1963–64 Stoke City F.C. season

Stoke City
1963–64 season
Chairman Mr G. Taylor
Manager Tony Waddington
Stadium Victoria Ground
Football League First Division 17th (38 Points)
FA Cup Fifth Round
League Cup Final (Runners-up)
Top goalscorer League: John Ritchie (18)
All: John Ritchie (30)
Highest home attendance 45,697 vs Manchester United (18 April 1964)
Lowest home attendance 20,488 vs Bolton Wanderers (22 February 1964)
Average home league attendance 30,315
Home colours

The 1963–64 season was Stoke City's 57th season in the Football League and the 33rd in the First Division.

With the club now on a high after gaining promotion back to England's top tier manager Tony Waddington wasted no time in bringing in new signings to make sure relegation was avoided. He broke the transfer record and despite some concern during the season Stoke stayed up comfortably in 17th position. Stoke enjoyed success in the League Cup reaching the final against Leicester City before losing 4–3 over two legs.[1]

Season review

League

With the euphoria of winning promotion over, Waddington knew that his side had to be strengthened to have any hope of surviving in the First Division.[1] The first big name signing he made was that of Peter Dobing for a club record fee of £37,500 from Manchester City and £6,000 for Bobby Irvine a young goalkeeper from Linfield.[1] Also signed by Stoke this season was John Ritchie a centre forward signed from non-league Kettering Town for a small fee of £2,500.[1] Ritchie scored 30 goals in his first season and went on to become Stoke's best ever goalscorer.[1]

Stoke made a dream start to the 1963–64 season beating Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 at home on the opening match of the season, Jimmy McIlroy scoring both goals, and then accounting for Aston Villa 3–1 two days later.[1] There followed though, a run of 10 matches without a win and Stoke found themselves at the wrong end of the table.[1] Waddington was not happy with his defence and went out and bought Calvin Palmer from Nottingham Forest for £30,000 and George Kinnell from Aberdeen for £27,000 and another 'keeper Lawrie Leslie from West Ham United.[1] On the other hand he released Don Ratcliffe, and Ron Wilson.[1] John Ritchie was introduced into the first team by October and he made an instant impression as he started scoring the first few of his 171 for the club.[1] With Ritchie in full flow, things improved and in nine matches from early October to mid November, Stoke remained unbeaten.[1] However around Christmas time the team again went through a bad spell losing eight times including some heavy defeats.[1]

Stoke recovered well in the second half of the season and began to pull themselves away from the danger zone.[1] A huge 9–1 win over Ipswich Town in March gave the team the confidence they needed and five wins in their last nine fixtures lifted Stoke to a final position of 17th, 10 points above relegated Bolton Wanderers.[1]

FA Cup

Stoke beat Portsmouth 4–1 in the third round and then edged past Ipswich in a replay before losing in a replay to Swansea.[1]

League Cup

Away from the league Stoke had a great run in this seasons League Cup having made an unspectacular start to the competition which started in 1960.[1] In 1963–64 they made it through to the final where they met Leicester City.[1] Stoke's run had seen them knock-out Scunthorpe United after three matches, Bolton Wanderers, Bournemouth, Rotherham United and then Manchester City in the semi final.[1] The final itself was played over two legs, Stoke drawing 1–1 at the Victoria Ground in the first clash. This proved to be insufficient as Leicester won the return leg at Filbert Street 3–2 giving them a 4–3 aggregate win and with it the League Cup.[1]

Final league table

PosClubPWDLFAGAPts
1Liverpool422651192452.04457
2Manchester United422371290621.45253
3Everton4221101184641.31352
4Tottenham Hotspur422271397811.19851
5Chelsea4220101272561.28650
6Sheffield Wednesday4219111284671.25449
7Blackburn Rovers4218101489651.36946
8Arsenal4217111490821.09845
9Burnley4217101571641.10944
10West Bromwich Albion4216111570611.14843
11Leicester City4216111561581.05243
12Sheffield United4216111561640.95343
13Nottingham Forest421691764680.94141
14West Ham United4214121669740.93240
15Fulham4213131658650.89239
16Wolverhampton Wanderers4212151570800.87539
17Stoke City4214101877780.98738
18Blackpool421392052730.71235
19Aston Villa4211121962710.87334
20Birmingham City421172454920.58729
21Bolton Wanderers421082448800.60028
22Ipswich Town429726561210.46325

Key: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
1 24 August 1963 Tottenham HotspurH2–140,017McIlroy (2)
2 26 August 1963 Aston VillaA3–139,041Dobing (2), Mudie
3 31 August 1963 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–243,217Viollet
4 4 September 1963 Aston VillaH2–236,649Viollet, Dobing
5 7 September 1963 Leicester CityH3–334,453Viollet (2), Asprey
6 11 September 1963 Sheffield UnitedA1–425,347McIlroy
7 14 September 1963 Nottingham ForestH0–134,458
8 18 September 1963 Sheffield UnitedH0–230,230
9 21 September 1963 Blackburn RoversA0–130,517
10 28 September 1963 BlackpoolH1–227,244Clamp (pen)
11 5 October 1963 ChelseaA3–329,204Mudie (2), Harris (o.g.)
12 9 October 1963 ArsenalH1–231,014McIlroy
13 12 October 1963 Bolton WanderersA4–317,366McIlroy (2), Ritchie (2)
14 19 October 1963 FulhamH1–124,464Ritchie
15 26 October 1963 West Bromwich AlbionA3–223,800Ritchie, Dobing, Palmer
16 2 November 1963 BurnleyH4–437,279Ritchie (2), Dobing, Bebbington
17 9 November 1963 Ipswich TownA2–015,006Ritchie, Dobing
18 16 November 1963 Sheffield WednesdayH4–430,695Ritchie (3), Dobing
19 23 November 1963 EvertonA0–247,143
20 30 November 1963 Birmingham CityH4–127,308Ritchie (2), Dobing, Kinnell
21 7 December 1963 Manchester UnitedA2–552,232Ritchie, Dobing
22 14 December 1963 Tottenham HotspurA1–236,209Palmer
23 21 December 1963 Wolverhampton WanderersH0–227,070
24 26 December 1963 LiverpoolA1–649,948Ritchie
25 11 January 1964 Leicester CityA1–223,333Clamp
26 18 January 1964 Nottingham ForestA0–017,872
27 1 February 1964 Blackburn RoversH3–132,275Bridgwood, Bebbington (2)
28 8 February 1964 BlackpoolA0–114,452
29 22 February 1964 Bolton WanderersH0–120,488
30 29 February 1964 ArsenalA1–126,208Kinnell
31 4 March 1964 ChelseaH2–021,264Palmer, Dobing
32 7 March 1964 West Bromwich AlbionH1–125,021Viollet
33 21 March 1964 Ipswich TownH9–116,166Viollet (3), Dobing, McIlroy (2), Bebbington, Ritchie (2)
34 27 March 1964 West Ham UnitedA1–429,484Dobing
35 28 March 1964 BurnleyA0–123,869
36 31 March 1964 West Ham UnitedH3–024,990Dobing, McIlroy, Palmer
37 4 April 1964 EvertonH3–235,315Bebbington (2), Viollet
38 8 April 1964 Sheffield WednesdayA0–230,201
39 11 April 1964 Birmingham CityA1–019,890Kinnell (pen)
40 18 April 1964 Manchester UnitedH3–145,697Palmer, Viollet, Ritchie
41 25 April 1964 FulhamA3–315,748Dobing (2), Bridgwood
42 29 April 1964 LiverpoolH3–132,149Dobing, Ritchie, Bebbington

FA Cup

Main article: 1963–64 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R34 January 1964 PortsmouthH4–128,966Ritchie (2), Viollet (2)
R425 January 1964 Ipswich TownA1–121,894McIlroy
R4 Replay29 January 1964 Ipswich TownH1–034,612McIlroy
R515 February 1964 Swansea CityH2–240,095McIlroy, Matthews
R5 Replay18 February 1964 Swansea CityA0–229,582

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R225 September 1963 Scunthorpe UnitedA2–26,945Dobing (2)
R2 Replay16 October 1963 Scunthorpe UnitedH3–311,060Dobing, Ritchie (2)
R2 2nd Replay22 October 1963 Scunthorpe UnitedN1–04,297Ritchie
R329 October 1963 Bolton WanderersH3–011,285Ritchie (2), Bebbington
R427 November 1963 BournemouthH2–19,766Ritchie (2)
Quarter Final16 December 1963 Rotherham UnitedH3–212,988Ritchie (2), Kinnell
Semi Final 1st Leg15 January 1964 Manchester CityH2–021,019Ritchie, Asprey
Semi Final 2nd Leg2 February 1964 Manchester CityA0–116,894
Final 1st Leg15 April 1964 Leicester CityH1–122,369Bebbington
Final 2nd Leg22 April 1964 Leicester CityA2–325,372Kinnell, Viollet

Friendlies

MatchOpponentVenueResult
1FK Austria WienA0–1
2AberdeenA0–2
3BenficaH0–1
4BelenensesA0–0
5Club Santa FeA2–3
6Independiente MedellínA3–0
7Santiago MorningA0–0
8Boca JuniorsA2–1
9River PlateA0–5
10San LorenzoA1–2

Squad statistics

Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GKNorthern Ireland Bobby Irvine 1100010120
GKScotland Lawrie Leslie 2505050350
GKRepublic of Ireland Jimmy O'Neill 600040100
DFEngland Tony Allen 41050100560
DFEngland Ron Andrew 40000040
DFEngland Alan Bloor 00001010
DFScotland George Kinnell 2435052345
DFEngland Eric Skeels 39050100540
DFSouth Africa Eddie Stuart 2301060300
DFScotland Ron Wilson 20000020
MFEngland Bill Asprey 2914091422
MFEngland Gerry Bridgwood 1620060222
MFEngland Eddie Clamp 1824060282
MFEngland John Flowers 50000050
MFScotland Jackie Mudie 43001053
MFEngland Calvin Palmer 3055050405
FWEngland Keith Bebbington 3674092499
FWEngland Peter Dobing 391620935019
FWNorthern Ireland Jimmy McIlroy 32943704312
FWEngland Stanley Matthews 904100131
FWEngland Don Ratcliffe 80001090
FWEngland John Ritchie 2918429104230
FWEngland Dennis Viollet 321032614113
Own goals 1001

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
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