# 2001–02 Stoke City F.C. season

The 2001–02 season was Stoke City's 95th season in the Football League and the eighth in the third tier.
After two failed attempts to gain promotion via the play-offs the pressure was now on Gudjon Thordarson to achieve automatic promotion. Graham Kavanagh was sold for £1 million as well as fan favourite Peter Thorne to Cardiff City and with the money raised Stoke went out and brought some useful additions. After a slow start City went on a 10 match unbeaten run which was brought to a halt by Wigan in November. In January Stoke lost their form and fell away from automatic promotion places and it became clear that it would be the play-offs again for Stoke. And it was Cardiff who were Stoke's opponents with the first leg ending in a 2–1 win for the "Bluebirds" and it seemed that in the second leg Cardiff would hold on for a goalless draw but two very late goals gave Stoke a famous victory and they went to secure promotion by beating Brentford 2–0 in the final. It was not enough however for Gudjon Thordarson to be offered a new contract.

## Season review
### League

The pressure was now on manager Gudjon Thordarson to finally end Stoke's spell in the Second Division with the owners wanting the club to start progressing through to the Premiership. First task Gudjon did was to sell key midfielder Graham Kavanagh to big spending Cardiff City for £1 million and with that money he brought in six new players, defender Peter Handyside from Grimsby Town who was made captain, goalkeeper Neil Cutler, Belarusian defender Sergei Shtanyuk, Belgian midfielder Jurgen Vandeurzen, David Rowson from Aberdeen and most impressively former Dutch international Peter Hoekstra. The season didn't get off the best of starts with Stoke losing 1–0 away at Queens Park Rangers but two wins over Northampton and Cambridge kick started Stoke's season. Stoke then drew 1–1 at home to Huddersfield Town with Peter Thorne scoring a 90th-minute equaliser, it proved to be his last act in a Stoke shirt as he left to join Kavanagh at Cardiff. With Stoke's main goal threat sold supporters questioned where the goals would come from, thankfully for Stoke they would be spread across the side.
After the departure of Thorne Stoke went on a fine run of results going 10 matches unbeaten putting them firmly in the hunt for automatic promotion but the run was ended by a thumping 6–1 defeat at Wigan Athletic. Stoke recovered well beating Wycombe Wanderers 5–1 but just three wins in 14 saw Stoke's grip on the top two loosen. Matters were not helped when Souleymane Oularé brought into replace Thorne suffered a life-threatening blood clot after just one appearance. With automatic promotion looking unlikely due to the form of Brighton & Hove Albion and Reading, Stoke concentrated on cementing their position in the play-offs and that's what they managed finishing the season in 5th position.
Their opponents in the play-offs were Cardiff City and the first leg at the Britannia Stadium didn't go well for Stoke with Leo Fortune-West and Robert Earnshaw putting Cardiff 2–0 up, but on loan striker Deon Burton pulled one back for Stoke late on. So Stoke went into the second leg at the notoriously hostile Ninian Park 2–1 down and with both sides missing chances the match was 0–0 after 90 minutes and in the final minute of injury time James O'Connor scored to send the match into extra time. And Stoke scored again via an O'Connor shot which deflected in of Souleymane Oularé to give Stoke the most dramatic victory. The final against Brentford was not as dramatic as Stoke won comfortably 2–0 thanks to goals from Deon Burton and an own goal from Ben Burgess. So with Stoke celebrating a return to the second tier after a longer than hoped spell in the third tier the feeling around the club was good with hopes that it could be the start of a return to the top flight. However, despite finally achieving promotion via the play-offs at the third attempt manager Gudjon Thordarson's contract was not renewed.

### FA Cup

After avoiding potential upsets against non-league Lewes and Third Division Halifax Town Stoke were handed a third round tie against Everton. The "Toffees" won a close match 1–0 thanks to an Alan Stubbs free-kick in front of a capacity crowd of 28,218.

### League Cup

Stoke lost to Oldham Athletic in the first round via a penalty shoot-out.

### League Trophy

With priorities on gaining promotion Gudjon decided to play a second string side against Blackpool giving debuts to some of the club's best academy players most notably Andy Wilkinson. They gave a decent account of themselves losing 3–2.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 3 | Brentford | 46 | 24 | 11 | 11 | 77 | 43 | +34 | 83 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 4 | Cardiff City | 46 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 75 | 50 | +25 | 83 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 5 | Stoke City (O, P) | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 67 | 40 | +27 | 80 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 6 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 65 | 47 | +18 | 78 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 7 | Bristol City | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 68 | 53 | +15 | 73 | |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Pre-Season friendlies

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers |
| 1 | 15 July 2001 | Newcastle Town | A | 3–0 | Thorne 10' Cooke 39' Bullock 72' |
| 2 | 18 July 2001 | Macclesfield Town | A | 1–0 | Guðjónsson 44' |
| 3 | 21 July 2001 | Wacker Burghausen | A | 3–1 | Guðjónsson, Hoekstra, Gunnarsson |
| 4 | 24 July 2001 | FC Gratkorn | A | 0–0 | |
| 5 | 24 July 2001 | Gençlerbirliği | A | 0–1 | |
| 6 | 27 July 2001 | SV Gmunden | A | 3–0 | Þórðarson, Iwelumo, Cooke |
| 7 | 31 July 2001 | Leicester City | H | 1–2 | Cooke |
| 8 | 4 August 2001 | Derby County | H | 0–0 | |
| 9 | 7 August 2001 | Racing Club Warwick | A | 4–2 | Neal, Goodfellow, Iwelumo (2) |

### Football League Second Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | Report |
| 1 | 11 August 2001 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 0–1 | 14,357 | | Report |
| 2 | 18 August 2001 | Northampton Town | H | 2–0 | 12,845 | Cooke 52', Thorne 54' | Report |
| 3 | 25 August 2001 | Cambridge United | A | 2–0 | 3,336 | Thorne 48', Cooke 51' | Report |
| 4 | 27 August 2001 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 1–2 | 12,031 | Thorne (pen) 90' | Report |
| 5 | 8 September 2001 | Huddersfield Town | H | 1–1 | 13,319 | Thorne 90' | Report |
| 6 | 15 September 2001 | Reading | H | 2–0 | 11,752 | Guðjónsson 25', Cooke 30' | Report |
| 7 | 18 September 2001 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 0–1 | 6,627 | | Report |
| 8 | 22 September 2001 | Bury | A | 1–0 | 4,727 | Vandeurzen 32' | Report |
| 9 | 26 September 2001 | Colchester United | H | 3–0 | 9,515 | Vandeurzen 45', Þórðarson (2) 57', 90' | Report |
| 10 | 29 September 2001 | Bournemouth | H | 2–0 | 14,803 | Maher (o.g.) 11', Thomas 47' | Report |
| 11 | 13 October 2001 | Notts County | H | 1–0 | 13,220 | Hoekstra 47' (pen) | Report |
| 12 | 21 October 2001 | Port Vale | A | 1–1 | 10,344 | Iwelumo 78' | Report |
| 13 | 23 October 2001 | Chesterfield | A | 2–1 | 5,141 | Hoekstra (2) 67', 90' (1 pen) | Report |
| 14 | 27 October 2001 | Bristol City | H | 1–0 | 16,828 | Gunnarsson 88' | Report |
| 15 | 3 November 2001 | Swindon Town | A | 3–0 | 7,981 | Gunnarsson 28', Iwelumo 65', O'Connor 86' | Report |
| 16 | 6 November 2001 | Blackpool | A | 2–2 | 4,921 | Iwelumo (2) 63', 64' | Report |
| 17 | 10 November 2001 | Brentford | H | 3–2 | 17,953 | Gunnarsson 32' Iwelumo 49', Shtanyuk 80' | Report |
| 18 | 13 November 2001 | Wigan Athletic | A | 1–6 | 7,047 | Vandeurzen 9' | Report |
| 19 | 21 November 2001 | Oldham Athletic | H | 0–0 | 11,031 | | Report |
| 20 | 24 November 2001 | Wrexham | A | 1–0 | 5,477 | Cooke 67' | Report |
| 21 | 15 December 2001 | Wycombe Wanderers | H | 5–1 | 12,911 | Gunnarsson (2) 19', 44', Iwelumo 30', Cooke 58', Goodfellow 85' | Report |
| 22 | 19 December 2001 | Cardiff City | H | 1–1 | 14,331 | Gabbidon 81' (o.g.) | Report |
| 23 | 26 December 2001 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 2–2 | 12,201 | Cooke 19', Daðason 90' (pen) | Report |
| 24 | 29 December 2001 | Huddersfield Town | A | 0–0 | 16,041 | | Report |
| 25 | 1 January 2002 | Blackpool | H | 2–0 | 16,615 | Shtanyuk 13', O'Connor 82' | Report |
| 26 | 13 January 2002 | Northampton Town | A | 1–1 | 5,635 | Goodfellow 36' | Report |
| 27 | 19 January 2002 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 0–1 | 16,725 | | Report |
| 28 | 22 January 2002 | Cardiff City | A | 0–2 | 11,771 | | Report |
| 29 | 26 January 2002 | Wigan Athletic | H | 2–2 | 13,361 | Goodfellow 37', Daðason 67' (pen) | Report |
| 30 | 29 January 2002 | Peterborough United | A | 2–1 | 5,173 | Daðason 21', Goodfellow 90' | Report |
| 31 | 2 February 2002 | Bournemouth | A | 1–3 | 6,027 | Daðason 63' (pen) | Report |
| 32 | 6 February 2002 | Cambridge United | H | 5–0 | 9,570 | Cooke 22', O'Connor 27', Þórðarson 61', Tann 71' (o.g.), Goodfellow 89' | Report |
| 33 | 10 February 2002 | Port Vale | H | 0–1 | 23,019 | | Report |
| 34 | 16 February 2002 | Notts County | A | 0–0 | 7,501 | | Report |
| 35 | 23 February 2002 | Reading | A | 0–1 | 21,023 | | Report |
| 36 | 26 February 2002 | Bury | H | 4–0 | 9,635 | Iwelumo (2) 45', 56', Vandeurzen 73', Þórðarson 84' | Report |
| 37 | 1 March 2002 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 3–1 | 16,092 | Iwelumo 29', Gunnlaugsson 58' (pen), Clarke 86' | Report |
| 38 | 5 March 2002 | Colchester United | A | 3–1 | 3,866 | Guðjónsson 42', Burton (2) 45', 80' | Report |
| 39 | 9 March 2002 | Wycombe Wanderers | A | 0–1 | 7,344 | | Report |
| 40 | 16 March 2002 | Peterborough United | H | 1–0 | 12,983 | Gunnlaugsson 10' | Report |
| 41 | 23 March 2002 | Chesterfield | H | 1–0 | 14,841 | Gunnlaugsson 23' | Report |
| 42 | 30 March 2002 | Brentford | A | 0–1 | 8,837 | | Report |
| 43 | 1 April 2002 | Swindon Town | H | 2–0 | 13,530 | Thomas 60', Iwelumo 68' | Report |
| 44 | 6 April 2002 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–2 | 6,548 | Holden 63' (o.g.) | Report |
| 45 | 13 April 2002 | Wrexham | H | 1–0 | 14,298 | Cooke 30' | Report |
| 46 | 20 April 2002 | Bristol City | A | 1–1 | 11,277 | Cooke 16' | Report |

### Second Division play-offs

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | Report |
| Semi-final 1st Leg | 28 April 2002 | Cardiff City | H | 1–2 | 21,245 | Burton 85' | Report |
| Semi-final 2nd Leg | 1 May 2002 | Cardiff City | A | 2–0 (aet) | 19,367 | O'Connor 90+3', Oularé 114' | Report |
| Final | 11 May 2002 | Brentford | N | 2–0 | 42,523 | Burton 10', Burgess 44' (o.g.) | Report |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | Report |
| R1 | 18 November 2001 | Lewes | H | 2–0 | 7,081 | Handyside 19', Gunnarsson 57' | Report |
| R2 | 8 December 2001 | Halifax Town | A | 1–1 | 3,335 | Cooke 27' | Report |
| R2 Replay | 11 December 2001 | Halifax Town | H | 3–0 | 4,356 | Guðjónsson 22', Iwelumo 27', Gunnarsson 47' | Report |
| R3 | 5 January 2002 | Everton | H | 0–1 | 28,218 | | Report |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | Report |
| R1 | 22 August 2001 | Oldham Athletic | H | 0–0 (5–6 pens) | 5,635 | | Report |

### League Trophy

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | Report |
| R1 | 16 October 2001 | Blackpool | A | 2–3 | 3,561 | Iwelumo 72', Neal 83' (pen) | Report |

## Squad statistics

| No. | Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Trophy | League Trophy | Play-offs | Play-offs | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | | |
| 1 | GK | Gavin Ward | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Mikael Hansson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Clive Clarke | 42(1) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 49(2) | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Peter Handyside | 34 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | Sergei Shtanyuk | 40 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 48 | 2 | 15 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | Brynjar Gunnarsson | 21(2) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25(2) | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Bjarni Guðjónsson | 46 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 54 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | FW | Andy Cooke | 26(9) | 9 | 2(2) | 1 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 30(13) | 10 | 9 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Peter Thorne | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Souleymane Oularé | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 1 | 0(2) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Ríkharður Daðason | 6(5) | 4 | 0(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 6(8) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Peter Hoekstra | 20(4) | 3 | 2(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23(5) | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | Wayne Thomas | 40 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 48 | 2 | 17 | 1 |
| 14 | GK | Neil Cutler | 36 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | Chris Iwelumo | 22(16) | 10 | 3(1) | 1 | 0(1) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 29(18) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | Stefán Þórðarson | 3(18) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(18) | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | James O'Connor | 43 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 50 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | Lewis Neal | 6(5) | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8(6) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | Marc Goodfellow | 11(12) | 5 | 1(2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15(14) | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | David Rowson | 8(5) | 0 | 1(2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11(7) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | Pétur Marteinsson | 2(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | Arnar Gunnlaugsson | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | MF | Karl Henry | 9(15) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13(15) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | Kris Commons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | Gareth Owen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | Ole Albrigtsen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | Jurgen Vandeurzen | 37(3) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(3) | 0 | 42(6) | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | Brian Wilson | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | Andy Wilkinson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | GK | Birkir Kristinsson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | Tony Dinning | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | Scott Bevan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | Boaz Myhill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | FW | Laurence Hall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | FW | Allan Smart | 0(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(2) | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 32 | GK | Danny Alcock | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | GK | Michael Ingham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | GK | Jani Viander | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | Mike Flynn | 11(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11(2) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | Deon Burton | 11(1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2(1) | 2 | 13(2) | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 36 | DF | Ian Brightwell | 3(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 3(2) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 38 | MF | John Miles | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| – | – | Own goals | – | 4 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 1 | – | 5 | – | – |