# 1961–62 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1961–62 season was Stoke City's 55th season in the Football League and the 22nd in the Second Division.
Attendances were now at a worrying all-time low and so the Stoke board and manager Tony Waddington decided something needed to be done to bring the supporters back to the Victoria Ground. And Waddington pulled off a master stroke after paying £3,000 to Blackpool for the returning 46-year-old Stanley Matthews. Crowds instantly arrived in large numbers with Matthews first match back against Huddersfield Town more than 35,000 turned up a good 15,000 more than the last home match. Stoke could not sustain a push for promotion, but the feeling around the club had changed dramatically.

## Season review
### League

Attendances remained stubbornly poor as the 1961–62 season commenced, Stoke losing 2–1 at home to Rotherham United in front of 11,000 fans. The club's finances were seriously in question with the worrying decline in support. To regress the slide Stoke brought back Stanley Matthews at the age of 46 some 14 years after he left for Blackpool. It certainly had the desired effect as the crowds quickly returned and traffic jams stretched for miles on the day he made his second debut for Stoke City at the Victoria Ground against Huddersfield Town when 35,974 fans assembled to welcome back their hero and see him inspire Stoke to a 3–0 win, the attendance in Stoke's previous home match was just 8,409.
The resurgence was on as Stoke slowly but surely picked up some good results and climbed the table as they went on a seven match unbeaten run in December. Dennis Viollet a fine centre forward joined from Manchester United for a fee of £22,000. By March Stoke's form fell away and they ended the season in eighth spot but the feeling was that Stoke had renewed confidence for the future.

### FA Cup

Stoke were drawn away at last season's winners Leicester City in the FA Cup. The match ended in a 1–1 draw but in the replay Stoke knocked out the "Foxes" 5–2 to set up a fourth round meeting with Blackburn Rovers. A crowd of 49,486 saw Rovers win 1–0 thanks to a controversial penalty, the referees decision enraged one Stoke supporter so much he started legal action against him.

### League Cup

Stoke recorded their first victory in the League Cup at Roots Hall beating Southend United 1–0. In the next round they were easily beaten 4–1 at Charlton Athletic.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 6 | Southampton | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 77 | 62 | 1.242 | 45 |
| 7 | Huddersfield Town | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 67 | 59 | 1.136 | 44 |
| 8 | Stoke City | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 55 | 57 | 0.965 | 42 |
| 9 | Rotherham United | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 70 | 76 | 0.921 | 41 |
| 10 | Preston North End | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 55 | 57 | 0.965 | 40 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Second Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 19 August 1961 | Rotherham United | H | 1–2 | 11,071 | Thompson (pen) |
| 2 | 22 August 1961 | Charlton Athletic | A | 2–2 | 7,861 | G Matthews, Mudie |
| 3 | 26 August 1961 | Sunderland | A | 1–2 | 34,183 | Adam |
| 4 | 28 August 1961 | Charlton Athletic | H | 4–0 | 11,005 | G Matthews, Thompson (2), Bullock |
| 5 | 2 September 1961 | Derby County | H | 1–1 | 13,834 | Mudie |
| 6 | 5 September 1961 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 1–2 | 12,515 | Skeels |
| 7 | 9 September 1961 | Bristol Rovers | H | 2–1 | 9,075 | Thompson (2) (1 pen) |
| 8 | 16 September 1961 | Leeds United | A | 1–3 | 9,578 | Thompson |
| 9 | 18 September 1961 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 0–1 | 9,135 | |
| 10 | 23 September 1961 | Norwich City | H | 3–1 | 8,646 | Thompson, Adam (2) |
| 11 | 29 September 1961 | Scunthorpe United | A | 2–2 | 10,347 | Thompson, Asprey |
| 12 | 7 October 1961 | Leyton Orient | A | 0–3 | 10,621 | |
| 13 | 14 October 1961 | Preston North End | H | 1–1 | 8,409 | Adam |
| 14 | 21 October 1961 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 1–3 | 10,283 | Adam |
| 15 | 28 October 1961 | Huddersfield Town | H | 3–0 | 35,974 | Adam, Thompson (2) (1 pen) |
| 16 | 4 November 1961 | Swansea Town | A | 0–1 | 19,906 | |
| 17 | 11 November 1961 | Walsall | H | 2–1 | 24,869 | Thompson, Bullock |
| 18 | 18 November 1961 | Luton Town | A | 0–0 | 15,163 | |
| 19 | 25 November 1961 | Newcastle United | H | 3–1 | 22,009 | Thompson, Mudie, S Matthews |
| 20 | 2 December 1961 | Middlesbrough | A | 2–2 | 20,809 | Thompson, Asprey |
| 21 | 9 December 1961 | Southampton | H | 3–2 | 18,353 | Thompson (2) (1 pen), Ratcliffe |
| 22 | 16 December 1961 | Rotherham United | A | 2–1 | 15,537 | Andrew, S Matthews |
| 23 | 23 December 1961 | Sunderland | H | 1–0 | 24,682 | Asprey |
| 24 | 26 December 1961 | Bury | A | 2–0 | 15,699 | Mudie, Ratcliffe |
| 25 | 13 January 1962 | Derby County | A | 0–2 | 18,937 | |
| 26 | 20 January 1962 | Bristol Rovers | A | 2–0 | 8,852 | Pyle (o.g.), Sykes (o.g.) |
| 27 | 3 February 1962 | Leeds United | H | 2–1 | 21,921 | Mudie, Allen |
| 28 | 10 February 1962 | Norwich City | A | 0–1 | 31,304 | |
| 29 | 17 February 1962 | Scunthorpe United | H | 1–0 | 16,569 | Nibloe |
| 30 | 24 February 1962 | Leyton Orient | H | 0–1 | 21,846 | |
| 31 | 3 March 1962 | Preston North End | A | 2–1 | 19,091 | Viollet, Mudie |
| 32 | 10 March 1962 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 2–0 | 18,033 | Thompson, Asprey |
| 33 | 17 March 1962 | Huddersfield Town | A | 0–3 | 20,261 | |
| 34 | 24 March 1962 | Swansea Town | H | 0–0 | 14,752 | |
| 35 | 30 March 1962 | Walsall | A | 1–3 | 16,570 | Nibloe |
| 36 | 7 April 1962 | Luton Town | H | 2–1 | 7,506 | Nibloe, Adam |
| 37 | 11 April 1962 | Bury | H | 1–3 | 8,324 | Nibloe |
| 38 | 14 April 1962 | Newcastle United | A | 0–2 | 20,580 | |
| 39 | 21 April 1962 | Middlesbrough | H | 2–0 | 8,369 | Viollet (2) |
| 40 | 23 April 1962 | Liverpool | A | 1–2 | 41,005 | Viollet |
| 41 | 24 April 1962 | Liverpool | H | 0–0 | 15,472 | |
| 42 | 28 April 1962 | Southampton | A | 1–5 | 9,558 | Viollet |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 10 January 1962 | Leicester City | A | 1–1 | 35,545 | Mudie |
| R3 Replay | 15 January 1962 | Leicester City | H | 5–2 | 38,515 | S Matthews, Allen, Bullock, Thompson, Nibloe |
| R4 | 27 January 1962 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 0–1 | 49,486 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 13 September 1961 | Southend United | A | 1–0 | 7,389 | Bullock |
| R2 | 10 October 1961 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1–4 | 6,119 | Bullock |

### Friendlies

| Match | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| 1 | John McCue's XI | H | 6–2 |
| 2 | GVAV | A | 3–1 |
| 3 | Fenerbahçe | A | 0–1 |
| 4 | Fenerbahçe | A | 1–0 |
| 5 | Galatasaray | A | 0–2 |
| 6 | İzmirspor | A | 1–1 |
| 7 | MKE Ankaragücü | A | 1–0 |

## 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 | Jimmy O'Neill | 41 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 0 |
| GK | Brian Sherratt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Tony Allen | 42 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 2 |
| DF | Ron Andrew | 35 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 1 |
| DF | Alan Bloor | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| DF | Eric Skeels | 42 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 1 |
| DF | Terry Ward | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| MF | Bill Asprey | 42 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 4 |
| MF | Gerry Bridgwood | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| MF | Tony Coleman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Bobby Howitt | 40 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| MF | Alan Philpott | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Jimmy Adam | 22 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 7 |
| FW | Peter Bullock | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 5 |
| FW | Jack Nibloe | 18 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 5 |
| FW | Graham Matthews | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| FW | Stanley Matthews | 18 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 3 |
| FW | Jackie Mudie | 32 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 7 |
| FW | Tommy Randles | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Don Ratcliffe | 39 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 2 |
| FW | Tommy Thompson | 37 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 17 |
| FW | Dennis Viollet | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 |
| FW | Brian Westlake | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| – | Own goals | – | 2 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 2 |