The 1921–22 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 22nd season in

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 ...

and the fourth in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. After almost being relegated to the third tier last season Stoke improved dramatically and finished in 2nd position gaining promotion to the First Division. Key to Stoke's success was the early season signing of the Broad brothers

Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

and

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

with the later scoring 27 goals.

Season review

League

After the disappointments of last season, there was another conscious effort to strengthen the squad for the 1921–22 season, and a wealthy director John Slater proved to be the most ambitious as he spent a lot of his own money to bring to the club the Broad brothers,

and

. Jimmy was an out-and-out centre forward who came in after having scored 37 goals in 48 matches for Millwall. Tommy on the other hand was a pacey right winger who signed from

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

. The idea of developing young talent was also coming to the fore, with the appointment of

Tom Brittleton John Thomas Brittleton (23 April 1882 – 22 February 1955) was a professional footballer. He was one of the pioneers of the long throw-in. With a career spanning over 30 years, including 24 seasons in the Football League, he is the oldest pers ...

as player-coach, which was met with approval from the club's supporters. The season turned out to be one of the best the club had experienced up to that time and promotion was gained to the top-flight, Stoke finishing runners-up to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. Eleven home draws probably cost Stoke top spot but nevertheless their form throughout the season was very good and the team was well supported by the fans with an average attendance of 15,000. Jimmy Broad was top scorer with 25 league goals and he also became the first Stoke player to score four goals in a

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 ...

match, achieving this feat in a 5–1 home win over Crystal Palace in early December. Stoke also achieved an unbeaten league run of 15 matches from 27 December to 8 April.

FA Cup

The Cup also provided Stoke with some success as they beat local rivals

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

4–2 in an epic cup tie in Burslem.

Arthur Watkin Arthur Watkin (30 July 1895 – 27 August 1972) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke. His brother Frank Watkin was also a footballer who played for Stoke. Career Watkin was born in Burslem and joined Stoke in ...

scored a hat-trick in front of 14,471 tie at

The Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditio ...

. Stoke then saw off Northampton Town 3–0 in a replay before 43,689 fans turned out to see Stoke take on

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

in the third round. The match ended goalless and in the replay Villa ran away with it and scored four without reply.

Season review

League

FA Cup

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League Second Division

FA Cup

Squad statistics

References