The 1891–92 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 third 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 ...

. Stoke returned to

after a season in 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 ...

. Stoke continued to struggle in the more demanding competition and finished in 13th position with 14 points and had to seek

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 ...

for the third time, they were successful in doing gaining more votes than

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the s ...

and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Season review

League

Prior to the start of the season Stoke had to ditch their traditional red and white striped kit due to the Football League ruling that only one style of kit can be used by one club and Sunderland were allowed to use red and white. Stoke used amber and black which changed to plain maroon coloured shirts, it took until the 1910s before Stoke could use red and white stripes on a regular basis. The rule was eventually scrapped in 1919. For the 1891–92 season

was increased from 12 to 14 clubs, Stoke along with

joined the Football League. Despite a bright enough start, Stoke winning 2–1 at home to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

, there was a lack of improvement in their overall form and the team quickly dropped down the table. A 9–3 defeat at Darwen, who eventually finished bottom of the league and failed to be re-elected, was the most disappointing performance of a dismal campaign, although Stoke did win 5–1 in the return fixture. Goalkeeper Bill Rowley had now returned from injury and was captain of the side, while Arthur Reeves replaced Joseph Bradshaw as manager in January 1892.

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 ...

was again sought and duly achieved beating

by one vote. They instead joined the newly formed

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 ...

for the 1892–93 season. Left-winger Joe Schofield made his debut for Stoke 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 ...

on 10 October 1891. Schofield would go on to become one of Stoke's greatest players of the 1890s and earned a reputation as a goalscoring winger and he later managed the club during

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 ...

FA Cup

After beating amateur side Casuals 3–0 (twice, after the first match was declared void due to icy pitch) and

3–1, Stoke drew 2–2 with Sunderland to set up Stoke's first cup replay which they lost 4–0.

Season review

League

FA Cup

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League

FA Cup

Squad statistics

References