23 behind champions, for the second season running Preston. Stoke failed to gain re-election and the end of the season and their place was taken by Sunderland. Stoke joined the Football Alliance for the 1890–91 season. A 7–1 victory over Accrington where Bob Ramsay scored the "Potters" first hat-trick was a rare highlight in what was an awful season. At the end of the season manager Harry Lockett left the club to concentrate on his job as secretary of the Football League and Joseph Bradshaw took over.===FA Cup===In the FA Cup, Stoke knocked out Old Westminsters and Everton but were ousted from the competition by Wolverhampton Wanderers. This third round tie was played on 15 February 1890 in driving sleet and rain on a heavy pitch and Wolves more suited to the conditions easily won the match 4–0.Stoke protested over the state of the pitch and the FA ordered a re-match the following Saturday. This time Wolves doubled the score to 8–0 much to the embarrassment of the Stoke officials. The result is Stoke's worst  in the FA Cup.
Final league table
Results ''Stoke's score comes first''===Legend===WinDrawLoss===Football League===MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers17 September 1889 Derby CountyH1–14,000McReddie214 September 1889 Preston North EndA0–107,000 328 September 1889 Wolverhampton WanderersH2–15,000Gee, Coupar45 October 1889 Notts CountyA1–33,500Mudie512 October 1889 Wolverhampton WanderersA2–23,800Coupar, McReddie619 October 1889 Bolton WanderersH0–13,500726 October 1889 Derby CountyA0–23,00082 November 1889 EvertonA0–87,50099 November 1889 EvertonH1–21,500McCormick1011 November 1889 Preston North EndH1–25,500McCormick1116 November 1889 West Bromwich AlbionH1–33,900Simpson127 December 1889 Aston VillaA1–64,000Hendry1323 December 1889 Blackburn RoversH0–32,500 1428 December 1889 AccringtonA1–21,500Coupar154 January 1890 Blackburn RoversA0–84,000 1611 January 1890 BurnleyA3–12,500Gee, Dunn, Edge178 February 1890 Bolton WanderersA0–55,000 181 March 1890 AccringtonH7–12,500Ramsay (3), Baker (2), Simpson (2)1910 March 1890 BurnleyH3–42,000Ramsay, Christie, Gee2015 March 1890 West Bromwich AlbionA1–21,600Owen2117 March 1890 Aston VillaH1–13,150Gee2224 March 1890 Notts CountyH1–12,500Owen===FA Cup===RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR118 January 1890 Old WestminstersH3–03,000Gee, Ramsay, SayerR21 February 1890EvertonH4–27,000Edge (3), DunnR315 February 1890Wolverhampton WanderersA0–47,000Stoke win appeal R322 February 1890Wolverhampton WanderersA0–87,000
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Wilf Merritt101020GK Bill Rowley21030240FB Tommy Clare14040180FB Jack Eccles300030FB Edgar Montford500050FB Alf Underwood22040260HB Davy Brodie11040150HB Davy Christie14120161HB Arthur Dixon 000000HB Albert Farmer302050HB Billy Hendry14100141HB Bob Ramsay22441265HB Elijah Smith400040FW Charlie Baker12240162FW Peter Coupar11300113FW Billy Dunn11141152FW Alf Edge11143154FW Freddie Gee16441205FW William Locker100010FW Bob McCormick12200122FW Wally McReddie11200112FW Len Mudie310031FW Jimmy Owen320032FW Jimmy Sayer702191FW Harry Simpson10320123
References