# 1960–61 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1960–61 season was Stoke City's 54th season in the Football League and the 21st in the Second Division.
With the unsuccessful Frank Taylor now departed new manager Tony Waddington quickly began to stamp his mark on the club allowing a number of players to leave the club whilst bringing in his own replacements. It was obviously going to be a transitional season for the club but there was probably too much upheaval as performances out on the pitch were not good and despite a 9–0 win over Plymouth Argyle, Stoke finished in 18th place avoiding relegation by three points.

## Season review
### League

A clear-out of players was under way in the summer of 1960 with two goalkeepers Bill Robertson and Wilf Hall both departing. Also leaving the Victoria Ground was long serving defender John McCue and a number of fringe players. To replace the hole left by the departure of the 'keepers Tony Waddington made his first signing, Irish international Jimmy O'Neill from Everton for £5,000.
There were no instant improvements as Stoke searched for a sustained run of success. An attack that could not score regularly was a major problem and it was so bad that by Christmas time centre back Bill Asprey was moved up front and he impressed scoring twice in a 9–0 win over Plymouth Argyle and got a hat trick against Charlton Athletic. That win over Plymouth is Stoke second highest league victory. Ahead of the March transfer deadline, Waddington paid £7,000 to Blackpool for their winger Jackie Mudie whose vast experience brought guile to the attack. Mudie effectively replaced Dennis Wilshaw who broke his leg in the FA Cup at Newcastle and had to retire.
Stoke took 18th place in the Second Division at the end of Waddingtons first season in charge their away form letting them down badly with just three wins recorded and 12 goals scored. And for the first time since the 1907–08 season the average home attendance was under 10,000 as Waddington realised that much work was required to turn around the fortunes of Stoke City.

### FA Cup

In the FA Cup Stoke made it to the fifth round before losing to Newcastle United after beating West Ham United and a tricky three matches against Aldershot.

### League Cup

The 1960–61 season was also the start of a new cup competition the Football League Cup, Stoke made an embarrassing start losing 3–1 to Fourth Division Doncaster Rovers. Stoke didn't even score as Rovers defender Tommy Hymers scored an own goal giving him the dubious honour of being Stoke's first League Cup goalscorer.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 61 | 75 | 0.813 | 37 |
| 17 | Bristol Rovers | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 73 | 92 | 0.793 | 37 |
| 18 | Stoke City | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 51 | 59 | 0.864 | 36 |
| 19 | Leyton Orient | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 55 | 78 | 0.705 | 36 |
| 20 | Huddersfield Town | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 62 | 71 | 0.873 | 35 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Second Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 20 August 1960 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 1–3 | 21,138 | Bullock |
| 2 | 22 August 1960 | Sunderland | H | 0–0 | 14,690 | |
| 3 | 27 August 1960 | Norwich City | H | 1–1 | 11,716 | Wilshaw |
| 4 | 31 August 1960 | Sunderland | A | 0–4 | 19,007 | |
| 5 | 3 September 1960 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1–3 | 8,147 | Ratcliffe |
| 6 | 7 September 1960 | Portsmouth | A | 0–1 | 16,497 | |
| 7 | 10 September 1960 | Sheffield United | H | 2–0 | 11,328 | Wilshaw (2) |
| 8 | 12 September 1960 | Portsmouth | H | 1–0 | 11,686 | King |
| 9 | 17 September 1960 | Derby County | A | 1–1 | 14,432 | Asprey |
| 10 | 24 September 1960 | Swansea Town | A | 0–0 | 9,520 | |
| 11 | 1 October 1960 | Luton Town | H | 3–0 | 9,395 | Wilshaw (2), Bentley |
| 12 | 8 October 1960 | Leyton Orient | H | 1–2 | 9,149 | Wilshaw |
| 13 | 15 October 1960 | Scunthorpe United | A | 1–1 | 8,777 | Bentley |
| 14 | 22 October 1960 | Ipswich Town | H | 2–4 | 8,056 | Bentley, D Ward |
| 15 | 29 October 1960 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 1–0 | 8,791 | Wilshaw |
| 16 | 5 November 1960 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–1 | 9,019 | D Ward |
| 17 | 12 November 1960 | Leeds United | A | 1–0 | 13,535 | King |
| 18 | 19 November 1960 | Southampton | H | 1–2 | 10,465 | King |
| 19 | 26 November 1960 | Rotherham United | A | 0–0 | 8,330 | |
| 20 | 10 December 1960 | Bristol Rovers | A | 0–1 | 13,407 | |
| 21 | 17 December 1960 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 9–0 | 6,479 | Asprey (2), King (3), Wilshaw, Ratcliffe (2), Fincham (o.g.) |
| 22 | 24 December 1960 | Huddersfield Town | H | 2–2 | 10,029 | Wilshaw (2) |
| 23 | 26 December 1960 | Huddersfield Town | A | 0–0 | 13,783 | |
| 24 | 31 December 1960 | Norwich City | A | 0–1 | 20,681 | |
| 25 | 16 January 1961 | Charlton Athletic | H | 5–3 | 10,988 | Asprey (3), Bentley, Wilshaw |
| 26 | 21 January 1961 | Sheffield United | A | 1–4 | 13,865 | King |
| 27 | 11 February 1961 | Swansea Town | H | 1–3 | 10,517 | Davies (o.g.) |
| 28 | 23 February 1961 | Luton Town | A | 1–4 | 12,142 | Bullock |
| 29 | 4 March 1961 | Scunthorpe United | H | 2–0 | 12,567 | King, Mudie |
| 30 | 11 March 1961 | Ipswich Town | A | 1–2 | 16,578 | King |
| 31 | 18 March 1961 | Bristol Rovers | H | 2–0 | 7,826 | Ratcliffe, Bullock (pen) |
| 32 | 20 March 1961 | Derby County | H | 2–1 | 6,831 | Mudie, Bullock (pen) |
| 33 | 25 March 1961 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–1 | 8,534 | |
| 34 | 31 March 1961 | Lincoln City | A | 1–1 | 6,651 | Bullock |
| 35 | 1 April 1961 | Rotherham United | H | 1–4 | 8,241 | King |
| 36 | 3 April 1961 | Lincoln City | H | 0–0 | 6,383 | |
| 37 | 8 April 1961 | Southampton | A | 1–0 | 12,927 | Mudie |
| 38 | 10 April 1961 | Leyton Orient | A | 1–3 | 8,349 | King |
| 39 | 15 April 1961 | Leeds United | H | 0–0 | 7,130 | |
| 40 | 22 April 1961 | Liverpool | A | 0–3 | 13,389 | |
| 41 | 29 April 1961 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 0–2 | 5,232 | |
| 42 | 3 May 1961 | Liverpool | H | 3–1 | 4,463 | King, Bentley (2) |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 7 January 1961 | West Ham United | A | 2–2 | 21,545 | Ratcliffe, Andrew |
| R3 Replay | 11 January 1961 | West Ham United | H | 1–0 | 28,914 | Wilshaw |
| R4 | 28 January 1961 | Aldershot | H | 0–0 | 18,289 | |
| R4 Replay | 1 February 1961 | Aldershot | A | 0–0 (aet) | 16,489 | |
| R4 2nd Replay | 6 February 1961 | Aldershot | N | 3–0 | 16,672 | Wilshaw (2), Asprey |
| R5 | 16 February 1961 | Newcastle United | A | 1–3 | 46,170 | King |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R2 | 18 October 1960 | Doncaster Rovers | A | 1–3 | 5,694 | Hymers (o.g.) |

## 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 | Geoff Hickson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | Jimmy O'Neill | 41 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 0 |
| DF | Tony Allen | 42 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 0 |
| DF | Ron Andrew | 37 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 1 |
| DF | Eric Skeels | 37 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| DF | Terry Ward | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| DF | Denis Wilson | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| DF | Ron Wilson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Bill Asprey | 35 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 7 |
| MF | Gerry Bridgwood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Bobby Cairns | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| MF | Bobby Griffiths | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Bobby Howitt | 35 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| MF | Alan Philpott | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Ray White | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | John Anderson | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| FW | Tony Bentley | 28 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 6 |
| FW | Peter Bullock | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 5 |
| FW | Johnny King | 41 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 13 |
| FW | Graham Matthews | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Jackie Mudie | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 |
| FW | Don Ratcliffe | 41 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 5 |
| FW | Derrick Ward | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| FW | Dennis Wilshaw | 24 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 14 |
| – | Own goals | – | 2 | – | 0 | – | 1 | – | 3 |