Graph showing Stoke City F.C.'s progress through the English football league system 1888 to the present
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional
football club based in the city of
Stoke-on-Trent,
Staffordshire. The club was formed in 1863 and played their first competitive match in November 1883 in the
FA Cup. They were founder members of
the Football League in 1888, in which they struggled finishing bottom in the first two seasons and failed to gain re-election for the
1890–91 meaning that they played in the
Football Alliance.[1] They won the Alliance and re-joined the league. Stoke continued to struggle financially and in 1908 the club was
liquidated and had to resign from the league. They re-branded as Stoke F.C. (1908) and joined the
Birmingham & District League and
Southern Football League before regaining their league status for the
1919–20 season.[1]
As a Football League team Stoke have won two divisional titles at the second and third levels of the
English football league system. They have been promoted eight times and suffered relegation on seven occasions. They played in the
2011 FA Cup Final, losing to
Manchester City and their best achievement is in the
League Cup which they beat
Chelsea in the
1972 Final.[1] As of the end of the 2023–24 season, the club has spent 62 seasons in the top tier of the
English football league system, 47 in the second and 8 in the third.
History
Stoke were formed as Stoke Ramblers F.C. in 1863 they soon dropped the 'Ramblers' name and simply became known as Stoke F.C., and they played in friendlies against local and national sides as well as competing in the
Staffordshire Senior Cup which was a prestigious competition at the time.[1] Stoke entered the
FA Cup in the
1883–84 season and their first competitive fixture was against
Manchester which they lost 2–1.[1] They continued with this type of fixture list until in 1888
the Football League was founded and Stoke became founder members.[1] In the first league season Stoke finished bottom of the table and again took bottom spot in the second season leading to the club being replaced by
Sunderland. Stoke joined the
Football Alliance and claimed the title and were re-elected back into the league.[1] Stoke continued to struggle and had a number of narrow escapes from relegation in the early 1900s. Eventually the club's fortunes ran out and they were relegated to the
Second Division in the
1906–07.[1] The next season Stoke's finances dried up and the club was
liquidated and they had to resign from the league. They were saved by a number of local business men and incredibly they were able to apply for re-election but they failed to gain enough votes and had to enter the
Birmingham & District League and
Southern Football League.[1]
Stoke re-entered the League after
World War I and during the 1920s the club added 'City' to their name and had the highs of being promoted to the First Division and the lows of being relegated to the
Third Division North.[1] Despite the divisional changes Stoke brought through a number of promising youth players most notably that of
Stanley Matthews.[1] Stoke went on to gain promotion to the First Division in the
1932–33 season and went on to finished in 4th place in the
1935–36 season, their highest position until that point.[1] Immediately after
World War II Stoke were involved in a title race and they had the chance to become champions of England for the first time on the final day of the
1946–47 season they needed to beat
Sheffield United to claim the title, but they lost 2–1 and ended up finishing 4th for the second time.[1]
Relegation to the Second Division was suffered in the
1952–53 season and it took Stoke ten season to get back into the First Division with
Tony Waddington helping Stoke to gain promotion.[1] He had a successful time at Stoke leading the club to their first major trophy in
1972, winning the
Football League Cup as well as reaching the semi-final of the FA Cup and competed in European football on two occasions.[1] However Stoke's
Victoria Ground was damaged by gale-force winds in January 1976 and the club had to sell their best players to cover the cost for the repairs.[1] This eventually led to Stoke being relegated the following
1976–77 season, Stoke soon made a return though gaining promotion in
1978–79 season. In the
1984–85 season Stoke experienced a terrible season finishing bottom after picking up a record low of 17 points. Five seasons of Second Division obscurity followed before the club slipped into the third tier for the second time.[1]
Lou Macari got Stoke out of the Third Division at the second time of asking and guided the club to the
1995–96 play-offs but lost out to
Leicester City.[2] Stoke moved to the all-seater
Britannia Stadium in 1997 but were relegated to the third tier in the first season at the new ground.[2] Four seasons in Division Two followed during which time the club had won their second
Football League Trophy and entered the play-offs three times eventually gaining promotion at the third attempt.
Tony Pulis became Stoke manager in November 2002 and lead the club to safety on the final day of the
2002–03 season. He was sacked at the end of the
2004–05 season but was re-appointed by returning chairman
Peter Coates in July 2006.[2] He led the club to promotion to the
Premier League in
2007–08 season and has since helped the club to establish themselves back in English football's top tier. Stoke reached the
FA Cup Final for the first time in the
2010–11 season losing 1–0 to
Manchester City. On reaching the final Stoke qualified for the
UEFA Europa League where they reached the last 32, losing out to
Valencia. Pulis was replaced by
Mark Hughes in May 2013 and he guided the club to their highest Premier League position of 9th in three successive seasons
2013–14,
2014–15 and
2015–16. Decline set in under Hughes in
2016–17 which led to relegation in
2017–18.
^Retained place in the First Division after success in the
Test Matches. However it was in controversial circumstances as in the final match against
Burnley both sides knew a draw would see them play in the First Division, unsurprisingly the game ended 0–0 with neither side attempting to score a goal. The Football League decided to expand the First Division to 18 teams and scrap the Test Match system in favor of automatic
promotion and relegation.[1]
^Placed into
liquidation at the end of the season and resigned from the Football League. This prompted swift action from a group of local business men who bought the club and re-incorporated it. These impressive efforts lead to the club applying for re-election but they lost out to
Tottenham Hotspur and had to take their reserve teams' place in the
Birmingham & District League.[1]
^Joined the
Southern League as the board believed that would present a better chance of being re-elected to the Football League.[1]
^Despite winning all of their ten matches in Division Two promotion to Division One was not achieved due to a league re-organisation.[1]
^First Team leave the Birmingham & District League to concentrate on the
Southern League, the reserve side take their place.[1]
^First match in a European competition was against German side
1. FC Kaiserslautern. Despite a 3–1 first leg lead Stoke lost the return leg 4–0 and were eliminated 5–3 on aggregate.[1]
^Played Dutch side
Ajax in the UEFA Cup first round. Both legs were drawn 1–1 at home and 0–0 away meaning Stoke were eliminated on the
away goals rule.[1]
^Competing in European football for the third time Stoke were eliminated by
Valencia at the round of 32 stage. Stoke had previously beaten
Hajduk Split,
FC Thun in qualifying rounds and progressed through a group containing
Beşiktaş,
Dynamo Kyiv and
Maccabi Tel Aviv.[11]