# 1904–05 Stoke F.C. season

The 1904–05 season was Stoke's 16th season in the Football League.
There was no relegation worries for Stoke this season due to the First Division being expanded to 20 clubs for the 1905–06 campaign. Stoke struggled for consistency and finished in a mid-table position of 12th after picking up 30 points.

## Season review
### League

The summer of 1904 saw a further exodus of players, including Arthur Capes who left for Bristol City and Leigh Richmond Roose who went to Everton. There was now a distinct lack of quality players available within the club and with these two major departures, the now despondent Stoke supporters saw very little hope of improvement out on the pitch. Tom Holford took over captaincy whilst Jack Whitley arrived as first choice 'keeper from Everton.
James Sheridan an Irish International forward also came in from Everton, but never fitted in at the Victoria Ground although he did win an Ireland cap whilst at Stoke becoming the clubs first capped Irishman. Jack Hall another recruit signed from Newark, in October 1904 and his seven goals were only exceeded by Fred Rouse who was top scorer with 12. Not being able to field a settled forward line was a major problem for manager Horace Austerberry and 12th place in the division was the final outcome in an inconsistent season.

### FA Cup

Stoke went out of this season FA Cup in the second round after being well beaten 4–0 at home to Everton.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 10 | Woolwich Arsenal | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 36 | 40 | 0.900 | 33 |
| 11 | Derby County | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 37 | 48 | 0.771 | 32 |
| 12 | Stoke | 34 | 13 | 4 | 17 | 40 | 58 | 0.690 | 30 |
| 13 | Blackburn Rovers | 34 | 11 | 5 | 18 | 40 | 51 | 0.784 | 27 |
| 14 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 34 | 11 | 4 | 19 | 47 | 73 | 0.644 | 26 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 1 September 1904 | Derby County | H | 1–2 | 10,000 | Haworth |
| 2 | 3 September 1904 | Aston Villa | A | 0–3 | 25,000 | |
| 3 | 10 September 1904 | Manchester City | H | 1–0 | 13,000 | Rouse |
| 4 | 17 September 1904 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 0–4 | 10,000 | |
| 5 | 24 September 1904 | Notts County | H | 0–2 | 8,000 | |
| 6 | 1 October 1904 | Nottingham Forest | A | 1–0 | 10,000 | Whitehouse |
| 7 | 8 October 1904 | Sheffield United | H | 2–1 | 10,000 | Groves (o.g.), Hall |
| 8 | 15 October 1904 | The Wednesday | A | 0–3 | 15,000 | |
| 9 | 22 October 1904 | Newcastle United | H | 1–0 | 12,000 | Hall |
| 10 | 29 October 1904 | Sunderland | A | 1–3 | 12,000 | Rouse |
| 11 | 5 November 1904 | Preston North End | H | 1–1 | 6,000 | Rouse |
| 12 | 12 November 1904 | Woolwich Arsenal | A | 1–2 | 20,000 | Whitehouse |
| 13 | 19 November 1904 | Middlesbrough | H | 3–1 | 6,000 | Rouse (2), Hall |
| 14 | 26 November 1904 | Derby County | A | 0–3 | 6,000 | |
| 15 | 3 December 1904 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–1 | 8,000 | Sheridan, Betteley (o.g.) |
| 16 | 10 December 1904 | Everton | A | 1–4 | 9,000 | Hall |
| 17 | 17 December 1904 | Bury | A | 1–3 | 7,000 | Pitt |
| 18 | 26 December 1904 | Sheffield United | A | 2–5 | 8,000 | Groves (o.g.), Hesham |
| 19 | 31 December 1904 | Aston Villa | H | 1–4 | 9,000 | Hall |
| 20 | 7 January 1905 | Manchester City | A | 0–1 | 14,000 | |
| 21 | 14 January 1905 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 4–0 | 6,000 | Holford, Rouse, Usherwood, Gallimore |
| 22 | 21 January 1905 | Notts County | A | 0–0 | 8,000 | |
| 23 | 28 January 1905 | Nottingham Forest | H | 0–0 | 8,000 | |
| 24 | 11 February 1905 | The Wednesday | H | 2–1 | 7,500 | Fielding (2) |
| 25 | 25 February 1905 | Sunderland | H | 1–3 | 5,000 | Hall |
| 26 | 11 March 1905 | Woolwich Arsenal | H | 2–0 | 6,000 | Hall, Rouse |
| 27 | 18 March 1905 | Middlesbrough | A | 1–2 | 8,000 | Rouse |
| 28 | 1 April 1905 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 3–1 | 4,000 | Rouse (2), Holdcroft |
| 29 | 8 April 1905 | Everton | H | 2–2 | 4,000 | Holdcroft, Balmer (o.g.) |
| 30 | 10 April 1905 | Preston North End | A | 1–2 | 8,000 | Fielding |
| 31 | 15 April 1905 | Bury | H | 2–0 | 8,000 | Fielding, Holdcroft |
| 32 | 21 April 1905 | Newcastle United | A | 1–4 | 10,000 | Hall |
| 33 | 22 April 1905 | Small Heath | A | 1–0 | 12,000 | Holford (pen) |
| 34 | 29 April 1905 | Small Heath | H | 1–0 | 4,000 | Haines |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 4 February 1905 | Grimsby Town | H | 2–0 | 11,000 | Godley, Baddeley |
| R2 | 18 February 1905 | Everton | H | 0–4 | 25,700 | |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Jack Benton | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| GK | Jack Whitley | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| FB | Harry Benson | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| FB | Charlie Burgess | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| FB | Arthur Hartshorne | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| FB | Sam Meredith | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| HB | George Baddeley | 34 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 36 | 1 |
| HB | James Bradley | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| HB | Tom Holford | 34 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 2 |
| HB | Albert Sturgess | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| FW | Horace Brindley | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | George Brown | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| FW | Tom Coxon | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | Ross Fielding | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 3 |
| FW | Edwin Freeman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | George Gallimore | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| FW | Bill Godley | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| FW | Wilf Haines | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| FW | Jack Hall | 25 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 7 |
| FW | Jack Haworth | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| FW | Frank Hesham | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| FW | Ted Holdcroft | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 3 |
| FW | Arthur Leonard | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | Albert Pitt | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| FW | Fred Rouse | 30 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 12 |
| FW | James Sheridan | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| FW | Arthur Usherwood | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| FW | Frank Whitehouse | 16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 2 |
| FW | Bob Whittingham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| – | Own goals | – | 4 | – | 0 | – | 4 |