The 1960–61 season was Stoke City's 54th season in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

and the 21st 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 ...

. With the unsuccessful Frank Taylor now departed new manager

Tony Waddington Anthony Waddington (9 November 1924 – 21 January 1994) was an English football manager at both Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City. Waddington had a seven-year playing career with Crewe Alexandra before becoming a coach at Stoke City. He progre ...

quickly began to stamp his mark on the club allowing a number of players to leave the club whilst bringing in his own replacements. It was obviously going to be a transitional season for the club but there was probably too much upheaval as performances out on the pitch were not good and despite a 9–0 win over Plymouth Argyle, Stoke finished in 18th place avoiding relegation by three points.

Season review

League

A clear-out of players was under way in the summer of 1960 with two goalkeepers Bill Robertson and

Wilf Hall Wilfred Hall (14 October 1934 – August 2007) was a footballer who played in the Football League for Ipswich Town and Stoke City. Career Hall was born in Haydock, St. Helens and played football with Earlestown in the Lancashire Combination ...

both departing. Also leaving 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 ...

was long serving defender John McCue and a number of fringe players. To replace the hole left by the departure of the 'keepers

made his first signing, Irish international Jimmy O'Neill from Everton for £5,000. There were no instant improvements as Stoke searched for a sustained run of success. An attack that could not score regularly was a major problem and it was so bad that by Christmas time centre back

Bill Asprey William Asprey (born 11 September 1936) is an English former football player and manager. A defender, he made 418 league appearances in a 15-year career in the Football League. He then had a 25-year career as a coach. He spent 1953 to 1965 at ...

was moved up front and he impressed scoring twice in a 9–0 win over Plymouth Argyle and got a hat trick against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

. That win over Plymouth is Stoke second highest league victory. Ahead of the March transfer deadline, Waddington paid £7,000 to Blackpool for their winger Jackie Mudie whose vast experience brought guile to the attack. Mudie effectively replaced

Dennis Wilshaw Dennis James Wilshaw (11 March 1926 – 10 May 2004) was an English international footballer. A forward, he scored 173 goals in 380 appearances in the Football League, and also scored ten goals in twelve appearances for the England national t ...

who broke his leg in the FA Cup at Newcastle and had to retire. Stoke took 18th place in the Second Division at the end of Waddingtons first season in charge their away form letting them down badly with just three wins recorded and 12 goals scored. And for the first time since the 1907–08 season the average home attendance was under 10,000 as Waddington realised that much work was required to turn around the fortunes of Stoke City.

FA Cup

In the FA Cup Stoke made it to the fifth round before losing to Newcastle United after beating

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

and a tricky three matches against

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

League Cup

The 1960–61 season was also the start of a new cup competition the Football League Cup, Stoke made an embarrassing start losing 3–1 to Fourth Division

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

. Stoke didn't even score as Rovers defender Tommy Hymers scored an own goal giving him the dubious honour of being Stoke's first League Cup goalscorer.

Final league table

Results

''Stoke's score comes first''

Legend

Football League Second Division

FA Cup

League Cup

Squad statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1960-61 Stoke City F.C. season Stoke City F.C. seasons

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 ...