# List of Stoke City F.C. records and statistics

Stoke City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863 the club changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke-on-Trent was granted city status. They are the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts County, and are one of the founding members of the Football League. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. They have never been lower than the third tier.
Their first, and to date only major trophy, the League Cup was won in 1972, when the team beat Chelsea 2–1. The club's highest league finish in the top division is 4th, which was achieved in the 1935–36 and 1946–47 seasons. Stoke played in the FA Cup Final in 2011, finishing runners-up to Manchester City and have reached three FA Cup semi-finals; in 1899 then consecutively in 1971 and 1972. Stoke have competed in European football on three occasions, firstly in 1972–73 then in 1974–75 and most recently in 2011–12. The club has won the Football League Trophy twice, in 1992 and in 2000. The club's record appearance maker is Eric Skeels, who made 597 appearances between 1959 and 1976, and the club's record goalscorer is John Ritchie, who scored 176 goals in 351 appearances from 1962 to 1975.

## Honours
### League

Football League Championship
* Runners-up: 2007–08
Football League Second Division: 3
* Champions: 1932–33, 1962–63, 1992–93
* Runners-up: 1921–22
* Third Place: (Promoted) 1978–79
* Play-off Winners: 2001–02
Football League Third Division North: 1
* Champions: 1926–27
Football Alliance: 1
* Champions: 1890–91
Birmingham & District League: 1
* Champions: 1910–11
Southern League Division Two: 2
* Champions:1909–10, 1914–15
* Runners-up: 1910–11

### Cups

FA Cup
* Runners-up: 2010–11
* Semi-finalists: 1898–99, 1970–71 (3rd place), 1971–72 (4th place)
League Cup: 1
* Winners: 1971–72
* Runners-up: 1963–64
Football League Trophy: 2
* Winners: 1991–92, 1999–2000
Watney Cup: 1
* Winners: 1973
Staffordshire Senior Cup: 15
* Winners: 1877–78, 1878–79, 1903–04 (shared), 1913–14, 1933–34, 1964–65, 1968–69 (shared), 1970–71, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1981–82, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1998–99, 2016–17
* Runners-up: 1882–83, 1885–86, 1894–95, 1900–01, 1902–03, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2010–11
Birmingham Senior Cup: 2
* Winners: 1901, 1914
* Runners-up: 1910, 1915, 1920, 1921
Isle of Man Trophy: 3
* Winners: 1987, 1991, 1992
* Runners-up: 1985
Bass Charity Vase: 5
* Winners: 1980, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1998
* Runners-up: 1890, 1894, 1990, 1996

## Player records
### Appearances

* Most appearances in total (League & Cup) – 597 Eric Skeels (1959–76)
* Most League appearances – 507 Eric Skeels (1959–76)
* Most appearances in total (Including war-time) – 675 John McCue (1940–60)
* Most Consecutive Appearances – 148 Tony Allen (1960–63)
* Youngest Player – Emre Tezgel 16 years, 112 days v Leyton Orient 9 January 2022
* Oldest Player – Stanley Matthews 50 years, 5 days v Fulham 6 February 1965
* First Substitute – Keith Bebbington in 1965 who replaced Dennis Viollet
* Most Substitute Appearances For The Club – 98 Peter Crouch (2011–2019)

#### Top 20 most appearances

| Rank | Name | Years | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total |
| 1 | Eric Skeels | 1960–1976 | 507 | 43 | 38 | 9 | 597 |
| 2 | John McCue | 1946–1960 | 502 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 542 |
| 3 | Bob McGrory | 1921–1935 | 479 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 511 |
| 4 | Denis Smith | 1968–1982 | 407 | 29 | 34 | 23 | 493 |
| 5 | Alan Bloor | 1961–1978 | 388 | 38 | 37 | 19 | 482 |
| 6 | Peter Fox | 1978–1993 | 409 | 22 | 32 | 14 | 477 |
| 7 | Tony Allen | 1957–1970 | 417 | 30 | 26 | 0 | 473 |
| 8 | Ryan Shawcross | 2007–2021 | 401 | 25 | 19 | 8 | 453 |
| 9 | Jackie Marsh | 1967–1979 | 355 | 32 | 35 | 22 | 444 |
| 10 | Frank Bowyer | 1948–1960 | 398 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 436 |
| 11 | Frank Mountford | 1946–1958 | 391 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 425 |
| 12 | Alan Dodd | 1972–1985 | 374 | 15 | 25 | 4 | 418 |
| 13 | John Sellars | 1946–1958 | 384 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 413 |
| 14 | Harry Davies | 1922–1938 | 389 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 411 |
| 15 | Harry Sellars | 1923–1935 | 370 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 395 |
| 16 | Peter Dobing | 1963–1973 | 307 | 22 | 40 | 8 | 377 |
| 17 | Stanley Matthews | 1932–1965 | 318 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 355 |
| 18 | Billy Spencer | 1925–1938 | 338 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 354 |
| 19 | John Ritchie | 1962–1974 | 269 | 27 | 38 | 17 | 351 |
| 20 | Harry Oscroft | 1950–1959 | 326 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 349 |

### Goalscoring

* Leading Goalscorer (League & Cup) – 176 John Ritchie (1963–75)
* Leading Goalscorer (League only) – 140 Freddie Steele (1934–49)
* Leading Goalscorer (Including war-time) – 282 Tommy Sale (1930–47)
* Leading Goalscorer (FA Cup) – 19 Freddie Steele
* Leading Goalscorer (League Cup) – 18 John Ritchie
* Leading Goalscorer (Premier League only) – 45 Peter Crouch
* Most Goals In a Season – 38 Charlie Wilson & Arthur Griffiths
* Most Goals In a Season (League only) – 33 Freddie Steele
* Most Goals In a single match – 7 Neville Coleman v Lincoln City 23 February 1957
* Most matches Scored In Consecutively – 7 (7 Goals) Mike Sheron

#### Top 20 overall goalscorers

| Rank | Name | Years | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total |
| 1 | John Ritchie | 1962–1974 | 135 | 15 | 18 | 8 | 176 |
| 2 | Freddie Steele | 1933–1949 | 140 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 159 |
| 3 | Frank Bowyer | 1948–1960 | 137 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 149 |
| 4 | Charlie Wilson | 1925–1930 | 112 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 120 |
| 5 | Johnny King | 1953–1961 | 106 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 113 |
| 6 | Harry Oscroft | 1950–1959 | 103 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 107 |
| 7= | Jimmy Greenhoff | 1969–1976 | 76 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 103 |
| 7= | Tommy Sale | 1930–1949 | 98 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 103 |
| 8 | Harry Davies | 1922–1937 | 92 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 101 |
| 9 | Peter Dobing | 1963–1973 | 82 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 95 |
| 10 | Joe Schofield | 1891–1899 | 81 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 92 |
| 11 | William Maxwell | 1895–1900 | 74 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 85 |
| 12 | Peter Thorne | 1997–2001 | 65 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 80 |
| 13 | Harry Burrows | 1965–1973 | 68 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 76 |
| 14 | Arthur Watkin | 1913–1925 | 61 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 74 |
| 15= | Alf Smith | 1903–1915 | 67 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 72 |
| 15= | Mark Stein | 1991–1997 | 54 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 72 |
| 16= | Jimmy Broad | 1921–1924 | 62 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 67 |
| 16= | Terry Conroy | 1967–1979 | 49 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 67 |
| 17 | Dennis Viollet | 1962–1967 | 59 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 66 |
| 18 | Bobby Liddle | 1928–1938 | 61 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 64 |
| 19 | Wayne Biggins | 1989–1995 | 52 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 63 |
| 20= | Stanley Matthews | 1932–1965 | 54 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 62 |
| 20= | William Smith | 1909–1913 | 57 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 62 |
| 20= | Jonathan Walters | 2010–2017 | 43 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 62 |

### Internationals

* Most capped player – 81 Glenn Whelan
* First player to be capped – Edward Johnson for England 1880
* First Scottish player to be capped – Tommy Hyslop 1896
* First Welsh player to be capped – Mart Watkins 1902
* First Irish player to be capped – James Sheridan 1905

### Transfers

* Record transfer fee paid – £18.3 million to Porto for Giannelli Imbula February 2016
* Record transfer fee received – £20 million from West Ham United for Marko Arnautović July 2017

#### Progression of record fee paid

| Date | Player | Bought from | Fee |
| September 1894 | George Clawley | Crewe Alexandra | £10 |
| August 1897 | Jimmy McGeachan | Bolton Wanderers | £150 |
| March 1903 | Ted Holdcroft | Burslem Port Vale | £500 |
| August 1919 | David Brown | Dundee | £1,200 |
| August 1921 | Jimmy Broad | Millwall | £2,500 |
| August 1929 | Wilf Kirkham | Port Vale | £2,800 |
| March 1933 | Jack Palethorpe | Reading | £3,000 |
| August 1938 | Patrick Gallacher | Sunderland | £5,000 |
| August 1947 | Jimmy McAlinden | Portsmouth | £7,000 |
| August 1947 | Tommy Kiernan | Celtic | £8,500 |
| October 1949 | Leslie Johnston | Celtic | £9,000 |
| August 1951 | Alan Martin | Port Vale | £10,000 |
| August 1951 | Sammy Smyth | Wolverhampton Wanderers | £25,000 |
| August 1962 | Eddie Clamp | Arsenal | £35,000 |
| August 1963 | Peter Dobing | Manchester City | £37,500 |
| March 1965 | Roy Vernon | Everton | £40,000 |
| April 1967 | Gordon Banks | Leicester City | £52,000 |
| August 1969 | Jimmy Greenhoff | Birmingham City | £100,000 |
| January 1974 | Alan Hudson | Chelsea | £240,000 |
| November 1974 | Peter Shilton | Leicester City | £325,000 |
| February 1982 | Sammy McIlroy | Manchester United | £350,000 |
| July 1989 | Ian Cranson | Sheffield Wednesday | £480,000 |
| August 1994 | Paul Peschisolido | Birmingham City | £580,000 |
| December 1999 | Brynjar Gunnarsson | Örgryte IS | £600,000 |
| August 2005 | Sambégou Bangoura | Standard Liège | £900,000 |
| January 2008 | Ryan Shawcross | Manchester United | £1,000,000 |
| January 2008 | Leon Cort | Crystal Palace | £1,200,000 |
| August 2008 | Dave Kitson | Reading | £5,500,000 |
| August 2009 | Robert Huth | Middlesbrough | £6,000,000 |
| August 2010 | Kenwyne Jones | Sunderland | £8,000,000 |
| August 2011 | Peter Crouch | Tottenham Hotspur | £10,000,000 |
| August 2015 | Xherdan Shaqiri | Inter Milan | £12,000,000 |
| February 2016 | Giannelli Imbula | Porto | £18,300,000 |

#### Progression of record fee received

| Date | Player | Sold to | Fee |
| November 1966 | John Ritchie | Sheffield Wednesday | £70,000 |
| May 1972 | Mike Bernard | Everton | £120,000 |
| December 1976 | Alan Hudson | Arsenal | £225,000 |
| September 1977 | Peter Shilton | Nottingham Forest | £250,000 |
| July 1980 | Garth Crooks | Tottenham Hotspur | £600,000 |
| January 1982 | Adrian Heath | Everton | £700,000 |
| October 1989 | Peter Beagrie | Everton | £750,000 |
| November 1993 | Mark Stein | Chelsea | £1,500,000 |
| July 1997 | Mike Sheron | Queens Park Rangers | £2,750,000 |
| August 2009 | Seyi Olofinjana | Hull City | £3,000,000 |
| January 2011 | Tuncay | VfL Wolfsburg | £4,500,000 |
| July 2015 | Steven Nzonzi | Sevilla | £7,000,000 |
| July 2015 | Asmir Begović | Chelsea | £8,000,000 |
| July 2017 | Marko Arnautović | West Ham United | £20,000,000 |

### All-Time XI & Hall of Fame members

In the final match of the 2012–13 season, as part of the club's official celebration of their 150th anniversary, supporters cast votes to determine the greatest ever Stoke City team.
* Gordon Banks (1967–72)
* Jackie Marsh (1967–79)
* Ryan Shawcross (2007–21)
* Denis Smith (1968–82)
* Mike Pejic (1968–76)
* Stanley Matthews (1932–47) & (1961–65)
* Alan Hudson (1974–76) & (1984–85)
* Jimmy Greenhoff (1969–76)
* Peter Hoekstra (2001–04)
* Mark Stein (1991–93) & (1996–97)
* Ricardo Fuller (2006–12)

#### Bench

* Asmir Begović (2010–2015)
* Lee Dixon (1986–88)
* Neil Franklin (1939–50)
* Terry Conroy (1967–79)
* John Ritchie (1962–66) & (1969–75)

#### Manager

* Tony Waddington (1960–77)

#### English Football Hall of Fame members

A number of Stoke City players have been inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame:
* Gordon Banks (2002 inductee)
* Stanley Matthews (2002 inductee)
* Peter Shilton (2002 inductee)
* Geoff Hurst (2004 inductee)

#### Football League 100 Legends

The Football League 100 Legends is a list of "100 legendary football players" produced by The Football League in 1998, to celebrate the 100th season of League football.
* Gordon Banks
* Neil Franklin
* Geoff Hurst
* Stanley Matthews
* Jimmy McIlroy
* Peter Shilton
* Neville Southall

### PFA Team of the Year

The following have been included in the PFA Team of the Year whilst playing for Stoke :
* 1975 Peter Shilton, Alan Hudson (1st tier)
* 1976 Alan Hudson (1st tier)
* 1979 Mike Doyle, Howard Kendall (2nd tier)
* 1986 Keith Bertschin (2nd tier)
* 1986 Lee Dixon (2nd tier)
* 1991 Wayne Biggins (3rd tier)
* 1992 Vince Overson, Wayne Biggins (3rd tier)
* 1993 Vince Overson, Mark Stein (3rd tier)
* 1997 Mike Sheron (2nd tier)
* 1999 Graham Kavanagh (3rd tier)
* 2000 Graham Kavanagh (3rd tier)
* 2001 Graham Kavanagh (3rd tier)
* 2008 Ryan Shawcross, Liam Lawrence, Ricardo Fuller (2nd tier)

## Managerial records

* First full-time manager: Thomas Slaney who was in charge for nine years (1874 to 1883)
* Longest serving manager: Tony Waddington 17 years (764 matches) (June 1960 to March 1977)

## Team records
### Matches

* First recorded match: Stoke Ramblers 1–1 E.W Mays XV, Friendly, 17 October 1868
* First match at the Victoria Ground: Stoke 2–1 Talke Rangers, Friendly, 28 March 1878
* First FA Cup match: Stoke 1–2 Manchester, First Round, 10 November 1883
* First Football League match: Stoke 0–2 West Bromwich Albion, 8 September 1888
* First League Cup match: Stoke City 1–3 Doncaster Rovers, Second Round, 18 October 1960
* First European match: Stoke City 3–1 Kaiserslautern, First Round, 13 September 1972
* Last match at Victoria Ground: Stoke City 2–1 West Bromwich Albion, Division One, 4 May 1997
* First match at the Britannia Stadium: Stoke City 1–1 Rochdale, League Cup, 1st Round 2nd Leg, 27 August 1997
* First League match at the Britannia Stadium: Stoke City 1–2 Swindon Town, Division One, 30 August 1997
* First match in the Premier League: Bolton Wanderers 3–1 Stoke City, 18 August 2008

#### Record wins

* Record win: 26–0 v Mow Cop, Staffordshire Senior Cup, 1877
* Record League Win: 10–3 v West Bromwich Albion, First Division, 4 February 1937
* Record Premier League Win: 6–1 v Liverpool, 24 May 2015
* Record FA Cup Win: 11–0 v Stourbridge, First Round, 26 September 1914
* Record League Cup Win: 6–2 v Chelsea, Third Round, 22 October 1974
* Record home Win: 9–0 v Plymouth Argyle, Second Division, 17 December 1960
* Record away Win: 6–0 v Bury, Second Division, 13 March 1954

#### Record defeats

* Record League defeat: 0–10 v Preston North End, Football League, 14 September 1889
* Record Premier League defeat: 0–7 v Chelsea, Premier League, 25 April 2010
* Record FA Cup defeat: 0–8 v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Quarter Final, 22 February 1890
* Record League Cup defeat: 0–8 v Liverpool, Fourth Round, 24 November 2000
* Record home defeat: 0–7 v Birmingham City, First Division, 10 January 1998
* Record away defeat: 0–10 v Preston North End, Football League, 14 September 1889

#### Sequences

* Longest sequence of League wins: 8 (30 March 1895 – 21 September 1895)
* Longest sequence of League defeats: 11 (6 April 1985 – 17 August 1985)
* Longest sequence of League draws: 5 (1 September 1973 – 15 September 1973), (21 March 1987 – 11 April 1987), (12 August 2006 – 12 September 2006)
* Longest unbeaten run: 25 (5 September 1992 – 20 February 1993)
* Longest run without a win: 17 (15 September 1984 – 22 December 1984), (22 April 1989 – 14 October 1989)
* Longest run without a draw: 46 (30 March 1895 – 14 November 1896)
* Longest successive scoring run: 21 (24 December 1921 – 22 April 1922)
* Longest successive non-scoring run: 8 (29 December 1984 – 16 March 1985)
* Longest run without a clean sheet: 34 (22 December 1888 – 3 October 1891)
* Longest run of clean sheets: 7 (6 November 2006 – 9 December 2006) achieved by Steve Simonsen

#### Attendances

* Record League attendance at the Victoria Ground: 51,380 v Arsenal, 29 March 1937
* Record FA Cup attendance at the Victoria Ground: 50,736 v Bolton Wanderers, 2 March 1946
* Record League attendance at the bet365 Stadium: 30,022 v Everton (17 March 2018)
* Record League Cup attendance at the bet365 Stadium: 27,109 v Liverpool, 29 November 2000
* Record FA Cup attendance at the bet365 Stadium: 28,218 v Everton, 5 January 2002
* Record away attendance: 84,569 v Manchester City 3 March 1934