The 1889–90 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 second 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 ...

. It was another poor season for Stoke, as they again finished bottom of

but this time they failed to gain

re-election The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

and their place was taken by Sunderland and Stoke joined the

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

for the following season. Stoke's worst league and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

defeat came during the 1889–90 season, a 10–0 reverse against Preston North End and an 8–0 cup defeat to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. Stoke won just three matches all season and picked up just ten points making it the club's worst performance in league football.

Season review

League

After finishing bottom of the league last season Stoke failed to improve a great deal in the 1889–90 season and again took the

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

. They were humiliated 10–0 in the second match of the season away at Preston North End where all the goals were scored by Scottish internationals as Stoke suffered their worst league defeat. Stoke also lost 8–0 away to both Everton and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and they also suffered a 6–1 reverse against Aston Villa. Stoke were awful throughout the season and went on a ten match losing streak stretching from 19 October 1889 to 4 January 1890. In a tough home fixture against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

just before Christmas, Bob McCormick, the Stoke inside-right, badly injured his collar bone in a challenge with the Burnley full-back and at the end of the match some supporters invaded the pitch and confronted the "Clarets" defender. Stoke won the match 2–1 but Burnley lodged an appeal claiming their players had been intimidated. The League decided in Burnley's favour and ordered the match to be replayed, this time Burnley won 4–3. Stoke won only three matches this season and amassed a mere ten points three fewer than Burnley and 23 behind champions, for the second season running Preston. Stoke failed to gain

and the end of the season and their place was taken by Sunderland. Stoke joined the

for the 1890–91 season. A 7–1 victory over Accrington where Bob Ramsay scored the "Potters" first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

was a rare highlight in what was an awful season. At the end of the season manager

Harry Lockett Harold Lockett (1855–1930) was an English association football manager and administrator. Career Lockett was born in Stoke-upon-Trent and was appointed manager-secretary of Stoke in 1884 replacing Walter Cox. He was Stoke manager when profe ...

left the club to concentrate on his job as secretary of the Football League and Joseph Bradshaw took over.

FA Cup

In the FA Cup, Stoke knocked out Old Westminsters and Everton but were ousted from the competition by

. This third round tie was played on 15 February 1890 in driving sleet and rain on a heavy pitch and Wolves more suited to the conditions easily won the match 4–0. Stoke protested over the state of the pitch and the FA ordered a re-match the following Saturday. This time Wolves doubled the score to 8–0 much to the embarrassment of the Stoke officials. The result is Stoke's worst in the FA Cup.

Season review

League

FA Cup

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League

FA Cup

Squad statistics

References