# 1919–20 Stoke F.C. season

The 1919–20 season was Stoke's 20th season in the Football League and the second in the Second Division.
With the country back to normal after the hostilities in Europe, a full league programme was restored for the 1919–20 season and Stoke were able to take their place back in the Football League since 1908. Stoke had an up and down season as they went on runs of victories and then runs of defeats and unsurprisingly finished in a mid table position of 10th. The 1919–20 season also saw the Potteries derby become a league fixture as local club Port Vale were elected into the football league due to the expulsion of Leeds City. Stoke won the first league meeting between the two clubs 3–0 at Vale's Old Recreation Ground.

## Season review
### League

During the war Stoke had some success as they impressed in the Lancashire section of the war league. There was of course sadness as seven players died fighting in the war. These were goalkeeper Richard Herron, half-backs Henry Hargreaves and Stan Ripley and reserve team players George Limer, Jack Shorthouse, Tom Kinson and Bill Nixon. Stoke's exploits in the War-League not only brought prestige and standing, but also swelled the coffers to the extent of financial stability. It was hoped that the club was set from a bright future and, with virtually everyone retained who had acquitted themselves so well in the war period, promotion was the target. Two Scottish players George Jarvis (from Celtic) and Jock Stirling (from Bradford Park Avenue) joined the forward ranks, whilst goalkeeper Tom Kay became first choice keeper and would go on to make 70 successive appearances.
The 1919–20 season opened well with good sized crowds being entertained by a winning team. Stoke collected maximum points in eleven of the first 15 matches and they only failed to score in one. Bob Whittingham, who had been such a stalwart during the war, rejoined the club on a permanent transfer from Chelsea and at the same time (October) David Brown arrived from Dundee to give Stoke's forward line an impressive look. But amazingly and completely out of context, Stoke's fortunes took a dramatic turn as they lost the next five matches. The team did manage to recover and in the end finished in 10th spot. A mid-table position was acceptable since the club had sought, initially, to consolidate its position in the Second Division. But the supporters were disappointed with the end result after such a good start to the season.

### FA Cup

Fellow Second Division side Bury defeated Stoke in the first round 2–0.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 8 | Bristol City | 42 | 13 | 17 | 12 | 46 | 43 | 1.070 | 43 |
| 9 | South Shields | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 58 | 48 | 1.208 | 42 |
| 10 | Stoke | 42 | 18 | 6 | 18 | 60 | 54 | 1.111 | 42 |
| 11 | Hull City | 42 | 18 | 6 | 18 | 78 | 72 | 1.083 | 42 |
| 12 | Barnsley | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 61 | 55 | 1.109 | 40 |
* ↑ New club in the league; elected from North Eastern League
* ↑ New club in the league; elected from Southern League

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Second Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 30 August 1919 | Barnsley | H | 2–0 | 12,000 | Jarvis (2) |
| 2 | 1 September 1919 | Hull City | A | 0–3 | 8,000 | |
| 3 | 6 September 1919 | Barnsley | A | 2–1 | 7,000 | Jarvis, Tempest |
| 4 | 8 September 1919 | Hull City | H | 3–1 | 10,000 | Jarvis (2), Maddock (pen) |
| 5 | 13 September 1919 | Blackpool | H | 2–0 | 9,000 | Smith, Boxley |
| 6 | 20 September 1919 | Blackpool | A | 1–3 | 6,000 | Herbert |
| 7 | 27 September 1919 | West Ham United | H | 2–1 | 10,000 | Herbert (2) |
| 8 | 4 October 1919 | West Ham United | A | 1–1 | 20,000 | Phillips |
| 9 | 11 October 1919 | Stockport County | H | 2–1 | 8,000 | Clarke, Stirling |
| 10 | 18 October 1919 | Stockport County | A | 1–3 | 7,000 | Boxley |
| 11 | 25 October 1919 | Rotherham County | H | 3–0 | 5,000 | Jarvis (2), Jones |
| 12 | 1 November 1919 | Rotherham County | A | 3–1 | 12,000 | Jarvis, Brown (2) |
| 13 | 15 November 1919 | Bristol City | A | 2–1 | 6,000 | Parker, Whittingham |
| 14 | 17 November 1919 | Bristol City | H | 2–0 | 8,000 | Whittingham, Twemlow (pen) |
| 15 | 22 November 1919 | Grimsby Town | H | 3–0 | 5,000 | Jones (2), Jarvis |
| 16 | 29 November 1919 | Grimsby Town | A | 0–2 | 4,000 | |
| 17 | 6 December 1919 | Birmingham | H | 0–1 | 30,000 | |
| 18 | 13 December 1919 | Birmingham | A | 1–2 | 40,000 | Page |
| 19 | 20 December 1919 | Leicester City | A | 1–3 | 19,641 | Brown |
| 20 | 25 December 1919 | Coventry City | A | 2–3 | 15,000 | Brown, Whittingham |
| 21 | 26 December 1919 | Coventry City | H | 6–1 | 20,000 | Brown (2), Whittingham (2), Phillips (2) |
| 22 | 27 December 1919 | Leicester City | H | 3–0 | 15,000 | Brown (2), Whittingham |
| 23 | 3 January 1920 | Fulham | A | 0–0 | 10,000 | |
| 24 | 17 January 1920 | Fulham | H | 1–0 | 7,000 | Parker |
| 25 | 24 January 1920 | Nottingham Forest | H | 0–2 | 8,000 | |
| 26 | 28 January 1920 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–0 | 6,000 | Brown, Martin |
| 27 | 7 February 1920 | Lincoln City | H | 1–3 | 10,000 | Whittingham |
| 28 | 14 February 1920 | Lincoln City | A | 1–2 | 8,000 | Jarvis |
| 29 | 21 February 1920 | Bury | H | 1–1 | 12,000 | Twemlow (pen) |
| 30 | 28 February 1920 | Bury | A | 0–1 | 12,000 | |
| 31 | 6 March 1920 | Port Vale | A | 3–0 | 22,697 | Whittingham, Brown, Watkin |
| 32 | 13 March 1920 | Port Vale | H | 0–0 | 27,000 | |
| 33 | 20 March 1920 | Clapton Orient | A | 1–2 | 8,000 | Brown |
| 34 | 27 March 1920 | Clapton Orient | H | 2–0 | 18,000 | Brown, Maddock (pen) |
| 35 | 3 April 1920 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–2 | 40,000 | |
| 36 | 5 April 1920 | Huddersfield Town | H | 0–1 | 20,000 | |
| 37 | 6 April 1920 | Huddersfield Town | A | 0–3 | 30,000 | |
| 38 | 10 April 1920 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–3 | 10,000 | Maddock (pen) |
| 39 | 17 April 1920 | South Shields | A | 2–2 | 16,000 | Watkin (2) |
| 40 | 24 April 1920 | South Shields | H | 0–0 | 5,000 | |
| 41 | 26 April 1920 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–4 | 12,000 | |
| 42 | 1 May 1920 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 3–0 | 10,000 | Brown, Boxley (2) |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 10 January 1920 | Bury | A | 0–2 | 12,000 | |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Tom Kay | 42 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 0 |
| DF | Percy Brooke | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | Jack Maddock | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3 |
| DF | Alec Milne | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| DF | George Smart | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | Billy Twemlow | 33 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 2 |
| MF | George Clarke | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 1 |
| MF | Joe Jones | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3 |
| MF | Charlie Parker | 34 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 2 |
| MF | Dickie Smith | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| MF | Harry Wootton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Tommy Bowyer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | David Boxley | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
| FW | David Brown | 31 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 13 |
| FW | Matthew Burton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | Bill Charnley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Harry Crossthwaite | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| FW | Billy Herbert | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| FW | George Jarvis | 30 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 10 |
| FW | James Martin | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| FW | Louis Page | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| FW | Wilf Phillips | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 3 |
| FW | Jock Stirling | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 1 |
| FW | Billy Tempest | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 1 |
| FW | Billy Tompkinson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Arthur Watkin | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 3 |
| FW | Bob Whittingham | 18 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 8 |