# 1969–70 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1969–70 season was Stoke City's 63rd season in the Football League and the 39th in the First Division.
Stoke seemingly had an abundance of talent emerging as the 1960s gave way for the 1970s and Waddington addressed the past two seasons lack of goals by bringing back John Ritchie from Sheffield Wednesday and Jimmy Greenhoff from Birmingham City. It was a promising season with Stoke finishing in 9th position with 45 points.

## Season review
### League

After two poor seasons, Tony Waddington recognised the goalscoring shortcomings and won over some of the worried supporters by bringing in former Leeds United forward Jimmy Greenhoff for a club record £100,000 and also brought back John Ritchie from Sheffield Wednesday. There was certainly a feeling around Stoke, with the infusion of forward talent that the club was putting together a side that could cause a few raised eyebrows in the First Division and whilst Alex Elder and Tony Allen were early season selections in defence they were soon drifting from the spotlight allowing local defenders Jackie Marsh and Mike Pejic to break into the team.
With Gordon Banks in goals and the ever improving centre back pairing of 'hard men' Alan Bloor and Denis Smith, Stoke's back line looked solid. In midfield Irish winger Terry Conroy had now settled in England and was beginning to show his skill and pace on the wide positions. The improvements were there for all to see and the directors were keen to bring the best to the Victoria Ground and in September 1969 they achieved their aim. Brazilian star Pelé came over with his team Santos to play Stoke in a friendly, Pelé starring in a 3–2 win for the South Americans.
Early on in the 1969–70 season after winning six and drawing five for their first 15 matches, Stoke suffered a 6–2 reverse at Everton when John Farmer, making his only appearance of the season, was carried off due to injury and defender Denis Smith had to go in goal. They quickly put that defeat behind them and lost only once of the next ten matches. But an absence of victories between 17 January and 28 March saw the team slip down into mid-table and finished up in 9th spot, their highest league finish for 22 years.

### FA Cup

Stoke advanced past Oxford United 3–2 in a replay following a goalless draw at the Manor Ground before being knocked at Watford.

### League Cup

There was no progress in this seasons league cup, as Stoke lost 2–0 at home to Burnley.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 7 | Newcastle United | 42 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 57 | 35 | 1.629 | 47 | Qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 8 | Manchester United | 42 | 14 | 17 | 11 | 66 | 61 | 1.082 | 45 | Qualification for the Watney Cup |
| 9 | Stoke City | 42 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 56 | 52 | 1.077 | 45 | |
| 10 | Manchester City | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 55 | 48 | 1.146 | 43 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 11 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 54 | 55 | 0.982 | 43 | |
* ↑ Derby County and Manchester United qualified for the Watney Cup as the two teams with the most goals that hadn't already qualified for a European competition.
* ↑ Manchester City qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup first round as the 1969–70 European Cup Winners' Cup winners.

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 9 August 1969 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–3 | 33,260 | Burrows |
| 2 | 12 August 1969 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–0 | 22,470 | |
| 3 | 16 August 1969 | West Ham United | H | 2–1 | 23,362 | Dobing, Ritchie |
| 4 | 20 August 1969 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–1 | 20,029 | Burrows |
| 5 | 23 August 1969 | Derby County | A | 0–0 | 36,170 | |
| 6 | 27 August 1969 | Coventry City | H | 2–0 | 25,507 | Conroy, Greenhoff |
| 7 | 30 August 1969 | Southampton | H | 2–1 | 22,037 | Burrows, Dobing |
| 8 | 6 September 1969 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–3 | 26,745 | Ritchie |
| 9 | 13 September 1969 | Sunderland | H | 4–2 | 16,939 | Ritchie (2), Greenhoff, Herd |
| 10 | 17 September 1969 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 3–1 | 24,869 | Ritchie, Greenhoff, Smith |
| 11 | 20 September 1969 | Liverpool | A | 1–3 | 45,745 | Burrows (pen) |
| 12 | 27 September 1969 | Manchester City | H | 2–0 | 29,739 | Ritchie, Greenhoff |
| 13 | 4 October 1969 | Leeds United | A | 1–2 | 35,860 | Greenhoff |
| 14 | 6 October 1969 | West Ham United | A | 3–3 | 26,860 | Burrows, Smith (2) |
| 15 | 11 October 1969 | Arsenal | H | 0–0 | 25,801 | |
| 16 | 18 October 1969 | Everton | A | 2–6 | 48,684 | Burrows, Dobing |
| 17 | 25 October 1969 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–1 | 19,550 | Herd |
| 18 | 1 November 1969 | Manchester United | A | 1–1 | 54,061 | Burrows |
| 19 | 8 November 1969 | Burnley | H | 2–1 | 18,434 | Greenhoff, Eastham |
| 20 | 15 November 1969 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 2–0 | 16,444 | Greenhoff, Ritchie |
| 21 | 22 November 1969 | Ipswich Town | H | 3–3 | 19,285 | Ritchie, Burrows (2) (1 pen) |
| 22 | 6 December 1969 | Newcastle United | H | 0–1 | 17,767 | |
| 23 | 13 December 1969 | Sunderland | A | 3–0 | 15,205 | Dobing, Burrows (2), (1 pen) |
| 24 | 20 December 1969 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–0 | 12,426 | Greenhoff |
| 25 | 26 December 1969 | Derby County | H | 1–0 | 37,456 | Burrows (pen) |
| 26 | 27 December 1969 | Southampton | A | 0–0 | 23,215 | |
| 27 | 10 January 1970 | Liverpool | H | 0–2 | 30,038 | |
| 28 | 17 January 1970 | Manchester City | A | 1–0 | 31,565 | Conroy |
| 29 | 31 January 1970 | Leeds United | H | 1–1 | 36,506 | Dobing |
| 30 | 7 February 1970 | Arsenal | A | 0–0 | 26,363 | |
| 31 | 14 February 1970 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–1 | 28,862 | Pejic |
| 32 | 21 February 1970 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–1 | 29,972 | |
| 33 | 28 February 1970 | Manchester United | H | 2–2 | 38,740 | Burrows, Smith |
| 34 | 7 March 1970 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–1 | 16,139 | Burrows |
| 35 | 17 March 1970 | Chelsea | A | 0–1 | 28,996 | |
| 36 | 20 March 1970 | Newcastle United | A | 1–3 | 28,460 | Ritchie |
| 37 | 27 March 1970 | Burnley | A | 1–1 | 16,127 | Stevenson |
| 38 | 28 March 1970 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 2–1 | 16,632 | Ritchie (2) (1 pen) |
| 39 | 30 March 1970 | Everton | H | 0–1 | 33,083 | |
| 40 | 4 April 1970 | Coventry City | A | 3–0 | 27,754 | Ritchie (2), Dobing |
| 41 | 13 April 1970 | Chelsea | H | 1–2 | 22,707 | Stevenson |
| 42 | 15 April 1970 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 3–2 | 11,804 | Ritchie, Greenhoff, Bernard |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 4 January 1970 | Oxford United | A | 0–0 | 15,686 | |
| R3 Replay | 7 January 1970 | Oxford United | H | 3–2 | 17,204 | Stevenson, Ritchie (2) |
| R4 | 24 January 1970 | Watford | A | 0–1 | 23,354 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R2 | 3 September 1969 | Burnley | H | 0–2 | 19,296 | |

### Friendlies

| Match | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| 1 | Asante Kotoko | H | 3–2 |
| 2 | Glentoran | A | 2–0 |
| 3 | Ards | A | 1–2 |
| 4 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–0 |
| 5 | Norwich City | A | 1–2 |
| 6 | Port Vale | H | 2–3 |
| 7 | Bangor City | A | 7–2 |
| 8 | Dallas Tornado | H | 6–1 |
| 9 | DOS Utrecht | A | 3–2 |
| 10 | PSV Eindhoven | A | 1–3 |
| 11 | Santos | H | 2–3 |

## 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 | 38 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| GK | Harry Dowd | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| GK | John Farmer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Tony Allen | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| DF | Alan Bloor | 36 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| DF | Alex Elder | 8(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9(1) | 0 |
| DF | Wyndham Evans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Jackie Marsh | 36 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| DF | Mike Pejic | 32 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 1 |
| DF | Eric Skeels | 34(1) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35(2) | 0 |
| DF | Denis Smith | 40 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 4 |
| MF | Mike Bernard | 9(2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9(2) | 1 |
| MF | Terry Conroy | 27(4) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29(4) | 2 |
| MF | George Eastham | 31(3) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34(3) | 1 |
| MF | John Mahoney | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Willie Stevenson | 18(2) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21(2) | 3 |
| FW | Harry Burrows | 31(3) | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35(3) | 14 |
| FW | Peter Dobing | 40 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 6 |
| FW | Jimmy Greenhoff | 33 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 9 |
| FW | David Herd | 4(5) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(5) | 2 |
| FW | John Ritchie | 31(1) | 14 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 34(1) | 16 |