# 1923–24 Stoke F.C. season

The 1923–24 season was Stoke's 24th season in the Football League and the fifth in the Second Division.
With Stoke back in the Second Division after their short stay in the First and without a manager the supporters questioned what the future held for the club. Tom Mather was appointed as the club's new manager in October 1923 and it would start a run of consistency as from 1923 to 1976 Stoke had just four managers. Mather led the club to sixth position in the table with just two wins in their last 12 matches costing Stoke a promotion challenge. At the end of the season Mather decided to sell a number of players including fans favourites Jimmy Broad, Tommy Broad and Billy Tempest; some players not asked to re-sign smashed up the offices at the Victoria Ground and caused a considerable amount of damage.

## Season review
### League

There was little money available for new players, and when former Southend United boss Tom Mather, a Lancastrian from Chorley, was given the managerial position in October, he quickly set about restoring the team's fortunes. Mather, who had been assistant manager at both Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers before becoming manager at Burnden Park during World War I, certainly consolidated the club and a final league finish of 6th was a decent outcome and would give Mather a platform to build on.
There was however a regrettable incident at the club just as the season ended when a group of players, who had not been asked to re-sign for the next season, arrived at the Victoria Ground and started smashing up the offices and dressing rooms, causing a considerable amount of damage. The offenders were immediately released by the club and things were quickly sorted out. There was a substantial clear-out, with a number of players leaving who had served the club well whilst there was also changes at boardroom level with chairman Mr E. Reynish relinquishing his position as chairman and wealthy director John Slater also left after he had injected a lot of his own money into the club with mixed success.

### FA Cup

No progress was made in the FA Cup with Stoke going out in the first round to Leeds United.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 4 | Blackpool | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 72 | 47 | 1.532 | 49 |
| 5 | Southampton | 42 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 52 | 31 | 1.677 | 48 |
| 6 | Stoke | 42 | 14 | 18 | 10 | 44 | 42 | 1.048 | 46 |
| 7 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 14 | 17 | 11 | 45 | 52 | 0.865 | 45 |
| 8 | The Wednesday | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 54 | 51 | 1.059 | 44 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Second Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 25 August 1923 | Leeds United | H | 1–1 | 20,000 | J Broad |
| 2 | 27 August 1923 | Leicester City | A | 0–5 | 14,500 | |
| 3 | 1 September 1923 | Leeds United | A | 0–0 | 15,000 | |
| 4 | 3 September 1923 | Leicester City | H | 1–0 | 11,000 | Davies |
| 5 | 8 September 1923 | Blackpool | H | 2–2 | 11,898 | Davies, Richardson |
| 6 | 15 September 1923 | Blackpool | A | 1–1 | 6,000 | Davies |
| 7 | 22 September 1923 | Nelson | H | 4–0 | 12,150 | Davies (2), J Broad, Howe |
| 8 | 24 September 1923 | Southampton | H | 1–1 | 20,000 | Richardson |
| 9 | 29 September 1923 | Nelson | A | 0–2 | 12,000 | |
| 10 | 6 October 1923 | Port Vale | H | 1–0 | 21,685 | Clarke |
| 11 | 13 October 1923 | Port Vale | A | 4–2 | 16,800 | J Broad (2), Eyres (2) |
| 12 | 15 October 1923 | Southampton | A | 1–0 | 14,000 | Kelly |
| 13 | 20 October 1923 | Hull City | A | 0–2 | 8,000 | |
| 14 | 27 October 1923 | Hull City | H | 1–0 | 6,000 | Kasher |
| 15 | 3 November 1923 | Derby County | H | 1–1 | 20,000 | J Broad |
| 16 | 10 November 1923 | Derby County | A | 1–1 | 12,000 | Eyres |
| 17 | 17 November 1923 | Crystal Palace | H | 1–1 | 9,000 | J Broad |
| 18 | 24 November 1923 | Crystal Palace | A | 1–5 | 15,000 | Eyres |
| 19 | 1 December 1923 | The Wednesday | H | 1–1 | 8,000 | Eyres |
| 20 | 8 December 1923 | The Wednesday | A | 0–3 | 14,000 | |
| 21 | 15 December 1923 | Coventry City | A | 2–1 | 12,000 | J Broad, Eyres |
| 22 | 22 December 1923 | Coventry City | H | 2–1 | 6,000 | J Broad, Eyres |
| 23 | 26 December 1923 | Bradford City | H | 2–0 | 18,000 | J Broad, Davies |
| 24 | 29 December 1923 | Bristol City | A | 1–1 | 7,000 | J Broad |
| 25 | 5 January 1924 | Bristol City | H | 3–0 | 10,300 | Davies (2), Clarke |
| 26 | 19 January 1924 | Clapton Orient | H | 0–1 | 11,000 | |
| 27 | 26 January 1924 | Clapton Orient | A | 2–0 | 7,700 | J Broad, Sellars |
| 28 | 2 February 1924 | Stockport County | H | 0–0 | 13,800 | |
| 29 | 9 February 1924 | Stockport County | A | 1–0 | 4,000 | Roxburgh |
| 30 | 16 February 1924 | Oldham Athletic | H | 1–1 | 6,000 | Davies |
| 31 | 23 February 1924 | Oldham Athletic | A | 0–0 | 5,000 | |
| 32 | 1 March 1924 | South Shields | H | 0–0 | 8,348 | |
| 33 | 8 March 1924 | South Shields | A | 0–1 | 6,000 | |
| 34 | 15 March 1924 | Bury | A | 0–1 | 6,000 | |
| 35 | 22 March 1924 | Bury | H | 0–0 | 25,297 | |
| 36 | 29 March 1924 | Manchester United | A | 2–2 | 10,000 | J Broad, Tempest |
| 37 | 5 April 1924 | Manchester United | H | 3–0 | 20,000 | J Broad, Tempest, Sellars |
| 38 | 12 April 1924 | Barnsley | H | 2–0 | 9,799 | Sellars (2) |
| 39 | 19 April 1924 | Barnsley | A | 0–0 | 6,224 | |
| 40 | 21 April 1924 | Fulham | A | 0–3 | 10,000 | |
| 41 | 23 April 1924 | Fulham | H | 0–0 | 8,000 | |
| 42 | 26 April 1924 | Bradford City | A | 1–2 | 4,000 | J Broad |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 12 January 1924 | Leeds United | A | 0–1 | 26,574 | |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Kenny Campbell | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| GK | Bob Dixon | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| DF | Sammy Davis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | Tommy Howe | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| DF | George Lennon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Bob McGrory | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| DF | Billy Wootton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Ewart Beswick | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| MF | Tom Brittleton | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| MF | Harry Brough | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| MF | George Clarke | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 2 |
| MF | Joseph Depledge | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| MF | Wilf Edwards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Billy Fitchford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Alfred Jordan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Joe Kasher | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| MF | Arden Maddison | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Vic Rouse | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| MF | George Stentiford | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| FW | Len Armitage | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | Jimmy Broad | 37 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 14 |
| FW | Tommy Broad | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| FW | Harry Davies | 31 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 9 |
| FW | Jack Eyres | 19 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 7 |
| FW | Charles Kelly | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| FW | Dai Nicholas | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| FW | Bert Ralphs | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| FW | Frank Richardson | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| FW | John Roxburgh | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| FW | Harry Sellars | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 |
| FW | Andy Smith | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | Billy Tempest | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 2 |