# 1968–69 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1968–69 season was Stoke City's 62nd season in the Football League and the 38th in the First Division.
Stoke failed to improve on last season's near miss and again were involved in a relegation scrap. Stoke won just nine matches all season and scored just 40 goals as they narrowly avoided relegation by three points.

## Season review
### League

To address last season's lack of goals Waddington brought in Scottish international David Herd on a free transfer from Manchester United. There was tragedy in October 1968 as reserve team goalkeeper Paul Shardlow suffered a heart attack in a training match and died.
As the 1968–69 season began, once again Stoke found goals hard to come by, they only scored eight in their opening eleven league matches and although the feeling amongst the supporters was that the team was too good to be relegated they were lucky in the fact that Queens Park Rangers and Leicester City had poor seasons. Stoke could only manage 19th place in a very uneventful season which saw champions Leeds United gain revenge for last season by beating Stoke 5–1 at the Victoria Ground. It had been a nerve-racking season with Stoke seemingly involved in a relegation battle from the start, and thanks to some determined performances Stoke scrambled three points clear of the drop zone. The 1968–69 season did, however mark the debut of Denis Smith who was later to become club captain and would have a major impact on the club's fortunes during the 1970s.
At the end of the season in May 1969 Stoke City embarked on an end of season tour which saw them play against Congo Kinshasa (drew 1–1) and then on to Spain where they played against Catalonia giants Barcelona. The match was played in front of 65,000 at the Camp Nou and Stoke shocked the prestigious hosts with a 3–2 victory. David Herd scored twice and Harry Burrows hit a third to put Stoke into a 3–0 lead at half-time. Barcelona fought back scoring twice through Carles Rexach and Pedro Zabalza but a Stoke held on for a splendid victory.

### FA Cup

After unspectacular wins over Fourth Division sides York City and Halifax Town, Stoke lost 3–2 away at Chelsea.

### League Cup

Blackburn Rovers eliminated Stoke in a second round replay 1–0 after a 1–1 draw at Ewood Park, John Mahoney scoring for the "Potters".

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 17 | Sunderland | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 43 | 67 | 0.642 | 34 | |
| 18 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 45 | 57 | 0.789 | 33 | |
| 19 | Stoke City | 42 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 40 | 63 | 0.635 | 33 | |
| 20 | Coventry City | 42 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 46 | 64 | 0.719 | 31 | |
| 21 | Leicester City (R) | 42 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 39 | 68 | 0.574 | 30 | Relegation to the Second Division |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 10 August 1968 | Sunderland | H | 2–1 | 22,475 | Dobing, Stevenson |
| 2 | 14 August 1968 | West Ham United | H | 0–2 | 22,131 | |
| 3 | 17 August 1968 | Leeds United | A | 0–2 | 30,383 | |
| 4 | 20 August 1968 | Liverpool | A | 1–2 | 46,674 | Conroy |
| 5 | 24 August 1968 | Leicester City | H | 1–0 | 16,633 | Mahoney |
| 6 | 28 August 1968 | Southampton | A | 0–2 | 20,712 | |
| 7 | 31 August 1968 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–1 | 31,034 | Elder |
| 8 | 7 September 1968 | Manchester City | H | 1–0 | 22,013 | Conroy |
| 9 | 14 September 1968 | Arsenal | A | 0–1 | 28,273 | |
| 10 | 21 September 1968 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1–1 | 15,273 | Skeels |
| 11 | 28 September 1968 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–3 | 20,943 | Dobing |
| 12 | 5 October 1968 | Nottingham Forest | A | 3–3 | 21,510 | Stevenson, Burrows, Herd |
| 13 | 9 October 1968 | Southampton | H | 1–0 | 14,105 | Allen |
| 14 | 12 October 1968 | Burnley | H | 1–3 | 14,160 | Mahoney |
| 15 | 19 October 1968 | Everton | A | 1–2 | 42,887 | Herd |
| 16 | 26 October 1968 | Chelsea | H | 2–0 | 16,786 | Herd, Dobing |
| 17 | 2 November 1968 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 1–1 | 33,309 | Herd |
| 18 | 9 November 1968 | Coventry City | H | 0–3 | 16,117 | |
| 19 | 16 November 1968 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–2 | 22,134 | Dobing |
| 20 | 23 November 1968 | Manchester United | H | 0–0 | 30,630 | |
| 21 | 30 November 1968 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–2 | 23,027 | Burrows |
| 22 | 7 December 1968 | Newcastle United | H | 1–0 | 11,594 | Herd |
| 23 | 14 December 1968 | Burnley | A | 1–1 | 10,003 | Herd |
| 24 | 21 December 1968 | Everton | H | 0–0 | 20,491 | |
| 25 | 26 December 1968 | Nottingham Forest | H | 3–1 | 20,331 | Dobing, Conroy, Eastham |
| 26 | 11 January 1969 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–1 | 21,728 | Conroy |
| 27 | 1 February 1969 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 1–1 | 20,567 | Conroy |
| 28 | 1 March 1969 | Sunderland | A | 1–4 | 16,092 | Conroy |
| 29 | 5 March 1969 | Chelsea | A | 0–1 | 19,856 | |
| 30 | 8 March 1969 | Leeds United | H | 1–5 | 24,327 | Burrows (pen) |
| 31 | 15 March 1969 | Leicester City | A | 0–0 | 24,987 | |
| 32 | 18 March 1969 | Coventry City | A | 1–1 | 25,097 | Herd |
| 33 | 22 March 1969 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 4–1 | 19,574 | Herd, Conroy, Dobing (2) |
| 34 | 24 March 1969 | Manchester United | A | 1–1 | 39,931 | Stevenson |
| 35 | 29 March 1969 | Manchester City | A | 1–3 | 27,311 | Marsh |
| 36 | 5 April 1969 | Ipswich Town | H | 2–1 | 15,022 | Herd, Dobing |
| 37 | 7 April 1969 | Liverpool | H | 0–0 | 27,389 | |
| 38 | 8 April 1969 | West Ham United | A | 0–0 | 26,577 | |
| 39 | 12 April 1969 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 1–2 | 12,489 | Hunt (o.g.) |
| 40 | 19 April 1969 | Arsenal | H | 1–3 | 14,989 | Burrows |
| 41 | 22 April 1969 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 1–1 | 8,826 | Vernon |
| 42 | 30 April 1969 | Newcastle United | A | 0–5 | 27,526 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 4 January 1969 | York City | A | 2–0 | 11,129 | Burrows (2) |
| R4 | 25 February 1969 | Halifax Town | H | 1–1 | 30,283 | Dobing |
| R4 Replay | 28 February 1969 | Halifax Town | A | 3–0 | 24,981 | Conroy (2), Burrows |
| R5 | 12 February 1969 | Chelsea | A | 2–3 | 39,191 | Burrows, Dobing |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R2 | 4 September 1968 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–1 | 12,464 | Mahoney |
| R2 Replay | 11 September 1968 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 0–1 | 13,747 | |

### Friendlies

| Match | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| 1 | Oldham Athletic | A | 3–1 |
| 2 | Exeter City | A | 1–0 |
| 3 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 1–0 |
| 4 | Derby County | H | 1–3 |
| 5 | Blackpool | A | 5–8 |
| 6 | Congo Kinshasa | A | 1–1 |
| 7 | Granada | A | 4–1 |
| 8 | Pontevedra | A | 0–2 |
| 9 | Barcelona | A | 3–2 |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Gordon Banks | 30 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| GK | John Farmer | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| DF | Tony Allen | 17(3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19(3) | 1 |
| DF | Bill Bentley | 3(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(1) | 0 |
| DF | Alan Bloor | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| DF | Alex Elder | 38 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 44 | 1 |
| DF | Tony Lacey | 2(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3(1) | 0 |
| DF | Jackie Marsh | 28(2) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33(2) | 1 |
| DF | Mike Pejic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Eric Skeels | 35(1) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 39(2) | 1 |
| DF | Denis Smith | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| MF | Mike Bernard | 21(3) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25(3) | 0 |
| MF | Gerry Bridgwood | 4(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5(2) | 0 |
| MF | Terry Conroy | 30(1) | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 35(1) | 9 |
| MF | George Eastham | 26(1) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32(1) | 1 |
| MF | John Mahoney | 23(3) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 25(3) | 3 |
| MF | Willie Stevenson | 30(2) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32(2) | 3 |
| FW | Harry Burrows | 35 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 8 |
| FW | Peter Dobing | 40 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 10 |
| FW | David Herd | 35 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 9 |
| FW | Roy Vernon | 5(3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7(3) | 1 |
| FW | John Worsdale | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| – | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 1 |