1901–02 Stoke F.C. season
Introduction The 1901–02 season was Stoke's 13th season in the Football League.Stoke failed to improve from last season's narrow escape and again required a final day survival, Stoke stayed up after a 2–2 draw with Manchester City one point more than Small Heath who could only draw 0–0 with Notts County and were relegated.
Season review ===League===Stoke now without William Maxwell struggled again in 1901–02.With winger Freddie Johnson now skippering the side, Stoke again took 16th position in the First Division avoiding relegation by a single point thanks mainly to a four match unbeaten run at the end of the season. The relegation battle came to a crescendo in April with literally 14 of the 18 teams in the division in danger of the drop, with 3rd placed Newcastle United only avoiding relegation by seven points.At the start of April the bottom of the table was tight with Stoke having one of the poorest goal-averages, and away trips to Notts County and Manchester City were favourites to go down. But again, Stoke escaped after switching 5 ft 5 inch half-back Tom Holford to centre forward for the last four games which ended in a 1–1 draw at Notts County, home wins 4–0 and 2–0 over Bolton and Grimsby respectively and a last gasp 2–2 draw with Manchester City where Holford scored his third goal in succession. Stoke could have gone down right at the death if Small Heath had beaten Notts County in their last match but they drew 0–0 and both the Birmingham club and Manchester City were relegated. One of Stoke's most bizarre events in their history occurred in January 1902 when the team fell ill with food poisoning just before a league match away at Liverpool. The players had eaten fish at the Adelphi Hotel and were violently sick in the dressing room at Anfield. Soon into the match goalkeeper Leigh Richmond Roose had to leave the pitch and Stoke went on to lose 7–0.===FA Cup===Stoke fared better in the FA Cup this season beating Aston Villa and Bristol Rovers before losing to Nottingham Forest in the third round.
Final league table
Results ''Stoke's score comes first''===Legend===WinDrawLoss===Football League First Division===MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 2 September 1901 BuryH1–213,000Lockett2 7 September 1901 LiverpoolH1–012,000Higginson3 14 September 1901 Newcastle UnitedA1–520,000Lockett4 21 September 1901 Aston VillaH1–010,000Watkins5 28 September 1901 Sheffield UnitedA1–112,000Higginson6 5 October 1901 Nottingham ForestH1–18,000Johnson7 12 October 1901 BuryA2–48,000Watkins (2)8 19 October 1901 Blackburn RoversH2–210,000Watkins, Lockett9 26 October 1901 Grimsby TownA2–16,000Watkins, Whitehouse10 2 November 1901 EvertonA0–116,00011 9 November 1901 SunderlandH3–010,000Watkins (2), Doig (o.g. )12 11 November 1901 Wolverhampton WanderersH3–08,000Watkins, Johnson, Hales13 23 November 1901 Derby CountyH1–18,000Harris14 30 November 1901 The WednesdayA1–37,500Johnson15 7 December 1901 Notts CountyH3–07,000Watkins, Hales, Lockett16 14 December 1901 Bolton WanderersA1–26,000Watkins17 26 December 1901 Sheffield UnitedH3–212,000Watkins (2), MacDonald18 28 December 1901 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–47,000Whitehouse19 4 January 1902 LiverpoolA0–77,00020 11 January 1902 Newcastle UnitedH0–04,00021 13 January 1902 Manchester CityH3–05,000Higginson, Watkins, Whitehouse22 18 January 1902 Aston VillaA0–025,00023 1 February 1902 Nottingham ForestA0–26,00024 15 February 1902 Blackburn RoversA1–67,000Watkins25 17 February 1902 Small HeathA1–15,000MacDonald26 1 March 1902 EvertonH1–210,000MacDonald27 8 March 1902 SunderlandA0–28,00028 15 March 1902 Small HeathH1–06,000Lockett29 22 March 1902 Derby CountyA0–18,00030 29 March 1902 The WednesdayH1–27,000Higginson31 5 April 1902 Notts CountyA1–15,000Harris32 12 April 1902 Bolton WanderersH4–05,000Harris, Holford, Higginson (2)33 14 April 1902 Grimsby TownH2–04,000Watkins, Holford34 19 April 1902 Manchester CityA2–27,000Holford, Hillman (o.g. )===FA Cup===RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR125 January 1902 Aston VillaH2–220,000Watkins, HalesR1 Replay29 January 1902 Aston VillaA2–1 (aet)22,000Higginson, HalesR28 February 1902 Bristol RoversA1–015,000Dunn (o.g. )R322 February 1902 Nottingham ForestA0–229,000
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK George Boote100010GK George Lawton100010GK Leigh Richmond Roose24040280GK Tom Wilkes800080FB Harry Benson100010FB Charlie Burgess301040FB Bill Capewell12000120FB Andy Clark34030370FB Sam Meredith27040310HB Thomas Shufflebotham000000HB Samuel Ashworth25040290HB George Baddeley700070HB James Bradley23020250HB Tom Holford29340333HB Vic Horrocks000000HB Billy Leech13020150FW Ross Fielding200020FW Len Hales15242194FW George Harris15300153FW Sam Higginson30641347FW Freddie Johnson29340333FW Arthur Lockett27540315FW Billy MacDonald930093FW Bertram Wallace100010FW Mart Watkins3215413616FW Frank Whitehouse630063–Own goals–2–1–3
References