The 1915–16 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 non-competitive War League. With the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, all Football League football was cancelled. In its place were formed War Leagues, based on geographical lines rather than based on previous league placement. Stoke contested the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

Section in the Principal Tournament, and the Southern Division of the Midland Section in the Subsidiary Tournament. However, none of these were considered to be competitive football, and thus their records are not recognised by

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 ...

Season review

With Peter Hodge returning to his family in Scotland former club great,

Joe Schofield Joseph Alfred Schofield (1 January 1871 – 29 September 1929) was an English footballer and football manager. A winger, he played for Stoke between 1891 and 1899, winning himself three England caps in the process. He was later appointed as S ...

returned to the club in 1915 as manager for the War-time seasons and with a number of first team players joining the army Stoke fielded a number of 'guest' players as did many other clubs. For the whole war Stoke played in the Lancashire section and in the 1915–16 season ended up in mid-table position of 8th while in the Midland Section Secondary Competition Stoke finished 4th. Stoke's best result was a 7–1 win over Chesterfield Town and guest forward

Bob Whittingham Robert Whittingham (1888 – 9 June 1926) was an English footballer who played as an inside-forward for various clubs, mainly prior to the First World War. He played in the Football League for Stoke, Blackpool, Bradford City, and Chelsea. He ...

Season review

Final league table

Lancashire Section Primary Competition

Midland Section Secondary Competition

Results

Legend

Lancashire Section Primary Competition

Midland Section Secondary Competition

Squad statistics

References