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1972–73 Stoke City F.C. season

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Stoke City
1972–73 season
ChairmanAlbert Henshall
ManagerTony Waddington
StadiumVictoria Ground
Football League First Division15th (38 Points)
FA CupThird Round
League CupFourth Round
UEFA CupFirst Round
Top goalscorerLeague: Jimmy Greenhoff
(16)

All: Jimmy Greenhoff
(20)
Highest home attendance36,051 vs Manchester United
(14 April 1973)
Lowest home attendance17,772 vs Southampton
(11 November 1972)
Average home league attendance23,800

The 1972–73 season was Stoke City's 66th season in the Football League and the 42nd in the First Division.

After the jubilation of last season's success the club was able to sign world cup winner Geoff Hurst which boosted season ticket sales. They also entered European competition for the first time losing 5–3 on aggregate to German side 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Stoke failed to build on last season and had to settle for a mid table position of 15th.[1]

Season review

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League

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After winning the League Cup last season there was a number of notable departures during the early part of the season.[1] They sold Mike Bernard to Everton for a record £140,000, with the money being spent on Jimmy Robertson from Ipswich Town and World Cup winner Geoff Hurst from West Ham United.[1] Stoke now had an abundance of attacking talent but both Harry Burrows and Peter Dobing decided to retire during the season.[1]

The arrival of Hurst certainly boosted season ticket sales and a record takings were banked before a ball was kicked prior to the start of the 1972–73 season.[1] It proved that the public of Stoke-on-Trent were now right behind the team but despite high hopes and expectations, the "Potters" started the new campaign rather poorly and found themselves in the bottom six.[1] Stoke's immediate plans were hit when on the Sunday morning of 22 October 1972 after visiting the Victoria Ground for treatment Gordon Banks crashed his car on the way home and effectively ended his career.[1] Such was the scale of Banks' presence his condition was headline news.[1] Realising that Banks was to be out of action for quite some time Waddington moved in for Scotland international Bobby Clark, but the deal fell through as he failed to impress the Stoke directors.[1] Mike McDonald was signed instead from Clydebank as cover for John Farmer after it was learnt that Banks had lost an eye and would never play competitive football again.[1]

George Eastham returned to the club in February after spending time doing coaching work in South Africa, he added his experience to the cause as he helped Stoke to recover and take 15th place.[1] Three players reached double figures in the league scoring charts this term, Jimmy Greenhoff (16), John Ritchie (14) and Geoff Hurst (10) as Stoke scored 61 goals.[1] They ended the season with a tour of Oceania.

FA Cup

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In the FA Cup Stoke went out in the third round losing 3–2 to Manchester City at Maine Road.[1]

League Cup

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As holders of the League Cup, Stoke started off with high hopes of retaining the trophy and they began with good wins over Sunderland (3–0) and Ipswich Town (2–1) but a bad night at Notts County (1–3) in the fourth round put paid to any hopes of a return to Wembley.[1]

UEFA Cup

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Their success in the 1972 Football League Cup Final, had placed them into a European competition for the first time, and they drew little known West German side 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the first round.[1] A comfortable 3–1 home win was achieved in the first leg and two weeks later Waddington favoured a defensive team for the match at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion.[1] The plan backed fired and Stoke were crushed 4–0 with John Ritchie being sent-off just seconds after being brought on as a substitute without even touching the ball.[1]

Final league table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
13 Southampton 42 11 18 13 47 52 0.904 40
14 Sheffield United 42 15 10 17 51 59 0.864 40
15 Stoke City 42 14 10 18 61 56 1.089 38 Qualification for the Watney Cup[a]
16 Leicester City 42 10 17 15 40 46 0.870 37
17 Everton 42 13 11 18 41 49 0.837 37
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
Notes:
  1. ^ West Ham United and Stoke City qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that had not already qualified for a European competition.

Results

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Stoke's score comes first

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League First Division

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Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 12 August 1972 Crystal Palace H 2–0 22,564 Smith 32', Ritchie 64'
2 15 August 1972 Southampton A 0–1 18,242
3 19 August 1972 Arsenal A 0–2 42,164
4 23 August 1972 Sheffield United H 2–2 20,402 Smith 55', Hurst 68'
5 26 August 1972 Everton H 1–1 26,360 Ritchie 12'
6 30 August 1972 Norwich City A 0–2 30,069
7 2 September 1972 Coventry City A 1–2 14,317 Pejic 85'
8 9 September 1972 Leeds United H 2–2 26,709 Hurst 59', Conroy 80'
9 16 September 1972 Ipswich Town A 0–2 17,810
10 23 September 1972 Manchester City H 5–1 26,448 Conroy 6', Greenhoff (3) 13', 68', 82', Hurst 57'
11 30 September 1972 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 3–5 24,133 Hurst 3' (pen), Greenhoff 24', Bloor 75'
12 7 October 1972 Tottenham Hotspur A 3–4 31,951 Ritchie 32', 51', Bloor 82'
13 14 October 1972 Newcastle United H 2–0 21,205 Hurst 77', Robertson 90'
14 21 October 1972 Liverpool A 1–2 43,604 Greenhoff 34'
15 28 October 1972 Leicester City H 1–0 24,421 Hurst 9'
16 4 November 1972 Sheffield United A 0–0 19,322
17 11 November 1972 Southampton H 3–3 17,772 Smith 5', Ritchie 45', Conroy 50'
18 18 November 1972 Birmingham City H 1–2 23,046 Greenhoff 3'
19 25 November 1972 West Bromwich Albion A 1–2 13,316 Hurst 38'
20 2 December 1972 Chelsea H 1–1 21,274 Conroy 65'
21 9 December 1972 Manchester United A 2–0 41,347 Pejic 17', Ritchie 42'
22 16 December 1972 West Ham United A 2–3 23,269 Hurst 8', Ritchie 89'
23 23 December 1972 Derby County H 4–0 23,084 Ritchie (2) 10', 58', Hurst 30', Greenhoff 36'
24 26 December 1972 Manchester City A 1–1 36,334 Mahoney 65'
25 30 December 1972 Arsenal H 0–0 24,586
26 6 January 1973 Everton A 0–2 26,818
27 27 January 1973 Leeds United A 0–1 33,487
28 14 February 1973 Derby County A 3–0 22,106 Mahoney 19', Robertson 44', Greenhoff 80'
29 17 February 1973 Crystal Palace A 2–3 32,099 Greenhoff 56', Smith 68'
30 24 February 1973 West Ham United H 2–0 21,885 Greenhoff 4', Robertson 15'
31 10 March 1973 Newcastle United A 0–1 23,570
32 14 March 1973 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–1 23,351 Greenhoff 87'
33 17 March 1973 Liverpool H 0–1 33,540
34 24 March 1973 Leicester City A 0–2 18,473
35 26 March 1973 Coventry City H 2–1 20,218 Ritchie 47', Haslegrave 64'
36 31 March 1973 West Bromwich Albion H 2–0 21,296 Greenhoff 68', Hurst 70'
37 4 April 1973 Ipswich Town H 1–0 18,319 Ritchie 13'
38 7 April 1973 Chelsea A 3–1 19,706 Greenhoff 23', Ritchie 39', Haslegrave 78'
39 14 April 1973 Manchester United H 2–2 36,051 Greenhoff 75', Ritchie 82'
40 21 April 1973 Birmingham City A 1–3 32,513 Robertson 85'
41 24 April 1973 Wolverhampton Wanderers H 2–0 25,251 Robertson 29', Greenhoff 87'
42 28 April 1973 Norwich City H 2–0 19,350 Greenhoff 25', Ritchie 58'

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R3 13 January 1973 Manchester City A 2–3 38,648 Greenhoff (2) 22', 55'

League Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
R2 6 September 1972 Sunderland H 3–0 16,706 Greenhoff (2) 8', 70', Hurst 90'
R3 3 October 1972 Ipswich Town A 2–1 14,602 Hurst 64', Ritchie 88'
R4 31 October 1972 Notts County A 1–3 20,297 Bloor 80'

UEFA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1st Round 1st Leg 13 September 1972 1. FC Kaiserslautern H 3–1 22,182 Conroy 51', Hurst 72', Ritchie 85'
1st Round 2nd Leg 27 September 1972 1. FC Kaiserslautern A 0–4 18,000

Friendlies

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Match Opponent Venue Result
1 Doncaster Rovers A 2–1
2 Carlisle United A 3–3
3 Wolverhampton Wanderers A 1–2
4 Crewe Alexandra A 4–2
5 Brighton & Hove Albion A 2–0
6 Persepolis A 1–1
7 Western Australia A 3–0
8 Southern Australia A 2–2
9 New South Wales A 3–1
10 Auckland A 1–3
11 Wellington A 5–1
12 Christchurch A 4–2
13 Otago A 8–1
14 New Caledonia A 1–0
15 Tahiti A 3–1

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup UEFA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Gordon Banks 8 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 11 0
GK England John Farmer 33 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 35 0
GK Scotland Mike McDonald 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
DF England Alan Bloor 28 2 1 0 2 1 2 0 33 3
DF England Alan Dodd 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
DF Northern Ireland Alex Elder 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DF England Kevin Lewis 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
DF England Jackie Marsh 38 0 1 0 3 0 2 0 44 0
DF England Mike Pejic 38 2 1 0 3 0 2 0 44 2
DF England Eric Skeels 30(1) 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 33(1) 0
DF England Denis Smith 38(1) 4 1 0 2 0 2 0 43(1) 4
MF Republic of Ireland Terry Conroy 29(4) 4 1 0 2(1) 0 2 1 34(5) 5
MF England George Eastham 17(1) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 18(1) 0
MF England Sean Haslegrave 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2
MF England Stewart Jump 7(3) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8(3) 0
MF England Terry Lees 7(1) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8(1) 0
MF Wales John Mahoney 33(1) 2 1 0 2 0 2 0 38(1) 2
MF Scotland Jimmy Robertson 27(4) 5 1 0 3 0 2 0 33(4) 5
MF Scotland Willie Stevenson 1(1) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2(1) 0
FW England Harry Burrows 0(2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0(2) 0
FW England Peter Dobing 8(2) 0 0 0 0(1) 0 0 0 8(3) 0
FW England Jimmy Greenhoff 41 16 1 2 2 2 2 0 46 20
FW England Geoff Hurst 38 10 0 0 3 2 2 1 43 13
FW England John Ritchie 29(2) 14 1 0 3 1 2 1 35(2) 16

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.