# 1905–06 Stoke F.C. season

The 1905–06 season was Stoke's 17th season in the Football League.
It was a good season for Stoke as they started well winning their first five matches and with a number of good local players in the team playing regularly. Stoke's form did eventually drop and they finished in 10th position a much improved finish from previous seasons. However it would be a case of 'calm before the storm' for Stoke and their supporters.

## Season review
### League

For the 1905–06 season, the First Division was extended to 20 clubs. Stoke enticed goalkeeper Leigh Richmond Roose back to the club whilst James Bradley departed for Liverpool. The 'Potters' started the season off in fine style winning their opening five matches to go top of the league table for the first time in their history–and they remained there for five weeks. Horace Austerberry seemed to have found the right line-up and managed to keep it settled for the first seven matches. The crowds improved steadily and they reached the 12,000 mark as Stoke began to play well at home.
In early November Sheffield Wednesday were well beaten 4–0 with Ted Holdcroft scoring twice, to bring his goals tally to six in ten games unfortunately for Holcroft it was also his final goals of the season. Stoke's decent form continued but George Baddeley injured his knee on boxing day and Stoke's form began to drop. They eventually finished in 10th position with 39 points 12 behind champions Liverpool.

### FA Cup

Stoke again went out of the cup in the second round this time losing 1–0 to Birmingham after beating Blackburn Rovers by the same score.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 38 | 17 | 6 | 15 | 72 | 56 | 1.286 | 40 |
| 9 | Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 54 | 52 | 1.038 | 40 |
| 10 | Stoke | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 54 | 55 | 0.982 | 39 |
| 11 | Everton | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 70 | 66 | 1.061 | 37 |
| 12 | Woolwich Arsenal | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 62 | 64 | 0.969 | 37 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 2 September 1905 | Notts County | H | 3–0 | 8,000 | Holdcroft, Hall, Rouse |
| 2 | 4 September 1905 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 3–0 | 8,000 | Holdcroft, Hall (2) |
| 3 | 9 September 1905 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2–1 | 7,000 | Holdcroft, Hall |
| 4 | 16 September 1905 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 2–1 | 16,000 | Rouse, Miller |
| 5 | 23 September 1905 | Woolwich Arsenal | H | 2–1 | 15,000 | Rouse, Miller |
| 6 | 30 September 1905 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 0–3 | 20,000 | |
| 7 | 7 October 1905 | Sunderland | H | 1–0 | 9,000 | Miller |
| 8 | 14 October 1905 | Birmingham | A | 0–2 | 12,000 | |
| 9 | 21 October 1905 | Everton | H | 2–2 | 12,000 | Holford, Hall |
| 10 | 28 October 1905 | Derby County | A | 0–1 | 10,000 | |
| 11 | 4 November 1905 | The Wednesday | H | 4–0 | 12,000 | Rouse, Hall, Holdcroft (2) |
| 12 | 11 November 1905 | Nottingham Forest | A | 1–3 | 10,000 | Hall |
| 13 | 13 November 1905 | Aston Villa | H | 0–1 | 12,000 | |
| 14 | 18 November 1905 | Manchester City | H | 0–0 | 8,000 | |
| 15 | 25 November 1905 | Bury | A | 0–3 | 4,000 | |
| 16 | 2 December 1905 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–1 | 6,000 | Gallimore |
| 17 | 9 December 1905 | Preston North End | A | 0–2 | 8,000 | |
| 18 | 16 December 1905 | Newcastle United | H | 1–0 | 8,000 | Jones |
| 19 | 23 December 1905 | Aston Villa | A | 0–3 | 15,000 | |
| 20 | 25 December 1905 | Sheffield United | A | 1–1 | 21,883 | Hall |
| 21 | 26 December 1905 | Liverpool | H | 2–1 | 20,000 | Hall, Holford |
| 22 | 30 December 1905 | Notts County | A | 1–1 | 5,000 | Jones |
| 23 | 1 January 1906 | Liverpool | A | 1–3 | 25,000 | Hall |
| 24 | 6 January 1906 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 4–0 | 6,000 | Hall, Rouse, Fielding, Croxton |
| 25 | 20 January 1906 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1–2 | 6,000 | Baddeley |
| 26 | 27 January 1906 | Woolwich Arsenal | A | 2–1 | 10,000 | Rouse (2) |
| 27 | 10 February 1906 | Sunderland | A | 0–1 | 10,000 | |
| 28 | 17 February 1906 | Birmingham | H | 2–2 | 6,000 | Rouse, Jones |
| 29 | 3 March 1906 | Derby County | H | 2–2 | 9,000 | Gallimore, Chalmers |
| 30 | 17 March 1906 | Nottingham Forest | H | 4–0 | 8,500 | Chalmers (2), Miller (2) |
| 31 | 24 March 1906 | Manchester City | A | 0–2 | 6,000 | |
| 32 | 26 March 1906 | Bury | H | 4–2 | 4,000 | Baddeley, Fielding, Gallimore (2) |
| 33 | 3 April 1906 | Everton | A | 3–0 | 15,000 | Gallimore, Rouse, Griffiths |
| 34 | 7 April 1906 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–5 | 12,000 | |
| 35 | 9 April 1906 | The Wednesday | A | 0–2 | 10,000 | |
| 36 | 14 April 1906 | Preston North End | H | 3–0 | 10,000 | Rouse, Chalmers, Baddeley |
| 37 | 16 April 1906 | Sheffield United | H | 2–1 | 8,000 | Chalmers, Gallimore |
| 38 | 24 April 1906 | Newcastle United | A | 0–5 | 12,000 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 13 January 1906 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 1–0 | 15,463 | Sturgess |
| R2 | 3 February 1906 | Birmingham | A | 0–1 | 19,000 | |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Jack Benton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | Leigh Richmond Roose | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| GK | Jack Whitley | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FB | Harry Benson | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| FB | Charlie Burgess | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| HB | George Baddeley | 34 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 4 |
| HB | Harry Croxton | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| HB | Lloyd Davies | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| HB | Tom Holford | 36 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 2 |
| HB | Albert Sturgess | 37 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 39 | 1 |
| FW | Adrian Capes | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| FW | Jackie Chalmers | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| FW | Billy Davies | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | Ross Fielding | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 2 |
| FW | George Gallimore | 20 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 5 |
| FW | Arthur Griffiths | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| FW | Jack Hall | 28 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 11 |
| FW | Ted Holdcroft | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 5 |
| FW | John Love Jones | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| FW | Jack Miller | 36 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 5 |
| FW | Fred Rouse | 28 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 10 |
| FW | Alf Smith | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |