# 1948–49 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1948–49 season was Stoke City's 42nd season in the Football League and the 28th in the First Division.
It was again a disappointing season for Stoke as a number of players started voicing their displeasure at manager Bob McGrory's strict discipline. A number of players handed in transfer requests as discomfort began to affect the club. Results on the pitch were inconsistent and a mid table finish of 11th was the final outcome.

## Season review
### League

A strange feeling of disharmony set in at the Victoria Ground prior to the start of the 1948–49 season and Stoke received a number of transfer requests from players on the slightest whim. The previous season's main signings Jimmy McAlinden and Tommy Kiernan both departed after just a year with the club losing around £2,000 on the pair. The only other player whose wish to leave was accepted was Bert Mitchell. The 4 December 1948 was Stoke's red letter day as they fielded a team against Blackpool that cost a mere £10 and with all of them from the Stoke-on-Trent area. The only blotch on the claim however is that Frank Mountford was born in Doncaster but he moved to Stoke when he was about three years old.
A mid table position of 11th was all that Stoke could have expected from an inconsistent season with 16 wins and 17 defeats. One key point during the season was manager Bob McGrory's decision to employ Frank Bowyer as an out-and-out centre forward and he scored 21 goals. Surprisingly, when the campaign ended Bowyer asked for a transfer which was accepted but he soon had a change of heart and would remain at the club until 1960.

### FA Cup

Stoke beat Swindon Town 3–1 in the third round before being drawn against Stanley Matthews' Blackpool. Stoke overcame the "Tangerines" 1–0 in a replay. Around 46,738 fans assembled to watch Stoke take on Third Division Hull City but much to the shock of the Stoke supporters, Hull won 2–0 on an awful Victoria Ground pitch.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 9 | Charlton Athletic | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 63 | 67 | 0.940 | 42 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 60 | 76 | 0.789 | 42 |
| 11 | Stoke City | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 66 | 68 | 0.971 | 41 |
| 12 | Liverpool | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 53 | 43 | 1.233 | 40 |
| 13 | Chelsea | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 69 | 68 | 1.015 | 38 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League First Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 21 August 1948 | Charlton Athletic | H | 2–2 | 29,975 | Kiernan, F Mountford |
| 2 | 25 August 1948 | Arsenal | A | 0–3 | 47,000 | |
| 3 | 28 August 1948 | Manchester City | A | 0–0 | 47,450 | |
| 4 | 30 August 1948 | Arsenal | H | 1–0 | 39,595 | Steele |
| 5 | 4 September 1948 | Portsmouth | H | 0–1 | 30,036 | |
| 6 | 8 September 1948 | Everton | A | 1–2 | 42,818 | Bowyer |
| 7 | 11 September 1948 | Newcastle United | A | 2–2 | 59,262 | Bowyer, Steele |
| 8 | 13 September 1948 | Everton | H | 1–0 | 25,404 | Steele |
| 9 | 18 September 1948 | Middlesbrough | H | 3–0 | 28,854 | Steele, Bowyer (2) |
| 10 | 25 September 1948 | Birmingham City | A | 1–2 | 49,800 | Bowyer |
| 11 | 2 October 1948 | Chelsea | H | 4–3 | 30,934 | Bowyer, Steele (2), Baker |
| 12 | 9 October 1948 | Huddersfield Town | A | 3–1 | 19,381 | Bowyer, Baker, G Mountford |
| 13 | 16 October 1948 | Manchester United | H | 2–1 | 45,830 | G Mountford, Steele |
| 14 | 23 October 1948 | Sheffield United | A | 2–2 | 29,374 | G Mountford, Bowyer |
| 15 | 30 October 1948 | Aston Villa | H | 4–2 | 37,200 | G Mountford, Bowyer, Peppitt, Ashton (o.g.) |
| 16 | 6 November 1948 | Sunderland | A | 1–1 | 41,871 | Bowyer |
| 17 | 13 November 1948 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–1 | 37,111 | Bowyer (2) |
| 18 | 20 November 1948 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–2 | 40,000 | Steele |
| 19 | 27 November 1948 | Liverpool | H | 3–0 | 29,607 | Steele, F Mountford, Bowyer |
| 20 | 4 December 1948 | Blackpool | A | 1–2 | 30,000 | Steele |
| 21 | 11 December 1948 | Derby County | H | 4–2 | 38,802 | Steele (2), F Mountford (pen), Ormston |
| 22 | 18 December 1948 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1–4 | 32,000 | Bowyer |
| 23 | 25 December 1948 | Burnley | A | 3–1 | 39,000 | Bowyer (3) |
| 24 | 27 December 1948 | Burnley | H | 2–1 | 39,533 | Steele (2) |
| 25 | 1 January 1949 | Manchester City | H | 2–3 | 27,379 | Steele, Bowyer |
| 26 | 15 January 1949 | Portsmouth | A | 0–1 | 34,000 | |
| 27 | 22 January 1949 | Newcastle United | H | 1–1 | 39,377 | Bowyer |
| 28 | 19 February 1949 | Birmingham City | H | 2–1 | 25,892 | Steele, Sellars |
| 29 | 26 February 1949 | Chelsea | A | 2–2 | 39,652 | Caton, G Mountford |
| 30 | 5 March 1949 | Huddersfield Town | H | 1–3 | 15,595 | Bowyer |
| 31 | 12 March 1949 | Manchester United | A | 0–3 | 55,949 | |
| 32 | 19 March 1949 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 4–0 | 24,269 | G Mountford (2), F Mountford, Hamlett (o.g.) |
| 33 | 26 March 1949 | Liverpool | A | 0–4 | 30,797 | |
| 34 | 2 April 1949 | Sunderland | H | 0–0 | 21,989 | |
| 35 | 9 April 1949 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–3 | 35,000 | Steele |
| 36 | 15 April 1949 | Preston North End | A | 1–2 | 37,000 | Bowyer |
| 37 | 16 April 1949 | Sheffield United | H | 0–1 | 22,556 | |
| 38 | 18 April 1949 | Preston North End | H | 2–0 | 22,185 | Steele, Peppitt |
| 39 | 23 April 1949 | Aston Villa | A | 1–2 | 40,000 | Ormston |
| 40 | 27 April 1949 | Middlesbrough | A | 1–1 | 40,226 | Peppitt |
| 41 | 30 April 1949 | Blackpool | H | 3–2 | 18,705 | Peppitt, G Mountford, F Mountford (pen) |
| 42 | 7 May 1949 | Derby County | A | 1–4 | 28,616 | Peppitt |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 8 January 1949 | Swindon Town | A | 3–1 | 26,335 | Steele, G Mountford (2) |
| R4 | 29 January 1948 | Blackpool | H | 1–1 | 45,000 | F Mountford |
| R4 Replay | 5 February 1949 | Blackpool | A | 1–0 | 30,000 | G Mountford |
| R5 | 12 February 1949 | Hull City | H | 0–2 | 46,738 | |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Dennis Herod | 41 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| GK | Norman Wilkinson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Neil Franklin | 36 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| DF | Eric Hampson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Roy Jones | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| DF | John Kirkby | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | John McCue | 39 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| DF | Harry Meakin | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| DF | Billy Mould | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| DF | Cyril Watkin | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| MF | Roy Brown | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Jock Kirton | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Frank Mountford | 40 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 44 | 6 |
| MF | John Sellars | 42 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 1 |
| MF | Edward Wordley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Frank Baker | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 |
| FW | Frank Bowyer | 31 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 35 | 21 |
| FW | Bill Caton | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| FW | Tommy Kiernan | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| FW | Jimmy McAlinden | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | John Malkin | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| FW | George Mountford | 39 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 43 | 11 |
| FW | Alexander Ormston | 42 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 46 | 2 |
| FW | Syd Peppitt | 20 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 5 |
| FW | Freddie Steele | 38 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 42 | 19 |
| – | Own goals | – | 2 | – | 0 | – | 2 |