The 1908–09 season was

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

's first season in the Birmingham & District League. With Stoke now out of

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

they entered the Birmingham & District League for the 1908–09 season. With a new board, chairman, manager and squad Stoke used the season as a rebuilding one and the crowds began to return to the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

. Stoke finished in eight place with 31 Points.

Season review

League

Stoke now playing in the Birmingham & District League, which included the reserve teams of Aston Villa, Birmingham, West Brom and Wolves plus some other useful opposition. With Alfred Barker now the manager the team itself was made up of an mixture of ex-professionals and amateurs. Of those which remained with the club were William Davies, Ernest Mullineux, Fred Rathbone and Sam Baddeley. Barker used 32 players during the season and eighth place was secured in the final league table. Crowds were often good and there were turnouts of 7,000+ for a few league matches which confirmed that the club still had its local support. Wins of 7–0 over

Wellington Town Telford United Football Club was an English football club based in Telford, Shropshire. The club existed under various names for a total of 132 years from its formation in 1872. The club was a founder member of the Alliance Premier League (la ...

5–0 over

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and 5–3 over Villa's second string were among the best performances while the nadir was an 8–1 defeat to West Brom reserves. Stoke's goalkeeper against Albion was Harry Cotton who after the match was sacked by Barker.

FA Cup

Stoke made a poor exit in the first round being well beaten 5–0 at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Season review

League

FA Cup

Final league table

Results

Legend

Birmingham & District League

FA Cup

Squad statistics

References