# 1926–27 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1926–27 season was Stoke City's 27th season in the Football League and the first in the Third Division North.
With relegation last season Stoke found themselves playing in the bottom tier of the Football League the Third Division North. Whilst there was obvious disappointment of the clubs failures it soon became clear that an instant return to the Second Division would be achieved as Stoke proved to be too good for their league opponents and ended the season as champions with 63 points and an impressive goal average of 2.3.

## Season review
### League

After the trauma of two pretty bad seasons, there was to be a turn around in Stoke's fortunes in 1926–27 and from the outset there was never any doubt that promotion back to the Second Division would be achieved.
There had been reservations regarding the midfield, but manager Tom Mather gambled and switched Harry Sellars to right-half, brought in Cecil Eastwood from Preston North End to occupy left-half and slotted Tom Williamson between them. Thanks to the consistent form of this trio Stoke were on top of the league throughout the season, achieving ten doubles over their opponents. During the season a number of teams made their one and only trip to the Victoria Ground these were Ashington who were beaten 7–0, Durham City 4–0, Nelson 4–1, Wigan Borough 2–0 and New Brighton who managed a 1–1. In the return fixture against New Brighton Stoke produced what was easily their worst display of the season and crashed to a 5–0 defeat.
Stoke moved into April 1927 sitting on top of the table, but they were rocked by a 4–0 defeat to second place Rochdale. A 2–0 win over Tranmere Rovers eased the tensions but a 3–1 defeat at Doncaster Rovers on Good Friday put the celebrations on hold again, and although they beat Durham City 24 hours later, a goalless draw with Doncaster left Stoke with just a three-point lead over Rochdale. With three games remaining Stoke required four points to secure the title and with it promotion. However promotion was sealed in the next match against Accrington Stanley Stoke winning 1–0 thanks to a Jack Eyres goal and news that both Rochdale and Nelson had been beaten meant that Stoke took the title and returned to the Second Division at the first time of asking.

### FA Cup

In the FA Cup Stoke were embarrassed as Welsh League side Rhyl Athletic took Stoke to a second replay before winning 2–1.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Stoke City | 42 | 27 | 9 | 6 | 92 | 40 | 2.300 | 63 | Division Champions, promoted |
| 2 | Rochdale | 42 | 26 | 6 | 10 | 105 | 65 | 1.615 | 58 | |
| 3 | Bradford Park Avenue | 42 | 24 | 7 | 11 | 101 | 59 | 1.712 | 55 | |
| 4 | Halifax Town | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 70 | 53 | 1.321 | 53 | |
| 5 | Nelson | 42 | 22 | 7 | 13 | 104 | 75 | 1.387 | 51 | |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Third Division North

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 28 August 1926 | Bradford Park Avenue | H | 0–0 | 11,388 | |
| 2 | 30 August 1926 | Wigan Borough | H | 2–0 | 6,778 | Johnson, Wilson |
| 3 | 4 September 1926 | Walsall | A | 1–0 | 7,000 | Davies |
| 4 | 6 September 1926 | Wigan Borough | A | 3–0 | 3,500 | Bussey, Archibald, Wilson |
| 5 | 11 September 1926 | Nelson | H | 4–1 | 10,557 | Beswick, Johnson, Wilson (2) |
| 6 | 13 September 1926 | Hartlepools United | H | 3–1 | 8,237 | Davies, Wilson (2) |
| 7 | 18 September 1926 | Chesterfield | A | 1–1 | 4,600 | Wilson |
| 8 | 22 September 1926 | Hartlepools United | A | 3–1 | 3,000 | Wilson (2), Johnson |
| 9 | 25 September 1926 | Ashington | H | 7–0 | 8,927 | Wilson (5), Davies, Williams |
| 10 | 2 October 1926 | New Brighton | A | 0–5 | 4,000 | |
| 11 | 9 October 1926 | Wrexham | H | 2–0 | 8,806 | Wilson, Davies |
| 12 | 16 October 1926 | Barrow | H | 4–0 | 9,638 | Wilson (3), Bussey |
| 13 | 23 October 1926 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 2–0 | 14,765 | Wilson, Bussey |
| 14 | 30 October 1926 | Stockport County | H | 0–1 | 12,523 | |
| 15 | 6 November 1926 | Southport | A | 3–0 | 3,500 | Davies, Williams, Wilson |
| 16 | 13 November 1926 | Rochdale | H | 3–1 | 11,144 | Davies, Johnson, Williamson |
| 17 | 20 November 1926 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 1–1 | 4,000 | Williamson |
| 18 | 4 December 1926 | Accrington Stanley | A | 1–0 | 5,000 | Johnson |
| 19 | 18 December 1926 | Halifax Town | A | 2–2 | 7,964 | Bussey, Armitage |
| 20 | 25 December 1926 | Rotherham United | H | 4–1 | 13,580 | Bussey, Armitage (2), Wilson |
| 21 | 27 December 1926 | Rotherham United | A | 2–2 | 4,000 | Bussey, Wilson |
| 22 | 1 January 1927 | Lincoln City | H | 2–0 | 12,035 | Bussey, Armitage |
| 23 | 8 January 1927 | Durham City | H | 4–0 | 7,382 | Armitage, Williamson (2), Wilson |
| 24 | 15 January 1927 | Bradford Park Avenue | A | 0–3 | 21,458 | |
| 25 | 22 January 1927 | Walsall | H | 4–1 | 10,125 | Archibald, Davies, Eyres (2) |
| 26 | 29 January 1927 | Nelson | A | 0–1 | 6,000 | |
| 27 | 5 February 1927 | Chesterfield | H | 3–2 | 9,759 | Davies, Archibald, Williams |
| 28 | 12 February 1927 | Ashington | A | 2–0 | 4,708 | Williams, Eyres |
| 29 | 19 February 1927 | New Brighton | H | 1–1 | 12,209 | Williams |
| 30 | 26 February 1927 | Wrexham | A | 6–2 | 4,000 | Williams, Davies, Eyres (3), Wilson |
| 31 | 5 March 1927 | Barrow | A | 0–0 | 4,155 | |
| 32 | 12 March 1927 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 2–1 | 16,827 | Eyres, Watkin |
| 33 | 19 March 1927 | Stockport County | A | 2–2 | 28,460 | Watkin, Archibald |
| 34 | 26 March 1927 | Southport | H | 4–0 | 7,826 | Watkin, Davies, Williamson, Eyres |
| 35 | 2 April 1927 | Rochdale | A | 0–4 | 3,338 | |
| 36 | 9 April 1927 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 2–0 | 6,950 | Cull, Davies |
| 37 | 15 April 1927 | Doncaster Rovers | A | 1–3 | 17,974 | Archibald |
| 38 | 16 April 1927 | Durham City | A | 2–1 | 2,956 | Davies, Bussey |
| 39 | 18 April 1927 | Doncaster Rovers | H | 0–0 | 15,903 | |
| 40 | 23 April 1927 | Accrington Stanley | H | 1–0 | 8,440 | Eyres |
| 41 | 30 April 1927 | Lincoln City | A | 3–1 | 3,330 | Davies, Eyres, Wilson |
| 42 | 7 May 1927 | Halifax Town | H | 5–1 | 10,280 | Davies (2), Eyres (2), Archibald |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 27 November 1926 | Rhyl Athletic | A | 1–1 | 5,000 | Wilson |
| R1 Replay | 2 December 1926 | Rhyl Athletic | H | 1–1 | 7,662 | Davies |
| R1 2nd Replay | 6 December 1926 | Rhyl Athletic | N | 1–2 | 3,000 | Davies |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Bob Dixon | 41 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| GK | Dick Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Arthur Beachill | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Bob McGrory | 42 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| DF | Billy Spencer | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| DF | Harry Watson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Ewart Beswick | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| MF | Tommy Dawson | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| MF | Cecil Eastwood | 39 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| MF | Reginald Hodgkins | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| MF | Peter Jackson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Harry Sellars | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| MF | Tom Williamson | 28 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 5 |
| FW | Bobby Archibald | 37 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 6 |
| FW | Len Armitage | 22 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 5 |
| FW | Walter Bussey | 15 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 8 |
| FW | John Cull | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| FW | Harry Davies | 39 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 42 | 17 |
| FW | Jack Eyres | 17 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 12 |
| FW | Charles Hallam | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| FW | Dick Johnson | 15 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 5 |
| FW | Frank Watkin | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| FW | Joey Williams | 28 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 6 |
| FW | Charlie Wilson | 31 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 26 |