1957–58 Stoke City F.C. season explained

Season:1957–58
Chairman:Mr C. Salmon
League Result:11th (42 Points)
Cup1 Result:Fifth Round
League Topscorer:George Kelly
(22)
Season Topscorer:George Kelly
(24)
Highest Attendance:27,568 vs Leyton Orient
(28 December 1957)
Lowest Attendance:10,879 vs Derby County
(26 April 1958)
Average Attendance:20,511
Nextseason:1958–59
Pattern La1:_red_stripes
Pattern B1:_red_stripes
Pattern Ra1:_red_stripes
Shorts1:FFFFFF
Socks1:FF0000

The 1957–58 season was Stoke City's 51st season in the Football League and the 18th in the Second Division.

The pressure was now beginning to increase on Frank Taylor with the club gearing up for another season in the second tier. Taylor believed he was building a useful and settled squad however the supporters were starting to get impatient with him. The 1957–58 season was again a huge disappointment as after a good first half of the season was followed up by a poor second half and they ended up in 11th position.[1]

Season review

League

Prior to the start of the 1957–58 season both George Bourne and John Malkin had to retire from playing due to injury.[1] Despite this the management left the transfer market alone during the summer of 1957 with Frank Taylor saying: I am slowly getting together a useful squad and building a settled side.[1] However the club was still short on forward players with only five available these of Frank Bowyer, Neville Coleman, Johnny King, George Kelly and Harry Oscroft.[1] Yet to their credit these five kept the goals flowing with Kelly top scoring with 24 to his name.

The 1957–58 season again proved to be a big disappointment and whilst until December Stoke were in the top two, they ended up in 11th place with absolutely nothing to show for the early efforts.[1] Taylor did go out and spend £11,000 on Dennis Wilshaw from Wolverhampton Wanderers and long serving Frank Mountford bowed out after eight years and took up a coaching role a position he would keep until 1980.[1]

The fruits of the club's youth policy were slowly play dividends with the emergence this season of Tony Allen a quality full back who go on to win international honours with England.[1] Peter Bullock also came through the youth team whilst he did not have a very successful career with Stoke he made his debut against Swansea Town at the age of 16 and 163 days old and he scored becoming the club's youngest player and goalscorer.[1]

FA Cup

Stoke made in-roads in the FA Cup overcoming Aston Villa in a 2nd replay and then Middlesbrough to reach the fifth round where they came up against a powerful Bolton Wanderers side who with the help of Nat Lofthouse beat Stoke 3–1 as they went on to lift the cup.[1]

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

WinDrawLoss

Football League Second Division

See main article: 1957–58 Football League.

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
124 August 1957 MiddlesbroughH4–123,286Oscroft, King (2), Kelly
226 August 1957 Bristol CityH3–023,001King, Kelly, Bowyer
331 August 1957 Leyton OrientA2–017,497Kelly, Oscroft
43 September 1957 Bristol CityA1–225,432Kelly
57 September 1957 Charlton AthleticH2–226,848Kelly, Oscroft
69 September 1957 Bristol RoversH3–523,090Kelly, Coleman, Asprey
714 September 1957 Doncaster RoversA1–09,157King
816 September 1957 Bristol RoversA0–220,022
921 September 1957 Rotherham UnitedH4–120,487Kelly (3), Anderson
1023 September 1957 LiverpoolH1–223,231Twentyman (o.g.)
1128 September 1957 Huddersfield TownA0–112,467
125 October 1957 Grimsby TownH4–118,540Kelly (2), Ratcliffe, King
1312 October 1957 Lincoln CityH1–120,791King
1419 October 1957 Notts CountyA2–113,400King, Kelly
1526 October 1957 Ipswich TownH5–117,469Acres (o.g.), Kelly (2), Oscroft (2)
162 November 1957 Blackburn RoversA0–126,100
174 November 1957 Cardiff CityH3–020,116Coleman (2), Bowyer
189 November 1957 Sheffield UnitedH2–321,602Coleman, Bowyer
1916 November 1957 West Ham UnitedA0–523,230
2023 November 1957 BarnsleyH3–117,555King, Kelly, Ratcliffe
2130 November 1957 FulhamA4–319,781King, Coleman (3)
229 December 1957 Swansea TownH6–224,113King (2), Bowyer, Kelly (3)
2314 December 1957 Derby CountyA0–024,358
2421 December 1957 MiddlesbroughA3–119,220Kelly (2), Coleman
2526 December 1957 Cardiff CityA2–530,240Kelly (2)
2628 December 1957 Leyton OrientH1–327,568Coleman
2711 January 1958 Charlton AthleticA0–320,157
2818 January 1958 Doncaster RoversH0–021,466
291 February 1958 Rotherham UnitedA2–07,921Bowyer, Ratcliffe
308 February 1958 Huddersfield TownH1–116,489Kelly
3122 February 1958 BarnsleyA2–114,182Bowyer, Short (o.g.)
321 March 1958 Notts CountyH0–113,425
338 March 1958 Ipswich TownA3–117,169Coleman (2), Wilshaw
3415 March 1958 Blackburn RoversH2–424,107Coleman, Wilshaw
3522 March 1958 Sheffield UnitedA0–319,540
3629 March 1958 West Ham UnitedH1–414,514King
375 April 1958 Lincoln CityA3–18,169Oscroft, Wilshaw (2)
387 April 1958 LiverpoolA0–339,449
3912 April 1958 FulhamH1–218,918King (pen)
4019 April 1958 Swansea TownA1–423,345Bullock
4122 April 1958 Grimsby TownA0–010,579
4226 April 1958 Derby CountyH2–110,879Wilshaw (2)

FA Cup

See main article: 1957–58 FA Cup.

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R34 January 1958 Aston VillaH1–145,800Kelly
R3 Replay8 January 1958 Aston VillaA3–3 (aet)38,939Oscroft, Coleman, Kelly
R3 2nd Replay13 January 1958 Aston VillaN2–037,702Coleman, Cairns
R425 January 1958 MiddlesbroughH3–143,756Wilshaw (3)
R515 February 1958 Bolton WanderersA1–356,667Cairns

Squad statistics

Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotal
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
GK Wilf Hall24050290
GK Ken Hancock000000
GK Bill Robertson18000180
DF Tony Allen34050390
DF Ron Andrew500050
DF John McCue33050380
DF Peter Ford500050
DF Ken Thomson37050420
MF Bill Asprey28100281
MF Bobby Cairns20052252
MF Frank Mountford11000110
MF John Sellars27050320
FW John Anderson410041
FW Frank Bowyer36550415
FW Peter Bullock310031
FW Neville Coleman3312423714
FW Peter Hall000000
FW Colin Hutchinson200020
FW George Kelly3322523824
FW Johnny King3815304115
FW Harry Oscroft21611227
FW Don Ratcliffe31320333
FW Dennis Wilshaw19653249
Own goals303

Notes and References

  1. Book: Matthews, Tony. The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. 1994. Lion Press. 0-9524151-0-0.