# 1979–80 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1979–80 season was Stoke City's 73rd season in the Football League and the 47th in the First Division.
With Stoke now back in the First Division after a two-year absence the main aim of 1979–80 was to remain there. It was a difficult season for Stoke but they managed to achieve their aim finishing in a safe position of 18th five points away from relegation.

## Season review
### League

Durban recognised the need to strengthen his squad for the challenges of top-flight football and with veteran Denis Smith skippering the side he added to it Ray Evans a former Tottenham Hotspur right back, and goalkeeper Eric McManus. It was around his time that the introduction of foreign players from across Europe began to influence English football. And in keeping with the times Stoke signed their first player from the continent, Dutch midfielder Loek Ursem from AZ '67 for the equivalent of £85,000 in Dutch guilders. The players Durban brought to the Victoria Ground were respected more for their work rate than their flair but Ursem was something of an inspiration. Whilst he never fully commanded a regular place in the side he was a very popular player with the fans but at times lacked that extra bit of class to make him a top player.
Stoke also unveiled the new Stoke End stand in the summer of 1979, capable of seating 4,250 it was built from the proceeds of the club's successful commercial department whose lotteries were key to their success. After a good start to the season with two home wins the tough task of First Division football began to cause Stoke problems and they remained in the bottom six all season. They avoided an instant return to the Second Division with little to spare finishing in 18th position with 36 points.

### FA Cup

Stoke had two men controversially sent-off as Burnley won 1–0 at Turf Moor. With the match seemingly destined for a replay referee Kevin McNally caused controversy as he sent off Denis Smith for time-wasting as he was going off injured. He then awarded Burnley a penalty after Billy Hamilton was fouled by Ray Evans, Martin Dobson scoring from the spot. Stoke were then reduced to nine men as Evans was then sent-off for dissent.

### League Cup

This season saw the introduction of two legged matches in the early rounds of the League Cup, Stoke beating Swansea City but then losing to Swindon Town.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 42 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 47 | 57 | −10 | 37 | |
| 17 | Manchester City | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 43 | 66 | −23 | 37 | |
| 18 | Stoke City | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 44 | 58 | −14 | 36 | |
| 19 | Everton | 42 | 9 | 17 | 16 | 43 | 51 | −8 | 35 | |
| 20 | Bristol City (R) | 42 | 9 | 13 | 20 | 37 | 66 | −29 | 31 | 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 | 18 August 1979 | Coventry City | H | 3–2 | 23,151 | Busby 34', Crooks (2) 50', 55' |
| 2 | 22 August 1979 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–1 | 26,147 | |
| 3 | 25 August 1979 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 3–1 | 22,832 | Crooks (2) 35', 41' (1 pen), O'Callaghan 60' |
| 4 | 1 September 1979 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–3 | 17,539 | Butcher 20' (o.g.) |
| 5 | 8 September 1979 | Everton | H | 2–3 | 23,460 | O'Callaghan 17', Smith 35' |
| 6 | 15 September 1979 | Bristol City | A | 0–0 | 16,662 | |
| 7 | 22 September 1979 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–2 | 19,225 | Smith 7' |
| 8 | 29 September 1979 | Manchester United | A | 0–4 | 52,327 | |
| 9 | 6 October 1979 | Norwich City | A | 2–2 | 17,060 | Irvine 13', Richardson 73' (pen) |
| 10 | 10 October 1979 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–1 | 28,514 | O'Callaghan 63' |
| 11 | 13 October 1979 | Middlesbrough | H | 0–0 | 18,406 | |
| 12 | 20 October 1979 | Arsenal | A | 0–0 | 31,501 | |
| 13 | 27 October 1979 | Derby County | H | 3–2 | 18,530 | Richardson 11', Heath 31', Crooks 67' |
| 14 | 3 November 1979 | Coventry City | A | 3–1 | 16,761 | Jones (o.g.) 24', Heath 26', Crooks 75' |
| 15 | 10 November 1979 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–1 | 26,061 | |
| 16 | 17 November 1979 | Aston Villa | A | 1–2 | 27,056 | Scott 10' |
| 17 | 24 November 1979 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1–0 | 14,435 | O'Callaghan 44' |
| 18 | 1 December 1979 | Southampton | A | 1–3 | 20,095 | Irvine 67' |
| 19 | 8 December 1979 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 3–2 | 19,865 | Crooks (3) 11', 14', 78' |
| 20 | 15 December 1979 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 0–0 | 18,392 | |
| 21 | 21 December 1979 | Leeds United | H | 0–2 | 16,878 | |
| 22 | 26 December 1979 | Manchester City | A | 1–1 | 36,286 | Dodd 5' |
| 23 | 29 December 1979 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–1 | 28,810 | |
| 24 | 12 January 1980 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–1 | 15,253 | |
| 25 | 2 February 1980 | Bristol City | H | 1–0 | 14,510 | Rodgers 55' (o.g.) |
| 26 | 9 February 1980 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–0 | 21,181 | Chapman 70' |
| 27 | 16 February 1980 | Manchester United | H | 1–1 | 28,068 | Irvine 48' |
| 28 | 23 February 1980 | Middlesbrough | A | 3–1 | 15,953 | Cook 4', Crooks (2) 28', 87' |
| 29 | 1 March 1980 | Arsenal | H | 2–3 | 19,752 | Cook 12', Chapman 74' |
| 30 | 8 March 1980 | Derby County | A | 2–2 | 22,695 | Cook 12', 24' |
| 31 | 15 March 1980 | Norwich City | H | 2–1 | 14,333 | Heath 22', Bond 35' (o.g.) |
| 32 | 18 March 1980 | Everton | A | 0–2 | 23,848 | |
| 33 | 22 March 1980 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–3 | 27,968 | |
| 34 | 29 March 1980 | Aston Villa | H | 2–0 | 16,234 | Evans 16' (pen), Chapman 65' |
| 35 | 1 April 1980 | Liverpool | A | 0–1 | 36,475 | |
| 36 | 5 April 1980 | Manchester City | H | 0–0 | 20,451 | |
| 37 | 8 April 1980 | Leeds United | A | 0–3 | 15,451 | |
| 38 | 12 April 1980 | Southampton | H | 1–2 | 15,030 | O'Callaghan 12' |
| 39 | 19 April 1980 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–2 | 11,304 | Crooks 44' |
| 40 | 23 April 1980 | Liverpool | H | 0–2 | 31,996 | |
| 41 | 26 April 1980 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 1–0 | 14,422 | Heath 35' |
| 42 | 3 May 1980 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–0 | 18,470 | Heath 57' |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 5 January 1980 | Burnley | A | 0–1 | 13,478 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R2 1st Leg | 29 August 1979 | Swansea City | H | 1–1 | 18,004 | Smith 90' |
| R2 2nd Leg | 4 September 1979 | Swansea City | A | 3–1 (aet) | 20,030 | Crooks (2) 55', 120', Randall 93' |
| R3 1st Leg | 26 September 1979 | Swindon Town | H | 2–2 | 15,255 | Irvine 6', O'Callaghan 40' |
| R3 2nd Leg | 2 October 1979 | Swindon Town | A | 1–2 | 15,823 | Chapman 68' |

### Friendlies

| Match | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| 1 | Port Vale | A | 2–0 |
| 2 | Bournemouth | A | 2–1 |
| 3 | Portsmouth | A | 3–0 |
| 4 | Reading | A | 3–2 |
| 5 | NEC Nijmegen | A | 4–1 |
| 6 | Macclesfield Town | A | 2–2 |
| 7 | OFI Crete | A | 1–0 |
| 8 | Chelsea | A | 1–0 |
| 9 | Shrewsbury Town | A | 1–1 |
| 10 | Stoke City 1970s XI | H | 5–2 |

## 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 | Peter Fox | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| GK | Roger Jones | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| DF | Stuart Eccleston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Alan Dodd | 36(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40(1) | 1 |
| DF | Ray Evans | 40 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 1 |
| DF | Paul Johnson | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| DF | Paul Anthony Johnson | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| DF | Denis Smith | 34 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 39 | 3 |
| DF | Geoff Scott | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| DF | Mel Pejic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Paul Bracewell | 4(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(2) | 0 |
| MF | Jeff Cook | 13(1) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13(1) | 4 |
| MF | Mike Doyle | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| MF | Adrian Heath | 38 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 43 | 5 |
| MF | Sammy Irvine | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 31 | 4 |
| MF | Paul Richardson | 34(2) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2(1) | 1 | 37(3) | 3 |
| MF | Kevin Sheldon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Gary Simpson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Loek Ursem | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| FW | Simon Bullock | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Viv Busby | 4(6) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2(2) | 0 | 6(8) | 1 |
| FW | Lee Chapman | 14(3) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15(3) | 4 |
| FW | Garth Crooks | 40 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 45 | 14 |
| FW | John Lumsden | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| FW | Brendan O'Callaghan | 32(4) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 36(4) | 6 |
| FW | Paul Randall | 12(4) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 15(4) | 1 |
| – | Own goals | – | 4 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 4 |