# 1915–16 Stoke F.C. season

The 1915–16 season was Stoke's first season in the non-competitive War League.
With the start of World War I, all Football League football was cancelled. In its place were formed War Leagues, based on geographical lines rather than based on previous league placement. Stoke contested the Lancashire Section in the Principal Tournament, and the Southern Division of the Midland Section in the Subsidiary Tournament. However, none of these were considered to be competitive football, and thus their records are not recognised by the Football League.

## Season review

With Peter Hodge returning to his family in Scotland former club great, Joe Schofield returned to the club in 1915 as manager for the War-time seasons and with a number of first team players joining the army Stoke fielded a number of 'guest' players as did many other clubs. For the whole war Stoke played in the Lancashire section and in the 1915–16 season ended up in mid-table position of 8th while in the Midland Section Secondary Competition Stoke finished 4th. Stoke's best result was a 7–1 win over Chesterfield Town and guest forward Bob Whittingham was top scorer with 26 goals to his name.

## Final league table
### Lancashire Section Primary Competition

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 1 | Manchester City | 26 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 61 | 35 | 1.743 | 35 |
| 2 | Burnley | 26 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 71 | 43 | 1.651 | 33 |
| 3 | Blackpool | 26 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 54 | 41 | 1.317 | 31 |
| 4 | Everton | 25 | 15 | 0 | 10 | 59 | 42 | 1.405 | 30 |
| 5 | Oldham Athletic | 25 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 52 | 44 | 1.182 | 29 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 48 | 42 | 1.143 | 29 |
| 7 | Stockport County | 26 | 13 | 3 | 10 | 47 | 43 | 1.093 | 29 |
| 8 | Stoke | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 43 | 46 | 0.935 | 27 |
| 9 | Southport Central | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 41 | 41 | 1.000 | 24 |
| 10 | Bury | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 46 | 52 | 0.885 | 23 |
| 11 | Manchester United | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 41 | 51 | 0.804 | 22 |
| 12 | Bolton Wanderers | 26 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 48 | 65 | 0.738 | 21 |
| 13 | Rochdale | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 34 | 56 | 0.607 | 19 |
| 14 | Preston North End | 26 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 23 | 67 | 0.343 | 10 |

### Midland Section Secondary Competition

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 1 | Nottingham Forest | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 12 | 2.333 | 14 |
| 2 | Notts County | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 12 | 1.333 | 13 |
| 3 | Leicester Fosse | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 0.789 | 9 |
| 4 | Stoke | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 21 | 18 | 1.167 | 8 |
| 5 | Derby County | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 23 | 28 | 0.821 | 8 |
| 6 | Chesterfield Town | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 29 | 0.517 | 8 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Lancashire Section Primary Competition

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 4 September 1915 | Preston North End | H | 3–1 | 6,000 | Smith, Jones, Whittingham |
| 2 | 11 September 1915 | Stockport County | A | 1–3 | 4,000 | Smith |
| 3 | 18 September 1915 | Liverpool | H | 2–2 | 8,000 | Whittingham (2) |
| 4 | 25 September 1915 | Bury | H | 3–2 | 7,000 | Whittingham (2), Herbert |
| 5 | 2 October 1915 | Manchester United | H | 0–0 | 6,500 | |
| 6 | 9 October 1915 | Blackpool | A | 1–1 | 4,000 | Herbert |
| 7 | 16 October 1915 | Southport Central | H | 2–0 | 3,000 | Whittingham, Tempest |
| 8 | 23 October 1915 | Oldham Athletic | A | 3–1 | 2,000 | Whittingham (2), Herbert |
| 9 | 30 October 1915 | Everton | H | 3–2 | 4,000 | Whittingham, Smith, Hargreaves |
| 10 | 6 November 1915 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–2 | 4,000 | Smith |
| 11 | 13 November 1915 | Manchester City | H | 1–0 | 7,000 | Parker |
| 12 | 20 November 1915 | Rochdale | H | 1–1 | 4,000 | Whittingham |
| 13 | 27 November 1915 | Burnley | A | 2–3 | 4,000 | Whittingham, Hargreaves |
| 14 | 4 December 1915 | Preston North End | A | 3–2 | 3,500 | Whittingham (2), Ellis |
| 15 | 11 December 1915 | Stockport County | H | 0–2 | 3,000 | |
| 16 | 18 December 1915 | Liverpool | A | 0–2 | 7,500 | |
| 17 | 25 December 1915 | Bury | A | 2–4 | 2,000 | Herbert, Whittingham |
| 18 | 1 January 1916 | Manchester United | A | 2–1 | 8,000 | Hargreaves, Ellis |
| 19 | 8 January 1916 | Blackpool | H | 3–1 | 7,500 | Whittingham, Watkin (2) |
| 20 | 15 January 1916 | Southport Central | A | 1–1 | 2,000 | Whittingham |
| 21 | 22 January 1916 | Oldham Athletic | H | 2–1 | 6,000 | Whittingham (2) |
| 22 | 29 January 1916 | Everton | A | 1–4 | 4,000 | Whittingham (pen) |
| 23 | 5 February 1916 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1–1 | 14,000 | Parker |
| 24 | 12 February 1916 | Manchester City | A | 2–4 | 10,000 | Own Goal, Ellis |
| 25 | 19 February 1916 | Rochdale | A | 1–3 | 3,000 | Whittingham |
| 26 | 26 February 1916 | Burnley | H | 2–2 | 13,000 | Whittingham, Smith |

### Midland Section Secondary Competition

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 4 March 1916 | Chesterfield Town | A | 0–3 | 2,000 | |
| 2 | 11 March 1916 | Nottingham Forest | H | 0–1 | 4,000 | |
| 3 | 18 March 1916 | Leicester Fosse | A | 1–2 | 7,500 | Whittingham |
| 4 | 25 March 1916 | Notts County | H | 3–0 | 6,000 | Whittingham (2), Smith |
| 5 | 1 April 1916 | Derby County | A | 2–4 | 4,000 | Smith (2) |
| 6 | 8 April 1916 | Chesterfield Town | H | 7–1 | 7,000 | Herbert (3), Ellis, Turner, Boxley (2) |
| 7 | 15 April 1916 | Nottingham Forest | A | 1–3 | 4,000 | Morris |
| 8 | 22 April 1916 | Leicester Fosse | H | 1–0 | 6,000 | Own Goal |
| 9 | 24 April 1916 | Derby County | H | 6–1 | 6,000 | Own Goal, Whittingham (2), Herbert, Boxley, Harrison |
| 10 | 29 April 1916 | Notts County | A | 0–3 | 4,000 | |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | Matches | Matches |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Richard Herron | 36 | 0 |
| DF | G. Cameron | 2 | 0 |
| DF | George Clarke | 2 | 0 |
| DF | Albert Groves | 2 | 0 |
| DF | Alec McClure | 2 | 0 |
| DF | Alec Milne | 1 | 0 |
| DF | George Smart | 32 | 0 |
| DF | George Turner | 36 | 1 |
| DF | Billy Twemlow | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Frank Bentley | 11 | 0 |
| MF | George Handley | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Billy Harrison | 7 | 1 |
| MF | Joe Jones | 33 | 1 |
| MF | A. Morris | 6 | 1 |
| MF | Charlie Parker | 28 | 2 |
| MF | Jack Shelton | 26 | 0 |
| FW | David Boxley | 2 | 3 |
| FW | Billy Briscoe | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Matthew Burton | 1 | 0 |
| FW | S. Cooper | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Albert Ellis | 20 | 4 |
| FW | Reginald Forrester | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Thomas Greaves | 7 | 0 |
| FW | Henry Hargreaves | 22 | 3 |
| FW | Billy Herbert | 35 | 8 |
| FW | Jack Peart | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Dick Smith | 23 | 7 |
| FW | Billy Tempest | 13 | 1 |
| FW | Billy Tompkinson | 4 | 0 |
| FW | G. Ward | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Arthur Watkin | 3 | 2 |
| FW | Albert Whitehurst | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Bob Whittingham | 32 | 26 |