# 1927–28 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1927–28 season was Stoke City's 28th season in the Football League and the eighth in the Second Division.
Record season ticket sales were recorded prior to the start of the 1927–28 season as supporters were buoyed following last season's Third Division North title win. Stoke had a good return to the Second Division, finishing 5th in the table, five points from promotion, and also reached the quarter final of the FA Cup losing to Arsenal. Charlie Wilson top-scored this season with a club-record 38 goals.

## Season review
### League

The 1927–28 season saw Stoke back within one Division of the top flight, although a heavy bank overdraft of £13,000 meant that they couldn't go out and bolster the squad, Mather being forced to rely on the players who had served him well last season. However, chairman Sherwin assured the fans that he would spend the money if weakness became apparent but he stated that he would not be able to join in the transfer fee spiral that was gathering pace elsewhere. On a brighter note Stoke reported record season ticket sales for the new campaign.
Stoke made a fantastic start back in the Second Division beating Southampton 6–3 in the first match, this was followed up with 4–2 and 3–0 victories as Stoke started the season in fine form. Performances did eventually drop off and the team hit an inconsistent spell just before Christmas but then won six matches back to back. Stoke enjoyed a successful end to the campaign finishing in 5th position. Stoke's cup run perhaps cost them a genuine promotion challenge but nevertheless it was a good season with the club's bank balance improving and the team showing great consistency with six players playing 40 or more League games. The reserves also had a fine season, winning the Central League title for the first time.

### FA Cup

After a number of pretty terrible performances in the FA Cup in the past few seasons, the 1927–28 season saw a marked improvement as Stoke beat Gillingham 6–1, Bolton Wanderers 4–2, Manchester City 1–0 before losing 4–1 to Arsenal in the quarter final stage. Nevertheless, the board were happy with the club's performance and income which the cup run generated.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 3 | Chelsea | 42 | 23 | 8 | 11 | 75 | 45 | 1.667 | 54 |
| 4 | Preston North End | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 100 | 66 | 1.515 | 53 |
| 5 | Stoke City | 42 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 78 | 59 | 1.322 | 52 |
| 6 | Swansea Town | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 75 | 63 | 1.190 | 48 |
| 7 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 75 | 51 | 1.471 | 46 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Second Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 27 August 1927 | Southampton | A | 6–3 | 12,000 | Archibald, Williamson, Eyres, Wilson, Davies (2) |
| 2 | 31 August 1927 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 4–2 | 20,000 | Wilson (3), Armitage (pen) |
| 3 | 3 September 1927 | Notts County | H | 3–0 | 21,941 | Wilson (2), Archibald |
| 4 | 5 September 1927 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 1–1 | 20,623 | Wilson |
| 5 | 10 September 1927 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–3 | 8,000 | Wilson |
| 6 | 17 September 1927 | Grimsby Town | H | 0–0 | 15,480 | |
| 7 | 24 September 1927 | Reading | A | 1–1 | 5,700 | Wilson |
| 8 | 1 October 1927 | Blackpool | H | 2–0 | 12,014 | Davies (2) |
| 9 | 8 October 1927 | Chelsea | A | 0–1 | 16,000 | |
| 10 | 15 October 1927 | Clapton Orient | H | 2–0 | 13,002 | Wilson, Williams |
| 11 | 22 October 1927 | Barnsley | H | 0–0 | 9,320 | |
| 12 | 29 October 1927 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2–1 | 20,000 | Wilson (2) |
| 13 | 5 November 1927 | Port Vale | H | 0–2 | 24,972 | |
| 14 | 12 November 1927 | Fulham | A | 5–1 | 10,000 | Wilson, Davies, Shirley (2), Barrett (o.g.) |
| 15 | 19 November 1927 | Swansea Town | H | 1–1 | 9,937 | Sellars |
| 16 | 26 November 1927 | Manchester City | A | 0–4 | 39,897 | |
| 17 | 3 December 1927 | Hull City | H | 3–1 | 9,632 | Wilson, Armitage, Johnson |
| 18 | 10 December 1927 | Preston North End | A | 0–2 | 12,000 | |
| 19 | 17 December 1927 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–3 | 9,090 | Wallace (o.g.) |
| 20 | 24 December 1927 | Leeds United | A | 1–5 | 20,000 | Williamson |
| 21 | 27 December 1927 | South Shields | H | 3–1 | 13,987 | Sellars, Shirley (2) |
| 22 | 31 December 1927 | Southampton | H | 2–1 | 8,251 | Wilson, Davies |
| 23 | 2 January 1928 | South Shields | A | 3–2 | 4,640 | Archibald, Cull, Bussey |
| 24 | 7 January 1928 | Notts County | A | 2–1 | 9,908 | Wilson (2) |
| 25 | 21 January 1928 | Oldham Athletic | H | 3–0 | 13,446 | Wilson, Bussey (2) |
| 26 | 4 February 1928 | Reading | H | 4–1 | 11,806 | Bussey, Cull, Davies (2) |
| 27 | 11 February 1928 | Blackpool | A | 1–3 | 6,309 | Wilson |
| 28 | 20 February 1928 | Chelsea | H | 1–0 | 10,223 | Bussey |
| 29 | 25 February 1928 | Clapton Orient | A | 2–3 | 6,140 | Wilson, Campell (o.g.) |
| 30 | 6 March 1928 | Grimsby Town | A | 2–1 | 5,076 | Wilson, Sellars |
| 31 | 10 March 1928 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–2 | 13,273 | Wilson, Davies |
| 32 | 17 March 1928 | Port Vale | A | 0–0 | 25,084 | |
| 33 | 19 March 1928 | Barnsley | A | 1–3 | 6,000 | Williams |
| 34 | 24 March 1928 | Fulham | H | 5–1 | 10,117 | Armitage (pen), Davies, Wilson (3) |
| 35 | 31 March 1928 | Swansea Town | A | 1–1 | 5,460 | Armitage |
| 36 | 6 April 1928 | Bristol City | A | 0–4 | 8,112 | |
| 37 | 7 April 1928 | Manchester City | H | 2–0 | 27,453 | Wilson, Archibald |
| 38 | 9 April 1928 | Bristol City | H | 1–0 | 12,547 | Wilson |
| 39 | 14 April 1928 | Hull City | A | 0–1 | 6,552 | |
| 40 | 21 April 1928 | Preston North End | H | 3–2 | 11,233 | Wilson (2), Archibald |
| 41 | 28 April 1928 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–0 | 9,043 | Wilson, Davies |
| 42 | 5 May 1928 | Leeds United | H | 5–1 | 12,306 | Wilson (2), Bussey, Archibald, Cull |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 14 January 1928 | Gillingham | H | 6–1 | 5,234 | Wilson (2), Archibald, Williamson, Bussey, Davies |
| R4 | 28 January 1928 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 4–2 | 24,868 | Davies, Archibald, Wilson (2) |
| R5 | 18 February 1928 | Manchester City | A | 1–0 | 50,132 | Wilson |
| Quarter final | 3 March 1928 | Arsenal | A | 1–4 | 41,974 | Wilson |

## 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 | 4 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| GK | Dick Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Bob McGrory | 42 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 0 |
| DF | Billy Spencer | 42 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 0 |
| MF | Len Armitage | 38 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 41 | 4 |
| MF | Cecil Eastwood | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| MF | Thomas Godfrey | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| MF | Peter Jackson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| MF | Harry Sellars | 33 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 37 | 3 |
| MF | Harry Watson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Tom Williamson | 40 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 44 | 3 |
| FW | Bobby Archibald | 41 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 45 | 8 |
| FW | Walter Bussey | 21 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 9 |
| FW | John Cull | 19 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 3 |
| FW | Harry Davies | 40 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 44 | 13 |
| FW | Jack Eyres | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| FW | Dick Johnson | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| FW | Bob Lister | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | John Shirley | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| FW | Joey Williams | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2 |
| FW | Charlie Wilson | 40 | 32 | 4 | 6 | 44 | 38 |
| – | Own goals | – | 3 | – | 0 | – | 3 |