# 1977–78 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1977–78 season was Stoke City's 71st season in the Football League and the 24th in the Second Division.
With Stoke back in the Second Division for the first time since 1963 morale around the area was low and was not helped by a poor start to the season away at Mansfield Town. George Eastham was sacked in January 1978 and Alan A'Court took over as caretaker manager. A'Court was in charge of just one match, which was one of the most infamous in the club's history, a 3–2 defeat at home to non-league Blyth Spartans in the FA Cup. Alan Durban was appointed manager and his new signings brought life back into the squad and guided Stoke to a respectable 7th position.

## Season review
### League

With Mr T.Degg now Chairman and the club in the Second Division, with little or no money at his disposal and rumblings that Peter Shilton wanted to leave the picture was far from rosy. George Eastham, who was now given the managers job on a permanent basis sold veteran John Mahoney to Middlesbrough for £130,000. Into the club came experienced midfielder Howard Kendall from Birmingham City for £165,000, full-back Alec Lindsay from Liverpool, Paul Richardson from Chester City and David Gregory from Peterborough United. These new arrivals would go on to have mixed success at Stoke.
Stoke's first match in the Second Division for 14 years was against Third Division champions Mansfield Town on 20 August 1977. They lost 2–1 at Field Mill where the fans let the club down badly, as after the match there was a riot. The disenchantment was patently obvious and it was no surprise when Shilton moved on to Nottingham Forest for £240,000. Eastham was starting to become a worried man and with goalscoring still a major problem he brought in Viv Busby for £50,000 but he also failed to impress. It was becoming obvious that Eastham could not make it as a manager and he was sacked in early January. Alan A'Court took over as caretaker manager and in his only match in charge, Stoke lost to Blyth Spartans.
The Stoke board decided to appoint Shrewsbury Town's Alan Durban as the club's new manager. Durban, an ex-Wales international, had made over 600 appearances in the Football League and he immediately introduced some much needed discipline into the club. His first signing was Brendan O'Callaghan, brought from Doncaster Rovers for £40,000. O'Callaghan made a dream start to his Stoke career coming on as a substitute in the home match against Hull City, and he scored from a corner with his first touch. Goalkeeper Peter Fox also arrived as Stoke ended the season in decent enough form finishing in 7th place which was respectable considering at one stage they were lying in 18th. However it was a strange season as despite finishing in 7th Stoke were only five points away from relegation.

### FA Cup

After easily defeating non-league Tilbury 4–0 in the third round Stoke were drawn again at home to non-league opponents, Blyth Spartans. Stoke struggled to cope with the part-timers on a terrible pitch and with the match seemingly heading for a replay, Terry Johnson scored the winning goal for Blyth to complete an FA Cup giant-killing.

### League Cup

Bristol City's Kevin Mabbutt scored the only goal as Stoke exited this season's League Cup at the first stage.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 5 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 56 | 60 | −4 | 45 |
| 6 | Sunderland | 42 | 14 | 16 | 12 | 67 | 59 | +8 | 44 |
| 7 | Stoke City | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 42 |
| 8 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 54 | 58 | −4 | 42 |
| 9 | Crystal Palace | 42 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 50 | 47 | +3 | 41 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Second Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 20 August 1977 | Mansfield Town | A | 1–2 | 14,077 | Lindsay 88' (pen) |
| 2 | 24 August 1977 | Southampton | H | 1–0 | 13,867 | Crooks 77' |
| 3 | 27 August 1977 | Burnley | H | 2–1 | 12,835 | Lindsay 10' (pen), Crooks 80' |
| 4 | 3 September 1977 | Millwall | A | 0–0 | 9,679 | |
| 5 | 10 September 1977 | Sheffield United | H | 4–0 | 14,217 | Gregory 26', Kendall 30', Lindsay 43' (pen), Crooks 60' |
| 6 | 17 September 1977 | Hull City | A | 0–0 | 9,126 | |
| 7 | 24 September 1977 | Sunderland | H | 0–0 | 18,820 | |
| 8 | 1 October 1977 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–1 | 20,799 | Kendall 20' |
| 9 | 4 October 1977 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–1 | 8,458 | Smith 6' |
| 10 | 8 October 1977 | Crystal Palace | H | 0–2 | 17,749 | |
| 11 | 15 October 1977 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 1–0 | 16,290 | Gregory 53' |
| 12 | 22 October 1977 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–2 | 10,221 | Hird 31' (o.g.) |
| 13 | 29 October 1977 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–3 | 21,012 | Crooks 75' |
| 14 | 5 November 1977 | Cardiff City | A | 0–2 | 8,428 | |
| 15 | 12 November 1977 | Fulham | H | 2–0 | 14,155 | Waddington 25', Crooks 40' |
| 16 | 19 November 1977 | Luton Town | A | 2–1 | 9,384 | Kendall 26', Crooks 38' |
| 17 | 26 November 1977 | Blackpool | H | 1–2 | 15,132 | Cook 90' |
| 18 | 3 December 1977 | Notts County | A | 0–2 | 9,309 | |
| 19 | 10 December 1977 | Bristol Rovers | H | 3–2 | 10,613 | Richardson 2', Crooks 38', Kendall 82' (pen) |
| 20 | 17 December 1977 | Fulham | A | 0–3 | 8,014 | |
| 21 | 26 December 1977 | Charlton Athletic | H | 4–0 | 14,345 | Busby 68', Crooks 72', Scott 73', Conroy 80' |
| 22 | 27 December 1977 | Orient | A | 0–2 | 6,192 | |
| 23 | 31 December 1977 | Southampton | A | 0–1 | 23,460 | |
| 24 | 2 January 1978 | Mansfield Town | H | 1–1 | 13,834 | McGroarty 26' |
| 25 | 14 January 1978 | Burnley | A | 0–1 | 11,282 | |
| 26 | 25 February 1978 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 0–0 | 19,280 | |
| 27 | 4 March 1978 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–0 | 14,702 | Busby 55' |
| 28 | 8 March 1978 | Hull City | H | 1–0 | 13,890 | O'Callaghan 78' |
| 29 | 11 March 1978 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 1–2 | 24,797 | Richardson 60' |
| 30 | 14 March 1978 | Sheffield United | A | 2–1 | 12,950 | Kendall 39', Crooks 72' |
| 31 | 18 March 1978 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 4–2 | 18,989 | Scott 55', Crooks (3) 66', 67', 90' (1 pen) |
| 32 | 22 March 1978 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 1–3 | 30,646 | Crooks 16' |
| 33 | 25 March 1978 | Orient | H | 5–1 | 14,595 | Kendall 3', Crooks 9', Gregory 20', Waddington (2) 35', 73' |
| 34 | 28 March 1978 | Charlton Athletic | A | 2–3 | 7,956 | O'Callaghan 30', Crooks 48' |
| 35 | 1 April 1978 | Cardiff City | H | 2–0 | 14,804 | Waddington 5', O'Callaghan 32' |
| 36 | 4 April 1978 | Sunderland | A | 0–1 | 11,161 | |
| 37 | 8 April 1978 | Blackpool | A | 1–1 | 12,261 | O'Callaghan 15' |
| 38 | 12 April 1978 | Millwall | H | 2–1 | 12,370 | O'Callaghan 40', Crooks 66' |
| 39 | 15 April 1978 | Luton Town | H | 0–0 | 15,544 | |
| 40 | 22 April 1978 | Bristol Rovers | A | 1–4 | 8,182 | Crooks 32' |
| 41 | 26 April 1978 | Oldham Athletic | H | 3–0 | 11,260 | Kendall 44', O'Callaghan 70', Busby 80' |
| 42 | 29 April 1978 | Notts County | H | 1–1 | 13,789 | Crooks 84' |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 7 January 1978 | Tilbury | H | 4–0 | 16,301 | Cook (2) 5', 85', Gregory 25', Waddington 29' |
| R4 | 6 February 1978 | Blyth Spartans | H | 2–3 | 18,765 | Busby 56', Crooks 58' |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R2 | 29 August 1977 | Bristol City | A | 0–1 | 17,872 | |

### Friendlies

| Match | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| 1 | Cádiz CF | A | 2–1 |
| 2 | UD Salamanca | A | 0–2 |
| 3 | Finn Harps | A | 2–1 |
| 4 | Port Vale | H | 3–2 |
| 5 | Stafford Rangers | A | 3–2 |
| 6 | Thurles Town | A | 7–2 |

## 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 | Trevor Dance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | Roger Jones | 39 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| GK | Peter Shilton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | Alan Bloor | 5(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7(1) | 0 |
| DF | Danny Bowers | 6(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7(1) | 0 |
| DF | Alan Dodd | 42 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| DF | Howard Kendall | 42 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 7 |
| DF | Paul Johnson | 3(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(2) | 0 |
| DF | Alec Lindsay | 20 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 3 |
| DF | John Lumsdon | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| DF | Jackie Marsh | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 0 |
| DF | Geoff Scott | 23(1) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25(1) | 2 |
| DF | Denis Smith | 41 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 1 |
| MF | Jeff Cook | 5(3) | 1 | 1(1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6(4) | 3 |
| MF | Terry Conroy | 20(2) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21(2) | 1 |
| MF | David Gregory | 22(1) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 24(1) | 4 |
| MF | Paul Richardson | 32(1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33(1) | 2 |
| MF | Steve Waddington | 36(2) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39(2) | 5 |
| MF | Steve Wilshaw | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Desmond Backos | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 |
| FW | Viv Busby | 21(1) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23(1) | 4 |
| FW | Garth Crooks | 41(1) | 18 | 1(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43(2) | 19 |
| FW | Dave Goodwin | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| FW | Jimmy McGroarty | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| FW | Brendan O'Callaghan | 13(2) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13(2) | 6 |
| FW | Geoff Salmons | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Dennis Thorley | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| – | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 1 |