| Season: | 1896–97 |
| Chairman: | Mr S. Barker |
| League Result: | 13th (25 Points) |
| Cup1 Result: | Second Round |
| League Topscorer: | William Maxwell (13) |
| Season Topscorer: | William Maxwell (16) |
| Highest Attendance: | 8,000 vs Everton (2 January 1897) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 2,500 vs Bury (12 April 1897) |
| Average Attendance: | 5,400 |
| Nextseason: | 1897–98 |
| Pattern La1: | _navy_stripes |
| Pattern B1: | _navystripes |
| Pattern Ra1: | _navy_stripes |
| Leftarm1: | ff2000 |
| Body1: | ff2000 |
| Rightarm1: | ff2000 |
| Shorts1: | 002060 |
| Socks1: | 002060 |
The 1896–97 season was Stoke's eighth season in the Football League.
After last season's success of finishing in 6th position there was high hopes that it would signal a change in the club's fortunes. Alas it was a disappointing season for Stoke as little progress was made and they finished the season in 13th position with 25 points.[1]
As the 1896–97 season beckoned there was a lot of talk of Stoke purchasing the football pitch at the cricket ground in the town, with a considerable amount of financial backing promised.[1] However this never materialised much to the disappointment of chairman Mr S. Barker.[1] During the campaign itself a total of 16 players made their senior debuts for the club including Zeke Johnston, Stoke's first Irishman signed from Burnley.[1] There was little progress in the league with a 13th-place finish.[1] The best result of the season saw Stoke beat Liverpool 6–1 in February 1897.[1] Long serving forward Billy Dickson retired as did half-back Davy Brodie.[1]
After beating Glossop 5–2 in the first round Stoke lost 2–1 in the next to Preston North End.[1]
Stoke's score comes first
| Win | Draw | Loss |
See main article: 1896–97 Football League.
| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 September 1896 | Aston Villa | A | 1–2 | 5,000 | Schofield | |
| 2 | 5 September 1896 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–1 | 7,000 | Johnson, Wood | |
| 3 | 12 September 1896 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–4 | 3,500 | ||
| 4 | 19 September 1896 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 2–3 | 4,000 | Schofield, Eccles | |
| 5 | 26 September 1896 | The Wednesday | A | 3–4 | 6,000 | Schofield, Wood, Johnson | |
| 6 | 10 October 1896 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2–1 | 5,000 | W Maxwell, Wood | |
| 7 | 17 October 1896 | Nottingham Forest | H | 3–0 | 5,000 | W Maxwell, Schofield, Johnson | |
| 8 | 24 October 1896 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–4 | 4,000 | ||
| 9 | 31 October 1896 | Aston Villa | H | 0–2 | 4,000 | ||
| 10 | 7 November 1896 | Derby County | A | 1–5 | 3,000 | W Maxwell | |
| 11 | 9 November 1896 | Preston North End | H | 2–1 | 4,000 | W Maxwell, Eardley | |
| 12 | 14 November 1896 | Bury | A | 2–4 | 3,000 | A Maxwell, Wood | |
| 13 | 21 November 1896 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 2–2 | 6,200 | W Maxwell (2) | |
| 14 | 28 November 1896 | Preston North End | A | 0–3 | 5,000 | ||
| 15 | 5 December 1896 | Derby County | H | 2–2 | 5,000 | W Maxwell (2) | |
| 16 | 12 December 1896 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 2–1 | 1,105 | W Maxwell (2) | |
| 17 | 19 December 1896 | Everton | A | 2–4 | 7,000 | W Maxwell, Schofield | |
| 18 | 2 January 1897 | Everton | H | 2–3 | 8,000 | W Maxwell, Schofield | |
| 19 | 9 January 1897 | Burnley | A | 3–1 | 3,000 | A Maxwell (2), Schofield | |
| 20 | 16 January 1897 | Liverpool | A | 0–1 | 7,000 | ||
| 21 | 23 January 1897 | The Wednesday | H | 0–0 | 5,000 | ||
| 22 | 6 February 1897 | Liverpool | H | 6–1 | 7,000 | Schofield (2), W Maxwell, Hill (2), Hingerty | |
| 23 | 20 February 1897 | Sunderland | A | 1–4 | 2,000 | ||
| 24 | 27 February 1897 | Burnley | H | 3–2 | 8,000 | Hill (2), Hingerty | |
| 25 | 20 March 1897 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–2 | 8,000 | Hingerty | |
| 26 | 27 March 1897 | Sheffield United | A | 0–1 | 2,000 | ||
| 27 | 3 April 1897 | Sunderland | H | 0–1 | 5,000 | ||
| 28 | 10 April 1897 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 1–0 | 5,000 | Hill | |
| 29 | 12 April 1897 | Bury | H | 3–0 | 2,500 | Hill, Schofield, Darroch (o.g.) | |
| 30 | 15 April 1897 | Sheffield United | H | 2–0 | 3,000 |
See main article: 1896–97 FA Cup.
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 30 January 1897 | Glossop | H | 5–2 | 2,000 | W Maxwell (2), Schofield, Hingerty (2) | |
| R2 | 13 February 1897 | Preston North End | A | 1–2 | 6,000 |
| Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| GK | Albert Boardman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| GK | Zeke Johnston | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| GK | Fred Latham | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| GK | Bill Rowley | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| GK | Fred Sheldon | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| FB | Tommy Clare | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 0 | |
| FB | Peter Durber | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| FB | Jack Eccles | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1 | |
| HB | Lucien Boullemier | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| HB | Davy Brodie | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| HB | Bill Fearns | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| HB | Jimmy Grewer | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
| HB | Ted McDonald | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| HB | Jim Peacock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| HB | Harry Simpson | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| HB | Arthur Rowley | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 0 | |
| HB | Alf Wood | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | |
| FW | Billy Baird | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| FW | Arthur Bentley | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| FW | Samuel Cole | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| FW | Billy Dickson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| FW | Billy Eardley | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | |
| FW | Billy Heames | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| FW | Jimmy Hill | 10 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 6 | |
| FW | Jim Hingerty | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 6 | |
| FW | Freddie Johnson | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 3 | |
| FW | Allan Maxwell | 23 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 3 | |
| FW | William Maxwell | 29 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 31 | 16 | |
| FW | Joe Schofield | 29 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 13 | |
| FW | Samuel Woods | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| – | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 1 | |