# 1928–29 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1928–29 season was Stoke City's 29th season in the Football League and the ninth in the Second Division.
There were no major signings in 1928–29 as the club decided to change a number of policies regarding players' contracts in order to avoid a repeat of the scenes at the end of the 1923–24 season. Mather also brought in a number of players from the club's reserve and youth teams as the squad held a solid defence and with only 51 goals conceded Stoke had the best defensive record in the top two divisions. Stoke finished the season in sixth place which the fans thought they could have done better considering their defensive qualities.

## Season review
### League

The Stoke board acquired the freehold of the Victoria Ground in the summer of 1928, but decided against any major signings for the 1928–29 campaign, as young players were slowly being introduced into the first team and reserve side. After some of the players' actions of 1924, chairman Sherwin along with the board and manager decided to sort out the respective salaries of their professional players in order to avoid any further problems.
Stoke had a solid look to their squad and they started the season in perfect fashion beating Nottingham Forest 5–1 on the opening day of the season at a stunned City Ground. Stoke's good form continued and by the end of October the team was in a good position to mount a promotion challenge. However they won just one match in November and December and although they did pick up in the new year Stoke were unable to challenge for a promotion spot and finished the season in sixth place. Some supporters felt the team should have done better, especially as they had the best defensive record outside the First Division. Fans were also disappointed at the sale of favourite Harry Davies to Huddersfield Town, he would later return to the club in 1931.

### FA Cup

Arsenal knocked Stoke out of the FA Cup for the second season running this time in the third round.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 4 | Southampton | 42 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 74 | 60 | 1.233 | 48 |
| 5 | Notts County | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 78 | 65 | 1.200 | 47 |
| 6 | Stoke City | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 74 | 51 | 1.451 | 46 |
| 7 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 80 | 79 | 1.013 | 46 |
| 8 | Blackpool | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 92 | 76 | 1.211 | 45 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Second Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 25 August 1928 | Nottingham Forest | A | 5–1 | 14,548 | Wilson (2), Davies, Bussey, Liddle |
| 2 | 27 August 1928 | Bristol City | H | 2–0 | 14,067 | Davies, Armitage (pen) |
| 3 | 1 September 1928 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 4–1 | 22,769 | Davies, Armitage (pen), Wilson, Archibald |
| 4 | 5 September 1928 | Bristol City | A | 1–1 | 10,000 | Davies |
| 5 | 8 September 1928 | Clapton Orient | A | 0–1 | 6,000 | |
| 6 | 15 September 1928 | Port Vale | H | 2–1 | 36,182 | Davies, Bussey |
| 7 | 22 September 1928 | Grimsby Town | H | 1–2 | 15,512 | Wilson |
| 8 | 29 September 1928 | Bradford Park Avenue | A | 1–2 | 12,000 | Davies |
| 9 | 6 October 1928 | Swansea Town | H | 5–0 | 12,671 | Johnson (2), Williams, Bussey, Armitage |
| 10 | 13 October 1928 | Blackpool | A | 0–2 | 8,000 | |
| 11 | 20 October 1928 | Hull City | A | 3–1 | 7,760 | Davies, Archibald, Bussey |
| 12 | 27 October 1928 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–0 | 15,307 | Archibald, Williams |
| 13 | 3 November 1928 | Reading | A | 1–1 | 6,800 | Williams |
| 14 | 10 November 1928 | Millwall | H | 0–0 | 9,185 | |
| 15 | 17 November 1928 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–1 | 10,000 | |
| 16 | 24 November 1928 | Oldham Athletic | H | 1–1 | 7,185 | Davies |
| 17 | 1 December 1928 | Southampton | A | 0–0 | 8,000 | |
| 18 | 8 December 1928 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 4–3 | 9,012 | Wilson (2), Williams, Archibald |
| 19 | 15 December 1928 | Notts County | A | 0–1 | 8,000 | |
| 20 | 22 December 1928 | Preston North End | H | 1–1 | 10,263 | Wilson |
| 21 | 25 December 1928 | Chelsea | H | 0–1 | 12,031 | |
| 22 | 26 December 1928 | Chelsea | A | 1–3 | 40,126 | Wilson |
| 23 | 29 December 1928 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–1 | 8,120 | Wilson |
| 24 | 5 January 1929 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 3–2 | 20,067 | Shirley, Archibald, Bussey |
| 25 | 19 January 1929 | Clapton Orient | H | 3–1 | 10,166 | Cull, Wilson, Williamson |
| 26 | 26 January 1929 | Port Vale | A | 2–1 | 18,304 | Shirley (2) |
| 27 | 2 February 1929 | Grimsby Town | A | 1–2 | 8,000 | Bussey |
| 28 | 9 February 1929 | Bradford Park Avenue | H | 2–0 | 11,865 | Archibald, Davies |
| 29 | 16 February 1929 | Swansea Town | A | 3–3 | 7,000 | Davies, Bussey, Mawson |
| 30 | 23 February 1929 | Blackpool | H | 1–1 | 12,538 | Ramsay (o.g.) |
| 31 | 2 March 1929 | Hull City | H | 1–1 | 10,925 | Shirley |
| 32 | 9 March 1929 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–1 | 26,760 | |
| 33 | 16 March 1929 | Reading | H | 5–0 | 9,491 | Shirley, Williams (2), Wilson (2) |
| 34 | 23 March 1929 | Millwall | A | 3–1 | 5,500 | Wilson, Archibald, Williamson |
| 35 | 29 March 1929 | Barnsley | A | 2–4 | 6,000 | Wilson, Bussey |
| 36 | 30 March 1929 | Middlesbrough | H | 3–2 | 19,717 | Wilson (2), Bussey |
| 37 | 1 April 1929 | Barnsley | H | 0–0 | 13,126 | |
| 38 | 6 April 1929 | Oldham Athletic | A | 0–1 | 5,500 | |
| 39 | 13 April 1929 | Southampton | H | 3–0 | 8,556 | Wilson (3) |
| 40 | 20 April 1929 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–4 | 12,235 | |
| 41 | 27 April 1929 | Notts County | H | 5–0 | 8,165 | Wilson (3), Bussey, Williams |
| 42 | 4 May 1929 | Preston North End | A | 2–2 | 6,000 | Bussey, Williamson |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 12 January 1929 | Arsenal | A | 1–2 | 30,762 | Bussey |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Bob Dixon | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| GK | Ormond Jones | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | Dick Williams | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| DF | Arthur Beachill | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | Tommy Dawson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | Bob McGrory | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| DF | Billy Spencer | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| MF | Len Armitage | 39 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 3 |
| MF | Thomas Godfrey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Peter Jackson | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| MF | Paddy Turley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Harry Sellars | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| MF | Tom Williamson | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 3 |
| FW | Bobby Archibald | 41 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 7 |
| FW | Walter Bussey | 37 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 12 |
| FW | John Cull | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| FW | Harry Davies | 35 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 10 |
| FW | Jack Eyres | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Tommy Flannigan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | Dick Johnson | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| FW | Bobby Liddle | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| FW | Joe Mawson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| FW | John Shirley | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 5 |
| FW | Charlie Wilson | 31 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 22 |
| FW | Joey Williams | 23 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 7 |
| – | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 1 |